Tuesday, November 29. 2005
 So, this generic, unnamed company I know is going to ban access to certain web applications and sites in a month or so. This will include: Blogs , Wikis, Instant Messengers, etc. It seems a certain committee has ruled them out. I'm not 100% sure on the reason why, but it's usually one of two possible: time wasters or fear of leaking sensitive information. Here's a news flash: there are PLENTY of ways to waste time, and email is just as leaky as either of those other transport media. Only, uh, blogs and wikis and instant messengers have proven useful in changing workplace workflows. Properly implemented, they can comprise a much more robust communication "ecosystem." And here's how it could REALLY work, if implemented appropriately: - Blogs- for announcements and general status reports.
- Wikis- for repositories of information (reference material, procedures, current hot topics).
- RSS- to stream blogs and wiki changes to a manageable notification system.
- IM- for quick, easy, 1:1 communication threads.
- Email- for communication between organizations and more formal purposes.
Can you imagine for a moment a workplace that didn't use email for nearly everything? Gasp! It's almost like a company that didn't belabor Excel spreadsheets with every other task that can't be accomplished by email. My personal response to this (hypothetically- because I'm not saying this is my company) is that I'm going to buy a wi-fi card and hang out more often during the workday at the little coffee nook up the way that offers free, do-whatever-the-fred-you-want wifi access. I'll use my Crackberry and the secure web mail portal to stay in touch. And I'll long for the day when a hypothetical company gets as brave as... Sun, Microsoft, Stonybrook Farms, and a GAZILLION other businesses in embracing this new technology. < sigh >
Monday, November 28. 2005
 Want to start learning how to program in the web-world's easiest-to-understand programming language? Try this tutorial. At the prompt, type start and hit return. It was SO cool. It suckered me in. I might try to learn this language in 2006. Why Ruby? Because it's a really slick, easy-to-learn programming language for building web apps. Want to see some GREAT apps written in Ruby on Rails? Well, check out 37Signals. They use the stuff to create a good many of the apps I really love. And when you learn it, buy yourself a button.
In his recent talk at Software 2005, Roger McNamee discussed the
realities of the current economy. He said that globalization was
everywhere. He also said that software developer jobs as we know them
have become commoditized and are shifting to lower cost centers. He
says we didn't gripe much about it when hardware shifted, but we
noticed it more when software shifted because one, it was during a
recession, and two, more of us do software than hardware. What I
like was his "silver lining" ideas around what we should consider doing
to recapture our careers and move forward. I think it applies to
everyone, and not just software technologists. Time and Time AgainMcNamee said that the #1 factor we had to reconsider and revise around was our time management. The primary most precious of our resources is time, and it's also the one most easily wasted. On the job, this translates to tasks like festidiously managing our inboxes instead of working on the next big thing. It relates to logging 80 hours all the time to get things done, only to find our families are miserable. The Three P'sPrioritizing, Planning, and Participating. This is somewhat another variation on the Covey principles, but it lines up against timeless truths. If you're not actually picking out the things that matter-- in your career, at home, with your finances -- then you can't really plan ahead. If you're not planning out over a course of years and you're just focusing on the day to day, you're only seeing the trench-level view. Jobs to Have in 2006 and BeyondThe places where people will need the most help in the coming years is in finding ways to recapture time. In business, this means consolidation of systems, consolidation of vendors, further consolidation of the workforce. In personal lives and careers, this means finding ways to get everything the most important things done. So, to me, this means that the best types of jobs to have, or even the best perspective to keep within your own job would involve elements of collaboration, productivity, and service-focused delivery. One last point that McNamee stresses: work someplace you believe in. Because the economy is moving at a strange pace, some of the plans we make for ourselves will take a few years to unfold. It's important to be passionate about where we do our thing in the coming years. How does your job embrace the new consolidation of business? How does your particular role need to change or adapt to contend with this? Do you have a 1 year, 3 year, 5 year plan for your personal life? Your family?
Sunday, November 27. 2005
Dear Cable Company Serving Northern Massachusetts--
I'm looking to get details on high speed internet access, because I was interested in possibly switching from V**** DSL onto your product. So, I go to your website.
First, I have to endure that flash at the beginning. Well, alright. But then, I try to see some easy facts about your service. Do I get what I need? NO.
I get asked for my address and what-not, which I plug in. Your system says, "Sorry, but we have no clue who you are," so ... "we're not going to tell you about our products, either. Nyaaa."
So, here I am, sitting on a potential purchase, and your stupid site makes me NOT want to get service. Why? Because if your HELPFUL CUSTOMER INFORMATION site was so complex, annoying, and difficult to navigate, how do you think I'm going to presume your customer service will be when I have an issue that needs resolving?
--Not likely to be a customer.
Saturday, November 26. 2005
Mobile Weblog had a great post about Verizon blathering on and on in advertisements about how great their network was. Oliver Starr asks, " Who Cares?" Everything about your business has to be phrased around the mindset of your customer's point of view, and that goes doubly so for internal customers. If your boss wants something done and you commit to a date, all she wants is for you to make that result happen. If your subordinate is asking for information on the big news from the senior management meeting, don't bend the information to be all about you, or maybe not even just your department. In fact, turn it around and view this from the external customer's point of view, and THEN from your group's point of view. Times when I've failed to get a good response to something I was communicating can almost always be traced back to me giving things from MY perspective instead of turning it around to face the person receiving the info. Has this happened to you? As an employee, a boss, a consumer? When have you been on the other side of a message that obviously wasn't communicated with YOU in mind?
I listened to a great panel discussion from the BlogHer 2005 convention. The conversation was all around business blogs, and the panel included folks from Sun Microsystems, Stonyfield Farms, and a lot of other spots. One part stuck with me above all else. On the topic of opening up "consumer blogs" where consumers can make posts about their experiences with your products, Susan Getgood said something (bad paraphrase) like, you can't do this unless your products generate FANATICS, and your products lend themselves to raving. Wow, what a measure. And do YOUR organization's products lend themselves to raving? If not, why not? 
The panel, Blogging for Business, can be heard here at ITConversations.com
Friday, November 25. 2005
An interesting way to think about how you interact in life: instead of EVER worrying about your career, worry instead on the notion of "how can I contribute?" For me, this is a reminder to constantly upgrade my capabilities, and to build the portfolio of "offerings" I can share with my employers or clients. It certainly gives one a compass point for guidance.
Wednesday, November 23. 2005
Hey, nice corner. Wait a minute: where'd all this paint come from?I was in a discussion recently where I started getting a little aggressive. I was arguing that the best possible way to design a new practice is to design it without ME as a central element. My point was that too often, businesses (especially small or young ones) build systems and mechanisms in place around the specific employees currently occupying those roles. That method doesn't work, in my estimation. And it most especially doesn't work for me. Career Advice: NEVER be indespensible.Be trusted. Be valued. Be the best at what you do. But if you want to continue progressing, never let yourself be painted into a corner. This, to me, is the number one failing of individuals when considering their careers. They feel that by making themselves the irreplaceble lynchpin of a group that they have job security. Believe me: if that's your insurance policy, you're missing out on a better way. A Company of One, or a Department turned CompanyThink of yourself as contracted help to your employer. Imagine that there are others bidding for your job. Why NOT give someone else the job? Maybe they won't charge as much. Maybe they've got some specific technical or professional skill you don't have in your arsenal. To me, the best way to stay sharp and advance your career is to think as if you (or your team) are a small company providing a contracted service to the main business. Then, consider ways to "reduce cost," and by this, I mean: "make it easier to do business with you." Come up with "value added services." Did you read my tutu post? Lisa gets it. Think Designer. Think Experience Architect.If you don't think you're responsible for designing your own job, that might be part of the problem. Okay, sure. You can't tell your boss that you no longer have to fill out time tracking forms, or that your "new role also requires you to dress like Spider-Man." (Well, maybe you can, and if so- are you hiring?). But, you most certainly are the only person in your organization (job-school-church-homelife) directly and entirely concerned with your next moves, career-wise. Unless you magically work for the best company in the universe, with an HR department full of ninja, I'm doubting anyone but you is trying to plot your next steps. Given this, think hard about where you are. Think about what you're doing. Are you in love with what you're doing? Is it paying the bills? (Because, that IS important - unless you've recently graduated college, and then nothing's more important than freedom of speech and the next episode of "Lost."). Design your role. Start writing out what you're offering for services and products to your internal and/or external customers. Come up with goals that can be measured, that matter. What's your take on this? How will you argue that it doesn't apply? That your situation is unique?
 I am in the center of a strange confluence. I am at once throughout my day doing the following: - Listening to ubiquitous podcasts about Web 2.0 and how Amazon/Ebay/Netflix/Google shapes the way we see what we see.
- Listening to a book-on-cd of William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. (This site makes me think of "the footage.")
- Building a business plan for my own potential startup idea.
- Rabidly adopting ways of thinking that mesh this all together.
If you're building the web today, there is no web without social context. If you are building a business today, it's hard to escape the web. It's therefore almost a guarantee that you are building something with an eye towards its social context.
Is there any one out there NOT using RSS feeds to read blogs? Why? I'm really curious about that. I just RSS'd my own del.icio.us feed. It really made me see it in a different light, instead of just through the del.icio.us interface. It made me actually go back and re-read some of the stuff I put there. Actually, let's have a poll, shall we?
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