The "Kronos Guy" Blog

What can we learn from the theatre?

  

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I have spent most of my adult life studying music and theatre. It's a passion that I think ties very nicely into software implementation (and thus was formed Improvisations. Let's take a look at a few 'implementation' ideas from this other world as we prepare to move forward into 2012. There can be more parallels than one imagines. Here's a start.

1. PREPARE. Do you know everything about the company? (even if you are an employee) Do you know everything about the related departments, the processes and the software? Have you considered studying / discovering why some of the 'stuff' going on, goes on?
2. PRACTICE. An artist practices his craft 10 or 12 hours a day. And this is NOT what he gets paid for! In business, how often are we not really prepared for our performance? Here's a thought, if you are doing a Kronos upgrade do you just shove the discs in and cross your fingers or do you run practice upgrades, documenting every tiny thing that happens so you can LEARN, IMPROVE and then DELIVER a perfect product.
3. SCHEDULE. In theatre there is an opening night. There are no delays. If you plan properly you can be ready. How did your last Kronos implementation or upgrade go?
4. PARTY. There is ALWAYS an opening night after-party. It's hugely important to the talent and the staff. Share the joy of your hard earned successes.
5. REVIEW. Hopefully we've done a good job and the reviews are good. But not every performance is a win. Thats OK. Because from this we...
6. LEARN. And act upon what we learn to not only improve the current show, but the next.