Wow, I can’t believe that our Summit 2012: Executive Education+ is less than 3 months away! A while ago, I blogged a little about Prof. Amy Edmondson’s keynote on Teaming, which will be preceded by two teaming exercises run by Prof. Alan MacCormack. At the time, we hadn’t yet firmed up the case study portion of our program. But we have since then. We’ve chosen a case that bridges the topic of leadership (which is the focus of Prof. Richard Nolan’s keynote on Monday morning and the debate that follows it) and teaming. As with Alan’s exercises, we’re keeping the title of the case under wraps so there are no preconceived notions of the outcomes! I will tell you, though, that the case will be taught by its author, Prof. Michael Roberto.

Michael Roberto is the Read more …

This past summer, William Ulrich led a Q&A for Cutter clients on Business Capability Mapping. It was so popular he did it twice! So what’s next? He’s going to build on the topic at Summit 2012: Executive Education+, April 2-4.  In the interactive work session, you’ll get to try your hand at identifying capabilities, completing a value stream and designing actionable solutions through the lens of business architecture. Practicing these skills with Bill’s guidance at the Summit will clarify why and how your organization can leverage business architecture to streamline mergers, shift to customer centric business models, deploy horizontal business solutions and pursue a growing range of transformational opportunities.

We’re really exciting about “teaming day” at Summit 2012: Executive Education+ (April 2-4). The line-up is amazing. It starts with Alan MacCormack, of Harvard Business School, conducting two exercises (experiments?) on teaming to demonstrate how to make teams more effective and innovative. Yes, he’ll be breaking the group up into teams. But we’re not revealing any more — you’ll have to come and experience it yourself!

Afterwards, Alan’s colleague at HBS, Amy Edmondson will keynote on teaming. Amy was recently named to the 2011 Thinkers50 list. Her presentation will divulge what prevents organizations from learning. Her case study research shows barrier that include interpersonal fear, irrational beliefs about failure, groupthink, problematic power dynamics and information hoarding. Here’s a clip of Amy talking about teams vs. teaming:

During the Cutter Summit, Amy will offer insight into how you as Read more …

The annual Cutter Summit has been evolving over the last few years. It’s never been “conference-as-usual”. It’s always been focused on delivering great ideas from inspiring experts, with the expectation of provoking debate. Candor and sharing have been the hallmark of the Summit. It’s always been a two-way street. We just don’t do talking heads. And we don’t do the product stuff: no vendors giving keynotes or serving on panels, no product showcases or sponsored breaks. The Summit is just true experts and practitioners sharing both the strategies that are working best now and those they see will be important down the road.

About 5 years ago we began incorporating a Harvard Business School case study into our annual North American Summit program. To say “the crowd went wild” isn’t an overstatement. The fast-paced, high energy style of the HBS-trained Read more …

The cloud exposes the fact that IT’s strategic value is no longer in servers or applications, but in data. Therefore, data governance is becoming critical, and data risk is a key issue in the cloud.

Here at Cutter HQ, as we fondly call it, we’re in full Summit mode: printing badges, packing boxes, tweaking the final menus – getting all the behind-the-scenes stuff done. But that’s certainly not the exciting stuff! What is exciting is the program.

As always (this is the 14th Summit we’ve held here in the Boston area), there’s nothing theoretical about the program or sessions. It’s all about creating and discovering business-technology strategies that pave the way for success. And since there are no vendor sponsors, there are no pitches, subtle or otherwise, about silver bullet-type solutions.

Here’s a peek at Monday’s sessions:

We’re addressing cloud computing. Lou Mazzucchelli’s tackling this topic. If you’ve ever heard him speak before, you know that Lou (1) is incredibly experienced and knowledgeable, (2) hones in on the “ah-ha” Read more …

Cutter’s annual Summit conference is upon us! Our keynoters, panelists, roundtable facilitators and seminar leaders are truly amazing. It’s an inspiring — and inspired — group of people. And at the Summit, you get to spend time with these folks. I’m not talking about taking up space in the same room; I’m talking real, quality time. Want to discuss your particular challenge with Rob Austin? Go ahead, sit together at lunch. Hang out during the 30-minute break. Curious about techniques to protect your personally identifiable information? Mark Seiden will give you incredible tips during the coffee break. Are you wondering if some of your staff could deliver greater value in a different role? Talk with Vince Kellen at the cocktail party about techniques you can try to confirm your suspicions.

My point is: the Summit is Read more …

Every year, folks at the Summit ask us Cutter staff people if the Red Sox are in town, and we usually have to break the news that the old towne team is on the road. Well, we’ve arranged for them to be at home at the end of this year’s Summit, and we’re holding a drawing among attendees for a pair of tickets for the Wednesday, May 6 post-Summit game vs. the Cleveland Indians. It’ll be a great time at one of the few remaining classic baseball parks for the lucky Summiteer!

The experts attending and participating in this year’s Cutter Summit are an impressive group, and if they weren’t also such nice people, I’d be nervous about hosting them! I’m excited for our attendees to be able to interact with these folks on timely IT leadership topics — it’s Read more …

Since we started putting out the word on Cutter’s annual Summit before the program was 100% final, I’ve received several emails asking about what else is on tap. We’ve got a packed program already, and we’re still squeezing more in! Again this year, there’s nothing “theoretical” about any of the sessions at the Summit. Every keynote, case study, seminar and roundtable discussion is focused on the reality of dealing with the front-burner issues right now (with right now meaning May 4-6).

Here are just a few of the highlights: Steve Andriole’s keynote, The 5 Essential Habits of Appropriately Paranoid Business Technology Strategists is sure to raise some eyebrows. Maybe even tempers. If you’ve read any of the reports/articles Steve’s written for Cutter, or seen him in live action before, you know Read more …