In 1968, the government of the Manitoba— a medium-sized province located at the geographic center of Canada—completed what was, at that time, one of the great engineering marvels of the developed world: the Red River Floodway.
The floodway is a 47-kilometer-long earthen channel used to divert surging water from the notoriously flood-prone Red River around the City of Winnipeg (Manitoba’s capital). The idea for the channel was first proposed by a government commission following the devastating flood of 1950 that completely submerged Winnipeg, requiring more than 100,000 people to be evacuated and causing damage that would amount to, in 2022 dollars, more than CA$11 billion. Even though the benefits were many, most political leaders shied away from the project. Most, but not all.
The success of digital transformation in organisations depends on a combination of technology and people. However, many leaders ignore the role of human capital in their plans. Ricardo VianaVargas writes that when digital transformation efforts fail, it is often due to the mismanagement of people.
nformal discussion with Terri Knudson, Senior Director, Strategy Management Services of Mayo Clinic and Luca Gambini, Senior Director Business Program Management of Sunrise. The webinar will discuss the future of project management and their case study featured on the book PM Next Generation, published by Wiley.
Informal discussion with Maged El-Hawary, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of ASGC about the future of project management and their case study featured on the book PM Next Generation, published by Wiley.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the Gallup - State of the Global Workspace 2022 report. This report is the result of an interview with people around the world and shows the level of stress, motivation, and engagement of people working in companies. According to the report, 60% of people interviewed consider themselves disconnected from work. And to make matters worse, 19% are actively disengaged.
Ricardo Vargas, in partnership with Dr. Harold Kerzner and Dr. Al Zeitoun his new publication: Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence.In the book, a team of world-renowned project management leaders delivers an expert discussion on project management implementation in organizations of all kinds.
The book explores 10 pillars of project management that will be critical for companies in the coming decade. It offers contributions from industry changemakers and thought leaders that provide the perfect balance between practical experience across a variety of programs, projects, and transformation initiatives.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about how you show your experience in projects and in product development for a job interview or when you are preparing your CV or applying for a postgraduate course, for example. He gives three tips on which aspects to consider: The first: What type of project have you worked on, engineering, technology, digital transformation, etc. The second: What was the magnitude of the challenge?
Presenting the fourth edition of the FREE compendium of Ricardo Vargas’s work, which brings twenty-six articles from 1999 to 2021 that will help you understand better transformation, project economy, blockchain and other topics.
Transformation is personal. Always. Think about it. Organizational change is brought about one individual at a time. A change of behavior or a change of outlook by one individual in an organization is the cellular basis of achieving transformation. Individual transformation of employees is (at least) as important as any organizational transformation. Without it, the chances of any transformation succeeding are low. Without it, the chances of an organization continuing to evolve and respond to new changes are almost non-existent.
When business leaders are quizzed about what it takes to succeed today, they tend to suggest the usual suspects. Innovation is one constant refrain. But, look around. While radical innovation is a common aspiration, incremental innovation is the more frequent reality. Very few products or services are truly innovative.
Blockchain technology is among the most disruptive forces of the past decade. Its power to record, enable, and secure huge numbers and varieties of transactions raises an intriguing question: Can the same distributed ledger technology that powers bitcoin also enable better execution of strategic projects in a conservative sector like construction, involving large teams of contractors and subcontractors and an abundance of building codes, safety regulations, and standards?
In 1878 Leo Tolstoy released what would become one of his most acclaimed works, the novel ‘Anna Karenina‘. The book started with a quote that over the centuries has transcended disciplines: ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. When taken literally, the quote is a good reflection on family life and family conduct.
Firms need to develop an appetite for innovation, leverage knowledge about customers, and adopt agile ways of working. Even though the literature on business transformation is an enormous, managerial and organisational appetite for change tends to be limited. Leaders of organisations that are remotely successful are not inclined to change things. Transforming the business is not the same as implementing incremental change or improvements in processes, operations and products. We argue that transformation refers to an organisation achieving a sustainable quantum-leap improvement in performance while transforming the mindsets of employees and thus the culture of the organisation.
Most organizations are not well prepared to deal with a serious crisis. The end result of a crisis can either help transform the organization or leave it in a very dangerous position. Crises can emulate fight-or-flight conditions, which are physiological reactions in response to perceived danger, attack, or threat to survival. In animals, as well as humans, this is a natural response mechanism that helps keep us alive.
