Books Read

With the demise of the LinkedIn reading list, here is the new home for what I’ve been reading.

The list, below are my thoughts on the concepts, practices and/or principles espoused:

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“Applying Innovation”, D. O’Sullivan, L. Dooley
– product, process & service innovation
– need the right organsational cuture to foster innovation
– to facilitate innovation:
  – definition of goals
  – alignment of actions to goals
  – participation of individuals in teams
  – monitoring of results
  – communications & community building
– creative capability:
  – expertise
  – creative thinking
  – motivation

“In Search of Excellence”, T. Peters
– 8 attributes of excellence:
  – a bias for action
  – close to the customer
  – autonomy & entrepreneurship
  – productivity through people
  – hands-on value driven
  – stick to the knitting
  – simple form, lean staff
  – simultaneous loose-tight properties

“Information Management for the Intelligent Organisation”, Chun Wei Choo
– intelligence of business related to attributes of connecting, sharing, structuring information
– need industry foresight – deep understanding of trends & discontinuities in technology, demographics, government regulation & social lifestyle
– info mgmt proces Model:
  – identify info needs
  – info acquisition
  – info organisation & storage
  – develop info products & services
  – info distribution
– info use
– environmental scanning: acquisition & use of info about events, trends, & relationships in an org’ external environment
– org’ learning: sensing, perception, interpretation, memory use
– key Q:
  – can users find data needed to solve their problems
  – how do systems add value to data
– business intelligence system principles:
  – single repository
  – distributed collectors & analysts
  – easy retieval & comm from system

“Knowledge-driven Corporation”, Graen
– innovation requires cultural change
– need cross-team groups with mentor
– these groups share big 3 (values, respect, trust)
– network-centric approach
– emergent leadership doesn’t just happen
– the more leadership roles leaders can perform, the more likely it is that they will function effectively
– servant leadership will produce better followers (motivation, satisfaction, job performance)
– read again: political processes
– > hi qual follower relationships, better group performance

“Managing Innovation”, J.Tidd, J.Bessant
– innovation framework:
  – process, position, product, paradigm
– innovation management is about the components & the system (architecture)
– Frascatti manual is a key reference work
– managing innovation is about creating conditions in which successful resolution of multiple challenges under high levels of uncertainty is made more likely
– transformational leadership best to foster innovation
– “chance favours the prepared mind”,Louis Pasteur
– “innovation energy” is a confluence of an individual’s attitude, a group’s behavioural dynamic & organisational support
– climate factors influencing innovation
  – trust & openness
  – challenge & involvement
  – support & space for ideas
  – conflict & debate
  – risk talking
  – freedom
– difficult to be an organisation that does both steady state & discontinuous innovation
– strategic dimensions of a firm are its managerial & organisational processes, its present position & paths available to it

“Managing Intellectual Capital”, D.J. Teece
– the essence of the firm in the new economy is its ability to create, transfer, integrate, protect & exploit knowledge assets
– need dynamic capabilities as well as knowledge assets
– dynamic capability is the ability to sense & then seize new opportunities, & to reconfigure & protect knowledge assets, competencies & complementary assets & technologies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage
– innovation is in products or processes
– innovation strategies that force change:
  – increase exposure to external ideas/approaches
  – design structures/incentives to catalyse & reward creative action
  – promote continual shedding of established assets & routines

“Managing the Information Technology Resource”, Jerry Luftman
– Strategic Alignment Maturity Model
– Levels
  1. Initial/Ad Hoc process
  2. Committed process
  3. Established Focus process
  4. Improved/Managed process
  5. Optimised process
– Criteria within levels
  – communications
  – competency/value
  – governance
  – partnership
  – scope & architecture
  – skills
– Planning: strategic, tactical, operations
– tactical planning areas:
    application data system
    Network project SLA
    DR security audit
    Capacity skills budget
    Vendor mgmt systems
– the technology S-curve has implications for the strategic posture tgat a new technology can create for an organization
– chx of innovation that influence adoption rate
  – relative advantage
  – compatibility
  – complexity
  – trialability
  – observability
– to measure IT, identify strategic goals for each of the 38 IT Processes. Then identify a measurement related to a CSF of that goal
– Society for Info Mgmt said best to use Portfolio Mgmt Process (2001)
– also use the Buss framework to rank investment projects using 4 criteria:
  – financial benefits
  – intangible benefits
  – technical importance
  – business objectives

Multiple Intelligences & Leadership”, Riggio, Murphy, Pirozzolo
– successful intelligence is the balance of analytical, creative & practical abilities
– social intelligence: social awareness, social acumen, response selection, response enactment
– social reasoning competencies:
  – social perceptiveness, social knowledge structures, metacognitive reasoning
– relational competencies:
  – behavioural flexibility, executive flexibility, social influence skills
– ability model of emotional intelligence is best:
  – perceiving, using, understanding, managing
– SPIQ is related to managerial performance (sociopolitical intelligence)
– leaders need to be able to identify, use, understand & manage emotions
– transformational leaders achieve superior results by raising followers consciousness about goals and values, by arousing needs higher on Maslow’s hierarchy & motivating followers to go beyond their own individual interests for the good of the group, organization or society
– transformational leaders: inspire, intellectually stimulate, considerate of the individual
– leaders’ motives influence their perceptiond & construal of the leadership situation, & affect their own satisfactions & vulnerabilities in the leadership process itself
– when a leader is seen as competent in task-related domains & committed to the group’s core values, followers are willing to give the leader greater latitude of action & authority
– voluminous literature on the Contingency model supports the notion that team effectiveness is dependent upon the proper match between leadership style & situational factors
– self-belief in own abilities & the positive outcomes from own guidance is key
– a leader with sufficient intelligence, experience & social skills may have difficulty translating these into behaviours because of self-doubt or lowered self-efficacy
– interpersonal acumen: the ability to decipher underlying motives in other people’s behavior

“On Leading Change”, F.Hesselbein, R.Johnston
– changing culture transformation of organisation’s purpose, focus on customers & results
– 7 steps of cultural transformation:
  – environment scanning for trends that will impact organistaion
  – determine impact of the trends
  – re-examine & refine mission
  – drop old hierarchy & create flexible structures to release energy
  – challenge assumptions, policies, procedures (keep future relevant ones)
  – communicate compelling messages around mission, goals & values
  – disperse responsibility of leadership
– change starts with the passionate few
– manage by commitment options:
  – to a course of action
  – to an ambitious goal
  – to stretch relationships
  – to an operating philosophy
– framing is at the heart of persuasion
  – what will appeal to hearer
  – attractive advantages
  – meaningful outcomes

“Right Brain / Left Brain Leadership”,M. L. Decosterd
– 3 skill sets:
  – looking out (R), looking over (L), looking in
– 10 guiding behavours:
  L: methodical, expressive, grounded, assertive
  R: strategic, innovative, transformational, engaging
  Auxillary: resilient, savvy
– 4 key processes for context:
  – visioning, declaring, implementing, operationalising
– 3 audiences:
  – culture, teams, individuals

“Seven Methods for Transforming Corporate Data into Business Intelligence”, V.Dhar, R.Stein
1. Data driven decision support
2. Genetic Algorithms
3. Neural Networks
4. Rule Based Systems
5. Fuzzy Logic
6. Case-based reasoning
7. Machine Learning

“Strategic Management in the Innovation Economy”, Davenport, Leibold, Voelpel
– “strategic management in the innovation economy requires a new mindset, rooted in a systemic (networked, interactive) view & not a traditional (mechanistic) value-chain, industry-bound, or an existing (physical, internal) resource capability orientation.
– “companies have felt that workers needed them more than they needed workers. This is changing in ways that most companies still do not seem to grasp (Drucker)”
– “a firm’s real competitive advantage is both its contribution to the ecosystem & systemic enterprise, & acting as an essential ‘attractor’ shaping & influencing ecosystem patterns of behaviour”
– poised strategy to manage multiple businees models for sustaining & disruptive value innovation in collaborative business networks
– generic elements of a business model:
  – particular customer base
  – customer value proposition
  – value network for value creation & delivery
  – leadership capabilities to ensure stakeholder satisfaction
– types of innovation:
  – incremental (small improvements)
  – architectural (change business component)
  – discontinuous (industry competition)
– use Organisational Fitness Profiling as a starting point to identify the innovation theme

“Strategy by design”, J. Carlopio
– a non-linear, 3D, iterative process
– steps
  – brief
  – research
  – concept generation
  – prototype
  – develop & evaluate
  – output
– 6 elements of the brief
  – purpose: binding intent worthy of pursuit
    – focus on ways & functions (verbs), not things (nouns)
  – binding: the discipline of the brief
  – principles: how people conduct themselves in pursuit of the purpose
  – people: who needs to partcipate
– design research methods (qualitative):
  – pattern recognition
    – industry-level, technical, replacement, life-cycle
  – identify & recognise latent patterns
  – affinity diagrams, activity/task analysis, character profiles
– concept/idea generation techniques
  – creative combination & alteration
  – physical work environment
  – random stimulation
  – identify & violate assumptions
  – expression & emotional release
  – incubation
– “sometimes budgets should be se not as a constraint but as an opportunity to magnify your ability to create things”
– “one thing strategy developers can learn from designers regarding idea generation is that success comes from generating a diverse range of concepts & ideas, not from focusing on developing the right one”
– “fail early, fail often, prototype, test, move on”
– visualisation is central. If you can’t see it you can’t make it”
– “the more powerful way to persuade people is by telling a compelling story that unites an idea with an emotion”
– so, strategy innovations by design:
  – define the problem & establish the brief
  – question assumptions, conduct research
    – understand stakeholders (latent needs)
    – refine brief, ensure asking correct Q
  – generate concepts, ideas. Allow incubation
  – prototype several solutions
  – evaluate, decide & move

“Technology at the Margins”, Chutani, Aalami, Badshah
– Microsoft Executive Leadership Series
– IT for the BoP (Health, Education, MicroFinance)
– ideas:
– SMS health notifications
– lower transaction costs for specialist services

“The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, J. Maxwell
– law of the lid
– law of influence
– law of process
– law of navigation
– law of addition
– law of solid ground
– law of respect
– law of intuition
– law of connection
– law of inner-circle
– law of empowerment
– law of the picture
– law of buy-in
– law of victory
– law of momentum
– law of priorities
– law of sacrifice
– law of timing
– law of explosive growth
– law of legacy

“The Facilitative Leader”, R.Ray
– 5 modes of facilitative leadership
  – enabler of change
  – respectful communicator
  – developer of people & teams
  – master of problem-solving tools
  – manager of conflict
– once vision is set, create action consensus:
  – review present set of behaviours

“The Firm of The Future”, P.Dunn, R.Baker
– about professional services firms
– old practice equation:
  – revenue = people power x efficiency x hourly rate
– new/mooted practice equation:
  – profitability = intellectual capital x price x effectiveness
– intellectual capital:
  – human capital (people)
  – structural capital (dB,systems, procedures)
  – social capital (customers, suppliers)
– “move from success to significance”
– ideas have consequences, but ideas are everywhere. It is knowledge that is rare, & it is those with the right knowledge who are able to generate enormous wealth by taking the risks necessary to capitalise on it.
– Human Capital:
  – People-service-profit
  – servant leadership
  – leader qualities: direction, trust, hope
– high performance through culture focused on stakeholders (customers, staff, shareholders)

“The Frontiers of Management”, Peter Drucker
– measuring productivity (white collar)
  – time to market
  – # of new products/services in given period
  – # of support staff for a given output
– info-based organisation rests on responsibility.Leadership that respects performance, but requires self-discipline & upward responsibility
– innovation requires backing people, not projects (esp in early days)

“The Leaders Guide to Radical Management”, Stephen Denning
– managers have to inspire genuine enthusiasm for worthwile goals
– 7 basic principles of continuous innovation
  – focus work on delighting the client
  – do work through self-organising teams
  – do work in client driven iterations
  – deliver value to clients each iteration
  – be totally open to impediments to improvement
  – create a context for continuous self-improvement by the team
  – communicate through interactive conversations
– once all the team owns it > then flow

“The Six Dilemmas of Collaboration”, J. Bryant
– 5 ways of responding to the challenge of collaboration
  – process: facilitation or address conflict
  – analysis: of relationships to gain insight
  – culture: shared understanding
  – technology: tools to enable
  – structure: contexts for working together
– 6 dilemmas are:
  – threat
  – persuasion
  – rejection
  – positioning
  – co-operation
  – trust

“The Six Sigma Handbook”, T.Pyzdek, P.Keller
– profitability by improving customer value & efficiency
– defining quality: the value added by productive endeavour (potential & actual quality)
– thus customer requirements, defect prevention, cycle time reduction & cost savings
– simply put: error rate reduction
– implementing 6 Sigma:
  – leadership
  – infrastructure
  – communication & awareness
  – stakeholder feedback systems
  – process feedback systems
  – project selection
  – project deployment
– customer-driven organisations:
  – flattened hierarchies
  – risk taking
  – effective communication
– 6 Sigma is about process improvement (if something add value > process)
– use of data-driven management that feeds into Balanced Scorecard (reflection of goals)
– “how can we make the customer more competitive”, J.Welch
– projects are the core activity driving change in the 6 Sigma organisation > breakthrough & cultural transformation

“The Technology Management Handbook”, R.C. Dorf
– the motivation of technical professionals
  – what energizes particular behaviours
  – what directs or channels these behaviours
  – how the behaviours are sustained/altered
– must create the kinds of job assignments, careers & work-related conditions that allow professionals to satisfy their individual needs
– cognitive models of motivation:
  – Maslow’s hierachy
  – Herzberg’s 2 factor
  – McClelland’s Theory of Needs
– motivation through design of work
  – equity theory
  – expectancy theory
– Hackman & Oldman suggest 3 task dimensions:
  – skill variety
  – task identity
  – task significance (important)
  – also: autonomy, feedback (weak in IT)
– trust & confidence in manager is crucial
– socio-technical model of job design means that team covers breadth/depth/height of the work rather than individuals:
  – depth of expertise
  – breadth of functional tasks
  – height of leadership activities
– rather than change the structure to suit the work, change the work to suit the structure
– the organization designer’s job is to select the least-managerially demanding organization that best fits the “design criteria” appropriate to the situation & strategy.
– structural decisions are made after selecting the configuration of strategic components
– can diagnose & align culture with strategic objectives:
  1. clarity about business unit strategy
  2. clarity about 6 tasks critical to strategy execution
  3. decide on 3 or 4 norms crucial in accomplishing these tasks
  4. diagnose current culture
  5. identify important cultural gaps (ie, what norms are needed)
  6. design interventions to attenuate undesired & promote desired norms
– thus, need innovation? Need creativity & implementation > 4 norms:
  – creativity: support for risk taking & change, tolerance of mistakes
  – execution: effective teamwork & group functioning, emphasis on speed & urgency
– so primary levers to develop culture:
  – participation
  – management as symbolic action
  – information from others
  – informal reward & recognition systems
– 3 leadership activities: vision, alignment, mobilisation
– Overall a major book. Sections on:
  – The Technology Manager & The Modern Context
  – Knowledge for The Technology Manager
  – Tools for The Technology Manager
  – Managing The Business Function
  – Strategy of The Firm
  – Core Relationships for The Technology Manager
  – Global Business Management

“Thought Leadership”, R.Ryde
– standard thinking repertoire
  – deficit thinking: faults, shortcomings
  – rational thinking: logical components
  – sticky thinking: conversation sticks to one view
  – common sense thinking: general/inexpert thinking
  – binary thinking: mutually exclusive
  – equity thinking: fairness
– dominant & shadow thinking channels:
  – deficit > strength-based
  – rational > feeling
  – common sense > insight
  – equity > 360 degree
  – binary > re-integrated
  – sticky > exit

IT Considerations "Inductions, abductions and deductions with respect to Information Technology"

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