19 October 2011 12:41 pm

The Power of the Plan: Why 1% of the Population Controls 40% of the Wealth

The recent news of the “Occupy Wall Street” grassroots movement in which demonstrators are congregating around the world expressing their defiance against the financial establishment and its impact on the “Average Joe” has brought to light the age old reality that money and power lies in the hands of a few who understand the power of the plan that keeps this inequality afloat.  Throughout history kings and monarchs have exploited the majority by creating meticulously planned structures of power, wealth and governments to ensure their positions.  Although the Occupy Wall Street movement is a modern phenomenon, similar strategies employed centuries  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 19 October 2011 12:41 pm

Posted in PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
27 September 2011 2:28 pm

5 Questions Project Leaders Need to Ask to Avoid the Damaging Effects of “Broken Telephone”

For many avid “social networkers” there is panic in the air!  There is a story circulating the internet that claims Facebook will be charging its members a monthly fee.  In a world of constant connectivity and the instant access to information rumors can go viral at the drop of a hat.  Facebook and its powerful platform that has the capabilities to deliver real-time information to an immense user base of 800,000,000 members is an excellent example of the available vehicles to quickly disseminate damaging information. Although the rumor has been discounted by Facebook, the reality is today’s online platforms have  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 27 September 2011 2:28 pm

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19 September 2011 9:07 am

Are you getting the most out of your project documents? Top 5 reasons why you need a document management strategy

It’s incredible how low the cost of memory has dropped!  I recently purchased an 8GB mini SD card for my Blackberry for under $20, when considering I paid over $1000 for a PC back in 1999 with an 8GB hard drive.  With today’s amazingly affordable access to cheap storage, organizations are increasingly drowning in the data they gather.
In today’s project environment capturing and storing project information is limitless.  On the flip side, extracting and accessing relevant information quickly and efficiently has begun to pose a growing problem to stakeholders and project managers that are required to make informed decisions impacting  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 19 September 2011 9:07 am

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25 August 2011 2:06 pm

Project Vision: The “Apple” Never Falls Far from the Tree

With yesterday’s announcement of Steve Jobs stepping down as Apple’s CEO, the first thought that crossed my mind is the critical role leadership plays in any organization.  As the story goes… after building Apple into an industry giant, Jobs was ousted as its leader in 1985.  Following his departure, the company slowly deteriorated and by 1997 the company Jobs’ built was running at a loss of $1 billion on its $7 billion in revenue.  Almost 15 years later, under Jobs’ leadership Apple has not only transformed its own DNA, but has revolutionized the music industry, the smart phone and the  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 25 August 2011 2:06 pm

Posted in Information Technology, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
12 August 2011 12:49 pm

Poor Stakeholder Management: Dangerous Politics will Yield Undesirable Results

In recent weeks, the media has been inundated with stories about political turmoil in the US and Western Europe.  We have not only seen the recent news of the US’s downgrade in its credit rating and its mounting budget deficit but we have also seen unprecedented social unrest in the UK, the French economy at a standstill and the Euro taking a hard hit due to Greece’s recent instability.  Although a lot of these events are partially due to poor planning by governments, the reality is (and this should not be ignored) partisan politics, self-interest, and poor communication among stakeholders  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 12 August 2011 12:49 pm

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20 July 2011 3:05 pm

The Model T Ford Project: A “Model” for Product and Process Innovation

Up until the early 20th century the world viewed the automobile as a luxury item built for the elite of society.  Cars were complicated in their use and required a significant investment that the average person could not afford.  Then in 1908, Henry Ford introduced the Model T Ford that did not only revolutionize the world’s perspective on personal transportation for the masses but also re-invented the manufacturing process still applied over 100 years later.  Although we have seen improvements to his original process, with the development of lean manufacturing, JIT, Six Sigma, Kanban, and others, the core philosophy of  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 20 July 2011 3:05 pm

Posted in Famous Projects, Manufacturing, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
15 July 2011 11:14 am

Market Leadership: It Takes a Series of Strategic Battles to Win the War

With the recent launch of Google’s innovative social networking platform Google+, it did not take long for Mark Zuckerberg to quickly respond with his recent announcement of his strategic relationship between Facebook and Skype.  In a delicate move in a world where anyone can fall from grace in a heartbeat, Zuckerberg was more than announcing a strategic partnership with Skype, but was also sending a message to Google that he is ready to put up a real fight to maintain his leadership position in the Social Network landscape with Microsoft at his back (who recently acquired Skype).  You do not  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 15 July 2011 11:14 am

Posted in Information Technology, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
22 June 2011 1:55 pm

Whatever happened to Smith Corona? A Hard Lesson in Product Development and Innovation

Time and time again we see dominant technologies come and go.  History has seen the automobile replace the horse and buggy as the vehicle of choice, the DVD replace the video cassette, and the PC replace the typewriter.  Although the shift in new technologies is unavoidable, there is a choice in the path of the companies that produce these products.  Some organizations have the foresight and vision to remain leaders in innovation, while others remain stuck in a “tunnel vision” mentality and continue on a path where the inability to change results in their demise.  An excellent example can be  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 22 June 2011 1:55 pm

Posted in Information Technology, Manufacturing, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
15 June 2011 1:42 pm

Are your Projects Getting Social? With the Good comes the Bad…

Now that social media is really mainstream, there is a lot of discussion around its benefits (especially in the business world).  Creating social networks through the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can equally empower both small project work groups as well as multi-national corporations to become their own media outlet by sharing valuable information and ideas among their peers and customers.   Instantaneously businesses can facilitate value-driven collaboration impacting the way they service their customers and the manner in which their employees can have their voice heard.
In theory social media tools are suppose to contribute to the overall growth of  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 15 June 2011 1:42 pm

Posted in Information Technology, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
31 May 2011 2:32 pm

Effective Resource Management Requires an Accurate View of your People

In the digital age where the average person has 130 friends on Facebook and are plugged into to numerous other social networks, we tend to forget that many of the connections and relationships that live in these social are networks are limited to their virtual origins.  Most people can probably attribute only a couple dozen connections to real relationships that live outside this virtual reality.  In fact, in a recent research study coming out of Oxford it has been said that the human brain cannot manage more than 150 people in their social network and no more than 50 of  Read More

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 31 May 2011 2:32 pm

Posted in PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
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