Category Archives: Projects@Risk™ – Malcolm Peart

#36 – TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE – MARK MOORE

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Mark MooreAnd Now It’s Too Late

What started out as an idea for a single post is probably going to take several to cover the topic at hand.  The risk we’re talking about here is …

TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE

WHAT IS TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE?
I’ve been doing a little research via some professional chat forums, and the first question to come up was, “What’s your definition of Tribal Knowledge?”

Well, the way I’m using it here I mean the experience and skill that you rely on to run your organization an projects that is locked away in some long-term employee’s head and if documented at all (which is rare), the documentation is sketchy at best and probably can only be deciphered by the person holding the knowledge in the first place.  It exists in any organization that has been around for a while, and it’s probably a far bigger risk than you might consider it to be.  In fact, I believe the very nature of Tribal Knowledge makes it a ‘top 5’ that is hardly ever documented in your risk register. Continue reading →

#35 – HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS – BILL POMFRET

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Bill Pomfret pixNo other safety related activity could produce a status evaluation of any industrial or commercial enterprise better than a comprehensive audit.  Performed professionally, audits provide management with answers based on facts, which in turn, generate appropriate solutions to problems.  As safety professionals, it is our responsibility to ensure that we help managers ensure that their actions and activities within their mandate are based on facts. Continue reading →

#33 – FIVE RULES FOR PROJECT SUCCESS OR STOP THE INSANITY! – MALCOLM PEART

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Malcom Peart pixThere are many articles about project failure, troubled projects, and project success.   There is also a tendency to desire the ‘top five’ or ‘top ten’ reasons why something unexpected happened in our constant search for brevity. Continue reading →

#32 – THE RISK OF KNOWING TOO MUCH – MARK MOORE

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Mark MooreI had a similar thought about two completely different things recently.  The first is merely an example from life – its’ one of those things that you really don’t want to think about and if you can avoid knowing it at all (which means you should skip the next paragraph) that’s probably a good thing.

The second comes from material I’ve been preparing to teach a class on testing.  But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself …

So,is it possible to know too much and does that knowledge put you at risk or at least a disadvantage? Continue reading →

#31 – RISK AND COMPLEX PROJECTS SUCH AS THE OBAMACARE WEBSITE – PAUL KOSTEK

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Paul Kostek PixWith the recent go-live of the ACA (Obamacare) website we saw another example of a complex project introduction go badly.  There are a host of reasons for the problems, requirements changing, insufficient testing, and no one person leading the effort.  And just the scope of a project required to meet the needs of millions.  One has to wonder if a risk management plan was done for this project and followed through the design process.   On a side note, where I live the Washington State website actually met customer needs and was easy to navigate.  So scope does have an impact. Continue reading →