Happy Holidays! Some reading for under the tree, or in the room away from your relatives

Countering Perverse Incentives in Project Management

"One of the hallmark traits of corporate IT is the abundance of perverse incentives." Great read.

Rhythms, Boundaries, and Containers: Creative Dynamics of Asynchronous Group Life

Monumental article by Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz on Groupware.

The 5 Habits Of Highly Dysfunctional Companies

"The concept of management by projects is a non-starter. The average company is not a project-driven company, and likely never will be. So why is this an idea that continues to be so prevalent? What problems - real or perceived - do it's proponents hope to address?"

Where Should The Responsibility For Project Management Really Lie?

"Project management today exists in a bizarrely schizophrenic continuum. At one extreme, there is no defined capability for project management whatsoever. Project managers reside within those business units who see sufficient value to pay their salaries, and they are expected to apply their skills and political wiles to repeatedly wrench success from the jaws of an indifferent and uncaring organization."

The Reject Gift of Project Management

"Unfortunately, projects do not come with gift receipts. Some of them should. We tend to lock our projects down with constraints the way we lock our friends and family down with Aunt Maude's Fruit Cake…"

Health Check - Who Do You Trust?

"I will fill in some questions on this checklist, and, presto, the diagnosis will appear," the Hugo Boss suit explains to you. "Do you have a health insurance?" "Do you have a document which explains all the details of the coverage of this insurance?" "Is your pharmacist ISO certified?"