About project management, leadership, and Point Man System. Insights into a way of getting things done on time, within budget, scope, and…with a confidence and a peace of mind.
by CK Lin, Director of CoGi (Convergence of Global Innovators) and Tony Wong, founder of Digital Onion
Add comment July 20th, 2009
I’ve been in professional services for… a long time. It’s been 15 years. And for much of that time, I’d say for the first 12 years or so, “services” wasn’t inspiring. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was deadening.
Speaking for myself and those that I’ve had direct contact with in the professional services industry, “deadening” is a typical experience of the professional services industry. Many of us go home on a Monday evening, almost too tired to do anything else. Then by Friday evening, we’re for sure too tired to do anything but sit on a couch or go to sleep. And so to say that work for us wasn’t inspiring is an understatement.
It wasn’t because of the work itself was boring, simple or just not exciting. I’ve worked on the best of the best. I’ve worked for the best consultancies in town on the most high-profile and coveted projects. The teams I’ve worked with were the best in the industry. The clients themselves were also top notch. So it wasn’t the work. It wasn’t the people. But it was the inherent point of view of services that kills. And that point of view is “get it done on time,” “get it done under budget,” “do more,” “make the client happy,” “just get it done” and most importantly, “make it more profitable!” How inspiring is that? Well for some it may be inspiring but for most is wasn’t. What it felt like is… running on a hamster wheel. Faster, faster, faster. More, more, more.
Now here’s the ironic thing. The industry is called Professional Services. And so we’re supposed to be professionals in providing service. But the point of view I just described produced everything BUT true service or Being of Service.
What I’ve written here is not news to anyone within the industry. But this may be- if you actually be of service, it can be inspiring. Let me give you an example.
This past week, I offered our services to a trusted and valued client (that could no longer afford to pay for our services) for free. Actually, within the past 2 weeks, I’ve done this 3 times. You may be asking “why?” Or in the words of one of the clients that got this offer, “Thanks for the offer – out of curiosity, what’s the rationale?” Well, like I told this client, it was because I still see the opportunity to still be of help (service) and I wasn’t going to let the fact that they didn’t have money to pay us stand in the way. It’s funny. This economic downturn has created an opening, an opportunity to truly be of service. It awakened me to what’s really inspiring about this industry- which is being of help to others. And I’m grateful that the economic downturn reminded me of this. And I’m grateful that our services have been so beneficial to our clients- so much so that I’m willing to continue working for those clients that have been so good to us during the good times whether or not they can pay for us in the bad times.
This model of free services isn’t scalable or sustainable but I’ll do it as long as we can and as long as it continues to inspire us.
Add comment March 16th, 2009
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself”
These famous and impactful words came from Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 during the country’s biggest financial crisis in history. Today, his words have even more meaning than ever before.
Skip ahead 76 years and our nation is feeling that same fear all over again. We’re fearful for our jobs, our well-being, the unknown.
Fear is also a common theme in business. Have you ever felt blocked on your projects? Unable to move forward in your job? For most people, what’s standing in their way is FEAR. Fear of failure. Fear of looking bad. Fear of looking like they don’t know what they’re doing.
AND, the more people focus on this fear, the more it paralyzes them. While it is important to be aware of the realities around us, we can’t let them be the driving factors of our actions. You must focus on where you want to go, not what could go wrong along the way.
This is is where true leadership comes into play. You’ve got to do what others are unwilling to do. Not unable, but unwilling to do. And you will need courage for this, because it may not just be a scary place, it’s a place you’ve never been.
Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of ‘you can’t’ once and for all.”
- Vincent Van Gogh, October 1884
Go forward this day, this week and this month with courage in your heart, and be willing to take on the impossible. Remember, ‘you can’.
Add comment February 23rd, 2009
It’s All About Leadership
Lately there has been a lot of discussion around scrum and failure. What was once seen as the saving grace of software development is now showing similar signs of failure as its waterfall predecessor. A survey conducted by Ambysoft in 2007 showed that 71.5% of Agile projects were successful as compared with 62.8% of waterfall projects.(1) This 8.7% difference is a much smaller margin than the 54.8% increase in success that was heralded by the original implementation of scrum over waterfall.(2)
Digital Onion is one of a minority that continues to experience great success in Scrum. In 2008, its engagements succeeded 80% of the time; an 8.5% margin over average Agile projects and a 17.2% margin over waterfall projects.
So, what allows some companies to experience continued success in scrum while others to fail? Digital Onion thinks it has found the answer.
Many companies we see today are implementing the mechanics of Scrum because most of the training out there only describes Scrum as a basic framework for success. What’s missing is the underlying principle of leadership. In his book “Agile Project Management with Scrum” Ken Schwaber even admits that “it’s not always easy to understand the role of the ScrumMaster.”(3) This leads us to believe that there is something more than just going through the motions of scrum.
Digital Onion’s Point Man Leadership System™ bridges the gap that companies are discovering between Scrum mechanics and successful projects. It recognizes that there is more to successful projects than procedures, and provides the missing ingredient for YOUR PROJECT SUCCESS.
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(1) IT Project Success Rates Survey: August 2007 http://www.ambysoft.com/surveys/success2007.html
(2) CHAOS, Standish Group Report, 1995 (16.7% waterfall success)
(3) Agile Project Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber, Page 35
Add comment February 4th, 2009
Why DO Chooses to Make Choices
We explored the power of words in Dialogue Determines Direction where we consciously altered our speech to increase the accuracy of our communication. Today we take it one step further and look more deeply into the inherited meaning that some words carry with them.
At Digital Onion, we don’t make decisions, we make choices, and we do this very purposefully.
Decisions carry a finality with them. How final? Take the suffix of the word: –cide. In Latin, it literally means “to kill.” Suicide. Pesticide. Genocide. So, when you decide to go one way or another, what you’re really doing is killing off all other opportunities.
It doesn’t mean Digital Onion believes in keeping all doors open at once either. That’s where the beauty of choosing comes in. When we make a choice, we give it our entire focus, but it’s not permanent. We follow the choice for only as long as it’s useful. When the choice is no longer useful, we change it.
By choosing and not deciding, you give yourself the focus to follow one path with dedication, without killing off the possibility of other choices down the line.
So, what will it be – chocolate or vanilla?
Add comment January 26th, 2009
It Takes Accountability
Accountability is one of Digital Onion’s core company values. It’s one of the cornerstones around which we build our projects, our business and our lives.
Accountability is defined as the responsibility to someone or for some activity.
We talk about accountability in the context of teams, and how each team member is accountable to each other. In order for projects to achieve extraordinary results, accountability must be in place within teams.
If a team member is late to a meeting, an accountable team would track that person down and make sure he/she shows up on time. If a co-worker is late with his/her tasks, an accountable team member would help solve the issue. Does this happen in your projects?
These are the foundations of being a team. Without accountability, there is no teamwork; there is just a cluster of people. What makes an extraordinary team is a common a goal and accountability to each other to reach that goal, no matter what.
Add comment January 24th, 2009
Timeboxing
Most people have a negative connotation with the word “limit.” A quick scan of the thesaurus turns up vocabulary such as “restriction,” “boundary,” “confinement” and “hinder.“ No wonder.
Here at Digital Onion, we view limits as a good thing. In our language, a synonym for “limit” is freedom. Sound too good to be true? Keep reading.
Take the concept of time for example. We’ve all felt the truth of Parkinson’s law at one point or another:
“Work expands to fill the time available.”
At Digital Onion we use a concept called “Timeboxing” to keep us from spending too much time on any one thing, and to encourage decisive thinking. It’s a simple concept, put into action by setting a time limit around a task or a decision and sticking to it, no matter what.
We can create trainings sessions in 4 hours. Plan an entire month of work in 8 hours. And reflect and improve our processes in just 1 hour.
We can do this because we say we are going to do it, and we stick to that.
This can take some getting used to. Spending lots of time on something is comfortable, easy, safe. But, this thinking is born out of the fear of making a decision. Once that fear is overcome, you will see your effectiveness and use of time improve tremendously.
This is not a singular phenomenon. As we send you off to try Timeboxing on your own, take this quote from Jack Welch with you:
“I learned in a hundred ways that I rarely regretted acting but often regretted NOT acting fast enough. I could scarcely remember a time when I said, ‘I wish I’d taken six more months to study something before making decision.’ “
If he can be fast and decisive in running the world’s third largest company, just think what you can do as you apply these same principles to your life.
Add comment January 12th, 2009
Dialogue Determines Direction™
As we enter 2009, many of you will be making New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you want to quit smoking. Join a new business or networking group. Spend more time with loved ones. Give back to your community. Start a fitness program. Promote your business more regularly.
Whatever your aspirations, personal or professional, Digital Onion thinks this is a good time to introduce you to Dialogue Determines Direction™ – the idea that HOW you say something is even more important than what you say.
Have you ever sat in a business meeting and heard someone set the direction for the week by saying: “Let’s try to launch the website by Wednesday.” or “Let’s work on the platform integration for the next couple days.”
Think about the words used in those two sentences. What’s getting accomplished? Nothing. People are trying, people are working, but toward what?
If you want to set a clear direction, think about how you’re using your words. Instead of trying to launch the website, say: “We will launch the website on Wednesday.” That’s a statement. A declaration. A goal in and of itself.
So this New Year’s Eve when the ball drops, start off 2009 in the right direction. Dream big, be bold and DECLARE it.
There are approximately 175,000 distinct words in the English language. Choose wisely.
1 comment January 1st, 2009
What’s Good and What’s Bad
As we enter the holiday season and look back on 2008, no one can deny that it’s been one hell of a year. Many adjectives spring to mind: challenging, tumultuous, extreme, uncertain. But are these necessarily bad things? What if the events of 2008 were good?
Take this story for example:
An old farmer worked his farm, with his only son, and one horse to pull the plough. One day, a herd of wild horses came through the valley and the farmer’s horse ran away with them. The farmer’s neighbors were horrified… they said, “What bad luck! How will you manage to plough your fields without a horse?” But the farmer said, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
Sometime later, the farmer’s horse returned to the farm, bringing with him some of the wild horses. The farmer’s son managed to catch the wild horses. The neighbors said “What good luck! You’ll be able to sell the horses at the market! You’ll be rich” But the farmer said, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”
The farmer’s son tried to ride one of the wild horses, but was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors said “What dreadful luck! How will you manage the farm without your son’s help?” And the farmer said… (you’ve probably got the hang of this now, eh?)
The next week, the army arrived in the valley and took away all the able-bodied young men to fight in a war far away. But they left the farmer’s son behind, because of his broken leg…
The point is, all we can really be sure of is that we don’t know what’s just around the corner. In life as in business, opportunity isn’t handed to us – it’s found by those with a different perspective, and made by those who can see the positive when others can’t.
As we move forward from these challenging/tumultuous/extreme/uncertain times, don’t focus on the “bad” but rather look for the opportunity in what’s to come.
1 comment December 23rd, 2008
The Space to Create
These days everyone has a lot on their minds. The economy. The holidays. Wrapping up the year. The mortgage meltdown. Travel. Family. Not to mention the usual day-to-day life and work.
With so much conversation in your head, how is it possible to break through the clutter and focus on the things that matter most? How do you have room to solve problems? The flexibility to create and ideate?
Here at Digital Onion, we do something that we like to call “Sitting for Ideas.” It’s a simple process that can help you create the mental space you need to let the answers you’re seeking come to you effortlessly.
The next time your struggling to find and answer, stop looking and let the answer find you by following these simple steps:
1. Find a clean, empty room. The more minimal, the better. Lock yourself in.
2. Leave cell phones, iPods, computers, people and ALL DISTRACTIONS at the door.
3. Place a blank piece of paper and a pen/pencil in front of you.
4. Just sit there.
The sitting without distractions allows you to clear your mind and let that which is important become clear to you.
It’s a simple process that yields unbelievable results. We use it often at Digital Onion, and the answer has never taken longer than 15 minutes to find us. Usually it comes closer to 5 minutes.
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If you’ve tried this, we’d love to hear your experiences.
Have your own way of clearing some mental space? Please share too!
Add comment December 20th, 2008
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