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June 30, 2005
Reaching Down The Leopard's Mouth
I wonder sometimes why companies don't implement the MAT as they should. Right now, I think it's more of a marketing problem than anything else. Part of my goal with this blog is to communicate to people what the MAT...
Gates Says Companies Should Not Outsource Core Functions
Turns out process identification is a little more tricky than it first appears. Don't try this at home!
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From the "Beats Me" Department
Instead of asking "What is intelligence?" perhaps a better question would be "Would we know it if we saw it?"
Fujitsu Launches New Biometric Device
This whole area looks ripe for cost control, as there are a lot of different biometric systems out there. How about a quick tour?
Stone Age Factory Found
I just hope those guys weren't eating too much lettuce while they were making tools, because as we know now lettuce is actually an aphrodisiac.
War Of The Wonks
Perhaps, just perhaps, sometimes we need a little more directing and a little less analyzing.
June 29, 2005
Is it the Tools? or the People?
But there are cases where infrastructure is needed. How do you find out where this is the situation?
Maybe Worf Was Right?
In the show "Star Trek: The Next Generation" there was a Klingon who served on the Enterprise. Worf, being highly skilled in the art of weaponry, was always wanting to use this or that weapon to solve whatever problem appeared....
The Love Boat Meets Santa's Workshop
Can you imagine a day where the waters near major countries are strewn with ships full of low-wage coders?
RFID Clouds On The Horizon
But now is the time to plan for the bugs, and what to do to fix them.
Tell Me What, or Tell Me How
Gosh -- how much money has been spent by how many people who didn't understand that last sentence?
June 28, 2005
Disaster? Or Training Opportunity?
Obviously somebody in the executive suite took a liking to Joe to put him in a position of such power. If only they had taken the time to mentor him a bit as well, they could have saved their company a lot of money.
Kentucky Fried Dinosaurs
Then it hit me: we should be raising dinosaurs to eat.
Measure Me Purple
From a program management standpoint, what's important to measure and what isn't?
Alternative Input
I've had a tablet for several years now, and once you really try one out, you'll never go back.
Act Like a Congressman
We're not talking about free trips to Bermuda or fund raising dinners with the stars, we're talking about the Congressional Research Service, the group that does research for Congress.
Zombie Dogs From Another Dimension
Unless you have some unatural fear of souless canines stalking you in the night, this is probably a good thing.
Deployment as the Biggest Problem
Recently we gave an assessment to an overseas software consulting firm. While they scored highly on commitment to perform Project Management, CM, and Business Modeling, an poor area was Deployment. Ironic that you could do so well in setting up...
June 27, 2005
The Return Of The Archons
While I'm not advocating ringing a bell during our workday for an hour of mayhem, some amount of controlled chaos is a very good thing.
BPM Key Factor in Modern Program Management
I think it's neat that we can move so easily from BPM to deployed applications. But the key aspect of BPM is the decision-making process and communication capabilities, not all the gee-whiz bells and whistles.
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E-Bay Hitting The Rocks?
Quality, in the general public's mind, is a moving target. What worked great a couple of years ago now isn't so flashy or new.
Captain Picard Is Following Me Around
Sure, you were more of a wus than the real captain, Kirk, but I kinda got to like you after a while. But you've got to find a new home. You're scaring the heck out of me.
Work With What You Have
There's a lesson here that can be applied to all sorts of program management situations: work with what you know
Web Site Update
FYI The main MAT commercial site has been updated....
June 26, 2005
Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
"Bahree ... thought he could earn some extra money this way by utilizing his free time."
The Death of Analysis
It's a "journey of discovery" (as much I hate that phrase, sounds like a Discovery Channel show, "Jouney with us now into the darkest of African use-case jungles...")
How Much Does NASA Cost?
The problem with NASA information is that there is so much of it: I found everything except what I was looking for
IBM Sends Thousands More Jobs to India
It's hard enough to run a team in the same location where everybody is a member of the same culture, it's going to be a bear to work the new teams of the 21st century.
June 25, 2005
List-Man Versus The Forces Of Chaos
And if you've ever sat in a meeting that was so boring that you though about chewing off your arms to escape, you've met this guy.
How much does poor software quality cost? Try $60 Billion
But have you ever seen all of the stuff that Microsoft Word can do? That thing could launch nuclear missiles if you knew the right buttons to click.
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IRS: We Also Gave Away Your Information
In a move certain to amaze commentators, the IRS announced today that they may have accidentally given away confidential information about taxpayers. So let's review the IRS business model, shall we? 1) Make you give them money or send them...
Synchronicity: It's Never There
You would think that if there's one thing that people could agree on, it's "how well are we following our own recipe?" but that's not the way it works.
Can Chickens Swim?
After all, one day a flood may come, and then it's too late to dress up like a chicken.
June 24, 2005
A Picture Is Worth How Many Words?
When dealing with multi-dimensional data, some of these charts are great if you want to confuse the heck out of people, but not so good if you're trying to explain something: a little goes a long way.
IRS spends $8 Billion. Forgets to Keep Receipts
I want to make this offer one more time: I will gladly take only $1 Billion from the IRS and in return, I also will provide absolutely no value.
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Killer Bot Support Line
It's one thing to let your users take IE7 beta out for a test spin, but quite another to hand out free copies of "Assault Commander Mark VII" to whoever signs up.
Reasons Off-Shore Deals Go Bust
It's like saying the World Trade Center fell because it wasn't built to stand the impact of a airliner. It's a true statement, for certain, but doesn't illuminate the real issues, in my opinion.
The Good Guys
Some of these consulting jobs I think were reject episodes for "Mission Impossible", because even with a rubber face and a radio-controlled Lamborghini you ain't saving the ambassador's kid anytime soon.
June 23, 2005
Guns For Bots
But one day, in the not-so-distant future, some autonomous machine is going to kill somebody because it felt like it.
Knowing What You Know
What you don't know is easy: go find it out. But I've found that what you do know can cause all sorts of problems.
June 22, 2005
Solar Spacecraft Fails. Nighttime Launch Bad Idea
When dealing with complex systems, single point of failures suck.
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Speaking Engagement Update
Here's a link to the Rational User's Group that I will be speaking at next month. There's directions and instructions there too for those of you who will be attending....
NASA Announces New Department
In news as exciting as watching ducks sleep, NASA announced Monday that they're forming a new department for the purpose of analyzing the other programs the agency has.
June 21, 2005
The Confession
After all, shooting a perp running from a liquor store and running a VB project are pretty much the same thing, right?
Speaking Engagements
I've got a couple of speaking engagements coming up: RTP RUG. The Research Triangle Park Rational User's Group. NoVA RUG. The Northern Virginia Rational User's Group. Details to follow soon. Whassup with all the rugs? The Rational Unified Process is...
Make It Look Like The Picture
Even a charging rhinoceros doesn't look so big when it is far away -- but it gets a lot bigger when it's getting ready to run over you.
We made it!
we're all just dumb schmucks in this world doing the best we can