Archive for the ‘Business’ category
Ten tech-enabled business trends to watch – Mckinsey
August 12th, 2010Red Team
August 4th, 2010在我办公室的白板上，我写下了“求知若渴，处事若愚”这个翻译自（Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish）的名言。确实，收获一些知识，明白一些道理，与我而言比美味的食物或是其他任何物质的享受都要来得满足，我也很enjoy这样的过程。
周三是每个星期最忙碌的一天，常常都有超过十个以上的back to back meetings，不过今天我却有时间享受了一段可口的“早餐”，收获了一个新的知识点，来自于我美国的一位老板，他曾经在部队服役超过了15年。
没能在WiKi上找到这个解释的我得到了Dave的电子邮件。看起来好像Red Team是一种更为组织化的头脑风暴，为一些计划工作提供足够的Input。
All,
A “Red Team” Review is a technique that a number of us learned at the OMM a few years back. It is a way to get a lot of feedback on a plan in a very short period of time.
It comes from a military background where the “friendly forces” are labelled in Blue (BLUFOR) and the “enemy” is labelled in Red (OPFOR – Opposing Forces). The Planning team presents their plan to the Red Team in as much detail as practical. The Red Team only listens during the presentation and notes their questions during the presentation. Once the Planning Team is complete, each member of the Red Team gets to ask one of two questions:
1. Could you clarify …..(some aspect of the plan)?2. Have you considered…..(an issue, a risk, an area that the plan didn’t look at, etc.)
The Planning Team takes all of the “Have you considered’s” and notes them down for later discussion. The Planning Team can answer the Red Team in one of four ways:
1. With clarifying information about the topic asked.2. Yes (we considered …..)
3. No (we did not consider….)
4. Thank you (a polite way to say your question is off topic or something that I can’t talk about)
The Red Team continues to ask these questions until 1). you run out of time or 2). the Red Team runs out of questions.
The Planning Team then meets separately to determine if they need to add to or otherwise revise the plan based on the “Have you considered” type of questions.
David S. WrothInSight Program Director
Payment Systems in China
July 15th, 2010Skip-Level Meeting
July 1st, 2010- Group round-table meetings are more efficient than one-on-one meetings for skip-level meetings.
- Leading organizations plan a skip-level meeting with every team or workgroup at least once per year.
- Don’t wait for your boss or the HR department to arrange skip-level meetings for your direct reports.
- There are five key steps to conducting an effective skip-level meeting:
- Plan the skip level meeting
- Conduct the skip level meeting and record the feedback
- Analyze the information collected
- Create an action plan based on the feedback
- Follow up and report progress
- When is the last time a skip-level meeting was conducted with this group?
- Has the feedback from last skip level meeting been acted upon?
- Have skip-level meetings been conducted in parallel business areas?
- Will the skip level meeting be used to ‘build a file’ for disciplinary action on the leader of the group?
- Have I followed the five-point planning process for skip-level meetings?
- Do I need to improve my skills in any of the related areas, for which information is available?
- Do not use skip-level meetings to ‘build a file’ on a leader you want to fire.
- Tell all managers what you are doing and why.
- Don’t include the manager in the skip level meeting if your goal is to get back honest feedback.
- Don’t ask about topics about which you are unable or unwilling to do anything.
- Provide some level of feedback to the manager about the feedback received from his/her direct reports during the skip level meeting.
- It is more damaging to do a skip-level meeting poorly than it is to not do it at all.
Hype cycle – Gartner
June 4th, 2010This is the most important tool developed by Gartner to evaluate and analyze the technology solutions from a macro perspective.
Introduction
Since 1995, Gartner has used hype cycles to characterize the over-enthusiasm or “hype” and subsequent disappointment that typically happens with the introduction of new technologies.[2] Hype cycles also show how and when technologies move beyond the hype, offer practical benefits and become widely accepted. According to Gartner, hype cycles aim to separate the hype from the reality, and enable CIOs and CEOs to decide whether or not a particular technology is ready for adoption. A longer-term historical perspective on such cycles can be found in the research of the economist Carlota Perez.
Five phases
A hype cycle in Gartner’s interpretation comprises five phases:
- “Technology Trigger” — The first phase of a hype cycle is the “technology trigger” or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.
- “Peak of Inflated Expectations” — In the next phase, a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
- “Trough of Disillusionment” — Technologies enter the “trough of disillusionment” because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology.
- “Slope of Enlightenment” — Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the “slope of enlightenment” and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.
- “Plateau of Productivity” — A technology reaches the “plateau of productivity” as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology becomes increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations. The final height of the plateau varies according to whether the technology is broadly applicable or benefits only a niche market.
The term is now used more broadly in the marketing of new technologies.
