Grant Stanley Consulting

I will probably incur the wrath of many a Project Manager with this post but hey I have had that happen to me many times when working with them on various change initiatives. Anyway here we go … It never ceases to amaze me how the words Project Management and Change Management can be used in the same breath. In my experience (and this is not a criticism of PMs) Project Managers cannot execute Change Management because the two disciplines require a whole different set of skills and competencies. Unfortunately this seems to be something that is on the rise and it makes me wonder whether this contributes to so many change failures. Both disciplines aim for totally different outcomes: •Project Management is about installation. It focuses on a plan built around events and timelines with the aim of getting from a current state (no installation) to a future state (installation achieved). •Change Management is about adoption. It focuses on the people aspects of the change with...

This is a deviation from my normal genre of posting but relevant nonetheless. Whilst we compare the two contrasting theories of population growth, there are similarities in the business world that we can prepare for and prevent. The first is from Malthus, who was writing at the end of the 18th century. He believed that only bad could come from population growth. Population he said grows faster than food supply. This he said was because food supply can only grow arithmetically, for example, 1 then 2 then 3-4-5-6-7-8 but, population grows geometrically 2-4-8-16-32-64. Consequently, there is no way food supply can keep up with population growth. Therefore, population will inevitably exceed food supply. He then went on two say that there are two possible outcomes. Firstly, he said population could exceed food supply only to be positively "checked" (reduced) by famine, war, and disease.   Population exceeds food supply and is kept in check b...

Big Data. It’s a buzzword uttered by both industry experts and business professionals; a marketing term and industry description bandied about by techies and creative types alike. Everyone acknowledges how important it is and its unlimited potential in affecting how decisions are made in various areas of our lives. However, that’s all it has actually been thus far: potential . Big Data gives us the ability to gather and access data online, regardless of whether that information comes from open sources or behind layers of cyber-security. But we have yet to maximise this data and harness it to its fullest capacity. That will change in the years to come. Many say we are at a tipping point. The ubiquity of mobile devices, cloud computing, and digital technology permeating every aspect of our lives will affect how all these volumes of information will be used and processed. Here’s how 2015 will prove to be big data’s break out year. 1.        The De...