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Essays

Long-form arguments about decisions in systems programs. Each one makes a claim, names the decision it bears on, and shows what good looks like.

  1. NO. 10 · · 2 MINThe steering committee meets every fortnightA steering committee that receives decisions as updates is not governing, and the fix starts with five lines on the paper.
  2. NO. 09 · · 2 MINThe operating model comes after the system (it never does)A programme cannot skip the operating model, it can only skip designing it.
  3. NO. 05 · · 4 MINWhat you resource is your strategyEvery organisation has two strategies: the one in the deck, and the one visible in where its scarcest people, calendar time and decision attention actually go. When they disagree, the second one wins.
  4. NO. 07 · · 1 MINDecision DebtEvery requirement that cannot be traced to the decision that authorised it is debt, and it always falls due at the worst moment.
  5. NO. 04 · · 3 MINVendor selection is a strategy testA weighted scoring matrix measures how well vendors answer your questions. It does not measure whether you knew what to ask — and selections fail on the second problem far more often than the first.
  6. NO. 03 · · 4 MINWhy ERP programs fail in plain sightERP failures are rarely surprises. The signals are visible months before anyone uses the word, and almost all of them are organisational rather than technical.
  7. NO. 117 · · 1 MINYour Strategy Is a Spending PatternIf you cannot say what you stopped, you do not have a strategy.
  8. NO. 02 · · 4 MINMinimum Viable Business AnalysisMVBA is not less business analysis. It is business analysis aimed at the next decision that actually needs to be made — and a test for telling analysis apart from inventory.
  9. NO. 01 · · 5 MINDecision governance before delivery governancePrograms in trouble tend to add forums rather than decisions. The difference between tracking work and owning trade-offs, and how to tell which one your governance actually does.
  10. NO. 06 · · 9 MIN2026 Business Transformation Outlook: What I'm Seeing, and What We Can Do About It2026 will not introduce new transformation problems; it will expose the ones organisations have lived with for years.
  11. NO. 105 · · 8 MINDigital Transformation, ExplainedA plain-language account of what digital transformation actually changes, and what it does not.
  12. NO. 112 · · 3 MINThe 5 Smartest Moves I’ve Seen Businesses Make (That Anyone Can Do)Five unglamorous moves that separate businesses that get value from change from those that do not.
  13. NO. 60 · · 4 MINGuiding the Galactic Fleet: Tools for Stellar ERP GovernanceERP governance needs five working parts: a cross-functional council with defined roles, internal controls, compliance tooling, process alignment tools and a change management system.
  14. NO. 68 · · 4 MINMidweek Innovations: Tools and Frameworks for Stellar ERP GovernanceFive categories of tooling, from holistic governance platforms and real-time data engines to gamified training, change management suites and process modelling, each answer a specific ERP governance failure.
  15. NO. 52 · · 5 MINDisturbances in the Force: Governance Woes in Digital Transformation ProjectSix ERP governance failures, shadow IT, duplicate data, poor adoption, inconsistent training, underestimated change management and process misalignment, are symptoms of deeper organisational problems worth interrogating.
  16. NO. 95 · · 7 MINProject Work Management & Schedule UpdatesThis comprehensive governance framework integrates best practices from industry leaders, offering a structured approach to ERP implementation, continuous improvement, and maintenance.
  17. NO. 56 · · 3 MINEstablishing GovernanceGovernance is the backbone of ERP implementation: what it is, why it matters and the steps to set up a framework that actually steers the program.