Synopsis - Effective 'leaders' know what quality is and feel a sense of responsibility for achieving quality. If a person waffles, waivers or avoids discussing quality, chances are they will not make an effective leader.
It's pretty clear that project success rates are higher where projects have effective leadership and lower where there was either no leader, or where those in the leadership roles didn't discharge their duties effectively. Effective leaders align people, focus people a...
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Quality
Attitudes for Altitude
Lesson learned: Hire for attitude and potential, not just experience.
Category: Person skills development / hiring.
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.
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The Bean Counter’s Blind Spot
Lesson learned: Be careful what you measure and how you measure it.
Category: Project objectives / Decision making.
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.
I can...
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Say it with Samples
Lesson learned: Use real life samples to make training more effective.
Category: Training / skills development.
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.
In...
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Social Learning
Being something of a Systems Thinker, I often find myself reflecting on events to see if I can understand the cause and effect relationships that drive the outcomes we attain. Working in the field of education, that interest has caused me to look deeply into the way individuals learn and how different modes of teaching achieve different outcomes.
When we think about training we typically think in terms of training classes, academic courses and the ubiquitous two day workshop. Despite the prom...
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The Process Fallacy
As many readers will know, the idea of “continual process improvement” is a pillar of the quality management movement. By improving processes, the root cause of problems that allow mistakes to be made can be eliminated, thereby allowing the organization to produce higher quality goods and services.
Although the idea of continual improvement started in the manufacturing sector, in the mid 1990’s the idea gained ground in the IT sector as well. Models such as the Capability Maturity Model (CMM)...
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Broken Windows
There's a theory that says that where small indiscretions are ignored, larger ones will follow. The theory, known as the “broken window” effect, is most often illustrated using crime as an example. The argument says that if a building has broken windows and those windows are left unattended, the presence of the broken glass will encourage vandals to break more windows. If repairs are still not carried out, the message to the community is that no one really cares and that then leads to an escalat...
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Quality Kaboom
The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library. The Pattern Library records the common patterns of events that have the potential to lead to project failure.
Name : Quality Kaboom
Type : Behavioral pattern (patterns that shape the sequence or flow of events)
In brief :
Quality activities are pushed to the end of the development cycle allowing hidden problems to grow in magnitude. High levels of rework only become apparent late in the project cycle.
Description :
All projec...
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