The world of management is changing fast, and yet we still live in an environment where the prevailing organizational design is “functional/hierarchical” and organizations are thought of as a collection of silos. At the same time, we know that we are experiencing increasing levels of complexity. Why is it so hard to manage these increased […]
The PMO and the Brilliant Future of Project Managers
This post is by Dr. Domenico Lepore, Founder of Intelligent Management. A few days ago I had the opportunity to present the ideas that we at Intelligent Management promote on both sides of the “pond” to an extremely qualified and attentive audience: The Northern Italian Chapter of the PMI Institute. The venue, a very well-known […]
Back to the beginnings of Deming and Goldratt
A recent celebration in Venice with our great friend and mentor, Oded Cohen, brought to mind when the Theory of Constraints (TOC) first came into our lives over 20 years ago. Oded was the person who transferred to us the knowledge, dedication and passion that comes with deep learning of TOC. Thinking back to those […]
Beyond the Comfort Zone for Organizations
The problem with comfort zones is that we stick with them even when they are no longer fit for purpose. We prefer to squeeze ourselves into an awkward space as long as it’s familiar, rather than expanding into the unknown. Comfort zones prevent us from doing anything that goes beyond what we already know. In […]
Project Resilience – a Systems View
Conversations at Intelligent Management this week have been abuzz with Project Management. This is hardly surprising as we have been preparing to speak at the sold-out event tomorrow evening for PMI Northern Italy dedicated to the New Leadership for Complexity. But also because Project Management really is at the heart of every kind of business. […]
Innovation and Work: From Galileo to Blockchain
Every year in Padua, Italy, the university of Padua, one of the oldest in the world, organizes the Galileo Innovation Festival. Intelligent Management was delighted to be invited by Adacta Innovation Lab to speak this year at the historical Caffè Pedrocchi together with Stefano Righetti, CEO of Hyphen-Italia and Patrizio Bof, CEO of Infinite Area. […]
Network Connections? Affinity Is What Counts
Is all that effort to make network connections a waste of time? Network theory has something to teach us about all that. A lot of energy is consumed every day by people, groups, and organizations who frantically try to make as many connections as possible. They do so for a reason: to increase their contacts […]
How to Increase Your Energy Level at Work – a Systems View
When Intelligent Management first started working with American firms over 15 years ago we couldn’t help noticing differences in working habits. We were impressed by the dedication and work ethic, but it quickly became apparent that those 6am meetings meant that by 4pm people were fried. However, when the CEO goes to the gym at […]
Hierarchy vs. Flow: How Can We Exert Control in Organizations?
How can managers exert control in organizations effectively? The traditional model for control is the hierarchical model. It exists because personal capacity for control is limited, and the assumption is that by adding hierarchical levels we increase personal capacity for control. The problem is, work is in fact a flow, and this gets lost […]
Intelligent Emotions and Variation – beyond EQ
All processes, human and non, whether we are aware of it or not, are affected by variation. If we want to be able to predict the outcome of our processes, i.e. manage them, we need to understand, measure and manage the variation in those processes. The alternative is to manage by the seat of our […]
