Talking Points

Many of the questions ask for individual reflection and insights based on experience. I haven’t tried to answer these here. In other cases, where the question is more directly tackling application of the ideas in the book I’ve provided a few bullet points as a way of sharing my thinking.

Chapter 1

Use these questions to help reflect on this chapter and explore the challenges of putting the ideas into practice:

1. What are the key issues you face when trying to use IT systems to get work done?2. What experience do you have of failed IT projects? What has gone wrong and why?3. What experience do you have of successful IT projects? What has worked and why?4. To what extent are the latest technologies in use in your organization – why / why

not?5. What are the next big innovations likely to affect your organization / market? 6. What are / can you do to take advantage of the new opportunities created by IT?7. What are the key elements of your personal toolkit for management and leadership

(think about how you respond when asked for advice)?

Chapter 2

1. What is your experience of IT projects? Has the focus been on technology implementation or the wider issues of business change to realize benefits?

2. How consistent is the approach to projects in your organization?3. Why is a clear and consistent project framework valuable to an individual project

team and the organization as a whole?4. Is an emphasis on (self) discipline of the project team rather than top-down

management control realistic? What are the risks and potential benefits? What are the limits?

5. What are the implications of the principles for benefits realization for the governance and leadership of investments in IT?

a) A key implication is the need to business leadership of the investment / change programme.

b) There will also be a need for benefit owners and business engagement in the project team.

c) A broader set of skills is required, encompassing leading change as well as technology implementation.

6. What are the key features of e4+1? How does it relate to your experience of projects?a) e4+1 provides an agile, benefits driven approach.b) It starts earlier than most approaches to projects, focusing on rapid delivery

from the original idea.c) It also finished later than most lifecycles providing an emphasis on benefits

realization following solution delivery.7. How well established and consistently applied is the project framework in your

organization? How does it differ from e4+1?

8. How might you take advantage of the principles and practices outlined in this chapter (including e4+1) to add value to the project framework in place in your organization?

9. In this chapter reference has been made to ‘waterfall’ approaches to projects and their limitations. What are their strengths and limitations? How might you adopt an agile approach without loosing out on the strengths of these approaches?

a) ‘Waterfall’ approaches provide a clear structure for a project.b) The specific phases, milestones and deliverables help team members to work

together effectively.c) The emphasis can become completion of documents (requirements, design

etc.), which become the majority of the work rather than direct delivery of project outcomes.

d) Waterfall approaches contrast with the experience many have had of agile approaches, which without can be chaotic if not well applied.

10. How might we enable organizational learning to exploit the potential of IT (principle 6)?

a) Phased benefit delivery.b) Explicit arrangements for sharing innovations / working practices (part of

benefits exploitation).c) Portfolio level oversight & leadership to share learning.d) Explicit focus as part of leadership development.

11. Pick a scenario in your organization: what are the opportunities for benefits in the context of the sources of value from IT (table 2.7)?

12. What challenges might you face in developing a stakeholder map?a) How much detail to go into.b) When to bring in particular individuals.c) Lack of knowledge (to date) of different stakeholder perspectives.

13. How might the portfolio influence your decision on proceeding with work on a potential investment?

a) By helping to think through the alignment with strategic objectives.b) By clarifying the motivation for the investment.c) By providing a greater understanding of the whole set of planned / current

investments.d) By helping clarify how it would need approaching as a basis for a quick check

on feasibility.14. What are the implications if a proposed investment seems to relate to more than one

category in the portfolio?a) Perhaps greater clarity is required in the objectives.b) Perhaps it’s a programme covering a range of objectives and needs to be

treated as a number of projects.15. How could you take into account what’s possible when carrying out Engage (and

Explore)?a) Research, for example with vendors.b) By getting people with relevant experience / technical skills involved.

16. What guidelines could you propose for when to apply Engage? a) As resource is required, even for Engage, some control is required. b) All potential new projects should go through this stage, even if there is

already a decision in principle to go further.

Chapter 3

1. Which driver analysis techniques would you adopt and why?a) Are any in use already in the organization? Start there.b) How much time is available?c) Do the team have expertise in any specific techniques?d) What techniques might you use in workshop mode to encourage

communication, collaboration and creativity?2. What would be the challenges you would face in driver analysis and how would you

overcome them?a) Too many ideas. b) Establishing clear priorities and selection criteria.c) Different priorities from different people and units. d) Getting relevant people involved in decision making and agreeing criteria.e) Lack of understanding of the strategy and priorities. Lack of clarity in the

strategy. Getting input from relevant senior people.3. Does the portfolio suggest a natural sequence of investments?

a) Qualifying is the place to start. Get the foundations right.b) Ring fence resources for initial Exploratory work.c) Allow some local flexibility for Support investments.

4. It is suggested that developing the benefits dependency network is a workshop activity. What might be the challenges and how would you tackle them?

a) It takes time. It might be perceived as a waste of time. Encourage a potential sponsor to volunteer and be in the workshop. Design the workshop to get people involved. Careful communication of the output.

b) The networks are complex and can be confusing, for example distinguishing objectives and benefits. The key is to have a go and not to be over pedantic.

It’s a picture that provides a shared understanding of the planned investment. It can be refined.

5. How might you build on the stakeholder analysis to get greater insight into how to approach the changes required?

a) More extensive work with each stakeholder group.b) Think through the changes required using the framework provided by the

Change Heptagon.c) Run workshops with the group to get them to think through the scenario.

6. How do you balance the two views of measurement: you measure what you get vs. you get what you measure?

a) Never forget that measurement is a key driver of change. So in terms of focus and communication keep it simple, even if there is a fuller picture within the team.

b) Evolve the measures and targets over time as part of benefits exploitation.7. How do you judge the effectiveness of a measure / set of measures?

a) Is there a sense of balance – addressing competing forces (e.g. sales vs. risk of bad debts)?

b) Does the measure relate to the stakeholder – does it mean something to them?

c) See guidance from Neely & co. in the Appendix.8. What should you know about each benefit?

a) Owner.b) Measure(s).c) Target.d) Timescale.e) Related process / business unit.f) Category (Financial / Quantifiable / Measureable – Stop / Better / New).g) Changes required.h) Objectives supported.

9. How would you judge the overall quality of a business case / benefits realization plan?

a) Does it answer the questions in Figure 3.2?b) Does each benefit relate to a stakeholder?c) Are benefits / changes clear, specific, measurable?d) Is the scope of the project(s) clear?

10. What are the barriers to adoption / effective application of a benefits-driven approach?

a) Problems with the current situation not recognized: “we have a business case”.

b) More work including some tough thinking is required by the business team.c) It shifts ownership – the project can no longer be the problem of the IT

function.d) Complexity of thinking – it can be hard.e) Bias towards action. Reluctant to take time to ensure direction / focus is right.f) Collaborative working using workshops may be new.g) Lack of skills to run workshops effectively.

11. What are the implications for the role of the project sponsor of the benefits-driven approach?

a) The benefits approach provides a clear, business focus.b) It will probably require more active engagement.c) For some it will be challenging because of the need for expertise in leading

change.12. How can ‘politics’ derail the development of an effective benefits realization plan?

a) Benefits approaches are not a cure for politics – the need for explicit engagement of a wide range of stakeholders creates risks.

13. Where is your organization in the journey from financial business case to benefits realization planning?

14. What are the implications for the skills / competences of the project team of taking a benefits-driven approach?

a) The team now requires a broader range of skills including planning and delivery of business change.

15. How does the competence for Benefits Planning differ from or perhaps build on, the Engage and Explore stages of the project lifecycle?

a) We contrast an organizational competence with a specific project lifecycle.b) The competence does not require the use of e4+1 (with the stages of Engage /

Evolve).c) Benefits Planning as a competence also relates to portfolio level issues and

practices, for example selecting which projects to invest in.

Chapter 4

1. How would you apply the team model to a small project / team?a) The team model provides a conceptual framework for building a specific

project team, small or large.b) The different roles can, to an extent, be combined in a small number of

people.c) One option is to have a core team of 3, for example including user centred

design specialist; solution architect with technical knowledge; project and benefits lead.

2. How would you apply the team model to a large project?a) On a large project, some of the roles rapidly become teams.b) There may also be sub-teams with a mix of roles e.g. development, test, user

experience.3. What are the implications of using package software or web services for the

approach to the project?a) A benefits approach applies in this situation.b) Opportunity based design suggests it is important to understand the

capabilities of the package. This provides an important input into the design process.

4. What would be the role of a software supplier in a benefits-led project? What might be the challenges of incorporating them into a project team?

a) The contractual model can be a challenge, perhaps forcing a focus simply on delivery of technology.

b) The supplier potentially brings valuable insight into the possibilities and best approaches to deliver benefits, including new ways of doing things based on their wider experience.

5. What purchasing / procurement issues do you envisage if you are taking a benefits-led approach and seeking to enable innovation?

a) The challenge is to balance a focus on costs alongside keeping an opportunity for innovation during the project.

b) Phased delivery often enables an initial focus on rapid delivery, followed by later phases, which address innovation and broader opportunities.

c) Given the phased approach the organization can use early work to build knowledge to help deliver later phases.

6. What problems do you envisage if you try adopting a benefits-led approach? How might you overcome them?

a) There are many potential challenges. A typical challenge is that existing project frameworks with a clear business case are sufficient.

b) Maintaining a focus on benefits through the life of a project can be a challenge; Projects can revert to technical solution delivery when the going gets tough.

7. How might you approach adopting a benefits-led approach on a particular project?a) It is often best just to go ahead and make it happen. Rather than justifying a

new approach, just plan and deliver one or more workshops tackling stakeholder and benefits mapping.

8. How might you approach getting adoption of benefits-led approaches across all projects in an organization?

a) It is potentially a major change programme. Leadership is important.b) It often makes sense to start with one or more pilots.c) Carry out benefits reviews on 2-3 recently completed projects can provide

very valuable insights into how and where to start.9. How might we need to adapt the approach to a project to reflect the IT and Change

Portfolio?a) There are many implications. The basic framework remains the same, but

look for changes in terms of: Role of sponsor. Approach to risk. Agile and innovative vs. cautious with emphasis on testing,

contingency planning etc.10. How does a benefits-led approach contribute to handling typical problems with

projects including power and politics?a) The aim is to have a clearer view of the reasons for investing and the goals of

the investment. This can be very valuable in bringing people together and building support.

b) The clarity of business objectives can contribute to business engagement and leadership.

Chapter 5

1. Consider practice in your organization: how consistently / effectively is the benefits review carried out?

2. How might power and politics interfere with evaluation of the results of a project?a) There is a clear incentive to play a blame game if there are problems, there is

also a tendency to declare the project a great success and hope no one looks too closely.

3. How would you judge if you had a good measure and set of measures for a particular project?

a) See the Appendix.

4. What might a scorecard (set of metrics) evaluating all projects in an organization contain?

a) The Intel Value Dials and the 5 ways provide examples. See Figures 9.3 and 9.4.

5. How do professionals learn? What are the implications for improving project practice and sharing learning?

a) The learning organization (Garvin, 1993). Provides a valuable model. b) Pfeffer and Sutton (199) remind us that it’s not just about telling people what

to do. Bridging the ‘knowing-doing gap’ depends on ‘know-why’.c) Building capability is an organizational change requiring change at many

levels.d) Learning by doing is important. Building expertise takes time and requires

support.6. How is learning captured and shared across projects in your organization?7. What additional practices could we add to the toolkit for benefits realization?8. How does a focus on developing organizational competences for benefits realization

differ from implementing a new project methodology?a) Implementing a new methodology is often just tackled as a ‘technical change’

with a focus on structure, process, and roles.b) Digging deeper, changes are also and perhaps more importantly, required at

the level of mindset, expertise and (working) practices.9. How does the competence for Benefits Review differ from or perhaps build on, the

Evaluate stage of the project lifecycle?a) We contrast an organizational competence with a specific project lifecycle.b) The competence does not require the use of e4+1.c) Benefits Review as a competence also relates to portfolio level issues and

practices, for example driving learning across projects.

Chapter 6

1. What are the barriers to improving your productivity as a knowledge worker?a) There are many options. A key step is to recognize the issue.b) ‘We don’t know what we don’t know’ is a key issue. Even at a local level

increased communication can be value, for example: sharing which ‘app’ do you find most useful and why?’

c) We need to own up to not being experts with all this technology we have around us. It’s important to keep learning.

2. What could you do to improve the productivity of your team?3. Consider specific scenarios for your own work or your team – what specific steps

could you take to improve productivity? Consider perhaps: a meeting, a project review, a project progress report, or specific activities that are important for your work.

4. How competent is your business unit in the competences outlined in this chapter (knowledge worker productivity; information management; knowledge management; business process management)? What other competences are required to enable Benefits Exploitation?

5. What are the implications for the role of management (= digital leadership in the digital organization)?

6. How well does management development (including training) within your organization address these issues?

7. How could you make use of participation in benefits-led projects to build capabilities for benefits realization into the organization?

a) The key point is that participation in a project isn’t just about succeeding with that specific project, it is developing people with expertise that will be valuable in many future projects.

8. How might the IT function provide greater support for knowledge worker productivity?a) In most cases there are lots of opportunities. A shift in mindset is required –

from fixing problems to going out and helping end users make the most of the technology in getting their job done well.

Chapter 7

1. Contrast the design-led approach with a more traditional approach to gathering requirements. What are the benefits and risks?

a) A design-led approach emphasizes observation, brainstorming and prototyping. There is an emphasis on getting a deep understanding of a problematic situation then taking a creative approach to exploring improvements.

b) A requirements driven approach can be implemented in various ways. However there is a tendency to assume that the problem is clear and to move very quickly into a solution. This can often create weak foundations for a project.

c) The requirements approach can also make the assumption that a document, perhaps a lengthy document, provides a good way to communicate with stakeholders. In fact it will often be in a style and language which means more to the specialists in the project team than the end users.

2. How would you adapt and apply the design-led approach to different types of projects?

a) The principles and practices are broadly applicable, for example using multi-disciplinary teams, observation and prototyping.

b) Exploratory and Competitive projects are certainly opportunities for a design-led approach.

3. Is the design-led approach just for some projects? Are at least elements of it relevant to all?

a) I’d argue that aspects of a design-led approach are relevant for virtually all projects, for example the focus on the user.

b) Some projects (Support, Qualifying) require a different emphasis.4. How would you manage the balance between (i) creating space to explore and learn,

and (ii) the need to make progress and deliver results, when adopting a design-led approach?

a) Clear deadlines / milestones are essential. The focus on delivery can contribute to innovation, if not overdone.

b) The phased delivery principle is also important. It provides an important opportunity for learning from real world feedback.

5. How does the discussion of change relate to your experience?6. What are the implications of using a competence based approach to design?

a) Using developing organizational competences as the aim of a project is valuable, it reflects the complexity of the organization in practice.

b) Delivering the changes required to build the desired competences can still be a challenge.

c) The approach is gradually being adopted in practice, for example by IT architects.

7. How might you handle different dimensions of change on a project or programme? Consider perhaps: structure, process, roles, skills, behaviours, and values? How might this relate to timescales and incremental change / phased delivery of benefits?

a) Getting a better understanding of the different dimensions is valuable. It encourages a realistic approach to change, avoiding a potential simplistic plan based on changes to the formal organization of structures, roles, and processes.

8. How is the approach to change designed / planned on projects in your experience?

9. What are the implications (risks) of using a bottom up approach to change and education as a lever?

a) A key perceived risk is loss of control.b) In some circumstances the urgent need for change means there is not time

for this sort of approach.10. What other change related tools and techniques would you want to draw on?

Chapter 8

1. What are the IT trends likely to have an impact on your industry?2. What are the opportunities for disruptive innovation?3. How might new developments create opportunities for:

a. New products and services?b. New business models?

4. What are the outcomes from work on strategy?a. A strategy document.b. Approval from senior management (& CEO) of the strategy proposals.c. Commitment of funds and resources to deliver the proposals.d. Successful completion of proposed project.e. Measurable benefits.f. ‘Prepared minds’ – shared understanding of vision and priorities, enabling

decision making with out necessarily assuming a detailed delivery plan from the work on strategy.

5. How would you decide on the extent of work to develop or up date the strategy and who to involve?

a. There are many factors to take into account.b. Best to pick a scope and approach that can be delivered quickly as a first

step.6. How (and when) can you judge the success of work on strategy?

a. See notes on outcomes (Q4).b. Results are seen over a range of timescales.c. Major outcomes take time to achieve – i.e. measurable benefits.

7. Is work on strategy for a few people in the organization or for many?a. Strategic thinking and ways of working are for all.b. The tools / ideas explored in the book can be used at many / all levels of an

organization.8. What is your experience of strategy and business planning? What are the pitfalls?

What contributes to success?9. How does your experience relate to the work by Earl on what makes a successful

approach to IT strategy?10. How should we handle work on strategy when every business is a digital business?

a. The pressure for strategic thinking is increased.b. The opportunities for innovation are extensive.c. Work on strategy for the digital business needs input on technical and

business trends.d. Creative, collaborative work is required to explore the opportunities.e. A focus on building delivery capability is important, breaking out of existing

slow timescales and backlogs.11. How do you respond to the challenge that given the pace of innovation and change,

as well as the level of uncertainty, there is no point trying to take a long-term view?a. While there is uncertainty at many levels, particularly in relation to specific

products and the timescale of change, many major trends are clear and in fact can be traced over long periods.

b. A portfolio perspective allows flexibility in response to uncertainty.c. Investments can be used to build both insight and capabilities.

12. What might be the contribution of suppliers and other external contacts to the strategy? What might be the value of consultants?

a. There is a tendency to outsource strategy by use of consultants rather than staff.

b. Consultants can be valuable if used effectively.c. The potential contribution of suppliers is often over looked. They potentially

have an important input in terms of product roadmaps and insights across customers and industries.

13. How would you balance effort and resources across the three approaches to strategy? (Consider: (i) exploiting the current business & IT infrastructure; (ii) responding to business priorities; (iii) exploring the opportunity for strategic change based on technology innovations.)

a. The organization as a whole will have a stance on strategy – for example innovator and first to market vs. risk averse follower.

b. The strategic stance will affect the balance and resources.14. If strategy is a process, not a one-off activity, what are the implications?

a. The process perspective implies repeatability.b. Work on strategy will be required at many levels of an organization and at

many times. There is a lot of potential for continued learning about an effective approach.

Chapter 9

1. How effective are portfolio management practices in your organization?2. How can investment appraisal criteria be adapted to reflect the portfolio?

a. Firstly, it is important that they are.b. The portfolio suggests quite different criteria for each type of project.a. Support – traditional payback / return on investment and net present value

techniques are suitable.b. Qualifying – traditional financial appraisal methods remain valuable, but a

broader perspective is required.c. Competitive – the future orientation and business risk makes a

straightforward application of financial techniques problematic. For example there is very significant uncertainty about income (by definition – it’s a new venture).

d. For Competitive projects a broader scorecard is required with strategic alignment a key factor.

e. Exploratory – even more than Competitive a traditional financial model is irrelevant. The purpose of the project is to explore potential benefits. So the key is to consider the outcome of the project as a better understanding of potential benefits.

f. For Exploratory projects resources and timescales must be limited initially and the challenge is to choose between competing opportunities based on a range of criteria (value of potential opportunity; sponsorship; strength of team, etc.).

3. What issues would you face in trying to combine local and organization-wide use of the portfolio?

b) A challenge. It can quickly get complex.c) You probably want a range of views into the portfolio easily available.d) It is valuable to see where different projects affect the same people and

processes.4. What guidelines, if any, could we agree for how to allocate resources across the

portfolio?a. I’ve always resisted specific rules, not least because of the immaturity of

portfolio management in many organisations.b. Exploratory a small %, but ring-fenced.c. Support – tackle the natural tendency to do far too much here as these can

be easier to justify because of the focus on cost saving.d. The bulk of the money should be allocated to Competitive and Qualifying with

the split depending on the organization. Vital not to have too many Competitive programmes.

5. How would you allocate resources to Exploratory projects?a. Consider allocation via both central and local (business unit budgets).b. Aim to ring fence a small % of money and people.c. Use a very simple system of Concept Papers as a basis selecting priorities.d. Make decisions on a rolling basis so the system is flexible.

6. How would you balance short and long term priorities in allocating resources?a) Make this an explicit issue for the group responsible for portfolio governance.

7. What would be key questions / criteria to driver a review of the portfolio?a. Are current projects well aligned with business priorities and making good

progress towards benefits realization?b. What are the priorities for increasing cost effectiveness and value realization

from current systems and information?c. What are the priorities for future programmes and projects and are there

effective mechanisms for focusing on specific priorities given the many opportunities?

d. How effective are structures and practices for portfolio management?8. Who should be involved in portfolio governance?

a. Weill provides a valuable framework for exploring governance.b. Involvement is required at business unit and organizational levels.c. Ideally the portfolio becomes a part of the toolkit in general use by managers.

9. How would you assess the effectiveness of portfolio management?a. Many organizations are at a basic level. b. To assess effectiveness consider:

i. The existence and scope of any portfolio (how comprehensive is it?).ii. Broad engagement in governance of the portfolio.iii. If portfolio management addresses the full investment lifecycle.

10. Where might you make a start introducing portfolio management into an organization?

a. A first step would be to get a shared view of all current systems and project related to a specific business unit.

b. They could then be categorized according to the IT and Change Portfolio.c. A one-off review could assess any action required.

11. What might be the next steps to improve portfolio management in your organization?

12. How could we increase the capacity of the organization for investments in change?a. Effective portfolio management focuses resources on priorities increasing the

effective capacity.b. A shared approach to projects, widely and effectively adopted across an

organization will increase capacity.

Chapter 10

1. How could an architecture approach contribute to benefits realization?a. The architectural approach provides a vital input to priority setting and

therefore benefits realization (the greatest gains come from doing the right things).

b. Over time the architectural approach should enable solution delivery to be more rapid and cost effective.

2. What challenges would the architect face in making an impact?a. Projects tend to be very focused on specific goals. The architect challenges

this by bringing a wider perspective and set of goals.3. How would the architecture perspective and role impact on a particular project?

a. At a project level, the solution or technical architect addresses the overall IT solution, which may well cross a range of applications and technologies.

4. How could the architecture perspective and role contribute to strategy development and implementation?

a. The architect helps build a long-term vision – relating to business systems, information and technology. This provides a major input into how to address specific business requirements (e.g. which technologies to use).

b. The architecture role provides a further input to priority setting – looking across different projects.

5. What architecture roles and practices are in place in your organization?6. How effective is IT governance in your organization? Use the framework from Weill

as a point of reference.7. Why is IT governance so important? Do we focus on business governance in a

similar way?a. I think we tend to emphasize IT governance because we are less familiar with

it than for example finance or human resources. Also there is a much bigger emphasis on projects and change rather than business as usual when we are dealing with IT.

8. If governance is really about relationships what are the implications?a. Engagement and relationships are key to effective governance.b. Recognizing this, it is important to find ways to encourage senior people to

work together effectively, perhaps using well-facilitated workshops, rather than formal meetings.

9. How does the service management perspective contrast with business process management?

a. There are strong connections.b. The emphasis on service fits well with value to stakeholders and is a useful

emphasis for process management.

Chapter 11

1. How ‘digital’ is your organization?2. To what extent does work on strategy engage senior management in exploring digital

options?3. How effectively are social technologies being used?4. What are the opportunities for open innovation?5. How should our approach to strategy development and execution change to reflect

the digital world?a. Digital technologies now enable very rapid execution. They bring new

opportunities for experimentation.b. To capitalize on the potential for rapid execution, strategy needs to more of a

continuous process, shifting further from the old model of periodic, long-term planning.

c. Greater multi-disciplinary working is required, with a greater emphasis on exploring possibilities.

6. How does our social use of technology (Smartphones, tablets, apps etc.) relate to and contribute to our use of IT in organizations?

a. Our expectations are raised. For example for ease of use.b. There is also drive to merge work and home – the ‘bring your own device’

trend and demand to access work systems over personal mobile devices.7. What are the key features of the approaches to projects and strategy covered in this

book that help build readiness for the digital world?

Chapter 12

1. Is a senior manager brought in from outside the IT function likely to succeed? What would be the challenges and opportunities?

a. This is quite common. A senior business executive moved to lead IT.b. It can help bridge a business-IT divide.c. It can be very hard to manage the different disciplines and dynamics of

different areas of an IT function with no technical / project experience.2. Is it time to accept that IT is a commodity and that cost and efficiency should be the

key drivers for management? If so who provides leadership for innovation and benefits realization?

a. In many cases the IT function adopts the IT as a commodity approach.b. Leadership for innovation is then found elsewhere, perhaps in an innovation

or digital business team.c. There are risks of duplication and fragmentation.d. A CIO, as opposed to an IT Manager, should provide leadership for benefits

realization and competitive advantage.3. Does your organization have or need a Chief Information Officer with a strategic

leadership role?4. How do you balance specialist and generalist career paths (development

opportunities; reward; performance criteria)?a. Many organizations find this hard.b. There are also many examples of organizations providing alternative career

paths. Seniority and reward reflect technical leadership as well as more traditional management roles.

5. How do you make your organization attractive to technical and specialist employees?a. Technical career path.b. Culture where technical specialists are involved in decision-making and have

an opportunity to contribute creatively at all levels (strategy – delivery).6. What management competences do you need to make the most of IT in your

business unit?a. A broad range of management competences are required including expertise

in: Project and change management. Business process management. Information and knowledge management.

7. What steps could you take to work more effectively with your IT function?a. Identify and make contact with an IT relationship or account manager

responsible for your area.b. Make contact with managers / teams supporting key systems used by your

team.c. Invite relevant IT contact(s) to be part of strategy / planning sessions.d. Ensure team leaders have objectives to builds relationships with contacts for

key systems and to develop their expertise in those systems.8. How are the new technology developments (Cloud, Mobile, etc.) affecting the role of

IT?a. There are many new demands and much complexity.b. There are also many opportunities for IT and end-user areas to make use of

technology and services from outside the organization.c. Privacy and security are important concerns.d. IT may need to shift focus to integration and use of technology rather than

systems development.e. Large organizations and departments may no longer have an advantage over

much smaller competitors.

Chapter 13

1. What are the barriers to taking a more innovative approach to projects?a. A traditional approach focuses on requirements definition and then delivery.

There is often little space for creativity and innovation.b. Innovation is perceived as risk and delay.

2. How might you make a start in building innovation at a project level?a. Manage a pilot Exploratory project.b. Introduce a range of tools to enable innovation (observation, brainstorming,

prototyping).c. Use benefits tools creatively with a team.

3. How do you establish a business case for an innovation project?a. At the start the problem area / challenge may be clear but not a precise set of

requirements or solution. A traditional, detailed business case is unlikely to be possible.

b. Justification will depend on strategic alignment or treating it as an Exploratory project.

c. A phased approach to funding is required.4. How can the IT & Change portfolio enable innovation?

a. Exploratory and Competitive projects provide a focus for innovation.b. Allocation of ‘risk money’ to Exploratory projects creates capacity and

opportunity to innovate.5. Is innovation part of everyone’s job?

a. I’d argue ‘yes’.b. The scale if innovation may vary but the mindset and practices can be

valuable in many scenarios and levels.6. Who provides leadership for innovation?7. How can a large organization balance allowing opportunities for innovation and

maintaining a focus on the vision and mission? a. The portfolio is one mechanism.b. Broad engagement in strategy resulting in a shared vision and ‘prepared

minds’ enabling local decision making.c. Using portfolio management from original idea, filtering and nurturing valuable

ideas and opportunities.

8. How can you handle the inevitable failure of some innovation initiatives?a. In many organizational cultures this is an issue. Careers can be damaged or

destroyed by association with a failure.b. It is important to consider the performance of individuals and the team and

not simply the project outcomes.c. Managers will need to protect their teams and create safe space to innovate

while expecting and nurturing high levels of performance.9. Does your industry face threats of disruptive innovation?10. What else should be in the innovators toolkit?

Chapter 14

1. Are the principles and practices discussed in the book really about benefits from IT or is this really a more general approach to change?

a. What’s your view? From experience, most of the book applies to a wide range of scenarios.

2. What can you learn from experience – yours or your organization, about the challenges of developing the benefits realization capability of an organization? Try and focus on specific experience and evidence.

3. How is the dynamic capability represented in your organizational strategy? Is capability development a priority?

4. Who provides leadership for the development of the benefits realization or dynamic capability?

5. What are the implications for the competences required from managers across the organization?

a. Following Drucker, it’s important to see that the job of managers and others in the workplace is improving how the job is done as well as getting the job done.

b. A further aspect of the job is then building the capability of individuals and the organization to innovate and improve (double loop learning / dynamic capability).

6. Contrast different types of change: from local and incremental to radical, innovative and organization-wide. How do the practices and capabilities required differ?

a. A core set of practices can be applied in a very wide range of contexts.7. Why is capability development ‘path dependent’?

a. There is a natural sequence of development. Its not absolutely fixed, a number of ‘playbooks’ seem to exist.

b. At any level there are natural next steps of improvement.c. Trying to leap too far ahead will mean that foundations are not in place and

problems will occur.8. How can you facilitate / encourage a mindset shift (for example from technology

delivery to benefits realization) as part of capability development?a. This is a core challenge.b. Participation in a well planned / facilitated benefits project can enable a

mindset shift.9. What are the opportunities and next steps to develop the benefits realization

capability in your organization: at a project level?a. Consider: education; mentoring; practical experience from project

engagement; establishing a benefits driven project framework and toolkit.10. How can you ensure projects deliver the intended benefits and also make a

contribution to the development of the overall benefits realization capability? What would be the implications for how you approach a project?

a. Make this an explicit element of project planning and resourcing.

11. What are the opportunities and next steps to develop the benefits realization capability in your organization: at the portfolio level?

12. What are the opportunities and next steps to develop the benefits realization capability in your organization: at an organizational level?

13. How would you make a start in developing the benefits realization capability? What can you do?

14. What is the role of business leaders in benefits realization and capability development?

a. These are core roles for business leaders.

Appendix 1

Effective Measurement (example from the benefits toolkit)

Performance measurements are a strong driver of behaviour. The right set of measures will help create the desired benefits. An important part of the project is therefore establishing an effective set of measures.

ExampleHaving identified benefits and associated measures / targets it is important to consider the likely impact of the individual measures, and the overall set of measures, on behaviour.

The measures address both the benefits to the stakeholder and the contribution from the stakeholder.

In outline the steps involved are:

1. Group the measures by stakeholder.

2. Consider if the measures reflect the benefits / value you intend the stakeholder to realize.

3. Consider if the measures reflect the contribution you expect that stakeholder to make.

4. Assess each measure based on the ‘Ten Tests’ (see section at the end of the pattern).

5. Assess the whole basket of measures – is the overall emphasis as intended?

6. Plan for learning and evolution of the measures.

Rationale‘You get what you measure’ – performance measurement is a strong driver of behaviour. As a result the measures that are put in place and the targets that are set will have a significant impact on the benefits that are actually realized. Measurement is not just about assessing the results – measurement determines the results.

Unfortunately it is hard to predict the precise impact of specific measurements and there are often unexpected effects…

The supermarket was getting long queues of customers at the checkouts on a regular basis. One step they took to address this was to focus on the performance of checkout staff. From the new EPOS system they were able to measure ‘items scanned per minute’ so they introduced a daily report in each store showing the performance of each operator on each shift.Performance of checkout operators increased.

But the store manager saw that there was still a problem. Checkout operators were scanning the goods so rapidly that the shoppers couldn’t keep up with the packing. There was a big pile of shopping at the end of the belt – with the customer frantically trying to pack it into bags – and the checkout operators were sitting waiting for the next customer – doing nothing.

So they decided to experiment with a different set of measures…

Measuring what is easy to measure may not be the right thing to do. Getting the data to measure what really matters can be difficult. Also it is likely that measures will have unexpected impacts – it is important to watch out for these. The Balanced Score Card concept indicates that we need a ‘basket’ of measures, which together bring the right emphasis on behaviour. Consider a sales role:

A measure based on orders taken would be a starting point. But by itself what behaviour might it drive?

Other measures required might include:

Credit notes and bad debts (what income was actually received).

Repeat business (as an indicator of customer satisfaction).

Order accuracy (problems highlighted by manufacturing).

Checklist

1. Are measures related to the (major) benefits?

2. Are the measures consistent with the major changes in behaviour that are required?

3. Is the overall set of measures balanced?

4. Is the information available to track the benefits?

Are we measuring the right things in the right way?

Ten Tests1 The truth

testAre we really measuring what we set out to measure?For example is ‘repeat purchases’ a good measure of customer loyalty? Not necessarily, they may be dissatisfied but the costs of switching may mean they still repurchase.

2 The focus test

Are we only measuring what we set out to measure?A measure may end up assessing multiple factors – so if the ‘score’ changes we might not understand why. For example ‘sales to existing customers’ can provide information on both retention and cross selling. Two, more specific measures are required in this example.

3 The relevancy test

Is it the right measure of the performance factor we want to track?Does it really tell us what we want to know? What would a measure of suggestions made by employees tell us about their involvement in the business and business improvement? Maybe we really want to measure valid (implementable) suggestions and also to know the % of employees providing two or more valid suggestions – this would provide a much better picture of the breath of effective involvement.

4 The consistency test

Will the data always be collected in the same way whoever measures it?Many accountancy rules are designed to provide this for financial data. In other areas it’s less clear-cut. For example what is the context of customer satisfaction data (who was interviewed and when)?

5 The access test

Is it easy to locate and capture the data needed to make the measurement? For example will a sample do (what size of sample)?

6 The clarity test

Is any ambiguity possible in interpreting the results?

7 The so-what test

Who acts on the measure? What will they do? (this is perhaps the fundamental test)

8 The timeliness test

Can the data be accessed rapidly and frequently enough for action?

9 The cost test Is the measure worth the cost of measurement?

10 The gaming test

Is the measure likely to encourage desirable or undesirable behaviour?

Based on The Performance Prism (pages 38-45) (2002) Andy Neely, Chris Adams and Mike Kennerley Financial Times Prentice Hall