Organizational behavior. Take a pragmatic view of the inevitable organizational politics. Know who your supporters and detractors are, and develop game plans to deal with each. Then ask yourself: What is the organization's patience level? It is vital that you understand how quickly others will want to see results. CPM is not a fast-acting silver bullet, so you should understand your organization's patience level before deciding which area to focus on first.

Also, consider what incentives your company has in place to foster organizational and individual success. CPM will mean that some individuals may lose investment dollars from their OpEx budgets, while those who have more attractive opportunities may gain. If incentives promote success of the organization as a whole, these actions will be less disruptive.

Attitude and readiness. One question you must answer is: Who will champion CPM? When embarking on a project that is this transformational, you need a highly regarded senior champion who can help shepherd and sell the idea around the organization. You also need to think about your personal ambitions as they relate to CPM. This is a major effort, so anyone who takes a lead role in the project needs to understand up front why he or she is getting involved and whether the perceived personal rewards will be worth the effort that is required.

Phase 2: Galvanize. After you spend some time understanding where your organization stands, your efforts should shift to galvanizing support. Your aim is to create momentum and excitement for corporate portfolio management. Some key tactics during this phase include the following:

Leverage your champion. Harness this executive's power for credibility. Make sure he or she is talking about CPM far and wide. Ask the project champion to build support for incorporating portfolio management objectives into people's personal goals, and to develop an incentive system in which achievement of CPM-related objectives drives compensation.

Build a coalition. Seek like-minded folks from other parts of the organization. Brainstorm with them, and solicit their input. Give them access to your champion.

Avoid confronting or embarrassing detractors. Head-on conflicts will come back to bite you. A CPM initiative is about inclusion, and buy-in must be widespread for the project to be successful. Focus instead on the promoters of CPM, so that you don't have to spend a lot of time defending your efforts.

Win small, win early, and win often. People like associating with winning initiatives. Conduct a successful pilot in one area of the company, then advertise your victories.

Understand the challenges you face. Listen to your supporters and to those in the trenches. Acknowledge the obstacles and opposition confronting the initiative. Develop answers to detractors' concerns and solutions to the real problems that might hamper success.

Compare yourself to other organizations your company admires. Social comparison theory is a psychological theory that says that individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others. In essence, point to how CPM can make you more like organizations that you admire. This type of upward social comparison will create a favorable impression of your CPM effort.

Change organizational behavior on an ongoing basis. Focus on ongoing education and reinforcement. Continuously re-evaluate incentives and the effectiveness of efforts to inform people about CPM.

Determine the ROI of CPM. Corporate portfolio management is about data, so demonstrate your understanding of it. If you were able to improve the effectiveness of investments by just 1 percent, what dollar value would the CPM effort be contributing to your company?