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Blog
Maslow’s Hammer, Digitized
Posted by Rich Crowley on Mar 24, 2017 in Change, innovation, management, strategy, thinking | 0 comments
Abraham Maslow is attributed with saying that “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. Most of us are guilty of falling prey to such thinking in our personal and professional lives at some points in time. However, I think this mode of thinking also affects organizations. Individuals and organizations attempting to remain relevant and thrive in the digital age should resist the temptation to focus too much effort on transforming their existing skills, products and services (their hammers) to meet the needs (ie. the...
read moreWhat’s In Your Attic?
Posted by Rich Crowley on Nov 19, 2016 in Agile, Change, Personal Improvement, Project Management, waterfall | 0 comments
One of my favourite books is Steinbeck’s “The Winter of our Discontent”. In it, he writes “So many old and lovely things are stored in the world’s attic because we don’t want them around us and we don’t dare throw them out.” I love this sentiment. It can be applied at a personal level, organizational level, institutional / societal level or at almost any abstraction one cares to apply it to. These lovelies in the attic could be ways of doing things, tools used to build things, people /...
read moreSecret Sauce Ingredients: Judgement, Experience and Confidence
Posted by Rich Crowley on Oct 13, 2016 in leadership, management, people, Project Management, teams | 0 comments
The website dictionary.com defines judgement as “the ability to judge, make a decision, or form an opinion objectively, authoritatively, and wisely, especially in matters affecting action”. I believe one of the most important attributes of a good PM is the ability to apply sound judgement at key times. (In fact, this is probably true of good managers in general.) Projects require thousands of decisions, small and large, over their life cycle. All participants are required to make them and in that sense, judgement is a good attribute for...
read moreTo Fail or Not to Fail?
Posted by Rich Crowley on Sep 26, 2016 in management, planning, Project Management, strategy | 0 comments
I’m torn between the essence of two ideas I find very appealing, but seemingly at odds with one another. The first is based on achieving progress using a “fail fast, fail forward” approach and the second involves achieving excellence by “minimizing mistakes”. The former is more of a philosophy for growth or innovation I suppose. Try new things, learn as quickly as you can, and understand that there is as much (or more) to be learned in what we mess up as there is in what we do well. This approach fosters...
read more7 Speeds of Fast
Posted by Rich Crowley on Sep 5, 2016 in IT, IT Architecture, management, planning, Project Management, Projects, strategy | 0 comments
I once read that John “Pieface” McKenzie, a Boston Bruin in the Bobby Orr era, described Orr as having “7 speeds of Fast”. I don’t have the actual quote but I recall the context of his comment being that he was skating up the ice one game, thinking he was going pretty fast, when Bobby glided past him, going much faster, but appearing to be barely exerting himself. The world we live in almost always puts a premium on speed. Business wants to bring products to market faster. Patients want shorter wait times at...
read moreThe Goodness of Blisters
Posted by Rich Crowley on Aug 11, 2016 in Change, Personal Improvement | 0 comments
Being someone who works in an office environment, I have office-worker hands. It doesn’t take much in the way of manual labour to lead to the inevitable and annoying blister. I’m not a big gardener, but fall leaf raking thing sometimes produces them. I also love splitting wood for our fireplace and that activity always leads to blisters when I have any kind of splitting volume to get through. A couple of weeks back, as I was happily hacking my way through some maple from a neighbour’s tree that came to a sad end, I ended up with a broken...
read moreTelevision is the New Television
Posted by Rich Crowley on Apr 22, 2016 in Change, innovation, Media | 0 comments
Author Michael Wolff’s book, of which I only read the abstract via getabstract, reinforces a simple truth that exists in my universe – namely, a good story makes for good entertainment. He argues that new digital media companies are following the same model as the old line media companies they are seeking to replace (newspapers, for example) by providing disposable content to large viewerships. Ad rates (and thus their business model), are tied to the viewership metrics. TV on the other hand, shines when it provides boutique,...
read morePain vs. Harm
Posted by Rich Crowley on Mar 5, 2016 in Change, management, psychology | 0 comments
I only listened to a portion of the audio book Necessary Endings as I found the content quite repetitive. However, one of my key take-away’s was the distinction the author makes between pain and harm. Pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In an anatomical sense, it is the body’s warning system to alert us to problems needing attention. In a business sense, the author suggests that while there are lots of scenarios where people and teams undergo pain, these are sometimes part of the march to better things. For example, a...
read moreThe Struggle to Read…Books
Posted by Rich Crowley on Feb 18, 2016 in books, Personal Improvement | 0 comments
I used to read a lot. As a young person, I read novels, biographies, historical stuff. Nothing that would put me in the league of intellectuals but a mix of escapism content and substance. However, as I took stock of my habits the end of this past year, I realized it has been a long time since I’ve read much in the way of books. I read a handful each year, but not more than that. Some years less. Perhaps I am just another data point in the universe of short-burst communications that internet technologies have spawned since I am a...
read moreAre You Working Hard?
Posted by Rich Crowley on Feb 15, 2016 in management, people, productivity, Project Management, teams | 0 comments
I’m mentioned in several prior posts that I love sports and the many lessons from the sporting world that can be applied to everyday life, including business. Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed a former star back into the fold after several decades of estrangement. Dave Keon, a four-time Stanley Cup champion shared a comment with current Leaf coach Mike Babcock that someone had shared with him early in his career. “Are you working hard or do you think you are working hard? There’s a big...
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