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It’s that time again. The glitz and the glamour, the pomp and the pageantry, the fame and the fashion - it's awards season. I love movies so I always cast an interested eye the way of the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and, of course, The Oscars. Looking beyond the rather overblown spectacle of the ceremonie...

Are you guilty of confirmation bias? It's a psychological habit where you filter your reality until it resembles something more aligned with your existing beliefs. I think we're all a bit guilty of it from time to time. For example, you think that your co-workers are lazy so all you see is them slop...

Originally published on CIO.com A very novel way for CIOs to increase effectiveness A poster of Lord Alan Sugar just appeared on the wall of a CIO I know. As it does every year, in fact. Lord Sugar is the central figure in the UK's version of TV show "The Apprentice". Of course, had my CIO friend wo...

I just witnessed an IT Project team undergo a massive positive transformation ... all thanks to a video camera and an innovative CIO. The team was going through one of phases. You ever have these? Nothing was wrong ... but nothing felt right. They were delivering IT Projects on time but not feeling ...

I have a new favourite way to pass free time. It's a webcomic called " xkcd " by Randall Munroe, an American cartoonist, author, engineer, scientific theorist, and the creator of the most addictive website ever! Especially the site's "What If" column, where Randall attempts to scientifically answer ...

If you have had anything to do with Public Sector IT procurement over the past two years or so, either as a client or a contractor, IR35 has probably never been far from your mind. My friend, a Public Sector IT Project Manager, jokes that he'd started seeing IR35 everywhere, "It's been the topic of ...

Can certain words cast a negative shadow on Project Management thinking? Originally published on CIO.com I walked into a Project Management Office recently, and on the wall, in large letters above the Project Leader's desk was the phrase 'No "Ifs", "Buts" Or "Maybes"'. At first, it looked like one o...

Previously published on PMToday My news feeds, as I write this, are full of talk of a Cabinet reshuffle. Prime Ministers and Presidents move core team members around (and in and out) to try to ensure that they have the right people in place to deliver strategic goals. Sometimes, whole new portfolios...

There's a fella used to go in a local fish and chip shop. Run with me on this. It must have been every week because he was always there whenever we decided to have a chippy tea on a Friday. For about the last month though, he hasn't been in the queue. I don't know his name but we had got quite frien...

Thanks to a reader of my CIO.com column, Gareth, who wrote to me with an idea for an IT Project Management blog. "Hi David," he writes, "Have you ever written a blog along the lines of 'you're only ever as strong as your weakest link.'" Gareth was inspired to get in touch after a train journey home ...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the team at Stoneseed! We’ve been blogging on a weekly basis for just over four years now, and in June we published an  ebook of our most popular blogs.  We  hope you enjoy reading our posts and w e look forward to sharing many more with you in 2018. We’ll be ...

Understanding the business strategy is vital to adding real IT value. Here’s why… Originally published on CIO.com I am loving an article on CIO.com by Martha Heller right now which opens with a great proposition - "How to strengthen IT’s connection to your business". I think that it’s crucial that t...

Originally published on PMToday.co.uk I took a train to London recently. Train journeys are like being given the gift of time. Once settled, I like to work, read the newspaper, take in the latest blogs from CIO.com or chew over the latest insight from the PMI. Then, other times, I like to just close...

I say, "Why You Should Ask Santa For A Project Management Office” because I'm writing this with Christmas less than a month away but, if you're reading it at some other time of the year, feel free to swap in the Easter Bunny or whichever benevolent entity is about to bestow gifts upon you. This week...

It's a bit of a strange one this. Independently, I've had two people ask roughly the same question - why do IT projects always go wrong at this time of year? I'd never really thought about it before. By the way, in case you happen not to be reading this around the time I'm writing it, we're talking ...