Thursday, December 29, 2011
People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it
Posted by Simon Baker
Simon Sinek says, "people don't buy what you do, they buy [because of] why you do it." He argues that our brain is wired to start with why. We make decisions emotionally, subconsciously, and instinctively (based on the limbic system) and then justify our decisions and actions rationally, consciously and intellectually (based on the cerebral cortex). Despite this we're inclined to talk a lot about what and how and often not really mention why.
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Monday, December 12, 2011
Too busy chopping wood to sharpen the axe
Posted by Simon Baker
The prevailing management (and financial) mindset in companies today is focused on efficiency, productivity, and costs. The primary concern is to maximize all assets and capabilities so that nothing sits idle. What this really means is keeping people working at 100% utilization.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
So you want a fresh apple
Posted by Simon Baker
Without a system in place what do you do? You stroll out of your farmhouse door, walk down to the orchard and pick a luscious, ripe, red apple right off the tree. That was easy. And you got some exercise and fresh air too.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Systems are seductive
Posted by Simon Baker
We leap into solving problems with a system of our own design because we convince ourselves they do the job faster, better, and more easily than we can do it.
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Crack cocaine problem-solving and complexity
Posted by Simon Baker
Once something is large enough and puzzling enough to be designated a problem, we have a tendency to rush in, exaggerate its complexity and solve it with an overcomplicated system. The trouble is, complicated systems produce complicated responses to problems. They don't produce solutions. When the system doesn't do what we designed it to do, which it will, we push on it to make it work. But that doesn't work so we push it harder and harder and grow more anxious. Then we come crashing down. Not to worry. It's really not long before we're back with the urge to do it all over again. And again. And again.
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Beware the Coefficient of Fiction
Posted by Simon Baker
There's a saying: "If it isn't official, it hasn't happened".
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The (un)ethics of Big Vendor contracts with cost-driven companies
Posted by Simon Baker
Consider a company looking to procure external software services. This is a company that manages by objectives and spends time and effort micromanaging costs. In a typical procurement situation, probably a tender for services, their fixation on cost pushes them to select one of the cheaper quotes. This quote happens to be from Big Vendor who Procuring Company lock into a contract to deliver precisely the specification.
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Using Spikes
Posted by Gus Power
The XP practice of 'spiking' has been around for a while but there isn't a whole lot written about it.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Some thoughts on collaboration
Posted by Simon Baker
Collaboration is critical to high performance teams and maintaining high performance is important for sustaining effective collaboration. Has collaboration become one of those words that has lost meaning because it’s being used too much? Is all work collaboration? In the agile world it sounds like collaboration is ubiquitous. But are we actually collaborating?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Showcase rehearsal
Posted by Simon Baker
Showcases are great PR opportunities with the customer and friends (other stakeholders). We want the showcase to be meaningful for the customer and we want the customer to be engaged. So we rehearse a few times to come up with the smoothest running order and an entertaining narrative for demonstrating the stories.
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