Connecting the Dots: Aligning Projects with Objectives in Unpredictable Times

Book Description

Organizations are struggling for greater return on their multibillion-dollar technology and project-related investments. Individual projects may be useful, but when examined collectively, they often work at cross-purposes, duplicate each other's efforts, or aim for obsolescing business objectives. And all are competing for scarce resources. In today's earnings-driven business environment, companies must look to their portfolios to better deliver on objectives and propel the organization forward.

Based on their experience with a variety of companies, authors Cathleen Benko and distinguished professor F. Warren McFarlan have developed an alignment approach that better connects an organization's project portfolio to its corporate objectives in a manner responsive to today's unpredictable environment.

Connecting the Dots provides a scalable framework and practical tools for better aligning a company's: (1) project portfolio with its objectives; (2) individual projects with each other; and (3) portfolio and objectives with the volatile environment. Better-aligned companies enhance business/technology performance by increasing shareholder value and confidence and improving the portfolio's return on investment. This in-the-trenches guidebook helps companies capture this latent value while building a more adaptive organization.

AUTHORBIO: Cathleen Benko is Braxton's Global e-Business Leader. F. Warren McFarlan is the Senior Associate Dean and Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Customer Reviews:

Good book on balancing the project portfolio thru process.......2004-03-11

Many organizations approve any project that sounds like "a good idea". This "soda straw" perspective is a sure way to over-task people, make project cost and delivery unpredictable, and ensure a poor reputation for the organization executing projects. While business leaders do not set out to cripple and distract their organizations, the lack of an institutionalized process frequently yields poor results. While this book addresses the narrow space of project alignment with organizational objectives, the authors propose a framework and tools that organizations with the commitment to follow it through can use to get optimum results from their project portfolio. Specifically, the approach offered by the authors helps organizations align their project portfolio with corporate objectives, align individual projects with one another, and enable organizational flexibility.
The process provides a certain rigor, but those seeking to implement this process in their organization should consider 1) first implementing a functional basic project portfolio management process, 2) ensuring that the process proposed in this book is a good match to their organizational culture, and 3) that in implementing this process they do not over-engineer their project portfolio management process.
Those proposing this process for adoption, or who are conducting a project portfolio alignment workshop, may wish to visit the book Website (HBSP), which has Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentations and graphics available for download. This Website is a useful adjunct to the book.
This is a useful book for project portfolio managers in organizations who want more rigor in their project portfolio management process.

Utility of the Information
The value of the book, in my view, lies in the following attributes:
* The authors present complex ideas in an easy-going, not scholarly style, making the book easy to read. They use graphics to communicate concepts like frameworks and tools, and they employ a case-study approach to illustrate application.
* The framework consisting short- and long-term objectives along with organizational trait objectives provides for a balanced perspective.
* The alignment tools provide an approach to view projects in a portfolio view. This allows the portfolio management team to align projects and the portfolio with organizational direction, improve project efficiency, manage risks, and achieve flexibility.
* The framework and tools consciously align the project portfolio with organizational goals, bringing focus to the portfolio.
* Workshop attendees can use the tools to gain fresh a perspective of projects instead of a traditional, organizational alignment point of view where, say, projects are always associated with the division who sponsors the projects.
* Incorporates a change management perspective by asking how much change an organization can digest in a given time period.
* Supports and promotes program management by forcing analysis of the interdependencies of projects and project deliverables.
* Supports and promotes spiral (iterative development) through the "project chunking" perspective.
* Aids the risk management process by balancing project benefits versus risks in the project proposal and review process.
* Portfolio managers or teams can apply the framework and tools in a step-by-step fashion, reducing anxiety about "how to eat the elephant". This stepwise approach supports workshop breakout sessions.

Application of the Framework and Tools
Several questions arise when one considers if one can apply an authors approach to solving business problems; is the approach practicable.

Position of the Framework in the Larger Project Portfolio Management Context
If the project portfolio management process includes 1) understanding supply and demand (people, money and projects), alignment of decision boards with authority, project assessment, and continuous process improvement (IPS Associates and Stanford APM), this framework fits toward the end of that process spectrum. This book does not describe the overall project portfolio management process, or how to implement project portfolio management in an organization. This book really answers the question "Now that I have a project portfolio management process in place, how do I mature my portfolio alignment and balance process?"

Feasibility, Suitability and Acceptability
For organizations which have implemented project portfolio management and wish for more rigor in the project-business alignment sub-process, this book is a credible offering. One would expect that if a portfolio management team applied all the tools in this book to their portfolio that the result would be 1) a considerable time investment and 2) a better aligned portfolio. The portfolio management team must therefore be willing to take the time to 1) learn several tools and 2) apply the tools in a step-wise and iterative fashion over time.
The framework, tools and examples emphasize application in a business (for profit) context. Practitioners in governmental or other not for profit organizations will need to critically review, tailor and possibly adapt the framework and tools to their purposes.
Organizations with a small number of projects and who have portfolio management team members who are more inclined to make decisions quickly, who are not possessed with an engineering or analytical mindset may think that they do not need or have the patience for such a process. Team members may respond to this approach saying "I'll just use my business experience and common sense to achieve balance in my portfolio". While this statement may or may not be true, I would expect this response in some cultures. One approach to this may be for the portfolio management support office to compile the data, apply the tools, and make a staff recommendation to the portfolio management team for decision.
While the authors bring both academic (McFarlan is a professor) and business experience (Benko is a consultant) to this book, they cite no studies to support the effectiveness of their approach. Therefore, organizations which require empirical evidence of process effectiveness before accepting or implementing a new business process may be resistant to implementing this process.

References, Footnoting and Bibliography
This book is well referenced, footnoted and indexed. This increases the utility of the book for one who has first read and understood the book.
One can often tell when an academic was on the team of authors; the footnoting is excellent, and the Notes section (Benko and McFarlan 221-30) is a useful resource for exploring other sources of information for further research. Specifically, the notes section is ample at nine pages, the lexicon is helpful with three pages of content, and the index is well populated with nine pages of indexed words.

A workable and appealing alignment framework.......2003-11-27

Consultant Cathleen Benko and business professor McFarlan come into alignment in this tremendously practical book. Today's companies need to bring their misaligned, overlapping, and inconsistent projects into alignment through "frontier living". This means delivering results in the present while adapting for the future's business context by using four "traits" to configure your project portfolio for confusing, volatile, and unpredictable conditions.

The title of the book refers to the need to "connect the dots" between an organization's objectives and its project investments to create and balance present and future value. The book's plethora of tools combined with the easygoing writing style makes it engaging and painless to absorb. Benko and McFarlan can be forgiven for overstating the role of project alignment - that is, after all, the standard book author's tendency. It is true, however, that companies project initiatives total up into the trillions of dollars and it requires no stretch to accept the claim that those initiatives have grown faster than companies' ability to manage them. Benko and McFarlan focus on the project portfolio as the most promising key to unlocking value, arguing that the portfolio is a company's future currency. We find their underlying principle that "companies are better served by adapting themselves for the future rather than by trying to predict its destination" to be a sound one.

Alignment, in this book, specifically means aligning three drivers of business performance: a company's project portfolio with its objectives; the projects in the portfolio to each other; and the portfolio and company's objectives with the ever-changing realities of the business context. To prosper on the "information frontier", certain shifts in mind-set - "traits" - are needed. Along with operational short-term and strategic long-term objectives, these constitute the organization's *intentions*. Four traits are used throughout the book as each of the various tools are explained and applied: Eco-Driven (effective collaborations), Outside-In (looking at yourself the way others look at you), Fighting Trim (agility, coordination, and options orientation to deal with uncertainty and respond to change), and House in Order (provisioning the other traits to enable cross-enterprise collaboration).

The seven alignment tools in this book fall three groups. The Trait Meter assesses, plans, and measures trait development according to the four traits. Once this first step is completed (which includes creating an Intentions Framework), the second group of diagnostic tools comes into play: The Intentions, Sides, and Right Brain tools. These measure the nature and size of the alignment opportunity, identify organizational bias and sort projects into business activities, and identify change capacity issues. The third group of tools - Common Threads, Project Chunking, and What-If Planning - focus on building flexibility into the portfolio.

Working through the book for real will, of course, be far more challenging than merely reading it. But the authors have done a good job of clarifying important issues of alignment and have provided a workable and appealing framework and toolset for tackling those issues.
(3 stars from me is good. 4-star ratings are given too easily.)

Strong, simple decision making for your services portfolio.......2003-10-01

The strength of this book is it's simplicity and graphical representation of decision frameworks. For most companies this is a strong tool for internal development planning and compliment to Six Sigma initiatives. For consultants, this can be used to plan your services portfolio. Well written and an enjoyable read.

Quite an eye opener.......2003-09-09

I used this book for our annual management off-site and pulled the alignment exercise from the first chapter listing our top twenty projects from last year. Using the book to instigate a look back at these investments was very valuable. We always knew there was a lot of opportunity, but just not how to isolate it. The book offers some simple yet innovative tools to improve this gap, and the group enjoyed splitting up and experimenting with them.

Good idea - read it carefully.......2003-08-28

Book focuses on evaluating projects as portfolios. Focus is on alignment of projects with concern's goals (short-term, long-term, and in "traits" to handle globalization-world's uncertainties), with each other, and against the "world context." Book does state to check your guns at the door, and your slide rule, too. Approach is not quantitative as presented, and requires good faith relooks at projects. Individual tools are described to bring out misalignments, and list projects on a sheet of paper with the results of the tool analysis in a table form. Traits suggested are of four types, eco-driven for forming alliances and focusing on your own concern's strengths, outside-in for viewing yourself as stakeholders view you and adjusting your priorities accordingly, fighting-trim for being responsive and adaptable, and house-in-order for breaking down silo-thinking. Tools are in three groupings. One for traits. A group of three for alignments. And another group of three for reforming projects by looking for common threads, breaking big projects into chunks, and doing contingency planning. I don't believe I have the capability to assess the book further without trying it out, ideally in a group setting, against projects that people feel is important to them. I have, however, already used the book to describe my individual projects to senior management to place them in context and to gain leverage for the resources that I think my projects need.

Book Description

In this remarkable book, Nigel Nicholson takes a fresh, novel, and penetrating look at human nature and why we do what we do at work.

*  Why we let one piece of bad news drive out 100 pieces of good.
*  Create the "us versus them" problem by immediately classifying people as winners and losers.
* And think we can "tough things out," ignoring clues of disaster staring us in the face.

The explanation of these, and hundreds of other perplexing, frequently unproductive ways that people think and act at work lies in understanding the emotional and behavioral hardwiring that is the legacy of our Stone Age ancestors.

Nigel Nicholson is at the forefront of the exciting -- some would say radical -- new field of evolutionary psychology. While we have to cope with the modern world and the complexities of working in organizations, we do so with brains hardwired for Stone Age realities. Nicholson uses the ideas of evolutionary psychology to challenge many conventional beliefs about human nature with a more realistic picture of what motivates people and shapes their thoughts and actions at work.

We constantly hear that there is no limit to what we can do and who we can be. By force of will and the exercise of our great intelligence we can reengineer organizations and always make rational decisions. Politics, turf wars, rumor, and gossip can be eliminated. Status and sex differences can count for naught.

It's time to get real and end this kind of utopian daydreaming. Evolutionary psychology shows that we are animals with a highly engineered, genetically encoded design for our bodies and our minds. Nicholson's insights from evolutionary psychology will intrigue and inform those looking to understand our instincts and manage them with skill. Several of the highly practical realizations he provides readers include:

* Why we create problems for ourselves by imagining that the differences between the sexes or their effects can be eliminated.
* How inborn differences in temperament make people either fit or unfit for leadership positions and why organizations get the kind of leaders they deserve.
* Why gossip and rumor are not destructive forces but the lifeblood of communication in the world of work.
* Why there is a limit to the size of organizations as integrated communities, best described as "the rule of 150."

Nigel Nicholson's brilliant and practical Executive Instinct enables you to manage with -- not against -- the grain of human nature.

Download Description

In this remarkable book, Nigel Nicholson takes a fresh, novel, and penetrating look at human nature and why we do what we do at work. Why we let one piece of bad news drive out 100 pieces of good. Create the "us versus them" problem by immediately classifying people as winners and losers. And think we can "tough things out," ignoring clues of disaster staring us in the face. The explanation of these, and hundreds of other perplexing, frequently unproductive ways that people think and act at work lies in understanding the emotional and behavioral hardwiring that is the legacy of our Stone Age ancestors. Nigel Nicholson is at the forefront of the exciting -- some would say radical -- new field of evolutionary psychology. While we have to cope with the modern world and the complexities of working in organizations, we do so with brains hardwired for Stone Age realities. Nicholson uses the ideas of evolutionary psychology to challenge many conventional beliefs about human nature with a more realistic picture of what motivates people and shapes their thoughts and actions at work.

Customer Reviews:

Every Manager Should Read This!.......2003-12-30

Many managers excel at the minutiae of their technical disciplines but don't understand what motivates or how to manage people. This book would help them do so if they are willing to listen.

Nicholson takes the now-familiar idea of the Stone-Age mind in a modern world and shows its implications for social (group and organizational) behavior. The book resonates with what I have felt and seen in large corporations. It explains well the collision between the corporate desire for economy and messy human nature, the mistakes that many corporate leaders make and why people behave as they do in groups.

A smart manager will use this information to see and act upon the interactions between himself, his people, his colleagues and his bosses differently. This well-written, well-reasoned book is a refreshing change from the vogue of manuals of cold methods for managerial efficiency. I recommend it highly.

Change with the Change!.......2002-09-25

The evolution of mankind, nevertheless had been a `Stone Age' with an animal behavior, which has been a hard fact and Nigel Nicholsan just reminds that. The book's eight-fold plan suggest getting the most out of it instead of building up individuals to polish their behavioral patterns. The brief sum up of human relationship and personality development go hand to hand to jumpstart the leadership qualities optimistically and psychologically get the human nature work in favor to get the positive plus. Nigel gives an insight to wisdom ways of behavioral patterns as to why humans drive out 100 plus with just one bad happening. Evolutionary psychology (EP) is the current debate where human nature varies from genetics to genetic and organizations today need not act on instincts but go ahead with nature attributes. Being an Instructor in Business segment, Nigel has ways and suggestions for Organizations to scratch off the negatives, block off the darker sides. The book says much on Leadership communication and organization as one big community keeping in tune to balancing sex differences, nature barriers and positively focusing on rumors and gossips as lifeblood of communication at work place. Nigel suggest ways to rule off tough times at workplace n avoid disasters. The book is on programming the mind with Executive Instincts to manage with human nature which is quite natural n head way to tolerance to manage erroneous zones which would rather than create a block for learning abilities. I recommend this book especially very necessary to enhance Leadership qualities and adopt the IQ, EQ, SQ and win a `win chance' with EP - A must follow up of the plans of Nigel Nicholsan, Indeed! Sure Pick.

A Good Read!.......2002-09-18

If you've ever thought that your boss is a Neanderthal (or you've been accused of being one), take heart - it's perfectly natural. Nigel Nicholson reminds us that we are, after all, only animals working with the same Stone Age minds we've had for millions of years. Once you accept this premise, you're ready to incorporate evolutionary psychology into your management techniques and get human nature to work for you, rather than against you. Despite the fact that some sections fail to dig beneath the superficial, we from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone in search of a fresh perspective on management.

Communities of 150, Stone Age Minds, and Other Tid-Bits.......2001-07-26

I liked this book because it flies in the face of conventional wisdom about human relations and organization, and because it provides an alternative perspective on leadership: recognizing that humans have an "animal" nature that is "hard-wired", and that if we accept that rather than trying to "program" individuals, we will be more likely to create a vibrant organization.

The author's "eight point plan" for capitalizing on creative spirit while minimizing irrationality could not be further from the current practices of most government and corporate activities:

1) Watch how you manage errors and mistakes. Zero-tolerance cultures drive out exploration and prevent learning.

2) Train your managers to create a climate of psychological freedom in which curiosity is valued.

3) Give people space to express their emotions and time for reflection.

4) In areas of high information flow and complex decisions, don't trust your instincts. Use decision-making aids and statistics...

5) Make sure that the climate is one in which diverse expertise and opinions get a real open airing.

6) Question your own assumptions and conventional reasoning before making any important decision.

The entire book is valuable, and the above is but a glimpse of some its value. Especially interesting to me was the author's conclusion that the reason most organizational communications programs fail is because they are trying to control behavior rather than create community--like many of the more intelligent writings on military doctrine being more important that military communications, the author makes a compelling case for using communications to create informal shared standards and expectations rather than to micro-manage individual behavior.

The footnotes are especially worthwhile, and serve as a tour of various relevant literatures, all very pleasantly up to date.

The Consilience of Evolutionary Psychology and Management.......2001-01-29

E. O. Wilson (1998) promoted the notion of a necessary consilience between academic disciplines. Consilience was described as the "unity of knowledge" or the "snapping together" of ideas. The book "Executive Instinct: Managing the Human Animal in the Information Age" is the consilience point between the fields of Evolutionary Psychology and Management from the Industrial/Organizational Psychological perspective. This lucid interface between these fields lends itself to just that--an interface. It does not contain a sufficiently detailed background of evolutionary theory, nor does it contain a sufficiently detailed review of management theories. What it does contain is an applied theory of management towards "managing instinct with insight." The thesis of the book is immersed in the idea that many of our societal inefficiencies and distresses are derrived from the fact our Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) is different in many aspects from our current environment. It is the irony of evolution that has prepared us for an environment that has long since past (a phenomenon called evolutionary lag). This book is an effective interface of academic disciplines. It provides a unique perspective that has been conspiciously lacking from previous literature. This perspective on the management of humans in the modern world is grounded in the consideration of our species' evolutionary past and how we can reconcile the differences. Management must take into account the "genetic leash" (Wilson, 1978) to which humans are tethered in order to maximize employee satisfaction and ultimately the stockholder benefits that drive an industrial society.

Average customer rating:

Insightful, easy read

Managing the Human Animal
Nigel Nicholson
Manufacturer: Texere Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Occupational & Organizational | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Physiological Aspects | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Organizational Behavior | Business Management | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1587990318

Customer Reviews:

Insightful, easy read.......2007-01-06

I really enjoyed this book. It holds your interest, not being at all sleep-inducing. The point of the book is to apply evolutionary psychology to all aspects of organizational behavior. I was fascinated by his discussion of masculinity in management, how difficult it is for women to get to the top because they are not as ruthlessly competitive as men and how hierarchy is inevitable throughout the animal kingdom. He talks about how men are driven to seek status through either of two routes - dominance or achievement. Both can be leaders in their own way, but he identifies leadership with getting to the top slots. This is the only area where I disagree. Leadership has always been associated with power, but the power of ideas is increasingly more important than the power to dominate through force of personality. With the power of ideas, I think it is possible to show leadership upwards without needing or wanting to dominate others.

Managing serious dog bite injuries in children.: An article from: Pediatric Nursing

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Managing serious dog bite injuries in children.: An article from: Pediatric Nursing
Stefanie Dinman , and Dorothy A. Jarosz
Manufacturer: Jannetti Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00096PT56
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Pediatric Nursing, published by Jannetti Publications, Inc. on September 1, 1996. The length of the article is 3766 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Managing serious dog bite injuries in children.
Author: Stefanie Dinman
Publication: Pediatric Nursing (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1996
Publisher: Jannetti Publications, Inc.
Volume: v22 Issue: n5 Page: p413(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Managing the Human Animal
Nigel Nicholson
Manufacturer: Texere Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K1YJKG

Managing the Human Animal: Why People Behave the Way They Do in Corporate Settings

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Managing the Human Animal: Why People Behave the Way They Do in Corporate Settings
Nigel Nicolson
Manufacturer: Special Interest Model Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Industrial Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 184203023X

Using human dimensions information for managing wildlife viewing recreation (Human dimensions perspectives : an occasional paper series of the Colorado Division of Wildlife)

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Using human dimensions information for managing wildlife viewing recreation (Human dimensions perspectives : an occasional paper series of the Colorado Division of Wildlife)
Mark R Peterson
Manufacturer: Colorado Division of Wildlife
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006P7NZO

Book Description

Pesticide Dermatoses explores the effects of pesticides on the skin then gives methods for the diagnosis and treatment of such exposures. It will enable readers to acquire diagnosis, management, and prevention skills while enhancing their knowledge and understanding of pesticide induced contact dermatosis.

Book Description

A great number of children and adolescents face a world of violence and isolation. In this book, the members of the Group for the Study of Interpersonal Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston describe in detail an innovative intervention and prevention method, pair therapy, that had first been broached in Making a Friend in Youth.

Pair therapy is a relationship-oriented treatment modality that addresses the social context of the difficulties encountered in growing up in today's world. This approach has been developed not only as a therapeutic intervention in day and residential treatment centers but also as a prevention method that can be used in public schools, day care centers, and other contexts. This practical volume meets the demand for an accessible, hands-on guide to the pair method. The theoretical foundations of the approach are also presented in an accessible fashion here.

The techniques described in this book model a relationship-building process between an adult professional and two children. This process replicates the social relations that happen naturally in healthy and happy interactions and long- term relationships among well-cared-for children in safe and secure communities.

This book will be useful for a number of disciplines that deal with younger children and adolescents: social work, education, school and group therapy, and human development. It offers educators, therapists, and other practitioners in a wide variety of settings the opportunity to learn how to develop a pair therapy program. It will also be an indispensable tool in the libraries of mental health practitioners who counsel youth beyond ordinary clinical treatment.

Customer Reviews:

Fostering Friendship.......2007-08-23

A very good research study on social problem solving envolving children. I used this in my dissertation.

Fostering Friendship Pair Therapy for Treatment and Prevention

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Fostering Friendship Pair Therapy for Treatment and Prevention
Robert L. (EDT)/ Watts, Caroline L./ Schultz, Lynn Hickey (EDT) Selman
Manufacturer: Aldine Transaction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IX6M6K

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