[Sigia-l] Projects that fail because of politics

[Dan Wendling]

Ziya wrote:

> An inordinate number of corporate projects fail because of
> politics. Even those that look like technology failures are
> often victims of bad (technical) choices made under political
> pressure, turf conflicts, technological fundamentalism, etc.
> When working in/for large corporations, it's crucial to
> understand this early on.

Just FYI, I recently discovered that an influential book on
organizational learning and the lack of same, has been posted to the
Internet:

Action Science: Concepts, Methods, and Skills for Research and
Intervention, by Chris Argyris, Robert Putnam, and Diana McLain Smith
(1985), http://www.actiondesign.com/action_science/index.htm.

Compared to most business/management books this one is academic,
complex, and for me a difficult read, but ASIST-minded folk can probably
get past that. The content is not something that can be mastered
overnight and is not a quick fix, but I have found a lot of the ideas to
be useful, for making diagnosis more accurate, if nothing else. Chapter
3, "Theories of Action," might be worth a look for anyone interested in
"politics."

I would be interested to learn of other resources people have found
helpful.


Dan Wendling
Electronic Publications Manager
National Rehabilitation Information Center
Lanham MD USA
Get CONNECTed to the latest disability research, 
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