Books

This book,  with the full title of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” is a must read for anyone trying to figure out how to benefit from the social networking phenomenon. There is only one major negative aspect of this book: It wasn’t written 3 years ago. Shame on you Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff! (joking of course!)

This book is perfect for anyone who doesn’t understand ‘social media‘…and for those that think they do! It  provides case-based examples of how organizations have used social media to engage their users.  The examples provided in the book are quite good and describe how organizations have used social media to embrace their community.

Before you go out and buy the book on my recommendation, let me point out a couple of important points:

• This book does not tell you how to implement a social network.
• This book will not solve your social media problems.  It will help you with understanding your problems and give you some ideas for solutions.

What this book will do is help you understand that there isn’t any one answer to the question of ‘how to embrace social media”.  The book provides many examples of social media experiments…some successful and some failures.

The book provides a ton of information about demographics and age group differences and how age normally affects social media usage.  Excellent information that everyone should review.

For me, the most interesting section of the book is the one in which the authors state very clearly that any social media project (or really any project for that matter) can be made more successful if the following four steps are followed:

• First, look at your People.
• Second, Set at your Objectives.
• Third, Review your Strategy.
• Fourth, look at Technology.

This approach, which the authors abbreviated as POST, is no different than any proper strategic planning initiative…at least in my book. When any organization starts to look at new things like social media, they must first look at their people and their customers.  Is this new strategy something that can be achieved easily? Is it viable?

The second step is to Set your Objectives for the project.  What are you trying to achieve with this social media project (or any project)?  The third step is to review your overall strategy as well as determine your ‘go to market’ strategy.  The last step (which most organizations perform first), is to select the technology platform that you will use to carry out your strategy.  I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this process performed backwards with technology selected before any real thought was put into the strategy, objectives and people.  Many of those projects failed miserably because of that.

The book is well reviewed…and is well deserving of those reviews.  Its an excellent book for anyone interested in this topic.  Highly recommended.

If you are interested in software development…read this book.

If you aren’t interested in software development…read this book.

If you’ve always wondered why software development is such a tough thing to manage and predict completion…read this book.

Did I say that you should read this book?

The book is not a detailed “how to”…it is a story that follows the development of “Chandler“, a software product that was going to ‘change the world’….but of course, the product never really materialized.  The team worked on the product for more than 5 years and never produced what the founder, Mitch Kapor of Lotus 1-2-3 fame, had envisioned. 5 years, over 4700 bugs and two dozen programmers with very little to show for the effort.

Take a look at the Related Articles below…you’ll see that Chandler is just now coming to be a “1.0″ release after 7 years of development.  Interested story and a great book.

If you find yourself perplexed about the process of software development, this book might help you move a little closer to understanding the complexity of this process.

Definitely recommended reading.

I just finished reading The Strategic Project Leader: Mastering Service-Based Project Leadership by Jack Ferraro….not a bad book.

In section two of his book, Mr. Ferraro writes:

“In project management, leadership is desperately needed; leadership that is adaptable, perceptive, timely, meaningful, authentic, and unselfish.”

This one sentence sums up the core of The Strategic Project Leader’s message: Project leaders, not project processes, are the future for project management. As the first section carefully lays out, the codification and standardization of project management knowledge has created a commoditized service that can be bought and sold like any other product. However, project managers can resist the force of commoditization by adding personal value to their organizations through leadership.

Ferraro defines a new role for the project manager seeking to be the spearhead of change – the service-based project leader. As the book points out, this role of ‘Project Leader’ is an area of untapped potential in project management. This kind of leadership requires a project manager to provide service not only to a sponsor but to all the project’s stakeholders. By truly serving the needs of organizations and individuals, project leaders find themselves doing meaningful work, a factor that is linked to personal growth and great job satisfaction. Due to the highly personal and individual nature of leadership, it cannot be codified and standardized into a ‘methodology.’

The first section of the book is devoted to this idea of leadership in project management and provides guidance as to how to step up into a leadership role. However, Ferraro also introduces several critical topics not usually found in project management books. He discusses the importance of establishing trust-based relationships with clients, and putting the needs of the client first, ideas that are central to high-level project leadership.

The second section of the book provides more concrete information in the form of a ‘leadership competency framework’ that is comprised of five ‘core competencies’. This competency framework is presented in the form of a pyramid:

• Project & Program Management Knowledge, Skill & Experience
• Subject Matter Expertise
• Trust-based Relationships
• Consultative Leadership
• Courage

While knowledge of project management processes is necessary as the base of this pyramid, project leaders must move beyond this to become true consultative leaders.

The third section helps the reader create practical self-development plans – a step-by-step guide to improving leadership skills. The final section, written by Roberta Hill, provides a detailed overview of a variety of assessment methods.

Smoothly written and easy to read, The Strategic Project Leader is an indispensable guide to anyone looking to be a leader among project managers.

I’ve been tagged by Jim Stroup at Managing Leadership to provide a listing of the books that I’m currently reading and/or are on my bookshelf.

Well…since my bookshelf is actually 3 bookshelves full of all types of books (I have very eclectic tastes in books), I’ll give a quick rundown of the books/articles I’m reading plus those that are on my ‘to read’ list.

Currently reading:

• Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith - Interesting book that should be required reading for any person selling services. There are some excellent ‘nuggets’ of information in this book…”don’t let perfect ruin good” is my favorite.
• The Strategic Project Leader by Jack Ferraro - I’m three chapters in and so far I like this book. The book describes the growing specialization of project managers and provides a ‘roadmap’ for those PM’s that want to step into the ‘project leader’ role (as compared to project administrator, project specialist, etc). Look for more on this book and the topic of specialization soon.
• Working Knowledge by Thomas Davenport & Laurence Prusak - a classic in the world of Knowledge Management. This was an ‘optional’ book in my KM class I’m taking this semester but I think it should be required reading….not just for someone in the class but for any person interested in the subject.

On the bookshelf:

• Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg
• The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks
• Tactical Entrepreneur by Brian Hazelgren
• The latest edition of CIO Magazine (I’ve always got one of these sitting around)
• Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro & Hal R. Varian - (I plan on re-reading 8 years after I first read it)
• Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh

Just finished reading the book “It’s Your Ship” by Mike Abrashoff. At first glance, this book looks like it would be something that I wouldn’t like at all…the picture of the naval officer (the author) on the front really turned me off. I read the book at the urging of a friend and was pleasantly surprised.

Although there is nothing in the book that is groundbreaking, it is interesting to see an approach to leadership that mimics my own approach as outlined in my post titled “Five Simple Traits of Leadership (sorry…shameless self-promotion!).

The book is part memoir and part leadership primer. This is not a dry leadership tome that you will find on most bookshelves…it’s the story of a ship being led by a man who isn’t afraid to admit his mistakes and listen to his crew.

I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a “real world” story on leadership but don’t expect too much out of it…it is what it is…a memoir from a man regarding his years learning how to be a leader.

Technorati Tags: It’s Your Ship, Leadership, Mike Abrashoff

I’m just finishing up “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann. My review in two words: “Love it“.

The book is a ‘business parable’ (whatever that means) that gives some great advice on what the authors have titled the ‘Five Laws of Stratospheric Success”. The five laws are:

• Law of value
• Law of compensation
• Law of influence
• Law of authenticity
• Law of receptivity

The laws boil down to one basic point…give more than you get. These laws are absolutely spot on with how I’ve tried to live my life. Life isn’t about how much can I get…its about how can I help others, what value can I bring to others and living according to my own ethical standards.

This is a great book and is a fast read. Pick it up and read it on your next plane ride….you’ll be glad you did.

Technorati Tags: values, go-giver, networking, authenticity

I found this book last weekend at the local Half-Price Books and thought I’d give it a read.

This well known book, and its author Nicholas Carr, has been at the center of a debate in the IT academic world for some time and I figure I should peruse it to see what the hubbub is all about.

Carr started a firestorm with his original 2003 article titled “IT Doesn’t Matter” in Harvard Business Review (see some rebuttal arguments here) and this book (written in 2004) takes the argument further by comparing IT to the railroad, telegraph and other technological innovations in years past.

Carr’s main argument seems to be that IT is a commodity…which I agree with somewhat. Services such as Email and Web hosting are exactly that…a commodity. The problem is that most organizations treat IT as a whole as a commodity instead of viewing it as a way to gain strategic advantage.

Once I finish the book, I’ll post my thoughts.

Technorati Tags: IT, Does IT Matter, IT Strategy

I just finished reading “Reinventing Project Management” by Aaron J. Shenhar and Dov Dvir and I have to say that I really enjoyed this book.

The full title of the book is “Reinventing Project Management: The Diamond Approach to Successful Growth & Innovation” and, as the title suggests, it covers an approach that the authors call the “Diamond Approach” to determining risks and benefits of a project. The diamond is comprised of the following items:

• Technology
• Novelty
• Pace
• Complexity

I could spend some time discussing the diamond approach but wouldn’t do it justice and I don’t think that it is the most important take-away from this book. The major take-away for me is that this book says what I’ve been saying for years: Project Management requires a more flexible approach than current methodologies allow.

On page 206 the authors list the “Main Lessons” from the book…lessons that are pure gold for project managers and organizations. I’ve listed a few of the ones that I thought were ‘gold’ and also provide commentary below.

Project Management isn’t about delivering a project on time, on budget and within scope; its about serving a customer and delivering results.

How true. Many PM’s are so focused on staying within the ‘Iron Triangle’ of scope, time and budget that they lose track of the business value that they are (or should be) delivering to their clients.

To succeed in projects you must use an adaptive project management approach, adapting your project management style to the environment, the goal and the project task.

The rigidity of modern PM methodologies causes many problems for those PM’s that try to adhere to them in a strict manner. To lead a project to success, PM’s must be able to think on their feet and adapt the PM methodologies to the ever-changing environment.

Overall, this book is definitely worth the time it takes you to read.

Technorati Tags: Project Management, agility, flexbility

I’m about half-way through an advance copy of David Maister’s latest book titled Strategy and the Fat Smoker and I have to say I like what I’ve read so far.

The book condenses all the ’strategic planning’ discussions down to two main points:

1. Figure out the strategy to get where you want to go.
2. Do what you need to do to implement the strategy and get where you need to go.

Most people and organizations can do the first step but never really perform step number two.

Maister uses the example of the Fat Smoker to make his point. As a Fat Smoker (which Maister says he actually was), you know that being overweight and smoking are bad for you and you should do things differently. It’s easier to continue to be a fat smoker than it is to not smoke and lose weight….and this is the road that most people and organizations take.

It is tough work doing the right things to implement a strategy. If your strategy is to lose weight, then you need to do something to actually lose weight (e.g., eat less, exercise, etc). If your strategy is to provide better customer service then you need to do something that ensures that customer service is the top priority within the organization.

This is a great book and worth the read…it’s currently on pre-order at Amazon so jump on the list and reserve yours today.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, strategy, David Maister, Organizations, Strategy and the Fat Smoker

I recently finished reading Mass Career Customization, the newly released book from Deloitte’s Cathleen Benko and Anne Weisberg (published by Harvard Business Press).

The Quick review: Great book with some excellent ideas.

The long review (well…not real long):

The authors do a very good job of outlining the issues and trends that are pressing employees today. The main issues, according to the authors, are:

• Knowledge Worker Shortfall
• Changing Family Structures
• More & Better Educated Women
• The changing expectations of Men
• Generational Maturity (Gen X & Y)
• Technology

These issues are definitely affecting organizations and employees and there has been little thought put into how to allow employees to structure their lives and careers to address these issues.

The authors provide a framework, which they’ve called “Mass Career Customization” (MCC) that allows employees and organizations to customize a career. This framework provides four dimensions that can be used to customize a career at any given point in time. These dimensions, Pace, Workload, Location/Schedule and Role, are well thought out and well crafted ways to customize a career. According to the authors, these dimensions are defined as (taken from page 84):

• Pace - options relating to the rate of career progression
• Workload - choices relating to the quanity of work output
• Location/Schedule - Options for when and where work is performed
• Role - Choices in position and responsibilities.

Let’s consider an example of how MCC works:

Assume you are a person just out of college. You take a job with a large company and want to get on ‘the fast track’ to career growth and experience. You, along with your manager, would use the MCC framework to increase the dimensions of Pace, Workload and possibly Location/Schedule so that you can gain as much experience in the business as you can. The Role dimension would be at its lowest level since your role would be as an individual contributor.

Now, assume you’ve worked for 3 years with this same MCC model and are getting tired of the pace of life and want to settle down a bit and go back to school for your MBA. At this time, you and your manager would sit down and develop another MCC model for your career to possibly reduce Pace and Workload while increasing your role to a position that moves you into a managerial role.

Further along in your career, you can use the MCC framework to structure your work-life balance in order to do what you need to do.

The overall goal of MCC is to provide a method for allowing employees and organizations to utilize the talent pool in a more effective manner. I can’t help but think of the books by Ricardo Semler (Maverick, Seven Day Weekend) which discuss the need to treat employees like adults and allow them to do their job in whatever way they feel most comfortable with. I think the Mass Career Customization framework is getting us closer to that type of organization.

This book is a very interesting book…I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the art/science of making organizations more effective and employee friendly.

Technorati Tags: Mass Career Customization, books, culture, organization, Human Resources