Cognitive Dissonance

We all participate in an exercise called by psychologist called cognitive dissonance frequently and I find it a fascinating mechanism. Before I define it, I will tell the story of an experiment I learned about in one of my psych courses. In order to test the mechanism, a research grou

Planning – Issues Oriented Approach

One approach to planning that I like is an issues oriented approach which includes the ideas of readiness and rapid results.  Let us imagine we have been asked by a management group to lead them in a planning process.  The first step is to interview each of the participants

The Three G’s – A Consulting Methodology

One of the simplest packaging of a consulting approach is the Three G’s.  When asked by a client to help them deal with a nagging issue, one way is to let the group Gripe about the issue.  This can be done by individual interviews and the meeting with small groups.&nbs

Interest of a Coach/Mentor

I recently graduated and joined Project X Ltd as a Consultant. My current assignment is as a Business Analyst for a major telecommunications company. Immediately after being recruited, Stephen assigned me a mentor and I have found this very helpful in my learning process in terms of a

CoffeeCAST – #52 – Consultant in the Middle

Welcome to the 52nd CoffeeCAST with Stephen Hayward of Project X Ltd. Happy New Year and we are back on the air as it were.  I have asked Graham to join me while we talk a little about: Consultant in the Middle / Readiness Master Data Management (MDM – IBM, Oracle and Teradata)

There is Never a Good Time for a Holiday or Training

Good old Graham (my business partner here at Project X) taught me this one.  And by golly he is right. But you know what they are both important in our effectiveness.  The importance of balance and personal growth are important to both ourselves and those around us that we d

Warning Signs on Projects

Often we have a feeling that a project is in trouble because of structure but maybe we could not put our finger on the problem.  I have some things I look for on projects.  The first is clear sponsoring executive who has responsibility for scope, schedule and budget.  I

Coaching Reflections

What is a good coaching relationship?  I think the best is one where both members of the relationship gets something out of the relationship. One of the most interesting is a relationship between someone selling services and a potential customer who might need his services. 

Independent Consultant versus Part of a Group

I have been thinking lately about the rise in so many independent consultants and how that changes things.  I was wondering whether these days I would prefer to be indenpent versus part of a group.  I suspect it depends on the type of person you are and your goals. I would l

Coaching Part 6 – Trust

One of the key factors in coaching relationship is trust.  This is a very intangible commodity but so very important.  I think trust is difficult thing to develop between a person and his boss because usually there are other agendas.  However I believe the trust can be