Comments on: Musing jetlaggedly about loss of control

By: neilperkin

neilperkin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:43:16 +0000

Hi JP. Great post. Thought you might like to know that this post, and also another one of yours on ‘Faster horses in the age of co-creation’, have been nominated in a Post of the Month feature I run on my blog…
http://bit.ly/4D8wZC

By: JP

JP — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:50:40 +0000

Charles, Anannya, Brendan, didn’t mean to ignore you guys either. Every time you leave feedback it encourages me to write more. There is a theory that bloggers write for themselves but I don’t buy it. If nobody read the blog I’d stop immediately. Comments are a leading indicator that people are reading, if you don’t use fancy tools to figure that out.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:47:52 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Bella, Rob, Willem. Glad you enjoyed the post. Willem, what kind of cooking does your brother do?

By: Willem van der Horst

Willem van der Horst — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:49:18 +0000

Very cool post! It made me think about a few different things, starting with cooking. It made me think about my parents, my dad and my mom very similar to what you were describing. When I was a kid, I could forget trying to get in the kitchen when dad was cooking, he’d go nuts ;o) But he is a great cook. So much so my elder brother took it on professionally and is now a Michelin star chef.

Funnily enough, he’s a lot less afraid of losing control and more interested in collaboration than my dad was. Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with the fact that it is an idea for which the time has come.

By: Rob Gokee

Rob Gokee — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:23:31 +0000

Brilliant blog post, you should post more often in the middle of the night;) I am a firm believer in projects; I use them for everything I have to get done. I implement a hybrid of the Getting Things Done and my own time-tested methods to organize my projects, which can span from a new film to score to housecleaning. Thanks again for sharing.

By: Bella Casa

Bella Casa — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:24:22 +0000

Great post…you cook like my dh and I cook like your dw…it’s funny how he goes on and on about his meals, but I serve up meals everyday with no fanfare ;) That’s ok, though, he does so many things around the house that I could never do, so I think I’ll keep him :)

Bella

By: Anannya Deb

Anannya Deb — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:39:59 +0000

Great post. Completely agree. The other disadvantage of control is the high cost and complexity of scalability.

Giving up control is akin to the ancient Indian value of “tyaag” i.e. letting go. Only when you let go will you be truly in a position to add value – because then you are free to think infinitely and therefore innovate. When in control, you are more focused on compliance and hence forget the basic goals and outcomes desired.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:25:30 +0000

Excellent post! I agree 100%. You have to give up control and create overview for yourslef and others. This is really hard, because most people are linear in thought and only concerned with their direct interests and surroundings. I have noticed that the most important part of being a projectmanager was the people part. Often I am more of an ambassador, diplomat or negotiator than manager of a project. I break down the barriers between all the experts in the company and let them work with each other instead of against each other. It’s hard work, but very rewarding. Especially because people themsleves see what potential sharing and collaboration bring.

By: Charles Frith

Charles Frith — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:03:09 +0000

A great post.