Agile

Systems Thinking – When the human is in the machine

Consider any connected product or application that you may have – a fitness device, a mapping application, a dating app, a payment app, or a smart thermostat. On the face of it, these are superficially quite simple products. A fitness app tracks your activity, a mapping app helps you get from A to B, and a dating app matches you with potential dates. However, beneath that veneer of simplicity lies something else. All these products are systems that connecting people … Read more…

10 Must-Read Digital Transformation Books

Here is a collection of digital transformation books from a technology, product, organisation and strategic perspective. One of the great fallacies of digital transformation initiatives is that it is the preserve of the technical function, be it the CIO or the CTO’s remit. A truly successful digital initiative requires the mobilisation of the entire business. These books explain both the how and why, including highlighting any pitfalls. Note, this post collates reviews from two previously published posts for convenience. The … Read more…

Five (more) Digital Transformation must-reads

One of the blessings of spending the past few months working from home, with my daily commute suspended, is that I have had time to start to tackle some of the tomes on my bookcase. Oh, and yes, I know that it is ironic to be talking about physical books in a blog dedicated to all that is digital and connected. Truth is that I find that my trusty Kindle cannot match the uniquely tactile experience of scribbling comments and … Read more…

How Google, Amazon and Spotify set up their teams for success

When leading a tech organisation, how do you determine what makes the difference between success and failure in a market that is rapidly changing? Determining where to focus in shaping an organisation and creating the right culture is clearly one of the key challenges of being a leader. In this post, I will look at how some of the leading tech companies set up their development organisations to deliver innovation and keep on top of a fast-moving world. Never has the adage that you … Read more…

5 Digital Transformation Must-Reads

Few companies will admit to not having a digital strategy, and any company that has been around for a while will also have a digital transformation programme. Indeed an entire industry of digital change consultants have emerged over the past few years to help the rest of us navigate the minefield of uncertainty. But what is all the hype about? Here are a few books that summarise the essential considerations relating to digitalisation. They cover some of the top-level business, strategic, marketing, … Read more…

The journey to becoming a Consumer IoT Player

So far in this blog I have touched on many areas relating to the technology and leadership challenges of working in high-speed tech environments. While these musings were shaped by my experiences, it is perhaps time to look closer to what I have been doing in my day job. I lead the product development at Drayton, a Schneider Electric company focused on building temperature control products for homes. Until recently, our products consisted of thermostats, boiler controls, and valves used by anyone … Read more…

From the front line to the development team

We have already seen in a previous post how military history can provide valuable lessons for today’s business leaders. The Economist magazine provides a more contemporary application of how lessons learnt on the front line have applicability in the business world. Stanley McChrystal used to lead the Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq which captured Saddam Hussein and killed al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq. He now runs a consultancy company advising companies on decision-making. His mantra is to devolve decision making to teams of … Read more…

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