by Mark P. McDonald | October 19, 2010 | Submit a Comment
Ther e are a lot of different ways to think about IT. After all IT is complex, with multiple moving parts, different perspectives and challenges. This makes sharing what IT is all about quite difficult. Analogies help not only because they enable people to apply their judgement but also to talk about something complex is [...]
Category: Fun Leadership Lean Thinking Strategic planning Tags: 2011 Planning, IT and Business, IT strategy, symposium
by Mark P. McDonald | June 25, 2010 | 2 Comments
In the late 1990’s, CIOs asked about the shape of the IT organization in the face of increased use of outsourcing, business process change and what was called-user development. The response to those forces was called a ‘lite model of IS’ which became known as IS-Lite. (Gartner LinkSubscription Required) (CIO Magazine Link) Today, CIOs are [...]
Category: CIO IT Governance Lean Thinking Strategic planning Technology Tags: 2011 Planning, CIO strategy, IT organization
by Mark P. McDonald | February 24, 2010 | 1 Comment
If IT is strategic, then the IT budget should be driven by more than operational needs. So what are the drivers of IT resource and budget requirements? Process is perhaps the single greatest force shaping the structure of IT costs. In fact according to the 2010 CIO survey “Improving business process” is a top 5 [...]
Category: Lean Thinking Strategy Tags: Business Process, cost cutting, Operational Leadership, Strategy
by Mark P. McDonald | November 10, 2009 | 4 Comments
Process means different things to different people. For some it is a four-letter word. Something to be avoided. Something that is bad. Every organization is taking a fresh look at their processes as they look for new ways to raise performance. This is transitioning views on process, its importance and its role in companies that [...]
Category: Economy Leadership Lean Thinking Signs of weak management Tags: Business Leadership, Business Management, Business Strategy, CFO, stupid management tricks
by Mark P. McDonald | October 28, 2009 | 4 Comments
Prioritizing and managing the demands on IT resources is complex and fraught with risk. IT executives balance across multiple factors making IT planning complex and time consuming. The plan, also known as demand management seeks to address the imbalance between fixed IT resources and an apparent infinite demand for IT solutions. Business executives can find [...]
Category: CIO Leadership Lean Thinking Tools Tags: Economic Recovery, IT and Business, IT management, IT strategy, Management
by Mark P. McDonald | October 14, 2009 | 2 Comments
There are seven sources of waste or muda in lean thinking. One of these sources of waste is unnecessary or excess motion. In manufacturing, workers having to engage in overly strenuous or damaging movements create waste. In IT there are few overly strenuous motions – even in extreme programming. Think about Unnecessary/Excess Motion as the [...]
Category: Lean Thinking Signs of weak management Tools Tags: Business Leadership, Business Management, IT Leadership, IT organization, Tools
by Mark P. McDonald | October 11, 2009 | 2 Comments
There are seven sources of waste identified in lean thinking. Unnecessary Inventory is one of them and found in any company. There are many forms of inventory: finished goods sitting in a warehouse unsold, work in progress tied up in your process, and raw materials awaiting production. In manufacturing a major concern of unnecessary inventory [...]
Category: Economy Leadership Lean Thinking Tags: Business Leadership, cost cutting, IT Leadership, IT management, Lean Thinking
by Mark P. McDonald | October 9, 2009 | 3 Comments
There are seven sources of waste or muda according to lean thinking. One source, inappropriate processing, revolves around doing more than is necessary. In manufacturing it involves subjecting work to additional and unnecessary steps in the process. Implementing lean thinking involves looking at every process involved in the company’s work streams and asking is this [...]
Category: CIO Leadership Lean Thinking Tools Tags:
by Mark P. McDonald | October 7, 2009 | 2 Comments
Waiting is one of the seven sources of Muda or waste. Waiting wastes time and wasted time consumes resources, management attention and organizationally energy. In Lean Thinking waiting is defined in terms of the time and resources consumed in between major steps in a process. In IT waiting happens in areas like user signoff, requirements [...]
Category: Lean Thinking Strategy Tools Tags: Business Leadership, IT Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | October 7, 2009 | 2 Comments
Transporting is one of the forms of waste or Muda. Lean thinking evolved in manufacturing where raw materials and work in process move around the shop floor from station to station. Every movement takes time, increases the risk of damage and requires non-value added activities. The more transporting activity the greater the opportunity for waste. [...]
Category: CIO Economy Lean Thinking Tags: Business Management, Lean Thinking, Management
