Archive for August, 2009

When was the last time you asked, “Why?” Has it been awhile? Reflecting back on some of the more confrontational issues I’ve been involved in, it occurred to me that the one question often not asked is simply, Why?

If you have studied Six Sigma, you’ve heard about asking the 5 Whys. Taiichi Ohno, father of the Toyota Production System, is said to have liked using the 5 Whys. The intent is to repetitively ask questions until you understand the simple, core reason, underlying an otherwise seeming complex problem.

Consider this example Read the rest of this entry »

Previously, I wrote a post discussing the need to challenge institutional knowledge.

Since then, I have come across a number of articles related to the basic notion.  An example I wanted to point out for you today, is Seth Godin’s own posting, The problem with doing it by heart.  He does an entertaining job of pointing out just how readily we keep on doing things the same ‘ol way, because, “…that’s the way it always comes.”

Do you do things on autopilot just because, that’s the way you‘ve always done it?  It bears emphasizing the ongoing need to avoid complacency, the need to continually monitor one’s self, one’s organization.

This item’s a bit granular compared to most of my posts. But since the topic came up today, using email to sent to a recipient’s mobile phone, I thought it was worth sharing for you.

The first thing, is that unless there’s a specific restriction on doing so, most mobile carriers will support receiving email addressed to their mobile customers and converting to SMS for transmission to their phone. For instance, if you’re with AT&T, you can simply send an email to 1231231234@txt.att.net, and AT&T will transmit the message as desired.

Of course, the question you may need to think through, Read the rest of this entry »

Would you rather have one thing done today? Or two, tomorrow?

In today’s age, we feel pressured, both by ourselves and our superiors, to ‘multi-task.’ Of course, no one truly can multi-task, countless studies and derivative articles have shown that (just do a search). What we really do, is focus on one item at a time, switching between tasks very quickly. The more items on our plate, the more complex, and the harder it is for our minds to push aside the current task and change to the next…or the next, or…

In the world of information technology it is increasingly common to expect we ‘do more with less.’ I’m sure you’ve heard it. This naturally translates to more multitasking, more complex tasks, and an expectation of quicker response times. As a manager, it is important to guard against your staff becoming over burdened as a result of your own actions or by their being self-imposed. Read the rest of this entry »

Loyal beyond compare.

A great lover of rides in the convertible.

A beloved companion who will be dearly missed by her family, by me.

Rest in peace, my friend, your stay was too short.

1999-2009

(Related Follow Up)

Just a quick update.  Last week, I wrote about Open Education.  Seems the thinking about education is becoming an ever-bigger topic.  Just recently, popular thinkers like Seth Godin are starting to write on the topic as well.  In the past week, Seth’s written about education twice, “Free work vs. internships,” and “Education at the cross roads.”

The open question remains, how best to education and certify ourselves moving forward.  It will become an increasingly important issue for me.  First and foremost, my own children will need my guidance.  Seth begged the question, “Isn’t it odd that we’re willing to spend $300,000 to buy an accredited but ultimately useless academic line on our resume…?”  That really is the $300K, $750K (my own comment last week), or $1M question, isn’t it?

So, how do we decide to continue educating ourselves, or, provide guidance to others seeking our input?  It’s no longer an easy answer.  Personally, I’ve enjoyed the structured, yet fluid form of education that an online college offered.  But, when degrees are often out of date half-way through the curriculum, what’s their value?

This topic alone warrants a blog or three all unto themselves.  Please, share your thoughts, I’d like to hear them.

Perhaps a good place to start is to use a baseline definition for Open Education. Wikipedia defines open education as a collective term referring to forms of education in which knowledge, ideas, or important aspects of teaching methodology or infrastructure, are freely shared over the internet. From my perspective we need to clear up a misnomer or two. All too often when we see open, we think free. And when we see freely share, we’re thinking free for all.

With open education, the key focus needs to be improved accessibility (i.e. freely share) at a significantly lower cost (i.e. compared to conventional places of higher education). Employing contemporary technologies along with a new way of thinking, we might also see improved flexibility in education. Read the rest of this entry »

I tend to align the reasoning behind my posts with technology, leaning more often than not, toward IT, software, SaaS, and the like. Today’s post is still aligned with technology albeit of a different venue: alternative energy and the white roof.

Much t’do has been made in Washington in recent months about our (the U.S.) Energy Secretary Chu’s suggesting we adopt white roofs. Of course, for many, the initial response to this is, “…is he serious, c’mon, ‘white roofs’?” More than one major media outlet has been happy to jump on the bandwagon…seemingly on slow news days.

One article that caught my eye recently Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps you’ve noticed this too. The CTO is often the senior tech ‘geek’ in the company, the guy or gal with their fingers in ‘everything,’ largely by virtue of having been around since the company was formed out of the dust of the earth. This is a real problem.

In many cases of geek-come-CTO, they’re ‘down in the weeds,’ doing hand-to-hand combat in solving the never-ending stream of daily fires. They’re happiest being BMOC and everyone around them submits accordingly. But, being head know-it-all does not equate to effective leadership. Showing others, ‘how they fixed the problem,’ creates the illusion of leadership. Read the rest of this entry »