Stand Back and Deliver: Accelerating Business Agility

184 Pages·2009·1.56 MB·English

by  Pollyanna Pixton

Praise for Stand Back and Deliver
“In Stand Back and Deliver, the authors provide strong, practical guidance on how to
leverage the strengths of your entire team to get the right job done. Their experience in the
trenches shines through with clear examples of how their approach can be applied to make
your projects successful, regardless of the domain.”
—Jim Brosseau, author of Software Teamwork: Taking Ownership for Success
“A book rich with content, practical tools that can be easily adopted, and great examples that
relate to the common workplace!”
—Lisa Shoop, software director at Sabre Holdings
“For those new to project management, Stand Back and Deliver offers the voice of experience.
Its message is clear: Understand the value you must deliver, understand and manage the pro-
ject’s complexity, trust in your people, and above all, have the courage to do the right thing.”
—Patrick Bailey, Department of Computer Science and Information Systems,
Calvin College
“With most business books I am happy if I learn one or two key things that I want to put to
use. This book is full of such concepts and tools and provides enough detail and examples that
I’m confident I’d not just want to use them but would be able to do so successfully.”
—Terri Pitcher, IT manager
“Today’s postmodern organizational environment requires a new approach, and this book will
provide many insights to the reader. You will learn how to detach and stand back, and yet pas-
sionately engage and deliver.”
—Greg Githens, managing partner at Catalyst Management Consulting, LLC
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S B D
TAND ACK AND ELIVER
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S B D
TAND ACK AND ELIVER
A B A
CCELERATING USINESS GILITY
Pollyanna Pixton
Niel Nickolaisen
Todd Little
Kent McDonald
Illustrations by Jim Lewis
Upper Saddle River, NJ • Boston • Indianapolis • San Francisco
New York • Toronto • Montreal • London • Munich • Paris • Madrid
Capetown • Sydney • Tokyo • Singapore • Mexico City
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designations have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals.
The authors and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no expressed or implied
warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for inciden-
tal or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or programs con-
tained herein.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stand back and deliver: accelerating business agility / Pollyanna Pixton ...
[et al.].
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-321-57288-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Leadership. I. Pixton, Pollyanna.
HD57.7.S716 2009
658.4’092—dc22
2009012654
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Interior illustrations copyright © 2009 Jim Lewis
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and
permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval
system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or like-
wise. For information regarding permissions, write to:
Pearson Education, Inc.
Rights and Contracts Department
501 Boylston Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02116
Fax [phone]
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-57288-2
ISBN-10: 0-321-57288-2
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Courier in Stoughton, Massachusetts.
First printing, June 2009
To my Mother, who, every time we got together, said, “Don’t forget to
work!” and to my Father, who taught me that doing the right stuff right
was a good thing. I love them both.
—Pollyanna Pixton
I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, who has had to tolerate me
for twenty-eight years, my children, who will have to spend a lifetime
recovering from my parenting, and my faithful dog; he will be missed.
—Niel Nickolaisen
To Ulla, with whom I shared and learned so much in her short time,
and to Mella and Edy, who give me such hope for the future.
—Todd Little
To my wife and daughter for keeping me honest and reminding me
what is truly most important.
—Kent McDonald
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C
ONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Chapter 1: Introduction to Key Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
What Could Go Wrong? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
What Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Why Do We Do This to Ourselves? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
A Framework of Effective Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Chapter 2: Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
The Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
An IT Project Death March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Aligning on Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Usable Strategy and the Purpose Alignment Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Chapter 3: Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
The Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Picking Money Up Off the Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Collaboration: Step by Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Leading Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Putting These Tools to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Chapter 4: Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
The Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Case Study: The Swiss Stock Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
All Projects Are Not Created Equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
ix