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  CHAOS Tuesday #40 is the third part of our series on why large projects fail. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our special guest is Dick LeFave. Dick LeFave is an experienced Telecom CIO. This show highlights the experiences Dick had during the first NPAC projects and other large projects. Dick encourages the need for continuous Innovation in the telecom industry and how NPAC is a platform for Innovation. In this program we explore: Project Ownership Sustaining Innovation Gaining consensus Frozen Applications Methods of Transitions Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Dick LeFave is Independent IT Consultant and corporate board member. Mr. LeFave, CIO level advisory service, specializes in helping organizations in IT transformation and M&A implementation. Dick’s experience includes over 25 years at the CIO level and 35 years in various IT executive positions.   Dick worked with AMDOCS, Ciena, Nextel, Sprint, and Southern New England Telephone. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-hosts and special guests will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday #39 is the second part of our series on why large projects fail. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our special guests are Dave Bicknell & Tony Collins authors of Crash: Ten Easy Ways to Avoid a Computer Disaster. Dave and Tony relate some of the UK projects, such as the London Stock Exchange and the Universal Credit projects to the possibility of a new NPAC system and some of the reasons for large project failures. In this program we explore: Executive sponsorship User Involvement Iterative development Emotional Maturity Project Budgets Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Dave Bicknell is Editor of Government Computing in the United Kingdom. Tony Collins writes a blog for ComputerWorldUK and is freelance writer. Dave and Tony co-founded Campaign4Change.  Both Dave and Tony worked as editors and writers for Computer Weekly. Tony and Dave wrote a book of IT project management case studies called Crash (Simon & Schuster). CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-hosts and special guests will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday #38 is the first part of our series on why large projects fail.Our special guest for this program is Michael O’Brochta. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Mr. O’Brochta was the original “Q” for the CIA. Michael discusses his major takeaways from the BigBang Boom paper such as users’ involvement and the iterative process.  He relates strong project management and projects to a new NPAC. .  In this program we explore: Executive sponsorship User Involvement Iterative development Project management skills Vendor partnerships Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Michael O’Brochta is the President of Zozer inc.  Zozer provides project management consulting expertise to leading organizations. For over 30 years O’Brochta worked at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) building and managing gadget projects to help their spies.  Michael is an avid proponent of the project management profession.  O’Brochta works tirelessly in advancing the knowledge and capability of the project management industry. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-hosts and special guests will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday #37 is all about complexity. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our special guest for this show is Aloysio (Lou) Vianna is our South American Research Director for The Standish Group.  Lou is a project management professional and educator.  He has trained more than four thousand project managers.  For the last few years Lou has been examining the effect of complexity of project results.  Lou also provides practical advice on how to deal with project complexity.  In this program we explore: Defining complexity Complexity attributes Dealing with complexity Controlling complexity Examples of complexity Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to control complexity. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Aloysio (Lou) Vianna is the South American Research Director for The Standish Group.  Lou is a project management professional and educator.  He has trained more than four thousand project managers through his affiliation with Fundação Getulio Vargas and other educational outlets. His background includes work at the Naval Research Institute in Brazil and service in the Brazilian Navy. Lou received his masters in project management from George Washington University and his masters in engineering from McGill. Lou is currently working on his PhD.

  CHAOS Tuesday #36 is team building part 2. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com No one can be successful without an organized, skilled, cooperative, and congenial team. Like a quarterback in football, you can do nothing without the front line for protection, a great running back to push through those holes in the defense, and great receivers to catch the play action pass or a long bomb. Each team member knows his or her role and responsibility, takes on ownership, and is accountable for the final outcome to reach the goal line. In this program we explore: The most common mistakes people make when building a team How the organization culture affect the way you build a team The process you go through when bringing in a new team member How to know a new team member has the right them chemistry What to do when you find a new member that is toxic to the team Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to build a new team. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Panel: Jim Johnson leads the panel. Jim Johnson is the founder and chairman of The Standish Group and specializes in group reflection.  Mr. Crear is an experienced executive with over 35 years in the field of Information Technology. He has had a diverse career leading IT organizations in academia, bio-medical, manufacturing, and software companies. Robert Kelley is a senior professional with experience in IT from start-ups and Fortune 200 companies. Mr. Kelley has much experience with SAP and Oracle, especially in FDA compliance and governance. Bill Niemi is a professional IT advisor. For twenty-four years Mr. Niemi was a Technology Vice President of Fidelity Investments.

    CHAOS Tuesday #35 is all about team building. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our guest for this show is David Sturman is an experienced software developer and CTO with proventrackrecord of building solid teams.  In this show we cover building a team. How to create the right chemistry and dealing with members that disrupt this chemistry.  The show does a book review on “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable” by Patrick Lencioni. Here the author creates a fictional story of a CEO of with a dysfunctional executive committee. Through the story telling the author weaves answers on how to make the executives function as a team. In this program we explore: The 3 most important things you need to do when building a team The 3 most common mistakes people make when building a team How does organization culture affect the way you build a team? The process you go through when bringing in a new team member How to know a new team has the right chemistry to fit into the team How to handle a new member that is toxic to the team Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to build a new team. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com David Sturman is an experienced software developer and CTO with a proven track record of building and guiding smart, innovative and agile technical teams on the cutting edge of technology in rapid growth environments. He is able to function at all levels from strategy, to process, to architecture, to hands-on code development, and can bridge the gap between management and engineering. David’stechnical expertise in graphics, simulation, and visualization, as well as scalable internet technologies, but possesses skills that are relevant across most software and systems efforts. David is currently Senior Director, Software Development at Audible, Inc. (Amazon). Dave worked CTO GenArts, Massive, and VP Software Development TheStreet.com. David received his PHd from MIT Media Labs and BS Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    CHAOS Tuesday #34: We are going to discuss the true cost of a project. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Last year we published an advisory on the true cost of a project.  In this research and report we saw that hidden costs were 50% or more of the budgeted costs.  Hidden costs included executive time, user time, education & training, user acceptance testing, and even cost of project management.  In one budget we found they did even include labor cost which is how we size a project.  In this program we explore: Should hidden costs be calculated in a return of value? Should executive cost include lost opportunity costs? Should user’s time include lost work costs? Is 50% over the project cost a good rough number for hidden costs? Our Panel’s take of breadbasket budgets Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to calculate the true cost of a project. Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Panel:  Jim Johnson leads the panel. Jim Johnson is the founder and chairman of The Standish Group and specializes in group reflection.  Mr. Crear is an experienced executive with over 35 years in the field of Information Technology. He has had a diverse career leading IT organizations in academia, bio-medical, manufacturing, and software companies. Robert Kelley is a senior professional with experience in IT from start-ups and Fortune 200 companies. Mr. Kelley has much experience with SAP and Oracle, especially in FDA compliance and governance. Bill Niemi is a professional IT advisor. For twenty-four years Mr. Niemi was a Technology Vice President of Fidelity Investments.

  CHAOS Tuesday #33 is on Selling Agile. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com We have talked a lot about agile in many of the CHAOS Tuesday programs.  We have had several guests and subjects on agile such as retrospectives, quality, value, and collaboration.  Now what if you decide you need to move to agile. You need to sell agile to your management to get approval and to your peers in accepting the new paradigm. Additionally, how to get Agile started and grow agile in your organization. Our guest is John Slaby, an Engineering Fellow at Raytheon. John provides insight on how he sells agile to his management and his peers at Raytheon. In this program we explore: How to get management to fund an agile practice 3 most important organizational obstacles to overcome How to expand from the initial team and pilot How to increase agile adoptions Difference between an agile practice and transformation Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to sell Agile in your organization. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com John Slaby is an Engineering Fellow at Raytheon with over 25 years experience in software and systems engineering.  At Raytheon, he has been a Software Architect on numerous programs and was the Principal Investigator for research projects on model-driven software development and domain-specific modeling languages. He is currently the engineering lead on an applied research project bringing innovations in tools, processes and practices to the software engineering organization. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Jim Crear and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday #32 is on how agile software development creates value. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our guest is Ken Schwaber, Founder and President of Scrum Org. Ken is the co-author of Software in 30-Days. Ken talks about his book and tells why developing software fast increases value. Agile methods, including Scrum, focus on delivering software products quickly thus improving the return on value.  Agile methods consist of iterations, small groups, fast feedback, and continuous retrospectives.  The Standish Group has developed rules for Value-Based PM. Implementation of an agile process or methodology using a small project philosophy goes a long way toward adopting a Value-Based PM Environment. Scrum provides a good baseline for a Value-Based PM environment.  In this program we explore: Three major takeaways from Software in 30 Days Good Agile versus bad agile 3 Most common Agile mistakes Only do what is important [VBPM Rule#13] Value coding the CHAOS Database Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that can be used to create and maintain a Value-Based PM Environment. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Ken Schwaber is the Founder and President of Scrum Org. Scrum.org providing resources, training, assessment, and certification for Scrum Masters and Scrum Developers. Prior to starting Scrum.org Ken had a software consulting business for almost 28 years. He is the co-author of Software in 30-Days: How Agile Managers Beat the Odds, Delight Their Customers, And Leave Competitors In the Dust. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Jim Crear and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

    CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #30: Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Standish research shows that a majority of IT organizations have or are moving to a standard infrastructure. In this show the CHAOS Team and our special guest, Bill Niemi, discuss standard infrastructure. Standard Infrastructure: Having the same set of IT components throughout the organization. You may have multiple sets of components for different types of activities, but they are generally vertically specified. The vertically specified components will include such products as server type, database, and middleware. There are also horizontal standard infrastructure components such as a management system, storage solutions, and network appliances. In this program we explore: Standard infrastructure defined Benefits of a standard infrastructure Drawbacks of a standard infrastructure The Cloud Computing factor Enterprise Architecture Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to create and maintain a standard infrastructure. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Bill Niemi is a professional IT advisor. For twenty-four years Mr. Niemi was a Technology Vice President of Fidelity Investments.  During his time at Fidelity, Bill oversaw the a variety of system technical implementation for distributed systems, computer graphics, network protocols including decisions on operating systems, databases and middleware. Working at NBC News, Bill was a pioneer in computer graphics in reporting presidential campaigns. Bill is a graduate with a Masters degree from Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

Healthcare.gov -- Why Failure IS an Option CHAOS Tuesday #27: Special Edition of healthcare.gov. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com “Any one who has written a line of code or built a system from the ground-up cannot be surprised -- or even mildly concerned -- that Healthcare.gov (Obamacare) did not work out of the gate,” says Jim Johnson, Chairman of The Standish Group International, and world-famous research expert on information systems project management. “In fact, when I first heard about the problems of the Obamacare website, l only gave it a passing glace,” he continued.   “The real news would have been if it actually DID work!   That would be both shocking and novel at the same time.  Healthcare.gov has so much going against it that the very fact that most of it did work at all is a success in itself.” The Standish Group and Jim Johnson are in a unique position to shed light on the good, the bad and the ugly of implementing Obamacare.  For the past 30 years, the Standish Group has analyzed, measured and qualified more than 50,000 IT projects. Standish and the CHAOS Team will look at: The major issues and problems Impact of a last minute design change Common defect rates Complexity and size What should not be done, and more Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. The program covers project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program digs down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. The team challenges conventional wisdom, slaughters sacred cows, and questions everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #26 Sustainable Innovation: Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Sustainable innovation is process for supporting continuous innovation. Sustainable innovation is generating and validating ideas in a repeatable and predictable way. Innovation can be systematized to bring to idea generation, research, problem solving, market and technology advancements. In this show the CHAOS Team and our special guest, Joseph Raynus, industry consulting, discuss sustainable innovation.  In this program we explore: 3 most important things in sustaining Innovation How to encourage innovation Emotional maturity and innovation Governance and innovation Cascading innovation effect Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use for sustainable innovation. Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Joseph Raynus provides industry consulting, mentoring and training for quality and process improvement initiatives, management of conflicting business objectives and development of measurement frameworks. Joseph is the author of several books including “Software Process Improvement with CMM. Raynus is an Adjunct Professor of Information Systems at Northeastern University College of Engineering, where he teaches courses in Information Systems Planning and Management and Business Process Engineering. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #25; Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com User Generated Content Liability Any website that allows third-party or “user generated content” has to be concerned about liability.  In this show the CHAOS Team and our special guest, Lee Gesmer, partner of the Gesmer Updegrove LLP discuss user generated content liability. This is a big topic with many overlapping laws.  Today we are going to focus on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the CDA.  This law protects websites from liability for postings that contain defamation, misrepresentations, unfair competition and a host of other possible claims.  Sites affected range from Amazon and the New York Times down to a company message board and individual blogs that allow comments. In this program we explore: Overview of CDA How CDA applies to bloggers What areas of liability does CDA cover What areas of liability does CDA not cover Examples of CDA Cases Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at CDA resources. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Lee Gesmer is a founding partner of the Boston law firm Gesmer Updegrove LLP.  The firm, which employees 50 lawyers and support staff, was formed in 1986.  Since then it has become one of New England’s leading technology law firms, representing hundreds of institutions ranging from large organizations, such as Harvard University, The Linux Foundation and ThermoFisher Scientific, to hundreds of small and mid-sized emerging companies.  In the 27 years since the firm was founded it has represented 3,000 companies that have raised $6 billion in capital from over 250 VCs.  The firm’s services include corporate, M&A, litigation, IP (including patent prosecution) and tax law. CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #24: Managing Expectations Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Managing Expectations: Ninety (90%) of CIOs say it is important to very important to manage expectations.  While most think they are somewhat skilled at it, they say there is room for improvement. In this show the CHAOS Team and our special guest, Darren Peirce, CTO of Kalido, a provider of information management software will discuss Managing Expectations. Expectation is a belief of a future outcome  of a project. In a project it might be the cost, time, or quality of an outcome. It may be certain features promised or tasks completed. In this program we explore: 3 most important things in managing expectations 3 most common mistakes in managing expectations Emotional maturity in managing expectations How to avoid over promising How to deliver more than promised Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to managing expectations. Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Darren Peirce is the CTO of Kalido, a provider of information management software. Kalido enables companies to manage data as a shared enterprise asset by supporting the business process of data management. Prior to Kalido, Darren was Senior Consultant at Shell Oil Company were he led the requirements, design and deployment of multiple large information management solutions within the lines of business of the Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies. Please note: We will discuss managing expectations at the Enterprise Agile Workshop on September 25th. In this session Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group, will compare the CHAOS numbers from the traditional “triple Constraints” (cost, time, and quality) to a value-based measurement. He will also use the CHAOS Factors of Success to compare high-success-rate organizations against high-value-based organizations. During the session, Jim will explore the balance between project control and velocity with respect to value, the balance between innovation and governance with respect to value, the true cost of a project and that relationship to value, and the use of portfolio management to increase risk while improving return on value. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by: CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #23: Kill Switch Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com This show is all about a project kill switch or a project exit strategy. To help understand exit strategies our guest on this CHAOS Tuesday is Kerri Salls, the founder of This Way Out Group LLC. Most CIOs say it is important to know when to pull the plug on a 3 most important points in setting up a kill switch failing project. These same CIOs say it is difficult and they are poorly skilled.  From this research we came up with the notion of the kill switch.  A project’s kill switch is a device to cause the project to cease living. It is normally set to go off when certain milestones or tasks have not been met. It is to prevent a death march on projects that have no hope of success. Projects that have been determined to have high risks should always have a kill switch. In this program we explore: 3 most common mistakes in using a kill switch How to manage a kill switch Project Manager’s role in using a kill switch Politics of a kill switch Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to create and manage a kill switch. Download this show from our new website:chaostuesday.com Kerri Salls is the founder of This Way Out Group LLC where she is creating a new paradigm offering the most comprehensive collaborative solution to help business owners sell/scale or develop their successor(s), so they can optimize growth, maximize value in the business, and produce a buyer attractive business, which will guarantee the owner achieves their exit to reinvention; fulfills their legacy; and leaves a dynasty. Kerri Salls is also a host of her own show, of This Way Out, on the UR Business Network. Please note: We will discuss kill switches at the Enterprise Agile Workshop on September 25th. In this session Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group, will compare the CHAOS numbers from the traditional “triple Constraints” (cost, time, and quality) to a value-based measurement. He will also use the CHAOS Factors of Success to compare high-success-rate organizations against high-value-based organizations. During the session, Jim will explore the balance between project control and velocity with respect to value, the balance between innovation and governance with respect to value, the true cost of a project and that relationship to value, and the use of portfolio management to increase risk while improving return on value. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by: CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #22: Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com The majority of CIOs say governance stifles innovation.  In baseball, you can fail 70 percent of the time and still be considered a strong player.  Ted William 406 (40.6%) in 1941 still stands as the all time average batting record. How can a CIO promote innovation while keeping her or his job? This is the question we debate on CHAOS Tuesday panel September 10, 2013. Another question is: Which is more important innovation or governance? This is one of the 11 Orthogonals” which includes which is more important project success of project value. In this program we will explore: Promoting Innovation Innovation versus governance Adding risk and removing bureaucracy Generating innovating ideas Creating an IT sandbox Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to help answer this question for your organization. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com The format of this show is Research Exchange (REX) style.  Jim Johnson, Chairman of The Standish Group, moderates the CHAOS panel. On our panel we have some distinguished and notorious family members of The Standish Group.  We have Jim Crear, our CIO.  We have Bob Kelley a long time member of CHAOS and noted CIO.  Jennifer Lynch our Manager of Communications. In addition our infamous hosts Rick Bruti and Steve Swartz. The format of this show is Research Exchange (REX) style.  The CHAOS panel is moderated by Jim Johnson, Chairman of The Standish Group. On our panel we have some distinguished and notorious family members of The Standish Group.  We have Jim Crear, our CIO.  We have Bob Kelley a long time member of CHAOS and noted CIO.  Jennifer Lynch our Manager of Communications. In addition our infamous hosts Rick Bruti and Steve Swartz. Please note: Which is more important innovation or governance? We will discuss this question at the Enterprise Agile Workshop on September 25th. In this session Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group, will compare the CHAOS numbers from the traditional “triple Constraints” (cost, time, and quality) to a value-based measurement. He will also use the CHAOS Factors of Success to compare high-success-rate organizations against high-value-based organizations. During the session, Jim will explore the balance between project control and velocity with respect to value, the balance between innovation and governance with respect to value, the true cost of a project and that relationship to value, and the use of portfolio management to increase risk while improving return on value. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by: CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #18: Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Most project management offices (PMO) breakdown into two categories: process control and education.  Very few PMOs are strategic to the business. In this broadcast we have the CHAOS Team and Jim Kneeland, Executive Program Director for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, RMV Division discuss the features and benefits of a Strategic Project Office. While working for the State of Florida, Jim completed the implementation of a Project Management Office and a Strategic Project Office. In this program Jim talks about his experience with Strategic Project Office (SPO). In this program we explore: Difference between a PMO and SPO What actions an SPO takes Examples of SPO decisions How executive sponsor operate inside a SPO How project manager operate inside a SPO Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to create and maintain a strategic project office (SPO). Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Jim Kneeland is currently the Executive Program Director for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, RMV Division, responsible for a $100+ million dollar innovation effort to rewrite all the applications at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  An MBA and PMP, Jim is also a certified and warranted federal contract officer and taught IT at Northeastern University for over 20 years. As CIO for the Registry of Motor Vehicles in the early nineties he implemented a number of state-of-the art IT solutions which included the credit card style license. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by:   CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #16: Gloria Cordes Larson, President, Bentley University and the executive behind the highly successful Boston Convention Center will be our guest of CHAOS Tuesday discussing gaining consensus. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Consensus is a general agreement, an accord and harmony regarding the project’s direction or stakeholder feedback.  Gloria will present how she managed gaining consensus with the highly charged and passionate South Boston Neighborhood.  She will also discuss how she got agreement to build the Institute of Contemporary Art on Boston’s Historic Waterfront in the face of powerful opposition. In this program we explore: 3 most common consensus building mistakes How to manage 3 most common mistakes How listening is the key to gaining consensus Gain consensus in the face of opposition How to break-up logjams Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to help improve their skills in gaining consensus. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Gloria Cordes Larson is President of Bentley University. Ms. Larson served as Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Affairs, Massachusetts Secretary of Consumer Affairs, and Chairman of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.  She served as a Deputy Director of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission.  She was a partner of Foley, Hoag and Eliot LLP, a law firm. Ms. Larson holds several board positions.  Ms. Larson graduated from Vassar College and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.   CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by:   CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #15: The Good Sponsor. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Our Research shows that 62% of successful large projects had a skilled to highly skilled executive sponsor. Seventy (70%) percent of large project failures had a moderate to poorly skilled executive sponsor.  In this broadcast we have the CHAOS Team and Ed Tobin, a 20-year veteran in business technology development and solution design. The program discusses what it takes to be “The Good Sponsor” The executive sponsor is the most important person in the project. The executive sponsor is ultimately responsible for the success and failure of the project. In this program we explore: Attributes of good sponsors Attributes of bad sponsors Examples of good and bad sponsors Examples how to improve executive sponsor skills How sponsors effect outcomes Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to help improve executive sponsor skills. One of the resources is a book by Vicki James, Ron Rosenhead, and Peter Taylor titled “Strategies for Project Sponsorship”.  Another resource is our project executive sponsorship Self-testing kit. The kit includes a detailed leader’s manual with suggested meeting format, agendas, meeting tips, and questions. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Ed Tobin is a 20-year veteran in business technology development and solution design. He is a strategic and innovative thinker, quick to identify situational risks and opportunities. Ed is currently an independent consultant having just come back from Sydney, Australia working for the NSW Railroad.  While working in Australia, Ed had a number of management and technical engagements.  Prior to moving to Australia, Ed was the founder and VP product development of Driveway Corporation in San Francisco. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by:   CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.

  CHAOS Tuesday: Conversations in CHAOS – #14: Trade-offs.  This show is all about trade-offs. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Trade-offs are the act of exchanging one or more items for others items as a compromise. Here the CHAOS Team and Michael Blanford the Customer-focused CIO discusses trade-offs. In trade-offs stakeholders or executive sponsors might drop or delay features and functions for an earlier delivery.  Stakeholders may collaborate on exchanging support for specific functions by dropping support for others.  In this program we explore: 3 most common trade offs mistakes How to manage trade-offs Examples of trade-offs situations Strategic focus when managing trade-offs Technical capability when managing trade-offs? Part of CHAOS Tuesday: looks at resources that an organization can use to manage trade-offs.  One of the resources is our OptiMix product that creates a standard process to manage trade-offs that is both fair and equitable.  OptiMix allows you to optimize trade-offs by value, risk, capability and focus.  It is easy to learn. Use it and get results quickly. Download this show from our new website: chaostuesday.com Michael Blanford is a professional IT executive who specializes in Customer-focused IT projects.  Currently Michael is helping Fidelity Investment implement Oracle applications.  As an IT Business Leader he served as CIO for several divisions of Thermo Fisher Scientific and as a senior executive for Recovery Pharmaceuticals and Comverse Technology.  He also held manufacturing and engineering roles with GE and Ametek.  Michael is a graduate of the University Of Notre Dame with a degree in Engineering and earned his MBA at Boston University. CHAOS Tuesday is sponsored by:   CHAOS Tuesday: Conversation in CHAOS brings to the forefront principal research and thought leadership in the area of best practices for business information project management. Each week Jim Johnson with co-host Steve Swartz and special guest will explore distinct areas of project management. The program will cover project cases, suggestions on how to resolve an issue, pitfalls, warning signs, book reviews, and a history of lessons learned.  Each program will dig down deep into one of the CHAOS Best Practices or a burning current issue. Jim Johnson will present special data cuts from the CHAOS research database and what they mean. The team will challenge conventional wisdom, slaughter sacred cows, and question everything.  The program will be featured on The Standish Group website.