I just finished reading The Phoenix Project (by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford, Jan 10, 2013).\u00a0 I found it to be a pretty cool way of conveying organizational development concepts for an IT organization.\u00a0 The year long efforts to turn around a failing IT department for a large company (Parts Unlimited) was presented as a novel.<\/p>\n
I was sure, as I neared the end, that there would be a chapter (or appendix) at the end where the authors would share a clear list of the concepts\/theories presented within the book.\u00a0 Specifically the Three Ways.\u00a0 I was surprised to find no such item.\u00a0 So I thought I\u2019d find a reference to a website, or another book, or something that would tell me how to implement the specifics\u2026or at least explain them.\u00a0 Again no such thing.<\/p>\n
It remained a compelling novel.\u00a0 I actually got to like the characters.\u00a0 I cheered for the protagonist and booed the antagonist.\u00a0 My only (negative) criticisms are that the characters could have been developed a little more \u2013 I accepted the less than thorough development because I thought it wasn\u2019t going to be a \u201cnovel.\u201d\u00a0 Also the demise of the antagonist was anti-climatic.\u00a0 But I was happy with the book overall and it definitely got me thinking.<\/p>\n
There were some basic steps any department or unit could take to improve.\u00a0 One of these was making improving internal processes a top priority!\u00a0 I’ve seen this in action and totally agree…especially automation.\u00a0 Here are some points:<\/p>\n
There are 4 types (categories) of work<\/p>\n
Workcenters are made up of:<\/p>\n
And I found a nice set of quotes to tweet!\u00a0 Like, \u201clearning to say \u2018no\u2019 is just the tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n
There’s a lot to learn, and even more to try.\u00a0 What did you think of the book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I just finished reading The Phoenix Project (by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford, Jan 10, 2013).\u00a0 I found it to be a pretty cool way of conveying organizational development concepts for an IT organization.\u00a0 The year long efforts … Continue reading