Story Based Survey

We all know the traditional surveys. An expert thinks about what to ask, with luck (or not), the expert 'probes' first into the question behind the question, comes up with smart questions and interprets the results.

Great if you need a biased outcome. But what if you need an unbiased outcome?

Story Based Survey with the story teller doing the interpretation.

VOC & Fast Focused Change

Nice-to-haves are a serious cause for overruns. The solution is simple and at the same time a though mindset and discipline.

It doesn't matter what indusry and it doesn't matter at what stage of development it is. I know that 20 years ago the same difficulty existed and continues to exist.

The solution sounds so simple: create and only create what is minimaaly necessary. What is preventing us and what can we do about it?

Lean + Six Sigma = Love or War?

Too often you see Lean/Six Sigma as if it is one and the same. Is it a good love match, or is it a disaster in the making?

Both claim to improve processes through eliminating waste. However, Lean and Six Sigma define and reduce waste in a very different way.

Below a very short but accurate description between the core differences and the consequences for applicability.

KANBAN in s/w development (2)

KANBAN in s/w development is quite different from Kanban in production. Although both are visual planning systems using cards, there are significant differences as well.

Cynefin ...putting the bits and pieces in relation

Dave Snowden has a wonderful framework called Cynefin.
Dave is still in the process of developing it. The good thing is he put everything on his blog, the bad thing is, you need to find the bits and pieces.

Below you'll find a presentation that links all the different Domains and the title brings you to the latest blog on it.

(N)PCA an addition to LEAN thinking?

Those applying LEAN are familiar with AVA and NAVA; (Non) Added Value Activities. Of course Added Value is seen from the customers' perspective. It is very beneficial to look at a process based on AVA and NAVA. But is it sufficient?

When an activity is of Added Value, does it mean that the customer is willing to pay the cost for it?

Some of my achievements

The achievements are the result of a team. I do know that in all the cases below, without me, it would not have been easy or possible at all.

Sometimes I had to teach myself new things. Sometimes I had to completely develop new things).

Busy with BPR-Toolbox

Past couple of weeks I've been busy helping to further develop the BPR-Toolbox from Eforis.

From a personal perspective a very nice and interesting job. Lots of stuff going on, working with really smart people that like to push things and be reasonable as well. One of the first requirements was: we want a sexy application. Given the feedback we get, we managed this nicely.

MIN=MAX-rule

What is needed minimally to achieve the objective, is the maximum we're going to do. This is the  MIN=MAX-rule.

Projects tend to have some unnecessary and missing 'luggage'. The MIN = MAX-rule is ideal in determining the scope of projects. A good remedy for scope screep. And, it is also a good way to decide to included things while this was not obvious within the scope.

Market awarness & Assumptions

A couple of days ago someone emailed me if a certain website was a good platform to advertise on.

I called him back and asked: "Don't they accept your article?" "Well yes. But I want to write good articles, do you know how much time this takes?" 5-10 minutes later he concluded: "I have to think about it, it for sure is an interesting way to look at it."

Undercurrents, saboteurs and control freaks

Sometimes there is a complaint about undercurrents in an organization. Undercurrents that slow down a change and make the transformation difficult.

Find the saboteurs. Make undercurrents visible. An open culture of mutual respect and sincerity is a necessity to work efficiently and effectively together

Really? Or is this a selling point of control freaks who want to push their own agenda?

Apps vs Total Solutions

With the introduction of smart phones apps emerged and flourished. There is an app for everything you need and if it isn't yet today, very likely tomorrow.

The power of apps is basically due to the high ROI, not just in financial terms. Most apps are easy to use, cost little to nothing and do the job you want it to do. If you don't like it, or have no longer a use of it, fine discard it.

But without realizing it, we are changing the way we think and act. The Apps will have very profound and deep impact on how we go about things in every aspect of life.

Why throw away the baby with the bathwater?

Too often ideas are too quickly rejected because they are not quite perfect. And that's a pity.

A pity because it ignores the human aspect.
A pity because an idea can often be made al lot better with a little effort.
A pitty because it is a missed learning opportunity.

Within the Theory of Constraints (TOC) there is this beautiful technique to handle this in an interactive and well-communicable way. This technique is called Negative Branch Reservation, a mouthful and therefore according to good use abbreviated to three letters: NBr.

The power and volatility of an illusion

For years I enjoyed working for Symbision. Unfortunately, in April 2011 Symbision ceases to exist. Always interesting to have a moment of reflection one year later.

One thing that I strongly remember was how proud we were generally on how collegial and caring for each other we were. These were important values ​​for us. But was that really the case?

Author Association ISO voor Projecten established

The Praktijkgids ISO 21500 in de praktijk was published by NEN-Uitgeverij on 8th of January this year.

The authors, including myself, formed an official author association today.

Maybe a little late, but there are some more things coming up in the field of project management and ISO.

What is going on in the service industry?

When I think of service industry, I think certainly not one-size-fits-all. I do not think that the human factor is a small and subordinated to the whole. I do not think service industry even slightly resembles production from the 80s in the last millennium. Am I wrong? 

Many in the service industry, from healthcare to ICT, are busy embracing principles that were seen as a solution for production from the distant past. A time of high volumes, few changes, thinking that there is infinite capacity, labor marginal factor. Why?

TOC 3.0?

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) has been around for many years. Since the early years it has developed a bit, some would say it has grown a great deal. 

Maybe, but IMHO, TOC is due for a shake up. Continuing the path is a path into oblivion. And that, that would be a great pitty.

Collaboration - Whiteboard

Collaboration is very important. However, being able to work together isn't always that easy. Especially when physical distance is an issue.

Fortunately, Skype is reliable and good for already many years. The past two years we did a lot of work using  Google Drive.
However, there is room for some other things. A whitboard I find more than useful.

Project Risks -- What is the biggest?

Projects are full of risks. These risks usually have an enormous impact for usually a long time on the profitability of an organisation

For as long as project management exists there is talk about risks. An huge amount of knowledge and experience has been developed. Still, I think that one factor is missed. Not that this factor suddenly removes all the other risks. It is a factor that acts like a 'multiplier'.

Cynefin Framework - Breakthrough in Organizational Science?

"Cynefin" Welsh for "Habitat" of "home", is a framework that in my opinion is like no other can typify and communicate situations. The beauty of the framework is that it is not a glorification of nor aversion to a specific methodology. The framework doesn't describe the ideal organization. And, the framework can handly the dynamics of the situation.

I've been educated with all sorts of business models and theories. It has been a long time that I saw something like this: this is a beautiful framework!

Concept Self Declaration ISO21500 for appproval to ISO-NEN Standard Commission

André Legerman and I worked hard on the Self Declaration ISO21500 the past month. Today we finalized the last input from the Interessegroep ISO voor Projecten and presented it in todays meeting.

The Self Declaration ISO21500 is now on its way for approval to the  NEN-ISO Norm Commissie voor Projecten. Kind of bureaucratic, on the other hand ...

ISO21500 is a guideline for Project Management. Apart from being internationally accepted, also the Dutch chapters of PMI and IMPA have embraced ISO21500.

Guest Lecture on Caluwé - Day 2

For the past few years I give a guest lecture on the Color Theory of Caluwé at the university of Maastricht.
It is an interesting theme, especially because it is a highly interactive guest lecture.

interactive = experiments = not everything works = lots to learn

Action Triggering Status Reports

Today a friend called and asked how I was doing. It turned out he needed to get some frustration from his chest. The project he is involved in, is going nowhere.

It happens to be a habit in his organization to either do nothing or to write an extensive progress report. Doing nothing was for him no longer an option. But writing an extensive progress report, that is another story.

3.0 Consultant???

What I believe makes a 3.0 Consultant different from other types of consultants evolves around the concepts: interactive, flexible and cohesion.

To picture the context in which a 3.0 Consultant is of most value:

• A solution is desirable / is a necessity
• All the known has been tried or rejected
• too expensive, too time consuming, doesn't feel good, too uncertain, too little support
• Multiple disciplines/silos/stakeholders are involved

In short, standard solutions are as usefull as a hammer to drive in a screw. A big hammer, a small screw-thread and plenty of force will probably work. However, this is not the 3.0 Consultant way.

A nice start

Today I started setting up my personal blog.