Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: decision-making

  • Navigating Leadership Fog

    Foggy NightShivering in the night fog, I find myself at the crossroads of decision and…

    I can’t bring myself to say the other word. Too many internal messages suggesting only the weak use it… or admit to it.

    Is the word, “fear?” Is it, “failure?” Or possibly, “doubt?”

    As many leaders do, I could choose to disconnect with myself. Plow ahead. Ignore this noise. Pretend what I want into existence.

    Or I could risk challenging the negative slant associated with this leadership unmentionable. I might choose to view it as a source of information. A potential clue to my way forward.

    Maybe curiosity is a more effective way through the fog than bluster. Could it be I’m looking for a better question more than a better answer?

    How do you navigate the fog?

  • Listen In -> Tech Changes #4: Leaders in Database Hell

    When does information become the leader’s enemy?

    When the sifting and sorting of data overwhelms the timely decisions that need to result.

    In this week’s podcast interview with software developer, Jorge Rosas, we look at database hell. Have you ever wondered how so many leaders get trapped in the quicksand of endless information and reports grasping for the perfect decision?

    Sound decision-making need not be such a perilous and overwhelming process.

    Listen in.

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  • To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade? Is That Really the Question?

    It’s tempting to reduce software or hardware upgrade decisions to simple purchase choices. Can we afford the sticker price?

    Talking with software developer Jorge Rosas in this week’s podcast, there are two problems with this strategy. 1.) There are also indirect costs, such as helping users get up-to-speed and adjusting business processes impacted by the upgrade. These are more difficult to calculate, but need to be considered. 2.) There are also indirect benefits, such as staying connected with support services to help solve problems and mitigate disasters.

    More helpful might be to ask whether the upgrade will result in an “arithmetic benefit” or an “exponential benefit.” Arithmetic benefits include such things as: speed increases, feature enhancements, and quality improvements. Exponential benefits involve changes that permit you to eliminate entire business processes, reorganize for slimmer staffing, stop using paper or making certain telephone calls altogether.

    As a rule of thumb, I wait for something to provide an exponential benefit before investing in extensive change.

    How do you evaluate upgrade decisions?

  • Listen In -> Tech Changes #3: The Upgrade Quandry

    Upgrade decisions are a fact of life in the fast-changing tech world.

    Are you torn between wanting to stay abreast of advances in technology and wanting to keep spending to a minimum? When does an expense shift from being a resented and avoided intrusion caused by others to an investment that is anticipated and incorporated into one’s business strategy?

    This week software developer Jorge Rosas and I tackle the upgrade investment quandry. We discuss decision-making criteria that lead to solutions that fit, not pre-fab solutions that force you to fit into some rigid upgrade formula.

    Listen in.

    powered by ODEO

  • No Magical Answers for Tech Change

    Instead of joining an extremist camp: either always buying the latest innovation as soon as it comes out, or always waiting as long as possible before making a change, we need our own decision-making criteria.

    Our needs are different than anyone else’s. Our financial resources are limited. Our teams’ openness to change and learning new things is a factor. Our industry might be one of relative stability or rapid innovation.

    In this week’s podcast with software developer Jorge Rosas, we discuss three “tension spectrums” across which to consider our next decisions:

    1. Risk versus reliability. Can you or your firm handle some of the inherent risks associated with emerging technologies while the kinks are being ironed out? Or do you need a certain level of reliability which would suggest that you wait?
    2. Focus versus distraction. Do new features help you get more done or distract you? For some of us, innovation is key to how we increase our personal and professional productivity. For others of us, new things take our eyes off of our goals, and we lose precious time and energy playing or forcing solutions that don’t really fit.
    3. Arithmetic versus exponential benefit. Unless an innovation provides an exponential increase in value to one’s productivity, internal processes, or company capabilities, you may want to reconsider the money investment, the learning investment, and the investment in team morale that any technology change brings.

    What criteria informs your decisions about adopting new technologies?