Project Portfolio Excellence position papers
The idea that human resources are elastic disrespects education, experience, and individual levels of skill and knowledge. (PPE Truth #77)
In 2009, Accenture released their annual technology vision report entitled "Everything Elastic." In this report they present a vision of "an emerging 'elastic' world, one in which business capabilities - infrastructure, people and even thought - can be expanded or contracted at will." This paper rebuts the idea that people and thought, in particular, are elastic in nature. In fact one of the major causes of process, project, and software failure is a systematic lack of respect and appreciation for the tremendous value of experience, education, and expertise.
Rebuttal to Accenture's "Everything Elastic: Accenture Technology Vision 2009"
A large percentage of project “failures” occur because budget and schedule expectations are made absent of facts. (PPE Truth #56)
In the May 15, 2009 issue of CIO magazine there was a cover article entitled, "The F Word: How failure teaches, motivates, even inspires." Looking at the article from the perspective of Project Portfolio Excellence gives us an opportunity to analyze their failures and learn from their mistakes. A link to the original article is included as well.
Deconstruction of Failures Past - Part 1
You can’t “Manage to the Truth” until you’re willing to acknowledge the truth. (PPE Truth #21)
If you've read any of the material about The Contract for Collaboration you may have noticed the heavy emphasis that we place on building a culture and environment where everyone is encouraged to be honest and open in sharing their particular knowledge and expertise. This is especially important when they might have critical information that pertains to our software, project and quality work. Building this kind of culture is difficult when we've invested so time and emotion in our mutual distrust. This paper outlines a five-step process that will show you how to move from "Management by Wishing it were so" to "Management to the Truth."
The Verisimilitude Manifesto
Capacity for Quality Work is the amount of work that can be executed while maintaining an acceptable level of quality. (PPE Truth #129)
Most companies are attempting to execute more projects than they have the capacity to execute. When this happens poor quality results and future value and benefits are decreased due to ongoing cost-of-quality issues in the systems and applications that we implement. This paper goes into detail about how important it is to understand our capacity from the perspective of acceptable quality. CfQW is the constraint that draws the line between projects that create value and projects that create heartburn.
Capacity for Quality Work (CfQW)
The reason we don’t collaborate effectively is because we don’t measure how effectively we collaborate! (PPE Truth #95)
By this point you've probably had the idea of Business and IT collaborative effectiveness drummed into your head enough. But maybe you're still wondering how to start improving your results in this area. This paper presents a straightforward method for improving collaborative effectiveness. Just start measuring your results! After all, you get what you measure. But make sure you're measuring the right things.
Improve Business/IT Collaboration Effectiveness in Three Easy Steps