The effect of power on the manager, a brilliant paper. Very sobering. “Power and Perspectives Not Taken” by Galinsky et. al.
Estimating – Reading
Posted on May 14, 2016 Written by
For inspiration on estimating – check out this resource list from Glen Alleman at “Herding Cats” – How to estimate anything
Lean – reading
Posted on March 19, 2016 Written by
I am convinced that Lean thinking and work patterns are crucial for IT-related change projects and the IT Service Management portfolio. When I am seeking inspiration I dive into:
Lean Production Simplified, Third Edition: A Plain-Language Guide to the World’s Most Powerful Production System 
(book) by Pascal Dennis. Dennis in his 3rd Ed. includes specific material on bridging from the factory floor to knowledge work. The argument that LEAN is important to knowledge work is persuasive – the challenge is in application.
The Remedy: Bringing Lean Thinking Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization 
(book) by Pascal Dennis. Not as sharp as “Lean Simplified” but a useful guide to bridging across from production to business contexts.
Personal Productivity – Reading
Posted on March 19, 2016 Written by
I have been reading zen habits for a while – but this is a gem: My most important productivity method. Here is the thesis:
- Pick something important to work on (a task from your most important project, perhaps). What you pick doesn’t really matter, because you’ll get the rest soon.
- Focus exclusively on that task for a bit, finishing it if you can.
- Pick another important task after that, and repeat.
Reading for fun
Posted on January 24, 2016 Written by
Imperium (Cicero Trilogy) (books) by Robert Harris. Gripping recreation of Cicero’s personal secretary Tiro’s lost account of the public and private life of Cicero spanning the transition from the Republic to Dictatorship.
Red Sparrow (books) by Jason Matthews. A post-cold war thriller in the best tradition of Tom Clancy.
Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War (book) by P. W. Singer. How did the next world start? Who was it between?
Old Man’s War (books) by John Scalzi. Fantastic premise: “old men and women get a new lease on life, on one condition, they join the army and never return to earth …”
Navigating Conflict At Work – Reading
Posted on December 10, 2015 Written by
When I want to reflect on conflict at work and see what I can do better, I dip into one of these gems.
Resolving Conflicts at Work: Ten Strategies for Everyone on the Job (book) by Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith. This is easily the best book I have read in ages. So many goodies for moving forward out of conflict.
The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches (book) by Roger Schwarz. What has facilitation got to do with managing and conflict? Everything.
These next books are also good but not in the same class as the previous two.
Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition (book) by Kerry Patterson.
Beyond Bullsh*t: Straight-Talk at Work (book) by Samuel Culbert
Concerning Micromanagement
My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide (book) by Harry E. Chambers. A key driver of micromanagement is anxiety. How can sources of anxiety by identified and weakened?
For reflection
And here are some “slow burn” books that are worth chewing over.
Images of Organization (book) by Gareth Morgan. Recently updated this is a classic. We understand organisation through metaphor. Organisation as “machine”, as “mind”, as “cultures”, as “psychic prisons”, … all the metaphors have strengths and weaknesses. This book provides lots of insights for reframing conflict.
Influence (Collins Business Essentials) (book) by Robert B. Cialdini PhD. Wow. Everyone must read this book at least once every two years. Compliance practitioners are across this material. We need to be too!
Management of IT Reading
Posted on December 10, 2015 Written by
See also the post on IT Service Management Reading.
I have found these resources provide key building blocks for leading IT.
How completely messed up processes become normal (web article) by Dan Luu. Thought provoking.
How technology is creating a new world of work (web article) by Dan Levin of Box. Has implications for the relationship between the specialist IT function and “the business”.
Six Protocols of IT Transformation: Managing the Transformation of IT Ecosystems with Value-Based IT (book) by Lesandrini. Top to bottom review of actionable ideas for management of IT.
CIO 100: The First 100 days as CIO (book) Gary Buck. Strong focus on establishing the key relationships for success as CIO.
IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go from Pain to Gain (book) Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross. (This is from the authors of “IT Governance” listed below.) Strongly researched. Take away? Key business impacts of the Information Platform are “integration and standardisation”.
IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results (book) Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross. Must read for integrating IT with the host business.
Leading the Transformation: Applying Agile and DevOps Principles at Scale (book) Gary Gruver. An animated and animating account of a large IT function being transformed over a multi-year timeframe funded out of opex.
Risk and Safety discussion
Posted on September 21, 2015 Written by
Having identified our risks we then proceed to characterise the source, the causal mechanisms, the consequences, identify controls and finally apply some sort of ranking to the risk. Sounds fairly straightforward and objective doesn’t it…
and
Although dangers are real, there is no such thing as objective risk or real risk. Even the simplest, most straightforward risk assessments are based on theoretical models, whose structure is subjective and assumption laden and whose inputs are dependent on judgement
From Matthew Squair’s excellent “System Safety” lecture slides.
IT Service Management Reading
Posted on May 20, 2015 Written by
Adopting IT Service Management disciplines is a journey for the service provider (and the customers). Here is a partial list of references which have guided me.
Implementation Guidance
- The Visible Ops Handbook: Implementing ITIL in 4 Practical and Auditable Steps (book), Gene Kim et al.
- An opinionated pathway to adopting ITSM disciplines.
- Owning ITIL (book), Rob England
- No nonsense guidance from the IT Skeptic
- ITIL: practice and theory-an empirical study (pdf), Hirth and Melander
- A broad ranging discussion with key insights in their Propositions section.
Framing of ITSM
- The ISM Method: Past, Present and Future of IT Service Management (book) (sample), Wim Hoving and Jan van Bon
- If ITIL is the PMBOK®Guide of ITSM, is ISM its PRINCE2? Prescriptive and implementable! Also, lots of great insights into framing the relationship with the business (aka customer).
- Yet another Service Management Model (website)
- A Creative Commons licensed, refactoring of ITIL and ISO20000 concepts by the gurus at it-processmaps.com
What is a Service?
- ANATOMY OF A SERVICE A Practical Guide To Defining IT Services (pdf), Jack Probst
- Jack sees the dilemma and gives good advice. I am still looking for someone to explain the ‘fitness for purpose’ criteria for service definitions in terms of the ITSM processes that will be consuming and updating Service Catalog information.
- Servicing ITSM: A HANDBOOK OF SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS FOR IT SERVICE MANAGERS AND A MEANS FOR BUILDING THEM (book), Randy A. Steinberg
- The first half is an excellent discussion around identifying services. Randy gets carried away in the second half and casts the whole of ITIL as a collection of services.
What process should we tackle next?
- Building a Software Tool for Transparent and Efficient Process Assessments in IT Service Management (pdf), Shrestha et al.
- Using ISO/IEC 15504 with an ITSM Process Assessment Model to identify opportunities for improvement.
Evidence for the usefulness of ITIL
- Review of recent ITIL® studies (pdf) also by Rob England
The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully (Consulting Secrets)
Posted on May 13, 2015 Written by
Weinberg’s book is fantastic. For everyone who is invited to influence another!
The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully
Foundations of Project Management
Posted on September 2, 2014 Written by
This is a collection of references to articles and ideas that I refer to constantly to refresh my vision for Project Management.
Bent Flyvbjerg on Reference Class Forecasting.
Mel Conway on How committees Invent. The collaboration patterns of project stakeholders determines more than might be expected.
Fernando Flores on Conversations for Action. This is the project Manager’s daily bread. See my reflection on this: What Could Possibly go Wrong. See Crockford and Marshall’s application of this to Project Management. See also Peter Dennings excellent article ((Peter J. Denning. 2013. The other side of language. Commun. ACM 56, 9 (September 2013), 35-37. DOI=10.1145/2500132 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2500132)) .
Atul Gawande on 
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Atul Gawande. How do we ensure repeatable processes with highly qualified professionals? How can we document them?
Tom Kendrick on Results Without Authority: Controlling a Project When the Team Doesn’t Report to You. The project manager’s toolkit as sources of power for good.
Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler on Crucial Conversations. Required reading only if the project manager per chance encounters situations where options vary, the stakes are high and emotions run strong.
“Cybersecurity as Realpolitik” by Dan Geer
Posted on August 21, 2014 Written by
“Cybersecurity as Realpolitik” by Dan Geer, at BlackHat 2014 is a thought provoking and informative discussion of the behavioural economic interventions that might increase Cyber Security. 8/10
Is there any real difference between a system that permits easy, secure, identity-based services and a surveillance system?
Video: https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/video/cybersecurity-as-realpolitik.html
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Posted on June 29, 2014 Written by
Cialdini’s book is a must read for all sentient beings. The facts on the ground are too numerous for our minds to accommodate so we consistently adopt mental shortcuts that make us vulnerable to the compliance practitioner. Forewarned is forearmed!
BTW Charlie Munger‘s personal reflection on Cialdini’s thesis, “24 standard causes for human misjudgement“, is also worth a listen.