Tag: Robert Stroud

Fresh Links Sundae – January 12, 2014 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. Often they are from the people whose work I admire or resonate with me. I hope you will find these ideas thought-provoking at the minimum. Even better, I hope these ideas will, over time, help my fellow IT pros make better decisions, be awesome, and kick ass!

With business’ dependence on technology, Robert Stroud recommends that today’s CIOs need to make more focused choices that are aligned with the business. Speed to Execution is Critical for the Modern CIO (CA Service Management)

Bob Lewis believes that trying to fix a problem with an organization is a lot like going on diet and trying to lose weight. Neither one works, but he recommends a better goal is to live the weight you want. A diet of lasting change (IS Survivor Publishing)

In collaboration with 3Gamma’s CEO, Peter Wahlgren, Aprill Allen and Mr. Wahlgren discuss the knowledge management approaches in a multisourcing environment. Service integration and knowledge management Service Integration in a Multisourcing Environment Document (Knowledge Bird)

In a two-part blog, Vawns Murphy recommends ten tips for a sound SAM practice. Software Asset Management – Tips From The Trenches (Part 1) Software Asset Management – Tips From The Trenches (Part 2) (The ITAM Review)

In a four-part blog, Jenny Juliany discusses an approach for managing the lifecycle of corporate data. The Four Seasons of Data Management – ‘Spring’ Inception The Four Seasons of Data Management – ‘Summer’ Primetime The Four Seasons of Data Management – ‘Fall’ Retirement The Four Seasons of Data Management – ‘Winter’ Removal (Intreis)

If you are a manager with direct reports on an Agile team, Len Lagestee believes that a set of expected behaviors should apply to you. He outlines what would make the interactions productive when managers attend Agile team events. A Managers Guide to Attending Agile Team Events (Illustrated Agile)

Stakeholders play a critical role in a business analyst’s success. Laura Brandenburg explains how to turn every meeting and every deliverable into an opportunity to invest in your stakeholder relationships. How to Build Better Stakeholder Relationships in 2014 (Bridging the Gap)

When working with customers, Marshall Goldsmith talks about the importance of being authentic and genuine. Dear Yet to be Born Grandchildren (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

While it’s debatable how much self-esteem contributes to one’s success, Scott Adams believes that having a clear sense of one’s own self-esteem has helped him. The Glorious Advantages of Low Self-Esteem (Scott Adams Blog)

When dealing with the uncertainty of future, all of us take different approaches. Seth Godin talks about three general approaches and the mistakes people often make. Accuracy, resilience and denial (Seth’s Blog)

Fresh Links Sundae – November 24, 2013 Edition

Enterprise IT organizations face many challenges in providing the required technology services while maintaining sound budgets and exercising the necessary governance. Stephen Mann suggests that integration of ITGRC and ITSM practices can help. A six-step, integrated approach to ITGRC and ITSM (ISACA Now)

Rob Ford believes that mature Capacity Management can be difficult to achieve but can provide enormous value to an organization. In a three-part series, he suggests an approach for implementing mature Capacity Management. Connect with the business and achieve mature Capacity Management [part 1] Connect with the business and achieve mature Capacity Management [part 2] Connect with the business and achieve mature Capacity Management [part 3] (ITSM Portal)

Proper change control in IT requires us properly evaluate the critical level of a change request. Ryan Ogilvie explains why it is necessary to have a clear understanding on what constitutes an “Emergency” vs. an “Urgent change” in order to ensure that changes are being prioritized correctly. Change Management and the “Gencies” (Service Management Journey)

For many IT organizations, the importance of technologies requires them to keep the critical IT services flowing without disruption. With the fast-pace of technology changes, Robert Stroud explains why it may no longer be enough to just keep the lights on. Are You Keeping the Lights on or Driving Change? (Service Management)

Today’s IT profession is remarkably different from what it was years ago. Scott Robinson explains why the modern IT professionals need to be more proficient, more creative, and more forward-thinking than ever. Geek mystique isn’t what it used to be (TechRepublic)

The term of “Internet of Things” describes a growing trend of everyday objects and devices sending and receiving data over the Internet. Andy White discusses how these super-connected devices can affect how we use the data we can collect and what this means for IT service and support. The Internet of Things, Big Data and ITSM (The ITSM Review)

The Healthcare.gov system can be viewed as a big data implementation, with data being collected on a population across the entire country and integrated with many other federal/state systems. Robert Plant suggests that there are four lessons we can learn from this vital technology project. Lessons for Big Data From President Obama’s Healthcare Implementation (Big Data Republic)

After attending the 2013 Building Business Capability Conference, Laura Brandenburg discusses her experience and the takeaways she learned from the conference. Next Generation Business Analysts – The Opportunities In Store For You (Insights from BBC 2013) (Bridging the Gap)

After coming back from a recent sabbatical, Karen Armon discusses her experience and her new outlook as a result of her recent absence. The Purpose of A Sabbatical (Market One Executive)

Many of us have been taught to set goals and to strive for achieving those goals. In his new book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams talk about using systems instead of goals. He further expands on the idea and explains why having a consistent system can be more helpful. Goals vs. Systems (Scott Adams Blog)

Fresh Links Sundae – November 3, 2013 Edition

With all the excitement surrounding big data and advanced analytics, many organizations are naming Chief Data Officers (CDO) to manage their data needs. Thomas Redman describes the challenges and the opportunities that can come with this transformative role. Are You Ready for a Chief Data Officer? (Harvard Business Review)

The biggest story in IT this year likely is the issues surrounding the rollout of Healthcare.gov. By leveraging her experience in managing large-scale IT projects, Mary Shacklettin outlines the lessons which all IT professionals can learn from the website. Healthcare.gov web site launch leaves lessons for health of your IT career (TechRepublic)

Many people think gaming is just a nice way to make training more fun and engaging. Paul Wilkinson advocates that gaming can do a lot more as part of a learning process. A game is just nice to have right? – Wrong! (The ITSM Review)

Some people believe that managing the work is as important as doing the work, if not more. Bob Lewis suggests that it’s the other way around because, if you don’t deliver the goods, nobody will care about your brilliant insights. The work or managing the work: Which matters more? (IS Survivor Publishing)

Mobility is rapidly becoming the primary consumer interaction point with the organization and its business processes. Robert Stroud recommends all IT shops leverage mobility as a key interaction point with their constituents. A Fall, An iPhone, Mobility And Knowing What Good Is! (CA Service Management)

While the political punditry around the healthcare website is laughable, the layers of technology and components required to make the website work is no joking matter. Mitch Joel believes that this prominent website can also offer an excellent opportunity to educate the mass population on the complexity of the technology we work with daily. When Important Websites Crash (Six Pixels of Separation)

For a number of women (or men), delivering superior results and advancing within the corporate structure are often at odd with achieving work-life balance. After talking with the founder of Pixo, a technology consulting firm, Susan Cramm believes it’s still possible to run a competitive company that nurtures work-life balance. Exceed Customer Expectations—and Get Home for Family Dinner (strategy+business)

On any project, changes are expected and should be handled proficiently so significant issues can be avoided. Laura Brandenburg discusses how to manage change requests so that an informed decision can be made about how the changes can be incorporated into a project with as little disruption as possible. How to Manage Change Requests (Bridging the Gap)

Giving effective feedback to team members is quite possibly the most crucial part of any leader’s job. Heidi Grant Halvorson recommends a few simple rules that leaders can use to do a better job giving feedback. The Key to Giving Great Feedback: Focus on the Process, Not the Person (Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson)

While the global culture has immense potential benefits, it can also lead to an effect of “cultural extinction” where people around the world are much more likely to look alike, act alike, and sound alike. Marshall Goldsmith believes that, in order to create a positive global community, we need to meet three key challenges. Celebrating Diversity (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

Fresh Links Sundae – October 20, 2013 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. Often they are from the people whose work I admire or resonate with me. More importantly, I picked these articles to help my fellow IT professionals be more successful. I hope you will find these ideas thought-provoking at the minimum. Even better, I hope these ideas will, over time, help my fellow IT pros make better decisions, be awesome, and kick ass!

Some experts have predicted that the CIO role has become less and less relevant over the years and maybe going away soon. Bob Lewis disagrees and explains why the CIO role is necessary to coordinate the integration between applications and systems. Is the CIO dead? Maybe. Should it be? Nah. (IS Survivor Publishing)

As the power of data and analytics profoundly affects the business landscape, companies once again need more top-management talent who can understand and leverage the technologies. Brad Brown, David Court, and Paul Willmott outline six areas that will require more senior leadership’s participation. Can Your C-Suite Handle Big Data? (Harvard Business Review)

Many of us are accustomed to having access to highly capable consumer technologies that offer convenience and commodity pricing. Over time, we have grown dependent on those technologies. Sharon Taylor reminds us the importance of balancing the level of support response, redundancy, cost, and reality when offering those same technologies and services to our organizations. Rocket fuel, cake and customers. (SHIFT)

Many IT organizations are looking for ways to improve their services by making themselves more assessable to the business. Robert Stroud suggests that perhaps a “walk-up service center” can help to improve your organization’s service management effort. Service Management From the Back Room to the “Drop-in Center” (CA Service Management)

Most IT departments are in a struggle to meet the demands from a customer base and from a massive volume of IT project and firefighting work at the same time. Offering a more personalized support from IT appears to be a low priority item considering the resource and staff constraints. Ian Aitchison thinks that offering a more personalized IT support to enterprise users can be doable. You don’t need to be a Genius or a Guru to offer a Personal Service Desk (The ITSM Review)

Many CIOs feel innovation can only come after establishing a culture for innovation within the organization. CEB believes that, instead instilling a culture, a “climate of innovation” will be more malleable and can be influenced by processes, practices, and signals from leaders. Laura Wilson explains what is a “climate of innovation” and recommends four actions to create such climate within your organization. Want to Make IT More Innovative? Don’t Set Up a Skunkworks Team, Examine Your Behaviors (CEB’s IT Blog)

Some leaders try hard to help their teams by handing out advice on every aspect of the team’s work. Susan Cramm explains what the negative consequences can be and what corrective actions a leader should take. Are You Disabling Your Organization with Advice? (Strategy+Business)

Today’s leaders face a set of very different environments and leadership challenges. Len Lagestee believes that, by changing the way we think, speak, and act, we will begin to design how we will be remembered as a leader. Shaping Your Leadership Legacy (Illustrated Agile)

A challenge around strategic core competencies today is that too many of them appear to be enterprise-centric rather than from the customer’s point of view. Michael Schrage discusses how companies can re-think and re-architect how they can empower customers to add value to their core competencies. Do Customers Even Care about Your Core Competence? (Harvard Business Review)

Marshall Goldsmith suggests that leading an organization that provides integrated multi-product solutions is remarkably different from leading an organization that sells a single line of products. He recommends approaches leaders should take to navigate in today’s interconnected world. On a Consumer Watershed (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

Something else you might be interested in…

Microsoft has made a free Windows 8.1 ebook by Ed Bott available for download. Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals (MSDN Blogs)

Fresh Links Sundae – September 29, 2013 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. Often they are from the people whose work I admire or resonate with me. More importantly, I picked these articles to help my fellow IT professionals be more successful. I hope you will find these ideas thought-provoking at the minimum. Even better, I hope these ideas will, over time, help my fellow IT pros make better decisions, be awesome, and kick ass!

With the changes in how businesses utilize technologies, IT is being expected to build and deliver complex services, with external services and partners involved. Robert Stroud believes that the new focus of the IT Service Management function should be on design and execution as well as going from reactive to proactive. Service management must be proactive to retain relevance (CA Service Management)

According to Ryan Ogilvie, nothing is more frustrating than publishing metrics only to find that there are some inconsistencies in the data you have reported on. He explains what some potential causes for the reporting discrepancies are and how to improve the metrics. Service Management Reporting Accuracy – Greater Than or Less Than (Service Management Journey)

When IT projects languish, many of them don’t fail outright. Often they get “re-baselined”, and many ended up cancelled at the end. Stephen Lahanas gives his perspectives on why IT projects fail and what we can do to improve our chance of succeeding. Top 5 Reasons IT Projects Fail (Technovation Talks)

According to Patrick Gray, cloud applications could forcibly introduce unplanned and non-integrated tools into the IT application portfolio, just as spreadsheets and databases had done when those technologies first became available to the end users. He discusses what IT leaders can do to have productive conversations with the business on cloud applications. Avoid “Bring Your Own Cloud” syndrome (TechRepublic)

With the promise and the hype of Big Data, a number of organizations believe they have valuable data on hand and just need to find ways to monetize them. Sunand Menon explains what some of the misconceptions about data are and what steps an organization can take in order to understand the value of its data. Stop Assuming Your Data Will Bring You Riches (Harvard Business Review)

One of the most difficult challenges involved in software development is the near-total inability of developers to predict how long a project will take. Dan Milstein talks about how you can both give yours IT customers something they can work with and still manage the risks for the organization. No Deadlines For You! Software Dev Without Estimates, Specs or Other Lies (Hut 8 Labs)

Sprint Review session provides an excellent opportunity for the team to reflect on their work, to discuss lessons learned, and to plan the next steps. Len Lagestee suggests how to make the session productive for everyone. How to Make Sprint Reviews More Meaningful (Illustrated Agile)

Many of us are delivering more than 100% on the current demands of our job but devoting little time to developing ourselves further for future opportunities. Herminia Ibarra suggests six approaches for developing new skills when you have limited opportunities for exploration and growth. Six Ways to Grow Your Job (Harvard Business Review)

Disappointment is a fact of life, and it can hit you when you are least expecting. While disappointment can be demoralizing, Scott Eblin recommends ways for picking our spirit back up. Disappointment Sucks. So, Now What? (Eblin Group)

People often ask Scott Adams for advice on how to get started writing a book. Scott outlines his recommended steps. How to Write a Book (Scott Adams Blog)

And lastly, for your amusement…

From Stephen Lahanas, You Know You’ve been in IT too Long When… (Technovation Talks)