Mike Rollings

A member of the Gartner Blog Network

Entries Categorized as 'Transformation'


A life out of control

by Mike Rollings  |  January 19, 2011  |  2 Comments

So many things in our life are governed by the idea that we can control the outcome.  Take strategy as as an example.  For years strategists have operated under the false notion that strategies were conceived, plans created and execution of the plan happened.  This resulted in an elite view of conducting strategy and the [...]

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Category: Altered States Economy Human Behavior Management Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , , ,

The burden we create by what we value

by Mike Rollings  |  December 10, 2010  |  1 Comment

The notion of value is ambiguous and abstract.  An object or an act is not intrinsically valuable.  We define what is valuable.  We have a choice. Some cultures decided that stones would be used to reflect something of value that can be exchanged — their currency.  Eventually, the stones were so large that they could [...]

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Category: IT Governance Management Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , ,

Three Cups of Tea and Improving Relationships

by Mike Rollings  |  December 6, 2010  |  1 Comment

Friday night my children and I had the pleasure to hear Greg Mortenson speak at the St. Louis County Library.  Mortenson is a humanitarian and advocate for children’s education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  He is the author of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones to Schools“, two books about his life’s work to promote peace [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Transformation     Tags: , , ,

Enterprise architects are mad as hell and not going to take this anymore

by Mike Rollings  |  October 22, 2010  |  2 Comments

Okay, enterprise architects, this is your chance to join a fellow architect and go scream out the window.  Just like in the movie Network where longtime news anchor Howard Beale delivers a live rant claiming that life is ‘BS’, architects can join @chrisvenable as he screams along with other enterprise architects… “I’m as mad as [...]

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Category: Altered States Human Behavior IT Governance Management Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , ,

Creative destruction: A Lesson in Innovation

by Mike Rollings  |  October 20, 2010  |  2 Comments

I have several creative friends.  Some are musicians, some photographers, one a playwright, and one friend in particular (Tim) is a performance artist.  Tim’s art comes in many forms.  He works with autistic children, he tends bar, he plays a manual typewriter and recites as part of jazz improvisation, and he creates sculpture with metal [...]

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Category: Economy Human Behavior Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , , ,

Change Requires Commitment, Repetition, and Feedback

by Mike Rollings  |  September 29, 2010  |  Comments Off

Scientists have studied the human brain to make some amazing discoveries about the ability to learn, adapt, and relearn abilities lost resulting from brain trauma. The Brain Fitness Program — a public television program about brain plasticity, which is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences—provides insight into [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , ,

Empathy for the Individual

by Mike Rollings  |  September 8, 2010  |  1 Comment

The early part of September is filled with memories.  My deceased aunt’s birthday, my deceased father’s birthday , and my birthday are all in the first part of September.  Every year we would celebrate our collective birthdays on Labor Day weekend with a family barbeque. Labor Day also has additional significance since my father and [...]

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Category: Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: ,

Uncertainty is the key that opens a closed mind

by Mike Rollings  |  August 23, 2010  |  3 Comments

Two weeks ago I wrote that organizations must Invest in the new secret weapon: Humans to unleash innovation, hypothesis generation, investigation, imagination, initiative, and calculated risk taking.  Part of this investment is creating an environment that is not based on fear and retribution, but instead one that fosters and appreciates contribution. However, there is a [...]

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Category: Altered States Human Behavior Management Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: , , ,

Enterprise Architecture enters Rehab

by Mike Rollings  |  August 16, 2010  |  5 Comments

For any transformation to occur it is important to first recognize there is a problem. Without this critical first step, change cannot occur, bad behaviors persist, and relationships with others deteriorate. This post is about my longtime friend enterprise architecture (friends call him EA) and his journey. EA has been suffering from a raft of [...]

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Category: Human Behavior Management Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: ,

Legacy’s Burden – Stop dragging the anchor!

by Mike Rollings  |  August 3, 2010  |  Comments Off

I’ve bumped into a number of clients who are looking at new technologies and believe that they must get the new tools to do old tricks before they can be considered useful.  For example, I heard this statement from an emerging technology team, “I need to get a VM client, printing, etc. on an iPad [...]

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Category: Altered States Human Behavior Strategic Planning Transformation Uncategorized     Tags: