Links for February 19 2012

Links for February 19 2012
  • The Triple Constraint They DON’T Teach You In Project Management School by Timothy Johnson on carpe factum

    Quote: An experienced project manager will size up the trade-offs needed to complete the project. You try to do too much (rigor) in an immature (ability) organization with an unyielding culture and… oops. Try to do too little in an organization with the skills to grow but an inability to prioritize and… oops again.

  • Change Is Sexy, Until it Costs by Amber Naslund on Brass Tack Thinking

    Quote: …if you are really trying to adapt your business to the demands and pressure that social communication and culture is creating, and ensure that you’re integrating social horizontally as well as vertically, it’s a long-term play – think years, not months – that will require you to commit effort and resources, and embrace the discomfort that comes with change.

  • How Dumb Is Your User? by Jim Shamlin on Jim’s Notebook

    Quote:…one of he fundamental considerations of user experience design is: how dumb is your user? Overestimate his intelligence, and you risk alienating those with less; underestimate it, and you risk alienating those with more.

  • Smart Technology, Dumb People by Jennifer Lawinski on Bottom Line – Mobile & Wireless –

    Quote: Of course, technology is neither good nor bad. It simply exists. However, if we’re willing to swap thinking and analysis for the simplicity and convenience of automation–and this goes for businesses and their IT departments as well–we’re eventually going to find ourselves questioning whether we’re on the road to progress or looping through a perpetual fast food drive through that serves up tasty treats but leads absolutely nowhere.

  • Musical Managemeant: Adele 101 for Managers by Rosa Say

    Quote: It’s all about her story is something I keep hearing about her, over and over again, and that her songs are so intensely personal to her. It’s easy for her fans to make those songs personal to them too.

  • Ignoring the Impossible by Jamie Notter

    Quote: I feel like we should come clean and admit that none of us really knows what we’re doing when it comes to management. We’ve had our experiences and many of us have built successful workplaces, and a lot of what we’ve done is great–but we really can’t say what is possible or impossible. And while I don’t hold up one exception as a perfect “model” to be copied by everyone, I do get excited when I see the impossible happening in real life. It’s inspiration for me to try doing things differently. Because that’s what our workplaces desperately need right now.

  • Business Imperative: Trend-spotting by Olivier Blanchard on The BrandBuilder Blog

    Quote: How do you think some mutual funds beat the S&P; year after year? What do you think makes the difference between a great quarter and a lousy one for most businesses? Luck? Well… okay, there is always an element of luck. But luck strikes where and when it pleases. Industry giants aren’t betting the farm on a rabbit’s foot. Luck has nothing to do with engineering patterns of success. Having the right people onboard whose job it is to not only keep their eyes open but also understand where things are going, does.

  • Report: Content and the New Marketing Equation by Brian Solis

    Quote: Attention is finite and the competition for it is only escalating. But to entice and capture attention will take more than a new content strategy and a supporting editorial calendar. It will take a new mission, purpose, and culture to unlock experiences and pave engaging journeys through content.

  • Purpose Can Not Be Rationalized by Simon Sinek on Re:Focus

    Quote: There is no contract on the planet that can force me to violate what I stand for. I will lose money and I will certainly ruffle some feathers…and that’s fine by me.  They will all get over it in due course…I wouldn’t. They will rationalize why I was the wrong person for the job anyway. But I could never feel whole for showing up, no matter how much money they offered. Money is a calculation. My values are who I am.

  • Be Heard Lisa DiTullio on UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley

    Quote: Give everyone who is speaking your undivided attention.  This means not only listen to one another, but also demonstrate your listening through verbal and non-verbal signals.  Sometimes quiet listening is the best way to be heard.

  • Why do we want innovations yet fear innovation? by Jeffrey Phillips on Innovate on Purpose:

    Quote: My only conclusion is that the threshold to many corporate office buildings must hold powerful magic that creates temporary amnesia and replaces demand with fear.  Every person who “yes buts” an idea in a conference room while texting on an iPhone or Android should take a long look in the mirror.  We have met the enemy of innovation and he is us.?log=out