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Tech Management
Failing Faster
Here is a simple question to ask yourself: do I insist on solving problems myself? A noble goal, until it takes too long to get the answer. Why don’t we fail fast enough to ask the question to someone who knows? Remember, we pay a ton of money for annual maintenance to our enterprise software [...]
Would you like me to google that for you?
Got some rare Re-Tweets today on a techie insult – so snappy, I had to write a post to use it for a title! Deep in the problem analysis and debugging process, the typical IT hack experiences counter-balancing pressures that impact decision making – Capable Independence vs. Speed to Value. Capable Independence is just fancy-talk [...]
Agile Methods in a Waterfall World: Speaking In Code
Starting up a new project, and I’m definitely having fun with it. At first glance, it looks like a fairly small, departmental application, but it is actually part of a web of disconnected processes and local databases (ie. “a mess”) that support some fairly important master data. Also, the folks I’m working with are much [...]
Best Practices for Process Documentation: Iterations (2 of 3)
Last time, I wrote about checklists, and showed the example of the B-17 preflight. Simple, fits on a single page, and hits all the critical steps, in just the right amount of detail. Plenty of processes in the IT department are made That Much Better if they are accompanied by detailed, effective Process Documentation. Of [...]
Where to Start? (2 of 2) Metrics & Measurements
Bullet point #1 in your executive-friendly PowerPoint about “Achieving Operational Excellence in IT” covers Process and Procedure; so how do we measure our effectiveness? I’m a big proponent of Metrics and Measurements as well – but often times the biggest challenge is where to start? Measure the Unmeasured In most organizations (especially manufacturers!), the business [...]
Where to Start? (1 of 2) Process and Procedure
If you need a one-slide, three-bullet, PowerPoint special for describing the basic tactics for “How to Achieve Operational Excellence”, try these: Process and Procedures Metrics and Measurements Continuous Improvement The first two are nicely alliterative, but you might consider substituting Standards and Processes as your lead-off if we’re talking about an IT, Finance, or Engineering [...]
Don’t Accept Snap Answers Too Quickly
A few years ago, I was working on an interface project, and wanted to have the ERP system send copies of any and all transactions that have changed over the past few days. I’ve done this before on other platforms, so I asked the lead developer what I thought was a no-brainer request: Do the [...]
IT and the Business are Closer Than You Think
A few passing observations from the last few months; contrary to what many (IT/business) folks believe, they are just as good or just as bad in managing processes and projects as their counterparts in (business/IT). Problem Resolution is Everybody’s Problem A few weeks ago I was discussing issues that came up with one of our [...]
There ain’t much IT in IT Management
This morning, I caught myself looking back at the last week of meetings, e-mails, and conference calls, and I experienced a minor epiphany. If I published a detailed diary of the ebb & flow of proposals, debates, and commitments from the past few days, I could successfully deflate the management aspirations of 80-90% of the [...]
Thoughts on Why Tech Folks Need to Sweat the Administrivia Details
As I’ve noted in the past, it really helps to understand the techies‘ way of thinking, especially when trying to get work done on tasks that are decidedly non-technical. Here’s two more recent stories from work, both hinging on the common desire to just “git’er done“. Why do we waste time removing obsolete code? Just hide [...]
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