Business Motivation Model

I mentioned the Business Motivation Model earlier. The Business Motivation Model is a model that explains core terminology for an organisation. The model is an OMG standard.

I got aware of the model during a conference when one of the main authors (the Business Rules expert Ronald Ross) explained it briefly. It doesn't surprise that he uses the model to explain how Business Rules fit into an organisation.

I used the model to define the strategy of our department. The big advantage is that it explains easily the difference between concepts like "Vision", "Mission", "Goal", "Objective", "Strategy", and "Tactic". Having the clear distinction of these terms facilitates discussions that allow focusing on the "why" behind your activities. The terminology and relationships between the concepts provided by the model make it simple to see the bigger picture and how everybody's work relate to our goals.

The model includes further related concepts as can be seen from the diagram on the right side. 

The "Why"

Sometimes, so see/hear/learn something that immediately connects with some loose ends that you have in your mind. During my MBA did "learn" about the importance of strategy. How everybody needs to understand the connection between the current work and the overall direction. Every now and then you can extend your understanding. On a conference in June about EA and BPM for example, did I learn about the "Business Motivation Model" which can be used to describe the main concepts like vision, mission, goals, and strategies. And now, on my "Leading Others" course, this video was shown. Another tidbit, that connects some pieces of the puzzle. Enjoy.

New Mindmap: Veronica Decides to Die

I created this mindmap whilst I was reading the book "Veronica Decides to Die" from Paulo Coelho. It is a book that makes you think about what you do with your life. Are you living your dream? Do you dare to fulfil your dreams?

I added a few own annotations to the mindmap.

The Dancing Guy

I had a training course today on leadership. I was shown the following video clip. Enjoy! 

New Mindmap: Information Rules

I added a new mindmap on my website. This one covers the first chapter of a book on the nature of the information business. It shows some interesting aspects that everybody has to keep in mind when developing a business model on information. Why only the first chapter? Because it is the overview chapter. If you are interested in more on a specific topic, just read the according chapter. 

New Mindmap: Enterprise Architecture as a Strategy

I released another of my mindmaps. This is on an Enterprise Architecture book that I can recommend for people working in the EA area or for people coming from the business side to IT. I refer to the 4 maturity stages on a regular base as the model sets the scene for much of my current work.

EAC BPM 2011 Conference in London

I just came back from the Enterprise Architecture and Business Process Modelling Conference(s) in London. I met a couple of interesting people and was able to listen to some well known people.
Key lessons that got reinforced on the conference:

• The problems are always the same, and it is never a hard problem, but always a soft problem (TROPICS). 
• BPM is very close to Organisational Development (OD).
• EA and BPM are similar in many ways and very political. Governance, strategy, measurement and incentives are key concepts for both. 
• Don't boil the ocean. Better stay with a specific approach/activity and stick with it than starting everything at the same time. 

I hope I find the time to write in more detail about the conference. 

Knowing a bit more about myself

 One of the most interesting things in life for me is to understand myself better. How do I react to my environment? And why do I react the way you do? Since I started thinking about myself I am able to work on myself. Patterns arise and understanding grows. Knowing myself allows me to playing to my strengths and therefore improves my personal happiness.

One of the things that I enjoy are self-assessments. A good self-assessment explains some facets of your personality. The most interesting for me was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In case you are interested: I wrote my personal result on my webpage.  The quickest assessment so far was a PI assessment that I had to provide prior to my interview for my current job. HR draw a very precise picture of me just on the base of a few selections of mine. Stunning! I found another interesting test a couple of days ago. It is called PersonalDNA. I quite enjoyed it and realised that the results are quite consistent with what I know about myself. I quite like as well the Johari Window. Make your own Johari Window here.

Good luck on your own journey to yourself. Clearly, assessments are only a small step on the way. But nonetheless, please let me know if you know good assessments.