April 2009 Archives

The Standish Group has released their latest survey on project success, CHAOS 2009. And it doesn't sound like good new. In fact, it sounds like the same news. We (collectively) don't know how to manager projects.

Today, there are many technologies that offer some form of expertise location, but how do they go about building that directory? And what are they anyway?

In general, operations management circles have grown to understand the hazards of push systems and the benefits of pull systems when managing work on the shop floor or the engineering department or the supply chain.

Mark Woeppel will be doing a Critical Chain Project Management Webinar on 29 April.

My comments on Essays on the Theory of Constraints. Short form: interesting material, but don't buy it if you are new to TOC.

Discovered a "TOC in Action" article by Pascal Van Cauwenberghe.

A reader asked me a question about using wikis for student group projects. I have some ideas, but I'd love to hear from my readers with suggestions as well.

Clarke Ching mentioned a brief HBR article, "Are great companies ... just lucky?" The essential idea reflects concerns of the Halo Effect, that exemplar companies are just those that have whethered the storms of chance better than others - not that they've done anything unique to survive.

There are plenty of things I do individually and that I see in business that make things better. But there seem to be just as many, if not more, that are merely a change without any obvious benefit.

Imagine having your pick of 30 different fireworks. Each has its own effects, but taken in combinations, they can really light up the sky. That's the idea behind Leandro Herrero's Disruptive Ideas, a how-to follow-on to Viral Change.

You always need to be careful when an article starts with "In today's economic climate", but I like what Art Murray is saying in this KM World article in his Future of the Future column, "An opportunity for real change" (in business structure).

The Work Foundation continues to think about knowledge management - knowledge work, specifically - and the implications for KM in the U.K. They have a new study report out that claims "Employers squandering the talents of workers.