Category Archives: Business

The black art of “project rescues” explained

In my career I have focussed a lot of energy and time on “project rescues” – the bigger the problem, the more hostile the stakeholders, the worse the management controls, the greater the lack of belief, the more complex it becomes to disentangle the situation, the stronger the blame game … yes, you get the picture.

I know so many Project Managers who simply bail out when they see a project going wrong, or if they’re brought in to fix a situation up that’s gone to poo then they won’t go anywhere near these situations. They don’t want to deal with someone else’s stuff up. They think they’re going to fail too. They’re scared it’s going to destroy their career. “Too much risk” they mutter, and slink off, Gollum-like, into the darkness. Continue reading

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Important people doing important stuff that no-one else could possibly understand? No, I don’t think so.

Hmmm … see the similarity here?

So, Dear Reader, what do skyscrapers, space shuttles and soothsayers have in common?

Well, mention delivering change or project management and every organisation you talk to has a horror story to tell.

Many would even have you believe that it’s some sophisticated, difficult and dangerous black art practised by highly educated and well-trained soothsayers carrying project charters, GANTT charts and detailed schedules. They’re all building skyscrapers, launching space shuttles and merging banks.

Run away! Run away now!

Yet successful project and change management is really not difficult.

In truth, delivering change is a simple and largely predictable process and successful change is the intelligent application of that process – no matter how tough or complex the project seems.

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Chanting naked in the bush… err, maybe not

Stop. Take stock. Move forward.

How long has it been since you stopped and took a couple of deep breaths, pondered your navel, and performed a stock-take on life? Can you still locate your navel? See anything below it?

I know I haven’t done such a stock-take for more than a decade and, I’m sure, probably far longer. If you take a look at my work history (http://au.linkedin.com/in/marktipping) you’ll see I’ve been self-employed, either as a contractor or a business owner, for basically the past 18 years. And that’s been a whole heap of work.

Like many, I’ve ridden the feast vs famine tides. I’ve lived a life that, on reflection, was far more in tactical mode than strategic – get the next contract, find someone to deliver an outcome, keep paying the bills, and try to steal a few days here and there to call a holiday. All the while knowing there was so much more to do and so little spare capacity to deliver it.

Heck, I planned to take six months off in 2001 after my first daughter was born, but my good mate Stocko had me at a seminar on the Gold Coast the day I left work – only to then spend the next six months, not with my new daughter, but working on creating a new business. Then factor in my life’s other noises: an acrimonious relationship with the ex; two pre-teen daughters; and, step-fatherhood. There’s a lot of sh*t going on!

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Filed under Business, Everything else, Philanthropy, The Different Company, Uncategorized

Forget good to great. This is the best stuff I’ve read in a long time – what makes an employee truly remarkable.

Look for people to work with who aren’t just great, they’re remarkable.

This is a great article covering what makes an employee truly remarkable. And I reckon for employee you could substitute “business consultant”, too.

I wish I’d written it myself, but as I didn’t, the next best I can do is reproduce it, and praise Jeff Haden for his insights. You’ll find a link to his business at the bottom.

Remarkable people? These are the people The Different Co will employ. These are the people we want to work with. If you haven’t got enough of these people around you helping you then perhaps you should call us. +613 9077 5372.

Dammit, these are the people we are! Enjoy.

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers: they possess a wide range of easily-defined – but hard to find – qualities.

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Three Life Changing Things (aka things that make you go “hmmm”) – Number two

Scavenging on rubbish tip

You know what he needs right now? That’s right, a bloody good steak and a glass of red wine.

A regular business lunch

In my last post I described the most recent of my three seemingly unrelated life-changing events: moving house. Well, this is the second instalment – the impact on my life of a regular “networking” lunch.

A few years ago I was helping a software development house with their go-to-market strategy – they had developed and successfully patented some really cool artificial intelligence technology. A friend suggested I come along to a small networking lunch of (mainly) businessmen to spruik about the opportunity. So off we went to the wonderful Stefan’s Charcoal Grill in Balwyn (http://stefanscharcoalgrill.yolasite.com).

As is often the case at these type of events, the newbies (that was me) are introduced and then you get to say a few things about what you do. I waxed lyrical about artificial intelligence, spread of activation cognitive theories and codeless programming.  Polite smiles greeted my efforts. No one understood a word … but no one really seemed to mind, overmuch.

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What’s the point? I mean, REALLY – what’s the point?

Sooner or later in life, and often several times, most of us will mutter the words: “What’s the point?”

Initially it’s “what’s the point of doing such and such?” But later in life, it often becomes “what is THE point?”

What drives you to ask the question is as varied as the answer you give. For me, it kinda snuck up on me – no big-bang, crisis-style crying-out-loud “WHAT’S THE BLOODY POINT?”, but rather a growing realisation that I was somehow missing the point. Whatever it was.

OK, I’ve always done my little bit to help others. We all do. Nothing huge: a raffle ticket here, a donation there, even a charity ball now and again. (Which is always a tad embarrassing with my two left feet on the dance floor!)

Time to give

Sometimes, it’s just time.

Like most, I’ve done enough to maintain my perception of myself as not a bad bloke, and I’m pretty sure that most others would agree, and those who don’t … well, we needn’t go there.

I always said that in a few years time I’d start really giving back. But, like losing a few pounds around the waistline or cleaning up the study, I’ve never really got around to it. “I’m sure I’ll get around to it one day” I would say to myself  – just need to pay off the mortgage; get the kids through school; buy a yacht, and save for that apparently endless European driving holiday, belting around the Alps in a Ferrari. (I’m still going to do that one, but it’s another story.)

But, over the past several years, a few things have changed. I met my wife, I started attending a regular business lunch, and I moved house.

These three seemingly unrelated life-changing events, which I’ll share with you in more detail in future blogs, led to me forming friendships with some of the most inspirational people I have ever met, and some of the most vulnerable, too.

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