Enterprise Navigator

"Hello it's me, I've thought about us for a long, long time…"

Name that tune.

OK, maybe that's not much of a challenge (duh, given the first three words are the title). How about, name that singer/songwriter/producer?

Yes, it's been a long, long time indeed since my last post, so lots of things to catch you up on.

So, here we are, one month after the publication of Taming Change with Portfolio Management. Most of you probably received an email from me announcing said release and encouraging your purchase. Did I mention lately that marketing a book is at least as much work as writing one? For any potential authors out there, don't forget to consider this as a major aspect of your planning (and budgeting). This also explains why you haven't heard much from me on this page the last few weeks.

We are getting great interest and response from initial readers and reviewers. There are several links on the book website where you can listen to interviews (be sure to check out the two-part interview I did with Cornelius Fichtner on the PM Podcast, Episode 149, read reviews, and download supporting content. We have also started posting excerpts of some videos that Pat and I taped which further explain some of the key topics; find them on the Resources tab.

There you will also find a listing of upcoming engagements I'll be doing related to topics from the book, including the following:

Silicon Valley Chapter PMI Annual Symposium
September 20-21, 2010
Santa Clara, CA

Tearing Down the Wall! Integrating Portfolio Management Across the Life Cycle of Change
Ultimate In Success
September 21, 2010
Santa Clara, CA

CampIT Project and Portfolio Management Symposium
September 30, 2010
Chicago, IL

34th Annual Global Conference on Product Innovation Management (PDMA)
October 16-20, 2010
Orlando, FL

Yes, there are two events listed in Santa Clara; I'm not sure yet which day I will be speaking at the PMI symposium, however, for those in the area who are not attending the Silicon Valley chapter event but are interested in portfolio management, Harish Chinai has asked me to do a 90-minute evening presentation and book signing at his facilities. If you are in the San Jose/Bay area and are even remotely involved with project or portfolio management, then you probably know of Harish. It's a free event, so please register and come by (BYOB).

If you have never attended one of the CampIT one-day mini symposiums, I would encourage you to check it out, especially if you are in the midwest; Dan Horwich runs a pretty good program, and it is a great value.  'PDMA' is the Product Development and Management Association 2010 Global Conference on Product Innovation Management; no presentation at this one, but I will be helping out.

I bet some of you are thinking, "Book, schmook. Great info but it's static; what I need is something more interactive where I can go get specific answers to my unique questions." Ah, such a deal I have for you! For readers and those otherwise interested in portfolio management the PMO and business process development, we have launched a LinkedIn Group, titled the same as the book.  The whole purpose of the book is simply to get a conversation started, so the LinkedIn group is where you can "continue the conversation" with others who have the same topical interests as yourself. Please join us, ask questions and share your insights with others.

As for other things going on (that aren't book-related!), if you didn't get a chance to watch it live, please check out the on-demand version of the webcast we did last week with Nick Boxall, the MIS Manager at Best Buy Europe. We explore the topic of how to extract critical information from your PPM system. Hopefully the link will be up on the Resource Center of planview.com by the time you read this, and I think you will find it much more upbeat and informative than a song about almost breaking up with someone over the phone.

Taming Change with Portfolio Management is now officially published and available at Amazon and other retail outlets. You can obtain it as a traditional hardbound book or download it in electronic Kindle format. Follow the link to look inside, see the reviews and purchase it at a very inviting price point compared to most business management titles.

Please note that we are launching a significant media campaign today for the book, so do not be alarmed if it is listed as "out of stock." We will replenish their supplies quickly and get a copy on its way to you in short order. Pat and I look forward to your reviews and feedback, and we hope to see you soon as part of the Taming Change community.

Hello after a busy week in London. I am pleased to report it continues to be both jolly and old, as well as undeniably charming. A few topics to cover, including the recent Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summits in Orlando and the UK, the associated 2010 Magic Quadrant Report, and Taming Change.

First, a quick update on the book; Taming Change with Portfolio Management is now shipping from Amazon.com, and I'm sure other retailers are following suit. We handed out several copies at the Gartner events and to those attending our European Advisory Board meeting. Interest in the title continues to grow, but now market response will give us a real measure.

I have begun a LinkedIn Group named the same as the title to provide some continuity for readers who have comments, thoughts or questions. We invite readers and anyone else interested to join us to 'continue the discussion.' Our goal is to create an active community around the topic of managing change using portfolio management. Expect forum activity to ramp up in mid-July after people have had a chance to get a copy and read the book, but it is now live and accepting members if you want to go ahead and join.

On to the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summits. While I was not personally at the Orlando event, I did get a chance to attend the summit in London. Comparing notes with others, I think the general tone and content were consistent in both locations. Although most of the messaging from Gartner served to reinforce what they are already publishing through their various reports, the live events give their analysts more time to better explain the basis for trends and the recommendations they offer, and a chance for the audience to ask questions.

We were pleasantly surprised by the robust attendance in London, which included more than 60% who came over from continental Europe and elsewhere outside of the UK. I understand that the numbers were double the original target for the event. It seems that practitioners in EMEA are hungry for more opportunities to learn, share and interact.

One session in particular is worth specifically noting, as it featured someone outside of the Gartner organization. Gregory Balestrero, the President and CEO of the Project Management Institute (PMI), was featured in a general session at both events, answering questions from Gartner senior staff and attendees. Among other things, he outlined PMI's plans for future growth and expansion.

I submitted a question to ask how PMI plans to better respond to emerging practices and incorporate these changes into their certification process and body of knowledge. The gist of the response was that works to a 3-year turnaround time, citing how they were now addressing Agile practices as an indicator of their responsiveness.

So, now I have to ask you -- are you OK with that?

On a different note, several people I talked with at the UK event were quick to point out that their interests lie well beyond the specific needs of IT, but they had nowhere else to turn for information and insights. With that in mind, I'll ask the question out loud -- where do we go to for an Enterprise PPM focus? For example, I find it curious that IT PPM is still the primary community discussing the idea of the Enterprise PMO. Clearly, the idea of independently "running IT as a business" is now past tense, in favor of a more inclusive, integrated approach. I would like to suggest that forward-thinking practitioners and industry leaders are now extending their attention beyond the realm of the CIO; isn't it time that we all escape the IT paradigm and adopt a more broad view of the subject? Just imagine what could be accomplished if we could get everyone involved in the cycle of change talking together.

Finally, the 2010 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management was unveiled in Orlando, and again presented in London. For those who have seen the report, then the case of the mysterious t-shirt from my last entry is now solved.

Sorry I've been a little lax in posting lately -- suffice to say things have been very hectic on several fronts.

I am pleased to announce that the first printing of our book, Taming Change with Portfolio Management, is now off the presses and heading to warehouses and resellers. If I do say so myself, the final hard-bound book is a handsome product; the publisher and printer did a very nice job and we are pleased with the results.

Pat Durbin and I have worked hard to include the best possible balance of topics, concepts and practices to provide a solid foundation for any organization that wants to apply portfolio management to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. The subtitle, 'Unify Your Organization, Sharpen Your Strategy and Create Measurable Value' sums up what we believe is a compelling case for using the approaches we describe.

I hope that those of you who choose to get a copy find it relevant to the challenges you face. Although we have drawn immensely on our collective experience to provide useful practices, Taming Change is not so much about where portfolio management has been, but rather about where it is going. Below is an excerpt from the preface:

"This leads us to the third driver for this book-timing. We believe we are at an important juncture in the evolution of business management that is best summed up by one word-convergence. Over the last decade, improvements in processes, techniques, and supporting technology have enabled us to make significant advances in several individual fields of business management. However, the proliferation of specialized capabilities within individual functional areas is also awakening the business world to the need to unify how organizations operate. We are seeing this among industry analysts, executives in different business sectors, professional associations, supporting vendors, and practitioners in many disciplines. As the volume and pace of change increases, there is a compelling need to align and consolidate the efforts of marketing specialists, product and brand managers, strategic planners, financial analysts, PMOs, project managers, operations leaders, technologists, and others to achieve shared business objectives.

We believe this growing recognition, combined with the use of portfolio management as a common unifying mechanism, creates a perfect storm for improving how organizations perform."

Early feedback has been promising. I am happy to announce that we have agreed to a request by the PMI PMO Specific Interest Group to use Chapter 16, The Portfolio Management Office, as the epilogue in their forthcoming PMO Handbook, which will be published by J. Ross later this year.

I had sent an advance reader copy to John Worthington, principal consultant at MyServiceMonitor, and he did an excellent online webcast on Bright Talk recently, featuring how the concepts in the book are applied to implementing ITIL. View the on demand version of Portfolio Management & ITIL: A Book Review. You can always find out the latest news about the book, what people are saying and upcoming public presentations at the Taming Change Web site.

Although the official publication date is 1 July, everything is a few weeks ahead of schedule. The book is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com and other online retailers, and should be on bookshelves very soon. Pat and I look forward to your thoughts on the book, and we hope that it helps to spark ongoing dialogue on how we can all better manage our organizations in the changing world we live in.

Doesn't it seem incredulous (especially to your customers) that despite all of the staff you have in your organization, there always seems to be a shortage of people for project work? Or worse yet, those that are given project tasks are often unavailable just when they are needed to keep critical path on track.

So, just how much capacity really is available to innovate, compared to keeping the wheels on the operational wagon? This excerpt from Taming Change with Portfolio Management (shipping to book stores in June) offers you an idea of what actual capacity utilization analysis typically reveals. It also helps explain why using common availability assumptions may have some of you working sixty hours a week.

Understanding Total Capacity Utilization -- Where Does It Go?

Come -- warm yourself by the fire, have a bite to eat and perhaps a glass of wine.

In most regions of the world, we are in a season of high celebration. Even though it may go by different names or be motivated by different reasons, we band together to try and find the best in ourselves and bring joy to others leading up to the new year.

Nice, huh?

One thing we can count on is that each new year will be accompanied by change in some shape, form or fashion. As our book winds its way through the publishing process, I want to share an excerpt from one of the early chapters with you. Sometimes in the excitement of creating something new, we lose sight of the fact that we are effecting change, and any change has human implications. The following is a page from Taming Change with Portfolio Management.

How Change Impacts People

Change, of course, has always existed. Historically, the most successful organizations have not only accommodated change -- they have used it to their advantage. But the amount of change being injected into our business lives is coming at a rate never before seen, and there is no apparent slowdown in sight.

But, how much change are we capable of absorbing at any given time? Just as there are limits that constrain change in the physical world, there are limitations to change in the business world. Examples of such constraints might include our ability to acquire and employ funding, analyze and act upon new data, access specialized competencies, redirect corporate strategy, or leverage scientific discoveries.

The most obvious and difficult constraint to organizational change lies with people themselves. A jet aircraft is an example from the physical world to illustrate the point. The newest generation fighter jets now have the ability to perform maneuvers that exceed the physical endurance of any pilot; the human component rather than the airframe has become the limiting factor. In the much same way, the ability of people to adapt to change may ultimately prove to be the limiting factor in the rate of business evolution.

As individuals, people routinely demonstrate great ability to change. Certainly as individuals we are remarkably resilient, adaptable and flexible -- extreme G-forces notwithstanding. When facing personal adversity, given a promotion, changing employers or embarking on new careers, individuals routinely adapt to new situations in a matter of days or a few weeks, sometimes overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges.

However, when grouped as an organization, people respond to change in a more complex way. Change in a socialized context takes on a whole new set of dynamics. Why can't an organization collectively change as nimbly as the individuals within it? The short answer is that change applied in an organizational setting often forces the people affected to simultaneously adapt and adopt new methods for how they deal with each other, representing the greatest challenge to the organization. When a single individual is faced with changes in a new situation, there is usually an existing foundation of operational norms and support from others around them. Such is not the case when change impacts the entire organization.

Thus, the ability of an organization to evolve is limited in large part by how well its workforce can adapt by retooling itself to work differently. Portfolio management offers the process framework to communicate changes and re-establish the rules of the new future state. It can offer the workforce the assurance that there is a plan and it is being executed for a purpose.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a very festive New Year, and I look forward to sharing an exciting 2010 with you -- full of positive changes.

Wow, has it really been almost three months since my last post? Please, no more get-well notes; I am perfectly fine and have a good excuse. There is a lot to catch up on, but first, here is what happened.

Remember that insect-shaped drone that flew out of my USB port in the July 20th post about the federal IT dashboard? Apparently, that little fella captured footage of me vigorously interrogating sentences for hours at a time until they divulged their meaning.  Then came the helicopters, with men in black balaclavas rappelling to my rooftop, yada, yada, yada. To make a long story short (worthy of Bond or Bourne, I might add), I was apprehended, detained, arraigned and eventually found guilty of conspiracy to commit literary pandemonium. A three-judge panel of librarians threw the book at me (specifically, a thesaurus), and then I was released.

Then we finished our book.

Yep. Pat Durbin (our founder and CEO) and I recently handed over a sizable manuscript to our editors, titled, Taming Change with Portfolio Management. It is still four or five months away from hitting the bookstores, but after over a year of effort, it felt good to look at twenty-two completed chapters. For those customers who attended our very successful 2009 Horizons event a few weeks ago, perhaps you caught Pat's keynote at Horizons Live or stopped by our booth and downloaded a sample.  For others, you can learn more about the book at our Taming Change Web site. That site will grow into the mothership as we get closer to publication.

Taming Change is a project with a moderately audacious goal; take what is sometimes considered a complex and ambiguous subject and distill it into a clearly defined set of straightforward and practical concepts and practices. Pat and I have worked to articulate our environment of continuous change, the effects this has on organizations, and how you can apply the discipline of portfolio management to proactively control it. Taming Change is an extensive body of work that we hope will transform the way you think about portfolio management. It is time to go beyond considering the technique as a series of fractured point solutions, and recognize it as a unified, comprehensive method for managing change through its lifecycle, from recognition to solution.

Like most endeavors that appear glamorous from the outside (i.e., the excitement of business travel), writing a book such as this is just plain old work once you get down to it. In addition to the long hours of research and writing, there were countless discussions to rationalize our approach and re-write chapters until we felt we had satisfied our objective. Ultimately, you will be the judge of whether or not we succeeded.

So, that's why there have been no posts lately; it got to the point that at the end of each day, I was just flat out of words. There will be much more to come about the book over the next several months.

OK, so what else can you look forward to now that I am back in the saddle? Some big subjects are on my list, including the formation of a new professional association for business leaders that I am very anxious to tell you about, a recent study from Margo Visitacion at Forrester on the Next Generation PMO, hot topics from the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, and the upcoming PMI 2009 PMO Symposium in Atlanta. We will be there as a sponsor, so please stop by and see us if you are attending. I will be doing a presentation on Sunday just before the reception about 'Transforming the PMO at the Speed of Business' -- don't be surprised if a few of the core Taming Change concepts show up in that session. See you there!