| Organization and Process Improvement Resources Effective diagnosis and action in today's complex organizations requires a clear and fitting concept in mind of such organizations and the teams, people, and processes in them work. In IT service provider organizations, a clear and fitting concept of services and service management is also required. Our practice and research tell us that the works cited below form the basis for a fitting concept for today's complex IT service provider organizations. We consider each of the following resources to be among the best in its field. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND CONCEPTS The Age of the Network (website)
by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps Lipnack and Stamps explore the metaphor of organizations as networks of teams with a unifying purpose, independent members, voluntary links, multiple leaders, and integrated levels. Images of Organization (website)
by Gareth Morgan This classic book juxtaposes many different views of organizations and what those views entail in terms of prescriptions. Morgan's metaphors for organizations include the machine, the brain, and the Internet. This book is an excellent resource for gaining clarity on organizational concepts and to prevent misdiagnosis of issues and action in wrongheaded directions. Offices are Open Systems: The Challenge of Open Systems (website)
by Carl Hewitt Though not readily available, these two pieces are foundational to our conception of how today's complex organizations and teams, people, and processes in them work. Both liken organizations to open systems (essentially internetworks) and outline the entailments of that thinking. Changing the Centralized Mind (website)
by Mitchel Resnick The construction of effectiveness without control is the primary business challenge of our generation. This paper discusses the reality of achieving effectiveness through order brought about by individuals following simple sets of rules rather than control and is a basis for our thinking and approaches. For a more complete treatment of the topic, see Resnick's book "Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams". Metaphors we Live By (website)
by Lakoff and Johnson An esoteric, but easy read and important to understand. In complexity, metaphorical models and thinking (i.e., frameworks like ITIL® and MOF) become paramount, as they are the antithesis of approaches based on Foundationalism, Atomism, Reductionism, Mechanism, and Determinism. This book outlines concepts related to our interactionalist view of organizations and the teams, people, and processes within them which form the basis for our approach to process improvement. COMMUNICATIONS The Articulate Executive (website)
by Granville Too good This is one of the best books on how to speak, present, and communicate and includes ideas about the your role as translator, how to organize your thoughts, and how to prepare your presentation. Guide to Managerial Communication (website)
by Mary Munter Munter presents thorough advice on preparing and executing a variety of business communications. This is essential reading and reference for good written and spoken communications. The communication strategy model she presents is by itself worth the price of the book. Influence (website)
by Robert Cialdini Cialdini presents his six "weapons of influence": reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Systematic application of these weapons in communications and presentations will bring immense benefits. Language in Thought and Action (website)
by S.I. Hayakawa Centered on language and how language shapes our thinking, this little book provides great insight on framing ideas and the metaphorical nature of meaning. While this may sound esoteric, this book will change your thinking, and improve your results. PERSONAL LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING True Professionalism (website)
by David Maister Maister espouses personal commitment to self-betterment, dedication excellence in client service, and ethical business practices as the characteristics of true professionals. Important for its lucid explanation of how principles, values, standards, and individual commitment and action are prerequisites to effective management and consistent results in organizations. The Reflective Practitioner (website)
by Donald Schon Schon focuses on "reflection-in-action" and talks about professional mastery, balancing thought and action, the roles of tacit and explicit knowledge, the time-bound nature of decisions, and how professionals really go about solving problems, making decisions, and taking actions. CHANGE LEADERSHIP Leading Change (website)
by John Kotter This book describes Kotter's 8-step model for organizational change, the model used in the ITIL® publication "Planning to Implement Service Management". ITIL® recognizes that any implementation of service management is an organizational change leadership effort. The book is a relatively easy read and is chock full of advice that can make the difference between implementation success and failure. For a boiled down version of the book, see Kotter's Harvard Business Review article "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail." Facilitating Organizational Change (website)
by Glenda Eoyang and Edwin Olsen The authors take a complexity-science based view on how to make change happen. As IT service providers are complex organizations, the right path to effectively managing a complex organization is to seek order, rather than control, by leveraging the ideas of complexity science. This is the only book we've found that provides an organizational change model and prescriptions based on complexity science in straightforward business language. Improving Performance (website)
by Geary Rummler and Alan Brache Focused on process/performance improvement, this book explores and contextualizes the many levers that need to be pulled to ensure improvement is made. It provides a multi-level model for implementing improvement (organization, process, and job/performer) which our experience indicates is effective and which is based on the three levels of organizational analysis (i.e., organization, team, individual). Mastery (website)
By George Leonard While the application of IT service management concepts can often provide quick wins with clear value, the most significant gains with the longest-lasting impact usually require a lot of work with no immediate or easily definable payback. Leonard describes "embracing the plateau"—the idea that real improvement often comes as a result of persistent effort over time. He also describes the Dabbler, the Obsessive, and the Hacker—three types that may mirror the approaches taken by individuals, teams, or organizations, and provides sage advice for working towards mastery. For more information, including pricing, availability, and customized solutions for your organization, contact us at (206) 729-1107 or info@pultorak.com.
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