Synopsis: Imperatives are the core values of the management team and the foundation stones of corporate culture. To influence corporate culture, leaders need to bring clarity and consistency to their imperatives.
This post is part 2 in the Cultures Cog’s series of posts. Click here for – Part 1
As a follow up to my discussion on the topic of "culture's cogs" I thought I would dive a bit deeper into each of the cogs. In this post I'll explore the issue of imperatives. As noted in my origina...
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Management
Culture’s Cogs
Synopsis: Imperatives, expectations and feedback are the mechanisms through which management's desire for high performance are translated into a functioning corporate culture.
Regular readers will know that I've been studying corporate cultures over recent months. My goal is to understand how corporate cultures come to be and what management teams can do to shape positive cultures (i.e. cultures that improve quality and productivity while simultaneously lifting employee engagement, morale and...
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Decision Defending
The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library. The Pattern Library illustrates some of the common patterns of events that have the potential to lead to project failure.
Name : Decision Defending
Type: Decision making / behavioral pattern
In brief :
A person locks in their answer to a question and shifts from trying to understand the ideas and opinions of others to promoting and defending their own idea.
Description :
Decision making in a group setting can be a frustrating ...
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IBM
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” – a list of failed or troubled projects from around the world.
IBM (International Business Machines) - USA
Project type : Organizational performance improvement and strategic realignment
Project name : Roadmap 2015
Date : 2010-2014 Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
Most of the projects noted in the catalogue were aimed at producing some form of product or tangible deliverable. IBM’s “Roadmap 2015” initiative is a little dif...
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The Vanishing Visionary
The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library. The Pattern Library illustrates some of the common patterns of events that have the potential to lead to project failure.
Name : Vanishing Visionary (aka dump and run)
In brief :
A Project Sponsor conceptualizes and initiates a project, but fails to follow through to ensure successful delivery. They provide the vision, assign the project to a Project Manager (dump) and then wash their hands of any further responsibility for the pr...
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Corporate Culture – Part 2
Last week I posted thread that outlined some of the different types of corporate culture and started the process of looking into how corporate culture influences project outcomes. In this week's post we'll look at where cultures come from.
Part of the reason corporate culture is so poorly understood is because few organizations appreciate how cultures form. Cultures are invisible and they are hard to define. They develop out of ongoing interactions rather than a single moment in time and ...
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Corporate Culture – Part 1
Culture is a powerful force in any human system. It establishes the norms of behavior and acts as a reference point for the expectations we have of each other and ourselves. While we are all used to the idea of culture in our public societies (cultures driven by national identity, religious affiliation, generational groups and /or fashion), culture in the workplace gets less attention. While the phase "corporate culture" is banded around, few organizations really have a grasp of what it is, how ...
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J.C. Penny
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed or troubled projects from around the world.
J. C. Penny Company Inc - USA
Project type : Nationwide merchandise pricing strategy
Project name : Fair and square
Date : Nov 2011 - May 2013 Cost : Contributor to $1B loss
Synopsis :
Know thy customer is the marketer's prime directive. Understand your stakeholder's is the Project Manager's corollary. J.C. Penny is a national level department store chain in the U...
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Bait and switch
Lesson Learned: Take control over the key players vendors assign to your contracts
Category: Contract Management
The following post is a “Lesson Learned” that comes from the analysis of the failed projects documented in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” or from the experiences the editorial team have had working with clients around the world. The post is published here to spark discussion and help organizations think about what it takes to improve project success rates.
In today’s compet...
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Don’t just jump, leap
Lesson learned: Maximizing project throughput.
Category: Resource management / Portfolio management.
The following post is a "Lesson Learned" that comes from the analysis of the failed projects documented in the "Catalogue of Catastrophe" or from the experiences the editorial team have had working with clients around the world. The post is published here to spark discussion and help individuals and organizations think about what it takes to improve project success rates.
Given the rap...
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