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Leadership Inspirations – How We See Things

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“We see things not as they are, but as we are.”

H. M. Tomlinson (1873 – 1958)
British writer and journalist

The New Thinking on KPIs, part 4 of 4

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Removing the lead / lag confusion

Many management books talk about “lead and lag indicators” which I believe merely clouds the KPI debate. Using this new way of looking at KPIs we dispense with the terms lag (outcome) and lead (performance driver) indicators. I have presented to nearly two thousand people on KPIs and I always ask “is the late planes in the air KPI, a lead or lag indicator?” The vote count is always evenly split. Surely, this is enough proof that lead and lag labels are not a useful way of defining measures.

Key result indicators replace outcome measures, which typically look at activity over months or quarters. PIs, and KPIs are now characterised as either past, current or future measures. The new concept called “current measures” are those monitored 24/7 or daily. You will find the real KPIs in your organization are either “current” or “future” measures.

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About the Author

David Parmenter, author of Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs and Pareto’s 80/20 Rule for Corporate Accountants, is an international presenter who is known for his thought provoking and lively sessions, which have led to substantial change in many organizations. He is a leading expert in developing winning KPIs, replacing the annual planning process with quarterly rolling planning, accelerating month-end processes, and converting reporting to a decision based tool.

David’s work on KPIs has received international recognition with clients in Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tehran, Prague, Dublin, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. David is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and has worked for Ernst & Young, BP Oil Ltd, Arthur Andersen, and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

David’s recent thinking is accessible from www.davidparmenter.com. He can be contacted at [email protected] or telephone +64 4 499 0007.

This articles is an extract from his “Implementing winning KPIs” whitepaper which can be downloaded from http://davidparmenter.com/how-to-guides)

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 36 – An Interview with Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 36 – An Interview with Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework explores how to deal with the often monumental uncertainty associated with project scope, resources, and time; increasing the organization’s rate of project success and improving its bottom line returns. During our discussion, Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty and President of Enterprise Information Insights, shares with us his insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • the differences and benefits of using the Adaptive Project Framework to deal with project uncertainty
  • core values of the Adaptive Project Framework
  • types of projects for which the Adaptive Project Framework is ideally suited
  • how the Adaptive Project Framework is executed through its five phases
  • how the Adaptive Project Framework helps leaders evaluate the ongoing viability of an initiative and terminate it, if necessary, while still receiving value for the time and resources expended

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Robert shares in Adaptive Project Framework and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from his website, www.EIICorp.com.   Robert’s book, Adaptive Project Framework, can be purchased by clicking here.

About the Author

Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework, is President of Enterprise Information Insights, a consulting and training practice that specializes in helping large organizations run projects more effectively. For more than forty years, Robert has served as a project management consultant, information systems manager, and training developer and provider. His clients range from AT&T and Aetna to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo. Robert has written sixteen books on project and IT management including the Project Management Institute-recommended book, Effective Project Management. To read Robert’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:10 — 45.6MB)

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The Great Marketing Circus – PR’s magic, revealed!

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The marketing arena can easily be compared to a three-ring circus. A few clowns, a few death-defying leaps and the ring leader is expected to single-handedly bring it all together. Of course, we can’t forget the one person everyone expects to see – the great magician: shrouded in mystery, quite dramatic and never without ability to manifest greatness from thin air at the drop of a hat.

So, in a recent RFP, when the company asked what PR ‘tricks’ our agency had up our sleeves, I came to the stunning realization that there really are people out there who believe that the practice of public relations is truly magical.

Believe me, if this were possible, all PR practitioners would operate from the beach. You know – a check in at the smoothie stand every so often and a wave of their wands a couple times a day for good measure.

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About the Author

Allison Brinkman
PR Manager, Eisen Marketing Group
[email protected]
 
 
Alli found herself saying the same thing Greeks have been saying for centuries when she provided an opportunity to work with EMG clientele: Opa! (Hooray!) An adventurer at heart, she constantly seeks new challenges and celebrates unconventional solutions. No need to cross the Mediterannean and absolutely no Trojan Horse – she is what she is, and that fresh, candid honesty makes for one serious professional.

A diehard Ohio State Buckeye football fan, she knows the value of a little friendly competition – and even has a trivia-loving alter ego ‘BMoney’ to honor that streak. When it comes to clients, however, she isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves, put her game face on and ensure nothing less than the best. Scarlet. Grey. All colors. All colours – she integrates impossible to absolutely.

Having lived abroad twice in both France and Luxembourg, Allison takes advantage of her global perspective in everyday life, and applies that knowledge when discussing global and cultural differences. Her ‘let’s go!’ attitude will gladly take her to the ends of the earth in search of answers, inspiration or just out of curiosity. Give her a minute (or 10), and she’ll gladly tell you all about winter in Stockholm or the music scene in Prague. Go Ask Alli…

Is it the or is it THEE.

Allison is a graduate from The Ohio State University, and has worked in marketing, public relations and event planning for Paramount’s Kings Island, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and UWeekly Newspaper.

Business Performance Assessment Program Warning Flag 2 – Crediting Good Intentions

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“The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.”

German Proverb

Communicating assessment conclusions can be a difficult task, particularly in the case of improvement opportunities being presented to those directly managing or performing the function. Delivering the message is all the more difficult if those receiving it are organizationally senior to the self assessment lead or are influential favorites of the organization’s leaders. In these cases, business performance assessment leaders seeking a tactful way of communicating the ‘bad news’ often fall into the trap of crediting the good intentions and/or self identification of the issue by those responsible in order to put a positive spin on an otherwise negative message. Doing so, however, avoids the real issues at hand and can rob the organization of the opportunity to realize substantive performance improvements.

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Additional Resources

Lack of organizational accountability plays a significant role in the crediting of good intentions and recently self identified issues as assessment report conclusions. Principle, best practice, and warning flag articles on organizational accountability helping leaders enhance their company’s performance in this area can be found within the StrategyDriven topic: Organizational Accountability.

Other StrategyDriven recommended practices helping assessment teams avoid good intention and recently self identified issue conclusions can be found in:

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