Thoughts
Ideas that transform people, businesses, and industries
Deeply rooted in our organizational ethos is the celebration of authentic and unapologetic “thought.” We believe each member of our team brings with them a unique view of themselves, our clients, and of the world we live in. We make a point to not only articulate our individual experiences, senses, emotions, and actions internally, but to share them with you here.
The Socioeconomic Implications of Artificial Intelligence and Other Advanced Technologies
As we continue to make advances in technology, we also continue to make shifts in the job market. A new advancement smolders an old product or process, and a new product or process rises like a phoenix from the ashes. So, when the Model T replaced horses as our...
The Digital Downside to Well-Tuned IT Delivery Methods
IT organizations often embrace Agile software development as the holy grail that will guide them to the digital product promised land. What many companies don’t realize when they embark on this transformation is that their problem is much bigger than simply choosing...
Selecting the Right Size Backpack for Your Change Initiative
In November, my husband and I went backpacking through Europe. Before we left, it hit us that we could not take our normal luggage, which includes two carry-ons and a checked bag per person. Instead, we needed to fit three weeks’ worth of items into one carry-on...
Calendars, Kanban, and Kids – Can I Run My Family Like a Project Team?
Around Christmas, I had a realization: my family is not very different from a large company. The leadership team generally aligns on strategic priorities, but differs on how best to meet them. There is a significant number of high priority projects that need to be...
Alexa Will Influence Much More Than Your Grocery List
Almost two years ago, during one of my catch-up conversations with Scott Manuel from Thomson Reuters, I first heard of Alexa, the intelligent personal assistant service of the Amazon Echo. Scott said, “Trust me, you’ve got to get one of these.” His job is to...
Who Builds Better Digital Products – IT or Product?
When we started Thought Ensemble in 2008, we did a lot of consulting work in industries like information services and publishing. At that time, these industries were at the height of their disruption. Digital products, from both longtime competitors and...
Visioning with a 5-Year Old
I may not be the craftiest mom. I may not be the best at academic prep. I'm definitely not the one throwing the football. But there's one thing I know I can teach my kids: how to create a life they love. It is the start of a new year, so we are working on our vision...
Recipe for an Awesome Morning
Before I had kids, I didn’t think much about the mornings. Each day was different. I woke up when I needed to based on my calendar. But kids have brought more routine to my life - a rhythm to the day, week, and year. For the first five years of parenthood, we had a...
How Mike Szymanski Saved My Life
This year, I’m thankful for my co-worker, Mike Szymanski. I sat next to Mike at dinner in Dallas a few weeks ago. I’ve known him for awhile now, but I didn’t know we shared a love of fantasy novels (my “love” of these novels might be categorized as something nearer a...
Actually Get Some $#*! Done
In my previous blog, I talked about getting change initiatives off on the right foot. This involves assembling your A-team, preparing a plan of attack, and kicking the project off. Assuming you have already done these things, you are set up to move forward...
IT Culture Got You (Upside) Down?
The list on the left describes the IT organization of the past, or at least what most organizations strived to be. Less than a decade ago, these were the words woven into IT visions everywhere. The list on the right describes what most IT organizations are striving to...
Think Twice Before Turning Project Managers into Product Managers
Practically every traditional IT organization is trying to become more externally focused to build products that improve the digital experience of their end customers or other external stakeholders. It doesn’t take long for most IT leaders to realize they have a big...
An(other) Uber Story
I’ve been doing some back-seat amateur journalism for the last year. I’ve been asking my Uber drivers two questions: How long have you driven for Uber? and Why do you drive? And some of the answers have been quite fascinating: “I was a petroleum engineer. I moved to...
Marshmallows and Your Strategy’s Success
One of my happiest parenting moments was when my eldest son was four. On his birthday, I gave him a single marshmallow and told him that if he could wait to eat the marshmallow until I returned 15 minutes later, I’d give him a second marshmallow. Alternatively, he...
An Uber Experience
Recently, I walked out of Denver’s airport into the (extremely) crowded area designated for ride sharing. I hunted for my Uber, searching out license plate, after license plate, as they passed by. After watching hundreds of cars, I realized, someone had gotten in my...
In Defense of Return of the Jedi
False equivalency is a serious danger to reasonable debate. Wait, wait! This isn’t another rant about the U.S. Presidential Election. No, my concern is something more impactful to our democracy, our society, and our culture: ranking the Star Wars films. Like many of...
15 Cents Per Kilowatt Hour
I’m sitting across the counter from my husband while he expresses his frustration. Loudly. “When you add up the rate we pay, the usage charge and all of these fees, these people are charging us 15 cents per kilowatt hour.” He’s not happy. Neither am I. When we lived...
Get Off on the Right Foot
I’m kind of impatient and I like to jump into things as quickly as I can to, as Larry the Cable Guy would say, “Get ‘er done.” However, I believe that some of the most critical work on large-scale change initiatives is done before any of the actual “work” of the...
Detours Ahead in Data Intelligence Strategy
“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.” - Peter Sondergaard, SVP at Gartner Research Data is awesome. More specifically, what some companies are doing with data today is awesome. We’re seeing advances ranging from powerful...
Don’t Catch a Crab, Avoid These Common Vendor Management Pitfalls
(A crab is the term rowers use when the oar blade gets “caught” in the water. It is caused by a momentary flaw in oar technique. A crab may be minor, allowing the rower to quickly recover, or it may be so forceful that the rower is ejected from the boat.1) In college...
There Are Only Two Types of Features That Deserve Top Priority
Scope creep sinks many projects. And the best way to manage scope is to create basic rules about which features are going to receive top priority. With basic rules, you can hopefully get away from the traditional pitfalls of prioritization: The squeaky wheel - “But I...