QAspire

FEBRUARY 10, 2019

Before you starting acting on your plans, you need to clarify your intent, understand the intent of others and arrive at a point where intent overlaps and aligns. And it becomes a downward spiral. Here’s what I have broadly learned about building trust from my own experience: Trust starts with intentional clarity.

Leadership 195

Leadership Analysis Positioning Innovation 195

QAspire

AUGUST 10, 2011

They cannot define a strategy or a plan of action that takes them closer to that grand vision. Planning for a change is a tricky [.] Leaders establish a lofty vision for a large scale change initiative and then strategize to align the team. Sometimes, the team gets over-excited by this grand vision and get stuck.

Execution 174

Execution Planning Strategy Team 174

QAspire

JULY 16, 2017

They developed action plans. What made them all effective is that they followed the same eight practices: They asked, “What needs to be done?”. They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”. They took responsibility for decisions. They took responsibility for communicating. They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.

Drucker 195

Drucker Execution Short-term Reference 195

QAspire

APRIL 13, 2014

Daily stand up meetings to address priorities, joint planning sessions, brainstorming, Lessons learned sessions, reviews and retrospectives are all forums that enable collaboration. The key for a collaborative leader is to plan them upfront and ensure that people continuously contribute towards the common goal.

Bottom-up 169

Bottom-up Brainstorming Tools Document 169

QAspire

AUGUST 30, 2022

” “Margin is simply the practice of allocating enough time to reflect, assess, think, create, and plan. .” “One of the most valuable life skills a leader can acquire is the ability to ask good, thought-provoking, and challenging questions.” We must create sufficient capacity for this critical work.

Leadership 91

Leadership Influence Learning-by-Doing Books 91

QAspire

OCTOBER 21, 2012

While plan-do-check-act methodology has been around for long, the time it took was way longer. We still need plan-do-check-act but the iterations are expected to be shorter. We still need plan-do-check-act but the iterations are expected to be shorter. What would business expect from improvement initiatives?

Agility 130

Agility Process Bottom-up Middle Management 130

QAspire

MARCH 6, 2013

One of my mentors always scheduled 75% of his work day for planned tasks and kept 25% of his time for conversations and exigencies. Plan for it: To deliver positive outcomes, face time has to be planned. He considered that 25% of time as a critical success factor – and it was. You can interact one-on-one or in a group.

Critical Success Factor 167

Critical Success Factor Consensus Quality Bottom-up 167

QAspire

JULY 1, 2010

All successful leaders have been great project managers too - they may not have used the formal project plan or a work breakdown structure - but who says project management is only about these essential formalities. Create a list of actions (Plan) : Now that you know the activities, draw out a basic plan. You can try it out too.

Project 149

Project Learning-by-Doing Constraint Planning 149

QAspire

SEPTEMBER 3, 2017

In many ways, reading this book was liberating because it tells us that we neither need permission to learn anything nor an overwhelming plan. The book nicely explores different facets connecting micromastery to dynamic learning, getting into flow, polymathism ( Neogeneralism , multipotentialite ) and happiness.

Learning-by-Doing 195

Learning-by-Doing Books Tools Quality 195

QAspire

DECEMBER 22, 2014

I like to plan things in advance and execute those plans with zeal. I was fortunate to be at the right place at a right time on my occasions – not because I planned for it but because I constantly focused on creating the dots by doing, contributing and sharing. Serendipity. It is not the same thing as getting lucky.

Learning-by-Doing 117

Learning-by-Doing Career Agility Resistance 117

QAspire

DECEMBER 30, 2020

I began 2020 with a firm plan to execute a significant mid-career transition that involved voluntary movement out of a rewarding senior leadership role, relocating family, reuniting with my parents and (hopefully) start new assignments. After our initial disappointment with disrupted plans faded away, we came to terms with the situation.

Self-aware 133

Self-aware Senge Learning-by-Doing Goleman 133

QAspire

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

To build their confidence, we planned three mock interview sessions where I would play the role of a client. I have seen people who prepare well on content but if things don’t go as planned, they just freeze because they failed to consider the alternatives, variables and how they would respond to it.

How To 167

How To Content Agility Project 167

QAspire

MARCH 28, 2017

If we don’t focus, how will we think, plan, execute, review and align? One of those cards read, “ Every YES contains a NO (YES to staying late is NO to Lego with your daughter)”. Every NO contains a YES (NO to the gym is YES to more stress)”. NO to distractions, YES to focus and space for creativity. Posts with Sketchnotes.

Stress 70

Stress Creativity Review Planning 70

QAspire

DECEMBER 29, 2022

I plan to get back to regular rhythm of blogging in 2023. It has been and continues to be an exciting exploration of the world outside and within. For the first time in 16 years since I started this blog, I had to take a few months of a break from blogging.

Workshop 91

Workshop Open-book Consultative Blog 91

QAspire

JULY 23, 2017

My big plan was to move one small step at a time – read a bit about what it takes, take small steps towards cleaner eating, do small changes in lifestyle, get more active and suddenly, it all started revealing. “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid of only standing still.” – Chinese Proverb.

Open-book 0

Open-book Learning-by-Doing Blog Conference 0

QAspire

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Many villages were demolished when Chandigarh, India’s first planned city, was being built according to design by French architect Le Corbusier. Did he plan to win all the awards that he has won? It is an intriguing tale of passion, suspense, drama and finally the triumph of creativity over all the odds.

Creativity 159

Creativity Travel Innovation Planning 159

QAspire

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Ability to foresee, plan and implement change for better alignment to the market and generate better outcomes is a [.] Two things we know about change: Resistance is our natural reaction to any change that disrupts our current way of working. Things only change when the pain of change is less than the pain of remaining in current state.

Process 143

Process Management Resistance Marketing 143

QAspire

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

Purely rational, planned strategies will never allow organizations to have major breakthroughs. If those decisions don’t go as planned -they learn. An individual who always goes with conventional wisdom, proven tracks and charted paths quickly becomes “one amongst many”.

Belief Systems 142

Belief Systems Godin Trends Follow-up 142

QAspire

APRIL 29, 2013

To make the most of everything that doesn’t go as planned is an attitude thing!”. - – – – -. The weatherman went on to explain, “35 years in weather department has taught me just one thing: there is no bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. Stay Tuned : Subscribe via RSS , Connect via Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Planning 125

Planning Development 125

QAspire

JANUARY 23, 2011

When we run a business or execute a project, we set clear goals of what we want to achieve, create detailed plans, devise strategies and set up milestones. But leadership, just like life, is ambiguous and paradoxical.

Project 130

Project Goal Strategy Planning 130

QAspire

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

What’s your plan to make the most of it? - – - – -. It may seem hard and sometimes, unnerving too. But, it is from conquering these tall challenges that work becomes fun; that difference is made and joy is derived. Yes, it is a Monday, the momentum day. Stay Tuned : Subscribe via RSS , Connect via Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Planning 119

Planning How To 119

QAspire

JUNE 26, 2014

Challenge is in evolving road map every day to reach what’s planned. ~ @vivekparanjpe. - – - – -. Willingness to reconfigure plans in a short notice. ~ @tanvi_gautam. - – - – -. destory your own plans and adopt another’s.To There are no prototypes to fall back on. No check lists.

Agility 177

Agility Leadership Career Short-term 177

QAspire

OCTOBER 10, 2010

So when you create your quarterly improvement plan, have no more than three most critical areas identified. Define Outcomes: Plan around these three areas and document the expected results/outcomes. Involve Customers: You can also involve your customers in planning these quarterly improvements.

Process 126

Process Directory Document Quality 126

QAspire

JULY 22, 2013

If people are involved in planning, they co-own the plan (buy-in). Involve people when planning for tasks that impacts their work. In a team, people share the same vision, but not accountability. Establish clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities early on. Rituals are powerful. Communication cannot be left to a chance.

Team 191

Team How To Mentor Bottom-up 191

QAspire

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

Management by Objectives, quotas, incentive pay, business plans, put together separately, division by division, cause further loss, unknown and unknowable. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers — a prize for the best Halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars — and on up through the university.

Deming 151

Deming System Management Bottom-up 151

QAspire

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

If you are undergoing a large scale transformation or planning for one, I highly recommend ThoughtWorks article titled “ Seven Pitfalls to Avoid During Organizational Transformation ” with insights from Anupam Kundu and Tarang Baxi. This article also features my sketch note summarizing the ideas presented.

Agility 70

Agility Process Article Planning 70

QAspire

AUGUST 17, 2010

The plans you established needs to be followed. Constant Improvement : You planned, you did and then you also reviewed. Next most important steps are “Planning&# and “Execution&#. Discipline : Execution demands discipline to do right things consistently. It demands emotional labor.

Cost 139

Cost Quality Project Directory 139

QAspire

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

If you are planning an organizational transformation or undergoing one (which is very likely), I recommend you read this classic McKinsey article. While reading the article, I create a quick sketch note to make the sense of these principles.

McKinsey 70

McKinsey Restructuring System Article 70

QAspire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

To be a GO GETTER, you must first adopt as your life plan, to be a GO-GIVER. Go to them: Find out where another’s attention is and go there with your own conversation Find out where another’s interest is and go there with your own interest, making your interest one with theirs. Generosity is at the heart of living a good life.

Class 100

Class Education Participative Power 100

QAspire

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

The results provide us a measure of our progress and lay the foundation for developing very thorough action plans so that we can continually be at our best. First, it’s important to create an environment in which every team member has an annual individual learning plan (ILP). Leverage your talent.

Learning-by-Doing 70

Learning-by-Doing Innovation Long-term Books 70

QAspire

JANUARY 20, 2013

Plan for things, prepare well but never forget that most good shots have an element of serendipity into it. There are angles and dimensions to everything, only if we are open enough to explore them and pick the right ones. Getting good shots is as much serendipity as preparation.

Leadership 193

Leadership Bottom-up Learning-by-Doing Class 193

QAspire

AUGUST 4, 2013

Organization suffers when leaders take decisions purely based on their emotion, assumption, perception or a bias without questioning them. It can sometimes prove fatal. One of the most important agenda for HR Professionals today is to assess and develop critical thinking skills of their people.

Blog 133

Blog Development Team Building Tactics 133

QAspire

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Who knows, you may start sooner than you planned! Even if you are not ready yet and wish to start in a few years down the line, this is a great opportunity to make yours elf aware about what goes into building a venture. A statistic by CEO of Startup Weekend says that 58% of teams had a working beta at the end of the weekend.

Venture Capitalist 142

Venture Capitalist Mentor Entrepreneur Diversity 142

QAspire

MARCH 25, 2014

In American Management Association’s critical skills survey 2012 , respondents emphasized on 4 C’s ( C ritical thinking and problem solving, Effective C ommunication, C ollaboration and team building and C reativity and innovation) as their key priorities for employee development, talent development and succession planning.

Leadership Development 185

Leadership Development Development Leadership Training 185

QAspire

JUNE 10, 2012

But often, project managers focus too much on the planning, scheduling, managing risks and watching the metrics that they forget to focus on people. When rational takes over the emotion. Processes and practices are absolutely important for an organization to grow, learn and sustain.

Project 172

Project Compliance Maturity Process 172

QAspire

DECEMBER 4, 2012

How to create a project plan, manage risks, track project, report status is all defined out there and a project manager has to be clear on those fundamentals. Here is what I think: Project management is both science and art, but it is the art of project management that makes great project managers. scope, time, cost, quality etc.)

Project 164

Project Management Explicit Knowledge Bottom-up 164

QAspire

MARCH 6, 2011

The true test of a leader is when things don’t go as planned. Worst yet, when things fail. In an organizational context, I have seen so many leaders who drive the project/initiative right from the beginning – yet when the project fails, they blame others.

Bottom-up 164

Bottom-up Reputation Project Team 164