tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82966832352570693922024-03-13T18:49:10.772-07:00Tech Manager's BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-29642140511851206622013-06-21T08:04:00.001-07:002013-06-21T08:04:37.050-07:00ABFloods twitter feed<a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23abflood" data-widget-id="348092841790144513">Tweets about "#abflood"</a>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-70233698566895719452010-05-12T18:20:00.000-07:002010-05-12T18:31:42.314-07:00Another Social Media postOkay, so I was really addicted to Empire Avenue... For a couple days. I was ready to invest a bunch of time into this site and off to the races I went. I mean, my stock has shot up from 10.00 to over 18.00 in a couple days. I'm doing great! I'm now in the top stocks on the site!<div><br /></div><div>What's next?</div><div><br /></div><div>I could continue to invest a tonne of time into EA, drive up my stock price, but to what end? And if I miss a day, or worse, one of my investments miss a day, my stock dives or my portfolio does. Twitter and Facebook both don't require me to do anything at all on a day to day basis. I can check when I want, contribute when I want and ignore both when I feel like it. Foursquare and Empire Avenue are both quite addictive for the first little while (EA a few days and Foursquare a few weeks). After that, they lose their appeal. There just doesn't seem to be much to entice me to come back over and over. I've figured out the system and moved on, before my invites have even all been sent out... Not a good thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>For a social site to be successful it needs one of two things (in my mind):</div><div><br /></div><div>1. The flexibility to come and go as I please and not suffer when I miss a day or</div><div>2. Enough game mechanics to sustain interest and keep building upon my addiction.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thoughts? What's your experience with EA (Or other social game sites) like?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-79245126503930317842010-05-08T21:26:00.000-07:002010-05-08T21:31:53.275-07:00Social Media... Help!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My name is Laurence and I am a social media addict.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Empire Ave seems to be the newest social media site on the market and I'm addicted already. There site can be described (In their words):</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 14px; "><blockquote><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase; color: rgb(45, 157, 200); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">ON EMPIRE AVENUE, EVERYBODY'S A SOMEBODY!</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 25px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Our theory goes like this: if you've ever told someone to watch a movie, buy an album or eat at some restaurant, you're using influence. Being the generous people we are, we thought we'd give you a way to measure that influence and stack it up against anyone else. Nothing like a bit of friendly competition among friends, social networks and complete strangers, right?</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 25px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The idea is to drive up your stock price by having others buy your stocks, linking in your other social sites and getting points. Trust me, this is highly addictive, stay away if you value you free time. If you're up for a new addiction, drop me a comment here and I'll hook you up with an invite. Invites are limited, so post a comment quick for an invite.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 25px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.empireavenue.com">Empire Avenue</a> or #empireave on Twitter</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 25px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><br /></p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-22445707365703592272010-04-18T18:12:00.000-07:002010-05-08T07:08:58.774-07:00Agile... what's next?<div>I think we are on the verge of something happening in the software development industry. I don't really have anything to back up this feeling, but I can just see the ripples beginning to develop. Agile has been the big idea on the block for quite a while now, but are we sure it produces the best solution to a given problem?</div><div><br /></div><div>Kanban seems to be picking up steam and helps address some of the realities of software development, but I think we're moving to something more in the future. The big question for me is always "How do we ensure that we have the best solution for a given problem"?</div><div><br /></div><div>I always look to the natural world for synergies and creative ways of accomplishing tasks. I started thinking about how evolution produces some amazing products and the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder how we could take key principles of evolution and apply them to software development. A search for evolutionary software development brings up a whole host of interesting pages and research. All of them going back to iterative development, which essentially speaks to me as one of the ways of delivering an agile project.</div><div><br /></div><div>Evolution to me means more than just being iterative and releasing to a client often. Evolution is about branches, about experimenting, about taking risks, about killing off unsuccessful combinations, about tracing back lineage and most importantly it is about the unique assembly of given problems. It is the survival of the fittest.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are going to create an environment where only the best solution will survive, then you need to create an environment that has the following conditions:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. More than one solution</div><div>2. A method to measure the success of a given solution</div><div>3. A way of quickly combining solutions to create a new, unique solution to the same problem</div><div><br /></div><div>Many years ago I remember reading a research paper from a scientist that had created a chip that was able to evolve and recombine its own circuits to solve a problem (If I remember correctly it was comparing to audio signals to see if they were the same). After many generations the scientists looked at the circuitry and discovered that they chip was now utilizing unique methods they had never dreamed of (There were some <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;font-size:medium;">electromagnetic</span> properties now at play with the configuration of the chip - See <a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/on-the-origin-of-circuits">http://www.damninteresting.com/on-the-origin-of-circuits</a> for more information).</div><div><br /></div><div>If in the 90's we as a global community could produce a chip that could evolve, self develop and ultimately leave researchers baffled as to how it functioned, couldn't we do the same with software? Instead of doing paired programming, couldn't we come up with two unique solutions, which are then measured, combined, discarded or built upon?</div><div><br /></div><div>If you take an idea like Test Driven Development, utilize it with a technology like GIT and take the above suggestion you end up with:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. More than one solution</div><div><div>2. A method to measure the success of a given solution</div><div>3. A way of quickly combining solutions to create a new, unique solution to the same problem</div></div><div><br /></div><div>What are your thoughts? What's next after Agile?</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: -webkit-xxx-large;"><br /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-30986039541092089342009-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:002009-12-13T10:40:56.695-08:00Game changer - Google's turn by turnWell, I think we've just witnessed a shift in the GPS industry with Google's launch of their free turn by turn service on the Android platform.<div><br /></div><div>Google is now offering not only free map functionality found on competitor devices, but a free turn by turn navigation application that we have all grown to love (And we are used to paying for). The equivalent applications on the iPhone cost around $99 from the App Store, but they are absolutely free on the Android platform. Not only is it free, but it now links in to Google's traffic data, helping route you around congested routes (In supported cities).</div><div><br /></div><div>Google is able to do this because they have spent the time developing their own data to pull from, rather than relying on the two providers of turn by turn data. All other GPS manufacturers and iPhone app developers have to license this data from one of two companies. This means that if Apple wants to have a similar application free on their device, they are going to have to take a loss on the application because they will have to pay for the data the application will use.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only do users get the application for free, but Google (From what I've heard, but I can't confirm this) will be paying the carriers a portion of the Add revenue generated from the use of Google's application, Search and related advertising. This is a less than free model that Apple and RIM can't compete with. As a carrier, why would you chose differently? You can charge a customer for the handset AND get a portion of the add pie from Google.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I was Apple, RIM or a GPS manufacturer, I would be scared for the future, especially with the costs of producing these handsets coming down. Why would I have a GPS and a phone, when I can have an Android handset with both?</div><div><br /></div><div>Personally, this is causing me to wait to buy a smartphone. I'll be happy to replace my Blackberry with a Android device when the timings right. Sorry Apple.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-16570643095676772212009-10-19T18:39:00.001-07:002009-10-19T18:44:33.373-07:00Have fun with VoIP at homeWell, for the last week I've been off of work on vacation and I've been using the time to work on my basement. Today was my first day off from basement work and I spent a little time in the evening playing with VoIP. Together with iptel.org and ipkall.com, I now have a Washington state number setup that will ring on my PC. On top of that, through iptel.org, I can dial number, which will record my voice and post it to twitter in seconds. Interesting what you can do in a couple hours :)<br /><br />Check out iptel.org and ipkall.com - you can be receiving calls from your friends in seconds...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-71620400449700593782009-10-13T19:14:00.000-07:002009-10-13T19:34:49.526-07:00The changed worldWow, what a difference a year can make. I remember trying to hire people 12 months ago and it was painful! It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">still</span> painful now, but in a completely different way. Our team has only had one opening in the last few months and we were flooded with resumes. Before we'd be lucky if we had two qualified applicants and they would expect the world. Now we have a dozen over qualified candidates competing for a job that will come with a $20,000 wage decrease. As someone in the position to hire, it is hard to tell all these people "No, sorry, we won't be offering you the position." You think about their family and the impact of either getting or not getting the position will have.<br /><br />On the personal side, our family is holding off on the big purchases, the over seas vacations and staying at home. Even next summer we're planning on sticking closer to home and camping more with our kids.<br /><br />This really brings me to the point of this post! I'd like to hear from everyone how the economic downturn has effected you personally and how you've reacted to changing circumstances. What innovative ideas have you seen or been a part of? How has you approach to innovation changed with a changing economic situation?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-68432962382402908782009-04-11T19:06:00.000-07:002009-04-11T19:12:54.351-07:00My new obsession, twitterI must say I really love the web2.0 revolution... These new services are targeted at exactly at me! I've become obsessed with <a href="http://www.twitter.com">twitter</a>! Learning about tags, #followfriday's and gathering followers (I'm up to 37 at the time of the writting). I love the fact that a service like twitter, which has yet to come up with some kind of business model, has gathered such a large and devout following. It makes me laugh on the inside the shear volume of traffic that yet to be monetized at all, but I love it!!<br /><br /> This service really speaks to the geek in me... I now have twitter on my cell phone and connected to facebook. I use multiple twitter clients and I'm always musing about different ways to integrate the tool into different web ideas. I love integration and twitter just seems to be integrated with everything!<br /><br />Anyways, I'm going to enjoy the long weekend! Just sharing my new obsession (Go check it out and follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MrBrockman">MrBrockman</a> on <a href="http://www.twitter.com">twitter</a>).<br /><br />LaurenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-46213683928161581892009-04-02T18:12:00.000-07:002009-04-02T20:13:16.415-07:00Tech tools - Help us out with some collaboration adviceEveryday a new tool floats across my inbox... Today wasn't a new tool, but Gmail added an "Undo" to sent emails... What an awesome idea! This new feature gives us 5 seconds to recall that email and look it over for one more round of edits or to throw it out completely. No more forgetting to attach a file, no more nasty emails... I now have five seconds to recognize that I shouldn't have hit the send button.<br /><br />In the last two weeks I have run across so many tools including Twine (Twine.com), Google Reader (Okay, this one isn't new, but I've fallen in love) and Twitter (Again, not new, but man, I can't get enough).<br /><br />All of these tools further our connectedness and potential for collaboration, but how does this translate into the work place? The Gmail "Undo" sent option sure would translate, but would Twine or Twitter?<br /><br />Clearspace and other new collaboration platforms are now being adopted in organizations as they try and capitalize on the existing knowledge capital they've acquired over the years. Lots of companies have had success, but many have not realized what they had intended. Why? We are embarking on a journey at our company and what do you think it will take for us to be successful?<br /><br />I've got no answers for anyone, so I'm hoping that readers of this blog can help us share their stories (Good or bad) about experiences with collaboration software in a corporate environment. We are hoping to drum up some advice to help us with our implementation, so please share! Help me and my team out!<br /><br />Thanks in advance!<br />LaurenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-10243962717394342132009-03-24T13:48:00.000-07:002009-03-25T11:51:45.084-07:00Innovation as an excuse to write software<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:13px;"><h1 style="font-size: 18pt; "><br /></h1><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">I've worked at a number of development shops in the past and I've had the pleasure (And pain) of working with many different developers. I've come to recognize a trait amongst many of the developers that I've worked with; most of them have a passion for Software Development. That passion is great; it leads them to learn new ideas and to development interesting software that we love to use. The downside to that passion is the vast majority of developers always treat every problem as a development problem. They skip past the step where they look for existing solutions and immediately jump to development (Or, those more experienced jump to the planning of the development).<br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><img src="https://docs.google.com/a/brockman-consulting.com/File?id=dcnbt6w9_34dwf694f4_b" id="oikd" style="width: 276px; height: 272px; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0px; " />Now, I'm not saying that development isn't important, especially when it comes to innovation. Development is <b>key</b> and without Software Development, we wouldn't have any new products to use! The most important decision is not whether there is going to be development for an IT innovation project, but where you will focus your expertise, time, effort and dollars. Every time a company goes to put up a new web application, they don't start off by building a new operating system. They leverage what is already in existence. They don't go an write a new database. They use one that is tried and true. Smart companies pick where they are going to develop and where they will plug in components to help speed up their innovation initiatives and reduce costs.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><img src="https://docs.google.com/a/brockman-consulting.com/File?id=dcnbt6w9_33f3qvtqdg_b" id="gfhm" style="width: 302px; height: 302px; float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1em; " />What many developers and companies fail to do is to take the next step beyond picking out an OS, Database, web server and development language. I've seen many projects embark on an "Innovation" exercise where they end up re-creating the wheel. They don't go and put rubber on tire, the rebuild the whole tire all over again. Companies and more importantly the developers that work for companies need to take some time (Albeit a short amount of time) to investigate what components exist in Commercial Off The Shelf offering (Or Open Source, or even what other products exist within a company).</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">We all need to learn where to best spend our time to add value to a company and I believe that building on top of existing software allows us to do things quickly.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Doing things quickly is extremely important when it comes to innovation (Or most projects for that matter). Time is money as they say and the more we risk investing in innovation projects, the more we have to lose if they fail. We shouldn't be concerned with "Gold Plating" our projects and we certainly shouldn't be wasting time on software development when we have existing and appropriate solutions to pick from. We should strive for rapid prototypes and make sure we are on the right track at every point along the way. We don't want to have invested millions of dollars and years of development in a product that no one is going to use.<br /></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-47587115460171628402009-03-15T08:02:00.001-07:002009-03-15T08:02:17.068-07:00Communication Skills PresentationI ran across this today and I thought it was definitely worth sharing! Excellent presentation so check it out.<div style="width:425px;text-align:left" id="__ss_51895"><a style="font:14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;display:block;margin:12px 0 3px 0;text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/nusantara99/communication-skills-51895?type=presentation" title="Communication Skills ">Communication Skills </a><object style="margin:0px" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=communication-skills-51895-26975&stripped_title=communication-skills-51895" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=communication-skills-51895-26975&stripped_title=communication-skills-51895" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma,arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;">View more <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/nusantara99">Yodhia Antariksa</a>.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-80421032400141606872009-03-14T05:00:00.000-07:002009-03-14T11:18:42.199-07:00Innovation in the work place<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXECJGf_bYF6V9Ni_BRZ2EZCX04rdvF5t3BM1EW5DW0xNDLIyK9uSwxrMTkhNDFXLpNmYW1PKMYAgZ_3HD9tO8OHDxJXIT-t6qArC1I3wcDjYjJ2wdoIIBcO6dLgBcTBDYH8tqpo-rcd_c/s1600-h/innovation(2).jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXECJGf_bYF6V9Ni_BRZ2EZCX04rdvF5t3BM1EW5DW0xNDLIyK9uSwxrMTkhNDFXLpNmYW1PKMYAgZ_3HD9tO8OHDxJXIT-t6qArC1I3wcDjYjJ2wdoIIBcO6dLgBcTBDYH8tqpo-rcd_c/s320/innovation(2).jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313095535585043138" border="0" /></a><br />Innovation is the driver for future revenue generation, without it all organizations will become stagnant and not be able to adapt quickly to a changing environment. We need to recognize that the world is changing and if we don't, we will end up in the same situation as the auto industry. Innovation is the key to our success, and in order for innovation to be successful in an organization, we need the support of that organization. Everyone needs to be on board!!<br /><br /><h2>Cheap, cheap, cheap!!!!</h2><br />A common argument against innovation is that it is expensive, that we will have to invest a lot in R&D and we won't realize the benefits for years to come. Innovation is not expensive, not long term and it can highly engage employees!!! An example of a cheap, quick innovation strategy to increase employee engagement and encourage groups to cross collaborate is the creation of a rubber stamp. Something that can be custom designed by a team and purchased online for less than $20. If every employee is given a passport of sorts and and every team designed a stamp, when they contribute to a project or a team, that team can then recognize the employee by stamping their passport. Employees can recognize other employees and there is an implicit motivator to collect as many stamps as possible, all for $20. Another key item to keeping innovation low cost is to rapidly prototype for customers and present to them early and often.<br /><br /><h2> Rapid prototyping<br /></h2> Continuing on with a focus on cost, organizations need to get away from expecting perfect prototypes. The longer we spend on a prototype to demo a customer, the more we've invested in the creation. If we spend months creating a prototype that doesn't meet our customer's needs then we have spent a lot of money that did not need to be spent. If we create a culture of innovation where good is good enough (The key being that the prototype is good enough to communicate the idea or message), then we can save money and succeed sooner. "Fail faster, to succeed sooner," is a motto that I love. The faster we get a prototype out the door, the faster we can respond to our customer's demands.<br /><br />If we shorten the delivery of a prototype, it also opens up the possibility to deliver more than one prototype to a cus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwVtff2bDcxZv231gPLe9O_lXhlmnpk0wjKZAEfONGd9izpSNeuFr9jpgaX88L_yV2gxJ511ebVP23ZCUxP9QzDKQPvHLr06kvhzrIgCPW6nIGgwvjzxzPODIbMWJ67l6A8g0okGeo7g2/s1600-h/rescenexrpcbody1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwVtff2bDcxZv231gPLe9O_lXhlmnpk0wjKZAEfONGd9izpSNeuFr9jpgaX88L_yV2gxJ511ebVP23ZCUxP9QzDKQPvHLr06kvhzrIgCPW6nIGgwvjzxzPODIbMWJ67l6A8g0okGeo7g2/s200/rescenexrpcbody1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313101472306641778" border="0" /></a>tomer. Why would we deliver more than one prototype you ask? Well, let's start off by looking at a common situation: I come home from work and my wife is standing in front of me with a new dress. She asks the question that every husband dreads: "What do you think of my new dress?" ... What's the response most every man going to give? Of course it looks good... We have no other choice. Our wives have put all their eggs into one basket. If we give negative feedback, our wives are crushed and we've hurt their feelings. Now how about if they've taken us to the store and presented the same dress along with six other dresses. We have the chance here to give honest feedback without the potential hurt feelings. People feel more comfortable with giving honest feedback when presented with multiple options and our customers are no different. We haven't put anyone in the awkward position of having to tell us the dress we've selected doesn't flatter us or suit their needs.<br /><br />Rapid prototyping is an area to really get creative!! Don't think that these rapid prototypes need to be done in the medium of final delivery. I'll explain what I mean by giving an example. We are currently developing a new piece of software at work called <span class="misspell" suggestions="Spent,Spinet,Sapient,Serpent,Spend">SDPNet</span>. Rather than have our software developers mock up two interfaces for our customers to review (The medium of delivery), I asked the project team to come up with two prototypes (In one week), the first done on a computer, but without a single line of code written and the second done without any computer intervention what so ever. Both of these prototypes were not to be done in the medium of final delivery. The project team decided to model the <span class="misspell" suggestions="II,I,U,UCI,UPI">UI</span> for this new piece of software using <span class="misspell" suggestions="Connect ix,Connect-ix,Connects,Connecticut,Connectors">Connectix</span>!! What an awesome idea and it actually opened up new ways of looking at user interaction!! Imagine a 3D <span class="misspell" suggestions="II,I,U,UCI,UPI">UI</span>! Not only creative but time efficient!! The project team was able to bring it together in a matter of hours!! We could present many different versions for a customer to look at and interact with and the cost was right!!<br /><br /><h2>Not just products</h2><br />Innovation is not limited to the realm of physical product development. We can innovate with service delivery and even process definition.<br /><br /><p>Let's take an example from the work place that those of us working in large companies are probably familiar with: Department transitions or hand offs. We have three teams within our Information Technology department at work and we are required to hand off development, <span class="misspell" suggestions="ascertainment">sustainment</span> and support between these three teams all the time. These transitions tend to be high stress and typically involve a lot of conflict and negotiation and someone is always unhappy with the way things are transitioned. Why would we continue to do this? Why not innovate? Why not look for a different way to transition between these teams that will <span class="misspell" suggestions="DE,De,DEA,DOE,Dee">de</span>-risk and at the same time make people happier? While looking at this area for improvement the analogy came to light that this is really like a relay race. We need to transition from one team member to another team member at top flight, just like the 4x100 relay! Our Olympic team certainly wouldn't show up to the relay final without every having practiced, so why should we?</p><br />The solution was abundantly simple: practice the hand offs!<br /><br />We follow an Agile software development methodology and we decided to hand off at iteration end (Usually a 2 to 6 week period). This allows us to identify problems early and correct mid project, while at the same time really creating a team atmosphere. Because the hand offs are smaller, there is less risk and less anxiety. By the time the project is ready to go into our production environment, the support teams are ready to go and we've practiced the hand offs many times! Sure there are still bumps in the road, but we correct them early and with less conflict.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.syxtem.com/pencils.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 419px; height: 253px;" src="http://www.syxtem.com/pencils.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><h2> Tools</h2>No matter what you are going to innovate, you need basic tools! For our organization, we found that we need a collaboration platform to help distribute information across our distributed teams. This collaboration in turn helps us produce more innovation ideas, which fuels future growth and collaboration. You might need slightly different tools than I will, but don't forget about having the basics for creativity!<br /><br /><h2>Conclusion</h2><br />As I mentioned at the start, innovation will be the key to future growth! No one wants to end up in a company that's being left behind. Start small, be a champion for your company and seek out resources (Books, mentors, etc) that can help spur your innovation on!<br /><br />Do you have any innovation success stories? We'd love to hear about them!<br /><br />LaurenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-51531645947962412032009-03-07T08:00:00.000-08:002009-03-07T10:26:38.249-08:00Life outside the job<blockquote>Your job is important and part of what defines you as who you are. However, in order to be truly successful in life you need to be balanced. After fifteen years in the Information Technology industry, I have learned a few lessons that have helped me maintain my sanity at work.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hobbies</span><br /><br />Key for me has always been to have hobbies and interests out side of work. It doesn't matter what you do, but you need time away from your work, time away from your family and time that is strictly yours for enjoyment. This blog for example is one of my new hobbies and a way to stretch my mind. For others it might be some board game or even something like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching">Geocaching</a> (Ties into the active life I talk about below). Without hobbies, or at least a time to decompress, I feel that by the end of the week I'm dead and no use to my family all weekend long.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Family<br /><br /></span><span>Put family first... This doesn't mean to be a clock watcher at work, but make sure that you leave your work <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">at work</span> and make time for your family. I have kids and I make sure I'm there for supper almost every night.</span><span> Make sure that you spend time with your wife, husband, significant other (And watching TV doesn't count).</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span>My life overall runs a lot better when I make sure I give time to my wife and kids.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Active life<br /><br /></span><span>This is my #1. If I don't run, play soccer, rock climb or do something active, I tend to be grumpy and irritable. This is the way I deal with my stress, this is not only something that makes me feel good, but it means that when I'm at work, I can focus on work.<br /><br />Take time a few times a week, look at what is offered in your area and go for it. If you can't find anything, consider running. Running is easy to get started and cheap... You can also do it anywhere in the world. I've traveled quite a bit in life and running is something that you can do no matter where you are (Sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation when its below -25C and you need the right gear, but you still can do it).</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Time for personal reflection</span><br /><br />Personal reflection means that I take time for myself, make sure my life is where I want it to be, and if it isn't, to think about how I can get it to where I need it to be. I know this sounds cliche, but we only have one life to live and I feel like I'd better not waste mine. I love my work, my family and the experiences I have had in my life and taking the time to reflect makes me feel like all those goals I haven't reached yet are attainable if I stay focused and on course.<br /><br />Let me know how you cope with work and balance.<br /><br />Laurence</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-19767321740196793002009-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:002009-02-27T09:15:43.831-08:00Problem employees - A manager's presepctive<div>It took me a long time to decide if I wanted to move into management. I've always loved the technical side of the IT industry and I've excelled in many different technical roles. Moving into the Leadership arena was something that I had a huge desire to do, but a large fear of as well. We've all experienced those difficult employees in our career and they can make work life hell. Imagine having to discipline and manage those people? Could I handle it? Would I let my team down? Would I have the skills or the patience? Would I be able to effectively communicate with the higher-ups?</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>As F. John Reh says in his "Dealing With Difficult Employees" article on about.com (<a href="http://management.about.com/od/employeemotivation/a/DifficultEE0605.htm">http://management.about.com/od/employeemotivation/a/DifficultEE0605.htm</a>), "All managers will have to deal with difficult employees during their careers. First, there will always be difficult employees. Second, it's your job as the manager to deal with them. If you don't deal the problem, it will only get worse."</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Was I up for the challenge? Are you?</div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Open, blunt feedback</span><br /><br />Here I sit today, having been in leadership positions over the last 5+ years and you know what I've learned? The most effective way that I've found to deal with those difficult employees is to have the straight, open, honest and blunt conversations. No one is going to understand the impact of their behavior if you don't tell them and they certainly won't change their behavior if they see that they are getting away with it. I've made mistakes in the past, trying to sugar coat performance and attitude problems and it has never turned out well. Employees don't get the direct feedback they need and the rest of the team suffers as the performance wallows and the attitude continues to stink.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Follow through</span><br /><br />What happened when your parents would threaten you with some kind of punishment and then never follow through? Would your behavior get better? Mine sure didn't. I started to learn that my parents, and my mom in particular, were not able to follow through on their discipline and that opened up a whole range of possibilities for me, none of them good! The same will happen at work! If you as a leader do not address bad behavior, you can expect that bad behavior to continue and progressively get worse. To put it simply, you have no option here, you need to follow through. You need to be trustworthy to the team and live up to your word, or people will not follow you. This means executing on performance improvement plans and getting employees back on track.<br /><br />I'm not saying that we should go out and fire every employee right off the bat or that we shouldn't cut people slack when things get a little rough for them. We as leaders need to be understanding and compassionate, but we also need to look out for the best interests of our entire team and everyone around us. That means having the tough talks, putting people on performance improvement plans if required, and in the worst case scenarios, that means terminating problem employees.<br /><br />There are may faucets to human behavior and understanding why people do the things they do. These two points are only my observations and have helped me make sure that I have a high performing team that is successful within the organization.<br /><br />Laurence<br /><div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8296683235257069392.post-34454910960293085502009-02-08T10:18:00.000-08:002009-02-08T18:58:04.413-08:00Recession proofing your jobWith the daily news filled with a never ending supply of companies laying people off, what are the steps you're going to take to make sure that your job is safe? Canada may not officially be in a recession, but the US sure is and that means we're not far behind. Not only are we headed for a recession, but because we're mainly a commodity based economy here in Canada, there will be a lag in the recovery in relation to that of the United States. I expect that means we'll be in for a long down turn and it's important to think about what you'll do to make sure you keep that job of yours.<br /><br />From <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/30/news/economy/recession.proofing.fortune/index.htm">Anne Fisher's "8 ways to recession-proof your job"</a><br /><blockquote><p><b>Think of ways to generate revenues or cut costs</b>. That brilliant idea you had that would open whole new markets for the company, but require substantial spending to get started? Scrap it for now. Concentrate instead on finding places to pinch pennies, or identifying cheap new sources of revenue. Or both.</p><p><b>Be visible</b>. "This isn't the moment to take an extended vacation. Your position could be eliminated while you're gone," says Dale Winston, CEO of New York City-based executive recruiters Battalia Winston (www.battaliawinston.com). "It's also not the time to come rolling in at ten o'clock." If you possibly can, figure out a way to stand out and distinguish yourself. She adds: "If you're in sales, get your numbers up. Nobody will be laying off star salespeople."</p><p><b>Talk up your contributions</b>. "Make sure you're adding value at work by going above and beyond your basic job responsibilities," says Christine Price, principal at staffing firm Ready to Hire (www.readytohire.com) "Then make sure your boss knows it, without being obnoxious."</p><p><b>Keep a broad perspective</b>. "Don't get a reputation as someone who only does what he or she is told to do," advises Richard Bayer, chief operating officer of career counseling network The Five O'Clock Club (www.fiveoclockclub.com). "Pick your head up, look around, and get in on the action. Volunteer for crucial responsibilities, including tasks for which your boss is responsible."</p><p>Just doing your job well isn't enough. "The question is," says Bayer, "when your organization is making a list of who has crucial skills, will you be on it?" If you suspect not, now's the time to hustle.</p><p><b>Get your skills up to date</b>. "Companies get rid of people whose skills are obsolete and replace them with people who are already trained," Bayer says. "Take classes, join trade organizations, and prove you're plugged in." Christine Price adds: "Consider going back to school, to show your employer you're serious about your career and your performance."</p><p><b>No whining allowed</b>. Attitude does count - a lot. "Management wants people who can boost morale during tough times," observes Dale Winston. Not only that, says Christine Price, but happy workers are less likely to get laid off than people who seem to dislike what they do. After all, the reasoning goes, if you grumble about your job all the time, then maybe giving you the sack would really be doing you a favor. Gulp.</p><p><b>Never stop networking</b>. Of course, the day you get a pink slip is not the day you want to start calling old colleagues, asking former bosses out to lunch, and getting in touch to say hello to all the interesting people you've known over the years. No, the time to start doing that is now. Whether or not you move seamlessly (and relatively painlessly) into a new job after a layoff often depends on how consistently you've contacted - and maybe even helped - lots of people when you didn't need them.</p><p><b>Update your resume, return headhunters' phone calls, and start picturing where else you might like to work - just in case</b>. If you're mentally prepared for a move, you'll make a wiser one than if you wait until you're desperate (read canned).</p></blockquote>Remember, even the best run companies with tonnes of money in the bank will evetually have to start looking at where to trim back if this downturn lasts as long as those negative types seem to be saying it will. Make sure you're not one of those people that end up without a seat when the music stops playing.<br /><br />LaurenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0