Tribes by Seth Godin

This book is a very quick read (in fact this is for me the typical style of Seth Godin). I picked it up on my last visit to the States, because it made a call to action: we need you to be a leader of your tribe. Having read one of Godin's previous books (Purple Cow) and because I like his writing (check out his blog and free e-books if you want to check out for yourself).

In fact the message is not a new one. When you look at John Kottter's work on change, he has been a strong advocate for leadership throughout the organization, not defined by the function of the person but by his passion. And that is exactly what Godin brings us. The nice thing about this book is that it is not a concept book, no dry theory. It is rather packed with small anecdotes. Small examples of people who did make a change. And especially in areas that we (or at least I) don't know so well. Small niches, in which people take the lead. They find their passion and model it into a community. This really makes you think, what about me? Do I have a passion in my niche that I can transform into a community. And in fact I do: changing projects. So I am looking forward to bring this in practice ...

On this same topic of leadership, I read an article this week-end in a newspaper about the lady that develops Fille d'O lingerie. She goes even as far as making claiming that we all have to take back our own personal leadership, in such areas as our view of our own body (she says we need to get this back from the fashion industry) and even of our own sexual life (which again is heavily influenced by the media).

Of course Godin takes up where Kotter has left. Since he is talking about the leadership in a tribe (a niche so to speak) he details how to tackle this, how to use tools on the web like Facebook or Twitter, or Ning to create ones own tribe and maintain it. A couple of rules he uses: lead, get people involved, make sure they come back to share the passion. Then he differs between leaders who organize and hold the space and those who create the space for the tribe and then sit back. Funily this is relates to a discussion we had recently on how a good facilitator (like for an open space) should behave: he should not only open the space but then make sure it is maintained, which is a fine line with overcrowding the space.

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Do people naturally resist change?

Tasty article on the 'common' belief that people 'naturally' resist change. As Holger puts it, people are not often resisting change, but rather everything around it (after all some philosophers say change is part of life) like their boss, the lack of understanding, ... and as I believe also we press people into changing too fast

Presence: Exploring Change

Presence

When you first start looking at change management and changes in wonder, it all looks great with techniques, methods, little models that help you advance in your endeavours. But after a while, you start looking for the larger whole, the set of overarching principles. Because even if a specific technique worked wonderfully well in one instance, it leads to utter failure in another. So as Ken Wilber is trying to define his theory of nearly all sciences, Theory U is looking for a common denominator in changes.

And that's what is so great about this book. If you have ever tried to read Ken Wilber you will know that overall models are sometimes difficult to grasp (it took me 3 tries to get through his first chapter ;0). So is Theory U when you first read it. Starting by reading Presence you get a view of how this Theory came into existence. The story tells you what events lay at the basis of this Theory U. And it is the story of a set of meetings that take over 1 year in which 4 practitioners in change and organisational learning meet and share their thoughts on changes (not only in business, but in all kinds of organisations, and in society and in science, and in the world as a whole)
What is interesting is that they also look forward to the changes that need to come (even if the book dates back to 2001 it is still containing some very burning questions)

The first full book to explore the Theory U. It recounts the story of how this group of thinkers and especially practitioners in organizational learning develop their view on the world based on a set of interviews.

The book is packed with other theories on which these thinkers fall back.

Sensing, Presencing and Realizing are the 3 steps in the Theory U to realize a successful change. http://www.theoryu.com

Striking points in this book

* Outer work can only be successful if it is based on through inner work. Hence the need for meditative practice for change practitioners
* In order to be able to Sense one needs to be able to suspend (getting rid of fixed points of view) and redirect (seeing the whole from the parts)
* In order to be able to Presence one needs to be able to let go and see the future as it emerges
* In Realizing one needs to get to action. In order to avoid not moving at all, a good use of rapid prototyping can keep you moving. Prototyping mainly in the idea of trying things out, testing and reviewing the prototype
* What needs to happen to tackle the real major issues of today:
o Is democracy still feasible? Or was it a first prototype now up for improvement?
o How to get these institutes to move for the necessary changes? They all have a vested interest in the status quo!
o How to avoid the difference between the globalizers and the globalized?
o What needs to be done to keep a sustainable earth? What can be our role in it? This really made me think about what I can do. Here are some thoughts:
+ Our project management approach and training already (unknowingly) follows the U (which is rather normal if this is an emerging theory rather than a new invention
+ Get people together with the necessary passion to look at what we can do
+ Work on my meditation (sometimes hard to keep on going, your body and mind really work together to stop you) and maybe get others help
+ Keep on focusing on the need for rapid prototyping, get people into action, don't let good idea be killed by eternal analysis (quick milestone planning, followed by flexible to do's)

Project Management the Six Sigma way

Good article based on a discussion started on LinkedIn on how fast you can do six sigma projects. This consultant (which is an ex-colleague by the way) defines a couple of good points on the need for 'soft' project management, which is the human factor next to the more pre-defined approach of Six Sigma: motivation, sponsorship, stakelholders

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What does a 21st century software development process look like?

Away from process and towards a professional development framework! Yes this means the same way as the professional project management community seems to be going these last years. Away from very fixed do-it-all processes against which people revolt, and declare that what they are doing is certainly NOT a project, just to dodge the process. PMBOK and BABOK are good steps in the right direction, offering practitioners clear development paths (that is personal development and not software development).

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The best of CES 2009, for business

Great little article, with the top 10 of tech innovation coming from the walhalla of tech development, CES. Even just looking at these little things, makes you consider your investment budget for this year. My top 2: the pico projector (a beamer the size of a mobile phone) and the ultra-laptop (with 2 screens and RAID discs!!!)

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BCS Session Declares There is Project Management Skills Gap

In this short discussion, we could say the Standish Group chaos report, proving that plenty of IT projects run aground every year, is held against the light of skills. And from the writer's perspective it is also held against the need for good PM recruitment. Finally a poll is taken from the public to come to the conclusion that YES there is a gap

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How Good Are Virtual Team Relationships?

A nice, and especially, a positive story about building a relationship in virtual teams. This article includes 4 simple, but very actionable points every virtual team can actually start using as of today. Just have a look for yourself. Oh, and you don't need to be a tech guru to actually use it...

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