A metaphor heard when planning is being done at the same time as execution. Hey - actually planning and replanning is a continuous activity - this metaphor is heard when there isn't a single grain of planning in evidence and everyone's just working on the seat of their pants (particularly painful during taxiing and takeoff...). … Continue reading Crap tech industry metaphors: 6 Building the plane as it’s going down the runway
Category: Hobby horses
I've spoken and written many times in the past about the folly of prediction. It's something that we are seemingly hard-wired to look for as a species (if someone can tell us the future, we mitigate away a whole series of risks); the people who predict the most extreme versions of the future are the … Continue reading The Watford Probability Index
This is one I've heard a lot. Someone tells you the company line? They've been drinking the Kool-Aid. Someone off message? They've not been drinking enough. The way it's used, most folk seem to think that the Kool-Aid is some sort of psychedelic drug that makes you fall in line. The truth behind the … Continue reading Crap tech industry metaphors: 5 Drinking the Kool-Aid
I was at a big networking event last night; you may know the kind of thing. Captains of Industry - predominantly middle-aged, overweight men - talking too loudly and drinking too much in a swanky venue that's usually the haunt of beautiful people. Very entertaining, but something of a clash of cultures for me (and … Continue reading Lies, damned lies and zombie statistics
The term "Rockstar" is used a lot in the tech industry. "Rockstar" developers; "Rockstar" CEOs; "Rockstar" Games (oh - actually I'll let that one off. They've been quite successful.) What a load of baloney. Rockstar is a metaphor to indicate what, exactly? Petulance? Arrogance? An inability to work creatively with others? Bad personal hygiene? Cocaine … Continue reading Crap Tech Industry Metaphors: 4. Rockstars
Here's a question - what's more ecologically sustainable... a physical telephone directory, or a phone book smartphone app? At base level, the "death to paper" technologist will say the printed telephone directory claiming dead trees and non-biodegradable plastic packaging. In retort, the telephone directory publisher will respond that (somewhat incredulously) that a smart phone uses … Continue reading Infinitely measured
There was an interesting nugget that I recently read in Clay Christensen's "How will you measure your life?" about the impact of high performer management fast track programmes: that they train leaders in organisations to be less innovative. Christensen (who is probably best known for his earlier book "The Innovator's Dilemma") argues that such streaming … Continue reading The fast track to zero innovation
I'm not a great fan of the type of management consulting that is typified by organisations like McKinsey (too often it merely represents the wrong sort of management delegation from my lowly viewpoint), but there are many things of value that come from the work of such firms. A case in point is the 7-S … Continue reading Dodging silver bullets
This morning, amongst the baby news, is coverage of David Cameron's latest big scheme - to make UK ISPs implement mandatory opt-out pornography filters on their services. Another great example of politicians not understanding the fallibility of technology. My mobile provider, Orange, currently provides such a service. It's one I've disabled, not because I'm a … Continue reading The Scunthorpe issue
I fundamentally don't trust Ian Duncan Smith. I do trust, however, that he holds deep beliefs that social security benefits dissuade people from working. For me, I agree, but only in the same way that I believe a lack of oxygen dissuades people from breathing. I don't think he's right about causality, and he and … Continue reading Balance of evidence-based policy
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