Some company is buying your company (or vice versa). Why? They claim it’s “Economies of scale,” and the combined organization will save money by centralizing “overhead” and flattening management. You know who that “overhead” is: the people who support the business, such as finance and HR. And, the managers. Worse, the new management asks managers […]
Recently, a newish site asked me to become part of their “editorial board.” They didn’t say what the responsibilities were, so I asked. The reply: Spend five hours a month in meetings (roughly an hour each week). Write a new, unique column each month. I asked what I would get in return. Nothing. No payment
I have a new book: Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility. I wrote it because I’m concerned about what I see in too many supposedly agile teams: Crazy-long backlogs and roadmaps. Those create a serial lifecycle approach with too little experimentation. Worse, sometimes the team doesn’t demo or deliver.
I’m a little slow this week, but I made it! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope your day was lovely. Now, for the WIP: The transcription: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for November 24, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
Susan, a senior leader, wants faster throughput. She can see people working hard. Yet, all the projects seem to take much longer than anyone expects. They’re doing a lot of the right things. No team is multitasking—the teams work on one project at a time. And the teams manage their inside-the-team WIP (Work in Progress).
I’m finishing the Project Lifecycles book. Last week, I realized I made several mistakes: It was past time to ask for people to write praise quotes. I had only asked men to write praise quotes. Neither of these was a disaster, but they were embarrassing. Especially since Bob Sutton had posted this, and I replied
I’m surprising myself with this experiment and the fact that I am continuing it. I suspect I’m successful because it’s just a minute of some in-progress writing. Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for November 9, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some
Many of my middle-management and senior leadership clients want certainty about future work. That’s one of the reasons they create huge backlogs and long roadmaps. Yet, even those backlogs and roadmaps don’t offer certainty. One of these managers said, “I have so much uncertainty and ambiguity. I feel as if I can’t make a good,
My 60 seconds of WIP for November 2, 2023 The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for November 2, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from a science fiction short story, which does not yet have a
Several of my trusted advisor clients have asked this question, “Why do I need to choose between effectiveness and efficiency? Why can’t I have both?” A great question. I recommend they start with effectiveness. That occurs when they say yes to just the work they need now, to reduce the organizational WIP. Start with managing