Mary Abraham, always interesting, has a good one that relates to something I heard recently from one of my clients. If technology is the answer, What's the question
At the Enterprise 2.0 workshop I attended yesterday, someone asked Livio Hughes of Headshift the following question: What’s the worst mistake we can make with respect to law firm technology? His answer was interesting: Don’t fall into the habit of thinking that problems can be solved only by launching a massive multi-year IT infrastructure project. In other words, don’t assume that big technology is the answer to every question.
The comment from my customer? "This project is really about communication, isn't it?" Well, actually, um... Yes! Yes, it is about communication. It's about communication because the project we are working on has highlighted this fact that has been missing within the organization. And there is no chance the the primary project will succeed without this other element. This was only highlighted in conversation with the people within the organization, and the implementation team being open to this information.
Here's another bit from Mary (with my redactions), focused on technology.
Do you have an inadequate ____ system? Don’t assume the answer to that problem is the latest model ____. You may be able to side-step the pain of replacement and go straight to a really robust ___. Or, ..., Or..., Or... After all, we rarely need [every feature of] ____.
It's interesting that individual projects are often "about" much more than is written on the package (or the PowerPoint slide deck). It is these additional elements that have a lot to do with the success or failure project overall.
[Photo credit: Thomas Purves]