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Continuing our discussion from where we left off on the four digital leadership eras I cover the third and fourth era in this episode. In the third era we saw the introduction of the world wide web and the corresponding market disruption. We are currently in the fourth era, where further technology disruptors including mobile devices and cloud computing are changing the nature of the demands on technology leadership. The Third Digital Leadership Era November 12, 1990 Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau wrote a proposal for the world wide web (WWW) while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. Their idea was to merge hypertext with the Internet to create an easy to use environment for exchanging ideas. Though when they presented their ideas at the Conference on Hypertext Technology they found very little interest in their ideas. By December of 1990 Berners-Lee wrote the tools needed for operating the world wide web: Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) Hypertext markup language (HTML) A web browser (named world wide web) The first web server In January 1991 the first web servers began to appear outside of the CERN network and the realm of the physicists. With the world wide web technology took a significant leap forward in the business model as the ease of use of the web browsers moved digital in new and interesting ways. Adoption began to happen quickly and numerous new businesses were started using the web as a foundation. The “dot com” bubble peaked on March 10, 2000 with the NASDAQ securities market peaking at 5408. Through the years 2000 and 2001 many companies watched their stock prices drop and many realized they hadn’t developed a valid business model. As the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, and as information technology began to become a commodity, CIOs were confronted with new challenges. In the face of increasing pressures to reduce costs, organizations saw IT as a cost center and the role of the CIO as a cost cutter. The role became a combination of technocrat and business expert. However, the reality is that with technology embedded in every facet of business, and data becoming the lifeblood of competitive advantage, the CIO’s role is more necessary to a business today than ever before. And how did technology begin to answer the demands of our businesses? The Information Systems Audit and Control Association released the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT). The purpose of COBIT is to provide a tool set to bridge the gap between control requirements, technology, and business risk. Simply put this framework is intended to align business goals and IT goals. Unfortunately COBIT along with ITIL The Fourth Digital Leadership Era CIOs need to understand their businesses better and the C-suite should begin to understand the potential technology brings to the organization. Often, even as technology is evolving and influencing our daily lives, the various areas of the organization outside of the technology organization are out of touch with their technology counterparts. Now we face the challenge of developing a common language to discuss the markets we compete in and the impact these market changes have on the organization. Technology must have an appreciation for the business it is in and the organization needs to have an appreciation for the potential technology can bring to its ability to compete. There is strong demand for IT to “step up” in a collaborative nature. I observed in the writings from all four eras of digital leadership that the technology staff tended to approach any given situation as if they were the smartest guys in the room. In this fourth era we are no longer the smartest guys in the room when it comes to technology. Often we are facing off against very smart business partners who have grown up with technology and know how to deploy it in new and exciting ways.

This week I continue the interview with Morrey Ewing and Zenaat Chohan from guided futures and we continue our discussion on IT strategy. They bring a great background of experience in business and technology strategy development. Current Business Board of Directors, Business, and IT Strategy advisement and development Interview Highlights Enterprise Technology vs Tactical Solutions: There is a place for enterprise technology. There is also a place for bespoke applications for a specific need. As the business changes, technology will need the ability to test solutions and still have the flexibility to change as the business marketplace evolves. IT strategy, done right, will support both the enterprise strategic needs as well as the bespoke tactical needs of our business partners. Data: There is tremendous growth in the need for data. Many parts of the business will need to draw upon the data for their needs. This draw will result in struggles over ownership and responsibility for the quality of the data. Often technology finds itself stuck in the middle of these competing demands. Technology is tasked with maintaining these systems and, when the clashes happen, technology needs to demonstrate they understand more than the system requirements but also the requirements of the businesses they support. Again the IT strategy brings support to the data demands of the organization. Social Media: Another area where there is growing tension in organizations is within the area of Social Media. Many of the students graduating today have grown up with end-user technology and will make company choices based upon the technology available to them. Young professionals have embedded social media technologies into their lives. Yet, in many organizations this openness is a foreign concept. The technology organization must walk the balance between the desire for openness versus the need to certain levels of secrecy and competitive advantage. As a technology leader, you don’t have to solve all strategic issues in one go. Focusing on the items of greatest resonance right now and deferring the others to later is a reasonable practice. Guided Futures assists in identification of what areas are important to focus on in development of the IT strategy. Guided Futures Board Practice: Guided Futures initial focus was on business strategies. Working with businesses assisting in the difficult conversations needed to enable development of the strategy. Boards of Directors have similar issues and Guided Futures began work with Boards, enabling them to contribute more effectively to the organizations they support. I had a great session with Morrey and Zenaat and ended up with so much good information. I hope you found this interview as helpful as I did. Please look them up for more information on IT strategy. Interview Links Guided Futures Website CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley is a podcast dedicated to the development of technology leadership and is hosted by Jeffrey Hurley, a seasoned global technology leader who has held positions with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world including diverse countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, and the United States. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada. .

This week I have to opportunity to interview I have Morrey Ewing and Zeenat Chohan from guided futures as guests on the show today. They bring a great background of experience in business and technology strategy development. Current Business Board of Directors, Business, and IT Strategy advisement and development.   Interview Highlights We will be talking about the importance of an IT strategy to the business your organization in; including how to get your business partners help in development of the technology strategy. IT needs to think about its own future and understand why strategy important to technology driving the future of the technology organization. Strategy is not just a set of high level goals or a laundry list of projects. Being able to avoid reacting in the moment is the key to providing a sustainable solutions. An IT strategy will provide the guide for a long-term sustainable organization. Strategy is a learning vehicle that can teach the organization the discipline in selecting the right solution rather than the latest solution. Every large institution has multiple lines of business. Demands on the technology group are significant. The IT strategy ensures that all of the opportunities of each business can be cross utilized from an enterprise perspective. IT strategy is based upon a set of assumptions and is checked regularly against the reality, as it evolves, to ensure better and smarter choices are made over time. Should all IT organizations be thinking about strategy, should they have a dedicated strategy team? Organizations often wish they had operationally efficient and strategic thinkers in the same person. This is not always easy to find. Work with your teams and get them involved early in the IT strategy process. Create a strategic organization, use the following strategic learning process: - Think - Plan - Implement - Act - Learn - Renew the strategy Strategy is looking into the future not just today, looking broader in the organization not just the individual group. IT strategy is an enabling strategy, in the context of what the business is trying to accomplish and the technology organization needs to keep pace with the demands of the marketplace. The IT organization cannot be a lagging force in the business organization. Use the IT strategy to bring business focus into a three-year and five view rather than just focusing on the current year. Begin looking beyond the current tactical need and focus on the longer term enterprise view. IT strategy should be built into the organization and evolve as the organization evolves. Tune in next week for the rest of the interview with Morrey and Zeenat from Guided Futures. Interview Links Guided Futures Website Photo credit: Tim via Flickr CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley is a podcast dedicated to the development of technology leadership and is hosted by Jeffrey Hurley, a seasoned global technology leader who has held positions with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world including diverse countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, and the United States. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada.

We made it to episode 52, after 52 consecutive weeks of delivery we now have 52 shows in the back catalog. I am excited to be bringing it every week and this week I am celebrating the successes and growth realized from the beginning through this episode. Then we will have a chat about what is ahead for the next 52 episodes, including some exciting interviews and new and interesting topics. Not letting you get away without a bit of education and support I spend some time talking about the success I have realized using Marshall Goldsmith’s 17 questions. Including the several revisions I made to my questions as the year has progressed and I learned what was working and what was not working. Ultimately I believe answering these questions everyday has helped me realized that forward progress I am making toward achieving my goals even in those tough weeks when it feels like nothing is going right. There is a great book that I discovered called, “The Slight Edge” and this book talks about doing the little bit every day that contributes to habit building and long-term change. Long term change is what ultimately leads to success in any of your endeavors. Good luck to you and I will talk to you again next week!  

Have you ever wondered how the title Chief Information Officer (CIO) came about or where did the CIO come from? What direction the CIO is going? How did we ever get to here? In this episode of CIO Playbook we are going to explore the history of the CIO title. As part of the four digital leadership eras we will discuss why should consider calling the role the Chief Innovation officer Chief Integration Officer? The Chief Innovation Officer, The Chief Integration Officer or some other responsibility as we will discover along this journey is responsible for much of what the future holds for corporations and companies world wide. When did it all start Wikipedia says, the Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage’s Difference engine, a design for a mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that could be described in modern terms as Turing-complete. Babbage was never able to complete construction of any of his machines due to conflicts with his chief engineer and inadequate funding. It was not until the 1940s that the first general-purpose computers were actually built.[1] Wikipedia goes on to say," Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine (first described in 1837). Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine. Because of this, she is often considered the world’s first computer programmer." Konrad Zuse is regarded as inventor of the first working programmable computer in 1941. Computing was seen as a tool for automating accounting and other financial matters. Chief executives began inviting their technology leaders to participate in  broader business strategic discussions in starting in the 1980's. Finding interesting historical information about these phases proved not only difficult but burdensome, as I read through technical journal after technical journal looking for the nuggets of interest to share. Instead much of what I found was about the class struggle between the technology systems people and the rest of the organization. The First Digital Leadership Era By 1950, the IBM punch card had become ubiquitous in industry and government. Along with the rise of computing came the rise of technology leadership. The job was initially called director of data processing and focused on automating the back office. Focusing on accounting and financial processes. As head of data processing, the first technology leaders were responsible for automating many of the manual processes that dominated the work environment of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. The best example is the history of the Word-processor. Taking a manual typewriter, to an electric typewriter, and then a dedicated machine The word processor became a stand-alone machine in the 1970's, combining a keyboard for text entry and a dedicated computer processor for the editing of the text. (Technowriters, Popular Mechanics, June 1989 pages 71–73) To quote Thomas Haigh in his paper, “Inventing Information Systems, The Systems Men and the Computer, 1950–1968” SPA president F. Walton Wanner (of Standard Oil, New Jersey) remarked in his 1958 keynote address: “Systems underlies and is a part of every management action, directly or directly, consciously or unconsciously.” Unfortunately, corporate management often failed to appreciate this. When systems men complained of not being taken seriously, they expressed this not just as an insult to their profession but as evidence that a manager had failed to understand his or her own role in the new order of things.

  Do you see dysfunctional teams in your environment? What are the causes and symptoms of dysfunctional teams? What can you do to help a dysfunctional team improve? Does leadership play a role in dysfunctional teams? We I will be discussing dysf...

What is the 9 Box? How is it used in an organization? Can you identify high potential employees? Do you have a succession plan? In this episode of CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley I will be discussing the use of the 9 Box grid and what each of the b...

What is the Intel Business Value Index? How can you implement the Intel Business Value Index in your organization? Is there a benefit to using BVI as part of your project portfolio process? I will be discussing the use of BVI and so much more. In th...

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it”, Alan Kay One of the greatest challenges technology professionals have is the development of credibility with business partners. In this episode we will be discussing some ways to develop that credibility. I am regularly asked the question, how do I develop credibility with business partners? This often comes up during the performance feedback sessions, after action reviews, and association meetings. The nature of technology is changing: The volume of digital information created and duplicated in 2010 was 1.2 zettabyes. Facebook is storing half a petabyte of data every 24 hours. The digital universe is expected to reach 4 zettabytes in 2013 50% more than in 2012 and most experts believe this is an underestimate. In 1959 Back Office Technology In 1981 PC’s introduced client/server In 1995 we gained the World Wide Web, email, messaging, and VOIP In 2013 it will be social, mobile, cloud, big data confluence We have to re-imagine businesses around being constantly connected to employees and clients. What all of this means is workloads are changing rapidly and our line of business managers will be increasingly focused on technology. The next wave will be business as a service. We will realize software defined networking, storage, infrastructure. How do leaders to get closer to their businesses? Focus first on Project Management and Business Analysis. Breaking teams along business specific lines Centralizing technology services Commodity services centralized Technology is a combination of innovation and cost cutting segments. Developing custom technology for non-core activities is putting limited capital resources against activities that won’t necessarily create any of the following: New business opportunities Competitive advantage Market differentiation Ultimately commodity To accomplish much of any business activity requires significant support functions from Human Resources, Legal, Finance. All of these functions are important to the functioning of your business but are not core to the business. To get the most out of your limited technology budgets we have to balance our resourcing and business knowledge base. Cisco Systems and others have started focusing their internal technology efforts on core business activities and limiting non core technology to industry best practices. Credibility isn’t a hard concept. First, think like a business person Second, BLUF: Bottom-line up front Third, avoid driving to detail to explain What do you need help with How can I help Done versus working The law of the last mile, the last 2 percent The last portion of the project that must get done and makes all of the difference To achieve success we will need to be increasingly in tune with the lines of business and Deepen our knowledge of the lines of business. CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley is a podcast dedicated to the development of technology leadership and is hosted by Jeffrey Hurley, a seasoned global technology leader who has held positions with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world including diverse countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, and the United States. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada and New York, US. ()

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment", John Wooden In this episode of CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley I will be discussing the role of coach in the corporate team. You as the leader of your team are the coach. As a...

Doctors see problems, coaches see opportunity, Karen Pape MD Last week I talked about how to become a corporate MVP and several of you engaged in a great discussion on how can we apply the principals of Lebron James and Tiger Woods in the workplace. Because in the corporate world we don’t have the concept of practice or even of the off-season to work on our skills. All of this is very true. How our world works is different than how the sporting, music, acting, and other worlds work. There is no real opportunity to go away and spend time practicing at least not in the way we see the sports sports psychologists and coaches apply it. So then how do we apply these principals in our environment. Bridgewater Associates records their meetings, audio for the phone calls and video for the physical meetings. Giving them the ability to review “game tape” and look for opportunities for improvement. Now I don't know about your organization but there are not many that would be willing to open themselves up to that level of scrutiny. Thus Bridgewater is a very unique company both in their approach to how they do things and the results they get; after all they are one of the most successful hedge funds. You may not have been aware that the reality TV phenomenon deals with this directly in that initially the contestants change behaviors in front of the camera. Then after having the cameras around for a period of time the contestants begin to forget they are there and revert to normal behaviors. Bridgewater operates on the same notion and as a result has been able to accomplish change and feedback in the manner they are hoping for. Looking for the inputs, the decision, and result then working to improve upon all aspects. Maybe videotaping is a bit to much for your organization, however, there are alternatives to this approach. after meetings or other engagements quickly write down notes from the exchange. Focusing on actions you took and the results or lack-there-of you realized. Gathering this information will provide you with the feedback needed to determine if you are progressing toward the results you are seeking. There is growing evidence of the ability of the brain to fix itself. Brains can get better, you can grow and rewire brain functions throughout your life. Why is this important? Have you looked outside of the obvious to train skills? Charles Duhigg in his book, "The Power of Habit" focuses on keystone habits and the impact these habits have on other habits. For example "working out" translates into eating healthier and not using as much credit. I often talk of Toastmasters for practicing public speaking and the results you can realize in multiple areas of life practices: 1. I observed stuttering change 2. Ticks in speech change 3. individuals lose their fear of speaking up in meetings Participating in Toastmasters provides the same results as keystone habits. From our talk last week we faced a challenge: where is the practice for the corporate team when we are always in game time. Most of you felt our practice time is really only in one day classes. Yet we know from Tiger Woods and his approach to the game of golf and LeBron James and his approach to the game of basketball, and a multitude of sporting activities including the 10,000 hour rule that a few hours in a class isn't practice. There are two answers to how you can set up practice time within the corporate environment. First, It is practice in non-direct areas or keystones mentioned in "The Power of Habit". Second, we have to shorten the feedback loop and employ the principals of practice into our departmental routines. let's focus on the function of a developer. We often wait until testing before we start to focus on quality code development. Yet there are multiple tools and processes we can incorporate into out routines that can help. How often do you find that when you come back six months later and review the work you have done,

"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration", Thomas Edison Welcome to CIO Playbook I am Jeffrey Hurley and we have a great show for you today. I will be talking about LeBron James and how he has evolved into a NBA league MVP by changing his game over the years. Then I will move on to Tiger Woods, arguably one of golf’s best players of the game. Concluding with what does this all mean to you as a leader seeking to become one of the greats in your industry? Let me start by saying during the research for this show has dramatically changed my thought process and approach to leadership and my personal development mission. Looking at what these two great athletes do on a regular basis has inspired my drive for personal success and I hope you will feel the same way. LeBron James LeBron James won the NBA MVP in both of his last two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is considered one of the league’s most versatile players. In 2010 LeBron announced he was going to join the Miami Heat for the 2010 – 11 NBA season in his quest to gain a championship ring. LeBron contributed mightily to the Miami team and lead them all the way to the championship finals. Unfortunately in the last game of the 2011 Finals James was hesitating and reluctant to leverage his physique with his last shot, a 25 foot jump shot, missing its target. Countless people opined on whether James had “what it takes” to win championships in the NBA. There is speculation that, that loss translated into a transformation. LeBron channeled his disappointment into a merciless dedication to honing his basketball playing skills. The first thing James did was decide where he wanted to get better. He target his offensive game and the honed his focus on his pot-up game. James then found the ideal coach in the summer of 2011 when he began working out with Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon is one of the greatest low-post players to every play basketball. In Kirk Goldsberry’s Grantland article, LeBron said, “Every day in the gym I worked on one thing or I worked on two things and tried to improve each and every day.” Converting new skills developed in training programs into actual game-time improvements is unbelievably difficult. LeBron James brought that understanding to his approach. “The biggest thing isn’t how much you work on things, it’s Can you work on something, and then implement it into a game situation? Can you bring what you’ve worked on so much and put it out on the floor with the finished product? I was happy that I was able to do that and make that transformation.” The following year the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Finals earning LeBron a regular and post season MVP. He is on the cusp of earning his four league MVPs putting him in a class held by Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Russell. LeBron hasn’t stopped his improvement approach there. He recommitted himself to improving his skills even further during the 2012 offseason. Punishing himself until he met lofty personal shooting milestones. Kirk further quotes James saying, “I push myself to the point of exhaustion until I make that goal. So you build up that mentality that you got to make that shot and then use that in a game situation—it’s the ultimate feeling, when you’re able to work on something and then implement it.” Kirk concludes his article saying, “[James] continues to find new ways to integrate his own evolving talents with those of his teammates, and makes everyone better in the process.” As leaders it is our job to do the same as LeBron James. Find ways to integrate our talents with those of our teammates and as a result everyone gets better in the process. Tiger Woods As of this recording Tiger Woods has participated in 8 events with 4 wins and continues to track as one of Golf’s best ever players. In Jaime Diaz’s article, “The Evolution of Tiger’s Swing, why he changed (again & again),

Why is measuring employee engagement so important? How does employee engagement contribute to building a high performance organization? What can you as a leader do to influence employee engagement, commitment, and encourage higher performance. We will ...

What are IBM's Key Success Factors and how can they help you with project success? We are going to be covering this and so much more on this week's episode of CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley. Are we enabling the business capabilities. How do we know that we are pleasing our business parts and the right things in place to deliver the business needs. What are the Success Factors 1) Stakeholders Committed 2) Business Benefits Being Realized 3) The Work and Schedule are Predictable 4) The Team is High Performing 5) The Scope is Realistic and Managed 6) The Risks are Mitigated 7) The Delivery Organization Benefits are Realized Placing these success factors into a stop light report and placing mitigating plans against any factor that is yellow or red. Stakeholder Commitment Is the technology team providing the subject matter expertise and ensuring the outcome will be great for technology but probably will miss on the business delivery. Ensure the stakeholders are committed ensuring the subject matter expertise is coming from the business partners Are you Realizing the Business Benefits Does a project have appropriate business partnership and an thus clearly articulated business benefits that everyone can agree on. Look for measurable benefits that are binary, did the benefit realize? Yes or No The Work and Schedule are Predictable Are there agreed upon project plans are these plans realistic? Is the definition of finished for everyone on the team. I worked with a CEO years ago who said technology taught him the difference between done and working. Do you know what your partners definition of working is? The Team is High Performing Is the teaming working well together. There are multiple challenges to project success yet the often overlooked challenge to project success is how well the team is working together. When teams are assembled they have forming, storming, norming, and performing stages. As a project starts we should be measuring these stages. The Scope is Realistic and Managed Does the project have a scope statement and have all of the stakeholders agreed to the statement. Is there a process for addressing potential scope changes. Is the project team working to limit scope creep. The Risks are Mitigated I have observed many projects with no or a week risks log. Every project encounters challenges from multiple external forces and these potential issues have to be logged and mitigated as part of the standard practice. If the project has a weak or non-existent risk log then there is a real cause for concern. The Delivery Organization Benefits are Realized Is the organizational news about the project positive. The in a previous show I discussed the power of small wins and how they are shared throughout the organization to build morale. If this project is not generating positive organizational buzz then you have a challenge that should be addressed to bring the project back on track. There you have it the 7 Keys to Success from IBM. Notes IBM The Seven Keys to Success CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley is a podcast dedicated to the development of technology leadership and is hosted by Jeffrey Hurley, a seasoned global technology leader who has held positions with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world including diverse countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, and the United States. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada.

What are the key success factors to ensure project success. How will you know if your project is on track or off track. Do you trust your project metrics to give you the full story. In this episode of CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley I will be talking about just those things and many more. Join me today on CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley. What are the Key Success Factors for a Project I have spoken with many IT leaders throughout the years and all of us seem to have some of the same opinions as to what constitutes the metrics to rely on when looking at a program or project. The technology industry has spent countless hours developing metrics. Hence the stop light reports and Red Amber Green statuses for projects. Though how often have we found ourselves looking at a project with a green status and knowing that the status if far from the truth of what is happening on the ground. Yes, the budget is ok, the staffing is ok, the milestones appear ok, and the overall plan is ok. Yet you know underneath things are not ok regardless of what we are seeing on the paper in front of us. Why is it that we don’t trust the status reports and what should we be looking for? There are multiple other metrics we can look at to determine if a project is doing well. I have altered many steering committee decks to show quality assurance throughout a project. I have added the SDLC and project management hurdles as part of the status; even included architecture reports and common services and technology services gates and reports as part of the reporting. All to ensure the technology side of the project is communicating effectively and so  I can get a holistic picture of what is happening; knowing I may see something from my vantage point that the teams may have missed. Is Something Missing from our Project Metrics Yet, I still find that something is missing from the metrics, something that is not appearing clearly yet is an issue. That is because everything I have mentioned thus far is all technology and project team focused. What is missing is the other components of project success. And these components are all related to business process, business success, and business change management. The biggest complaint you will hear from your business partners is technology is not delivering what the business wants or needs. Yes, I have heard all of the complaints from my teams too. How Do You Know a Project Will Succeed I began to do a little research to see what measures we can add to our steering committee package to identify all of the non-technology items that we should be looking at as part of our regular assessment of a project. And there are lots of opinions on what should be considered. I am going to share some of what I found and then boil it down to a few that that we can use. IT Project Management Keys to Success First, I looked into CIO.com. I read this site regularly and find a lot of great information on the site and sure enough there was an article by Meridith Levinson on June 23, 2010 titled, “IT Project Management: 10 Less-Considered Keys to Success” The list was compiled from some work she did on the CIO Forum on LinkedIn and here is the list: A Clear Definition of Success A Willingness to make unpopular decision End-user training and hand-holding after go-live Clearly defined roles and responsibilities Transparent workflows A process for handling scope changes Risk Management Adequate Documentation A good QA Process Project Governance To get clarification on each of these 10 keys please take a look at the article. I have provided a link in the show notes. Now while I agree with these ten items they were not exactly what I was looking for because they still lack the subtlety or the nuance that I keep feeling in my gut when I am sitting in the project meetings. I still felt most of these keys were still a bit “technology” in air quotes. Keys for Project Success