Is ADHD to blame?

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In a recent post, Todd Stephens observes the skewed amount of effort [time, money, emotion, politics, etc.] companies spend on technology selection. Todd suggests that companies expend as much as 90% of their effort on selecting the technology (leaving only 10% effort for implementation and operationalisation).

It's a complex NewWorld and there is so much to get right and so much that can, and does go wrong. Most organisations seem to have lost the plot when it comes to forecasting, budgeting and planning, Business/IS strategy development, programme governance, vendor/SI selection and management, business process out sourcing, programme management, prioritisation, risk and issue management, impact assessment, programme and project delivery, performance management, business reporting, culture change, skills training, knowledge management, collaboration, etc.

Whilst fixing all the issues above is obviously too much for most mere mortals to consider at the same time, it is clearly unsustainable to have a situation where so many of the critical success factors (csf) which have had so much written about them in countless 'lessons learned' and public project post mortems, fall outside of IT's 90% of the effort!

Its got so difficult and complex that I understand some execs and senior managers are starting to show signs of having ADHD!

"They feel restless most of the time and have difficulty sitting still even in situations that are calming or relaxing to most people. They experience multiple short-lived thoughts that are poorly focused and "on the go all the time". Some people liken this to "a vortex" or "spaghetti junction".

Mood problems are very common, with a constantly unstable mood that fluctuates up and down from moment to moment throughout the day. One person described swinging between the "fog" of a distracted mind and the "fire" of irritable and angry moods. Individuals with ADHD are frequently impatient, cannot wait for anything and become easily frustrated or irritated." BBC

I'm sure these symptoms are not to be witnessed in your organisation!

;-)