Utility vs Strategic Projects

 

A Utility project is where underlying business process is not the differentiator, e.g. Payroll process, every company want it but a better payroll process does not give your business edge over your competition.

The way you staff, run, and budget a strategic project is entirely different to how you do a utility project. For utility projects the biggest risk is some kind of catastrophic error – you don’t want to miss payroll. So you need enough attention to make sure that doesn’t happen, but other than that you want costs to be as low as possible.

However with strategic projects, the biggest risk is not doing something before your competitors do. So you need to be able to react quickly. Cost is much less of an issue because the opportunity cost of not doing something is far greater than costs of software development itself. Usually only 5-10 percent of projects are of strategic type.

Since the definition of utility is that there’s no differentiator, the obvious thing is to go with the package. For a strategic function you don’t want the same software as your competitors because that would cripple your ability to differentiate. Often people realize this and buy a package for a utility project, but then spend huge amounts of money customizing this – which is just as wasteful. My view is that for a utility function you buy the package and adjust your business process to match the software. Usually this is politically infeasible, so the workaround is to put a low grade software team to work on it, provide enough care to avoid catastrophe.

[via Martin Fowler]

What you really need

 

Researchers have found that owning a fast car, a large home and having a good job may only make you happy if those around you are less well off.

It’s too easy to compare ourselves with those around us. (And television gives us a chance to make false comparisons: We see what “normal” people have in commercials and in various programs, and we subconsciously begin to want these things too.)

But even if you know that you oughtn’t compare your life with others, it can be tough to exercise self-control. It’s easy to get swept up by materialism, especially if all of your friends are into it. (If they all have iPhones, you want an iPhone. If they all wear expensive clothes, you want expensive clothes.)

You have to make a conscious effort to not care about what they own and do. Instead, focus on your goals and your needs. What you want or need to own shouldn’t be defined by what other people have; it should be based on what you want to do in life, and what brings you intrinsic happiness.

Believe it or not, much of what we “want” is simply society’s desires in disguise. And because many of our desires lack authenticity we often don’t have the motivation necessary to take the steps needed to reach our destination

How do we know if our wants are real or an illusion? You must determine that, by having a conversation with yourself.

Why Do I Want This?

Are you helping someone just so you can get something back? Or are you helping just for the sake of helping? It’s perfectly OK to have personal goals but don’t lie about your motives in the process.

Am I Willing To Put The Work In?

Are you willing to put in the time and effort to make this goal a reality? Will you be willing to sacrifice along the way? Do you want badly enough to give up your weekends?

[via this and this]

What makes me happy

Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, ‘How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?’ My reply was, ‘That’s why I am a millionaire.’ He still looked pretty confused. … Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex etc and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment that earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster. I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.

Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family’s wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank god my rich dad foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.

Then some people ask me, ‘What is the point in making so much money if you don’t enjoy it?’ The thing is that I don’t really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewelry or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while…it does not last. material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.

Instead, what make ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see by companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

[via Adam Khoo]

Things to Adopt in Life

 Health:
 
 1. Drink plenty of water.
 2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
 3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
 4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
 5. Make time to practice prayer, meditation and yoga.
 6. Play more games.
 7. Read more books
 8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
 9. Sleep for 7 hours.
 10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

 Personality

 11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
 12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present
moment.
 13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
 14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
 15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
 16. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
 17. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your
present happiness.
 18. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
 19. Smile and laugh more.
 20. You don’t have to win every argument.
Agree to disagree.

 Society

 21. Call your family often.
 22. Each day give something good to others.
 23. Forgive everyone for everything.
 24. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
 25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
 26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
 27. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
 

Life

 28. Do the right thing!
 29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
 30. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
 31. The best is yet to come.

Excerpt: Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation

There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. And here is what science knows. One: Those 20th century rewards, those motivators we think are the natural part of business, do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two: Those if-then rewards often destroy creativity. Three: The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for their own sake.The drive to do things cause they matter.

Let me give you an even more radical example of it. Something called the Results Only Work Environment. The ROWE.  Created by two American consultants, in place at about a dozen companies around North America. In a ROWE people don’t have schedules. They show up when they want. They don’t have to be in the office at a certain time, or any time. They just have to get their work done. How they do it, when they do it, where they do it, is totally up to them. Meetings in these kinds of environments are optional.

What happens? Almost across the board, productivity goes up, worker engagement goes up, worker satisfaction goes up, turnover goes down. Autonomy, mastery and purpose, These are the building blocks of a new way of doing things

[via TedTalk]

A Life That Matters

Ready or not, some day your life will come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived at the end.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built.

What will matter is not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

[via]

Why You Didn’t Get That Promotion – Excerpt

Think twice when you’re told you need to work on “leadership” or gain more “seasoning.” These can be code words masking more specific concerns, like a failure to demonstrate strategic thinking or an inability to delegate.

In most organizations, promotions are governed by unwritten rules—the often fuzzy, intuitive, and poorly expressed feelings of senior executives regarding individuals’ ability to succeed in C-suite positions.

Nonnegotiables are the fundamental factors without which an executive will not be considered for promotion.
Deselection factors are characteristics that eliminate an otherwise qualified candidate from consideration. Core selection factors are what ultimately dictate promotion decisions.

Nonnegotiables
Factors that are absolutely necessary for you to be a contender

• Demonstrating consistently strong performance
• Displaying ethics, integrity, and character
• Being driven to lead and to assume higher levels of responsibility

Deselection Factors
Characteristics that prevent you from being considered as a serious candidate

• Having weak interpersonal skills
• Treating others with insensitivity or abrasiveness
• Putting self-interest above company good
• Holding a narrow, parochial perspective on the business and the organization

Core Selection Factors

Capabilities that breed others’ confidence in your ability to succeed at the senior executive level
•Setting direction and thinking strategically; spotting marketplace trends and developing a winning strategy
that differentiates the company
•Building and continually upgrading a strong executive team; having a “nose for talent”; establishing an adequate
level of team cohesion

•Managing implementation without getting involved at too low a level of detail; defining a set of roles, processes,
and measures to ensure that things get done reliably
•Building the capacity for innovation and change; knowing when new ways of doing business are required; having
the courage, tolerance for risk, and change-management skills to bring new ideas to fruition
•Getting things done across internal boundaries (lateral management); demonstrating organization savvy; influencing
and persuading colleagues; dealing well with conflict
•Growing and developing as an executive; soliciting and responding to feedback; adjusting leadership style in
light of experience

When asking for input, project a sincere desire to understand what’s holding you back—and avoid appearing to lobby or argue. Your core question should be “What skills and capabilities do I need to demonstrate in order to be a strong
candidate for higher levels of responsibility at some point in the future?”

Keep in mind that changing deep-seated perceptions about you, formed over years, requires visible and consistent effort

[via HBR Why You Didn’t Get That Promotion by John Beeson]

Managing Oneself – Excerpt

you’ll need to cultivate a deep understanding of yourself—not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence.

The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later, compare the actual results with your expectations.

Manners—simple things like saying “please” and “thank you” and knowing a person’s name or asking after her family—enable two people to work together whether they like each other or not. Bright people, especially bright young people, often do not understand this. If analysis shows that someone’s brilliant work fails again and again as soon as cooperation from others is required, it probably indicates a lack of courtesy—that is, a lack of manners.

Another crucial question is, Do I produce results as a decision maker or as an adviser?

This is a reason, by the way, that the number two person in an organization often fails when promoted to the number one position. The top spot requires a decision maker. Strong decision makers often put somebody they trust into the number two spot as their adviser—and in that position the person is outstanding. But in the number one spot, the same person fails. He or she knows what the decision should be but cannot accept the responsibility of actually making it.

Organizations are no longer built on force but on trust. The existence of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means that they understand one another.

[via HBR - Managing Oneself, Peter F. Drucker]

Things to Adopt in Life

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time to practice prayer, meditation and yoga.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality

11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present
moment.
13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
17. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your
present happiness.
18. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
19. Smile and laugh more.
20. You don’t have to win every argument.
Agree to disagree.

Society

21. Call your family often.
22. Each day give something good to others.
23. Forgive everyone for everything.
24. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life

28. Do the right thing!
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
31. The best is yet to come.

Tips for Hapiness

Identify the problem
Identifying a problem can often lead to a clear solution, perhaps one so mind-numbingly obvious that you’ll wonder why you hadn’t addressed the situation earlier. Understanding a problem also allows people to keep things in perspective, to understand whether something is really worth getting upset about. It prevents giving in to self-pity and instead represents a more proactive approach that allows for finding a solution and moving on to other concerns.

Mindfulness
Slowing down, appreciating and observing what is around
you. It allows you not to worry so much
about the future and to remain more involved in the present.

[via HowStuffWorks]