Alignment

Increase your chances of success at selling new ideas to management. Understand that ideas create change. Change needs to be well managed. To be well managed ideas need to be thoroughly thought through. The following list of questions will help you determine which ideas are worth the effort of pursuit because they are powerful for the organization.

Every January, we're treated to a plethora of surveys about IT executive priorities for the next year. From year to year, the top one or two items seem to change, but virtually everything below that level stays the same. Beyond the current hot topics, the priorities and problems of IT departments tend to be relatively stable.

Siebel Systems is best known for its commanding share of the CRM market. Recently, the company has opened up to showcase how it uses its own marketing software to support some of the best practices in marketing and demand generation. You need not worry; this is not a Siebel commercial. As you will quickly realize, this is mostly about organization, process, and measurement. Here are some of the highlights, based on Andrew Clarke's presentation at the Marketing Roundtable and a similar presentation given at a Siebel webinar.

I love going to see my chiropractor for spinal adjustments. After each visit, I notice that I walk more easily. With my spine properly aligned, it takes far less energy for me to move with ease and comfort. Sometimes I don't even realize how out of alignment I am until after the adjustment.