As you go through my site, you will find once in a while references to feedback loops. I came across a very good posting about feedback loops in a wider context written by Julia Evans:
Lengthening the Feedback Loop: A History of Feedback Within the Context of Systems Theory.
Edward Tufte is the authority on the use of graphics as a source of information. On his site there is this discussion going on for some years now on why Gantt Charts suck (duh… think about 300 page charts 
) and what the alternatives might be.
Click here. It is a long read, but quite entertaining and interesting.
Sometimes I tend to focus too much on the project itself; how to handle things, how to plan and deal with everyday interruption. I look and an interruption I think: “where the heck that it came from?” Well, the answer my friend is: from the outside.
After running a certain project for a long while project managers can get a fixation with just there project: “meanwhile back here in the asylum”.
My good new years wake up is a discussion from IT people from some financial institutions. They talked about their IT maturity as an integral entity: projects, support, customers, etc. It is actually the ole Capability Maturity Model CMM) of the SEI. You now: 5 levels of maturity, ranging from completely undefined to totally in control, proactive IT. Doesn’t that simply sound good?
Of course 
I know about the CMM and other quality models¦ but like I said, one just simply forgets once in a while. However, in the article they mention that people in the highest maturity level
¦spent 18 percent less and utilized 36 percent fewer resources than the other 90 percent – all the time contributing higher service levels to their organization.
Wow.
I guess I just have to start reading up on this again and get it to use.
BTW the biggest unsolved problem …
..was rationalizing IT services offered to the business units. Service rationalization gives companies insight into the total cost of offering services to help them make better investment decisions.
Seems sometimes like a luxury problem to me.