http://handspring.com.au Business and organisational change Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:53:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The software is selected, the hardware is installed and the training has been delivered.   Yet 70% of IT change projects never achieve desired results.  Worse, there is a general lack of agreement on how and why technology succeeds and fails in organizations, Earlier this year I undertook a research project ... http://handspring.com.au/it-change-improving-your-odds/ If you are having trouble getting things done, maybe it’s time to examine your rocks – the big things.  There is a classic time management story that goes something like this: A professor stands in front of his class.  On the desk, sits a jar and a pile of rocks.  He ... http://handspring.com.au/getting-things-done/ “Our mental development, unlike our physical development, does not have to end at age twenty; we can keep growing and developing in adulthood”**. The question that has been central to me is: ‘can people and organisational cultures really change?’ I am now convinced that the answer is ‘yes’.   I became intrigued with ... http://handspring.com.au/can-people-really-change/ Experiment:   Take 6 chefs with approximately equal skill and give them a difficult task.  Give 3 chefs an advantage:  the recipe and 24 hours to plan.  Give the other 3 chefs no planning time.  Hypothesis:  Chefs given the advantage should perform better than those with none. Actual result:   2 out of 3 ... http://handspring.com.au/can-innovation-be-planned/ “Forget GDP, we should be measuring GNH – gross national happiness”.  That’s what John Raulson Saul said in his Sydney Writers’ Festival talk on Thursday night (actually, he was just repeating what a Sultan had said - I can’t remember which one). It’s really a question of money vs. happiness that ... http://handspring.com.au/gross-national-happiness/ Take a look around your desk right now.  How many decisions are hanging around waiting for you to make them?  Have you thought about the costs of NOT making them?    Slow decisions can have a domino effect in organisations - creating unnecessary urgency and prevent learning. Let’s say that you have asked someone for ... http://handspring.com.au/decision-dominos/ Yes, even pets have something to teach us about management and change. Do you recognise this pattern? You need to make a change.  You make a plan and a schedule.  But when you start to move forward, you go...well, backward. Welcome to the complex and unpredictable world of change – the inevitable consequence of ... http://handspring.com.au/management-lessons-from-the-cat/ Love them or hate them, teams are a part of our organisational language.  But, as much as the word is used, it is not always clear what makes an effective team.  Let’s say your team has a goal to produce and execute a marketing plan.  In fact, your goal is to ... http://handspring.com.au/teamwork-do-i-have-to/ Imagine if every person in your organisation pursued and accomplished 1 big thing this year.  An organisation of 100 people would accomplish 100 big things.  How many did you accomplish last year?  You can teach the leaders and managers in your organisation to do this effectively and make it fun ... http://handspring.com.au/achieving-your-goals-in-3-easy-steps/ Trying to grow your business?  In his seminal work, The E-Myth*, Michael Gerber observes that growth requires you to play multiple roles at once – the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician.   But, it’s hard to be strong in all three areas at the same time without losing focus on ... http://handspring.com.au/mastering-business-growth/