February 9, 2007
High Performance
Much has been written about high performance and the impact to the organization. Many authors discuss the collaborative environment and new tools that allow the information worker to access corporate information anytime and anywhere. Other authors focus on the performance rules of accountability, metrics, and objectives. Both of these views of high performance are accurate and should be reviewed by the reader.
The average yearly increase in U.S. workers' productivity has doubled from 1.5 percent during the period 1987-1996 to 3 percent from 1997 to 2006, according to U.S. Labor Department figures. Information workers must define their own path to productivity and based on these metrics are doing a great job. The key ingredient is multi-tasking with technology. According to an Oregon State University study knowledge workers spend the majority of their working hours processing and manipulating information. The information they manipulate may be encoded in many different formats: documents, databases, software code, web pages, email messages, phone conversations. At the center of productivity is the concept that almost all knowledge workers organize their work into discrete and describable units, such as projects, tasks or to-do items. Information workers are required to define their own path to productivity and value-add for the organization. Years ago, the organization was expected to define what value and performance meant but not today. The old go to work from 9 to 5 is being replaced by a 24 hour a day information flow. For many information workers, the transformation from being told what value is to defining that value is unnerving.
Posted by Todd at 10:52 AM
January 26, 2007
Get Motivated
Yesterday, our team took a day to Get Motivated here in Atlanta, The Get Motivaed Seminar included great speakers like Zig Ziglar, Rudolph Giuliani, General Colin Powell, Michael Eisner,. Larry King, John Smoltz and Tom Hopkins. Seems most folks in Atlanta enjoyed John Smoltz’s session since he was able to show some of the success of the Atlanta Braves. John is a solid fixture here in Atlanta and especially the Braves. He spoke on the fear of failure, discipline, dreaming, and perseverance. He provided us with the inspiration to get goals; not just realistic ones, but way out there goals. Zig Ziglar proved once again why he is number one at eighty. I loved his jokes; the one about having a pity party is bad because no one ever shows up not bring presents. He discussed the home court advantage and the importance of having a great family and I couldn’t agree more.
I was looking forward to Mr. Eisner’s session the most and he didn’t disappoint me. While others thought it was a bit dry, I thought is was great. He provided some great stories and ideas that all of can implement with Collaboration and Metadata Services. He spoke at length of the importance of branding and ensuring the message is consistent and even answered Tom Peter’s complaint about shampoo bottles. What does your brand stand for and what does it not?
The conference was well worth the small price and I look forward to the next time they are in town.
Posted by Todd at 11:44 AM
January 23, 2007
Essence of Change
There has been a lot written about outsourcing and the over all impact of globalization to our economy. Some authors have even named this natural progression of value creation as the China effect, the Wal-Mart effect, and even the Starbucks effect. The essence of this progression is that organizations are utilizing the dramatic advancements in technology to streamline their business and create competitive advantages. Wal-Mart developed a highly efficient supply chain and literally destroyed the business models of Montgomery Ward, Sears, and J.C. Penny. Many people believe that Wal-Mart was the first retailer to challange the business model but actually J.C. Penny started the down fall of Sears and Montgomery Ward; Wal-Mart simply finished them off. Change is progress and for most of us, creates uncertainty. Individuals that embrace change will succeed and flourish in the long run. Without change nothing would grow or blossom. No matter what business, position, or role you are in, you can’t sit still and watch as others pass you by.
Posted by Todd at 11:53 AM
December 7, 2006
Great Line
How can you expect innovation and creativity from an organization that demands Return On Investment (ROI) analysis from $30.00 expenditure? This was an interesting comment from Seth Godin on a Padcast on Net Concepts Weblog. Not sure if I totally agree with the statement but he has a point. The greatest barrier between corporate stagnation and politics is fear. Fear of getting fired, fear of standing out, fear of being different and being judged for that. I tend to think of my children in pre-school where someone steps out of line; the quick response in order to ensure command and control is to say Get Back in Line. I am always drawn to the story by Gordon MacKenzie
How many artists are there in the room? Would you please raise your hands. FIRST GRADE: En mass the children leapt from their seats, arms waving. Every child was an artist. SECOND GRADE: About half the kids raised their hands, shoulder high, no higher. The hands were still. THIRD GRADE: At best, 10 kids out of 30 would raise a hand, tentatively, self-consciously. By the time I reached SIXTH GRADE, no more than one or two kids raised their hands, and then ever so slightly, betraying a fear of being identified by the group as a ‘closet artist.
Posted by Todd at 2:10 PM
August 23, 2006
Meta-Techie?
Check out the current edition of Eweek for an article by Deborah Rothberg. Deborah provides some excellent advice for us on how to expand our impact and skills including thinking globally, having business sense, and becoming agile. My favorite is the designation of the meta-techie which is clearly encroaching on my domain.
A meta-techie is someone that has a strong technical base of skills coupled with the ability to explain to non-techies why technology is important.
Great advice, so welcome aboard the meta-train… Metadata Rules! It’s easy to make the complex sound complex, feel complex, and visually appear complex but meta-talent knows how to make the complex simple. The problem is that most of us and our shallow egos can not stand appearing simplistic. We assume that if we communicate something in simple terms that we will be perceived as less valuable. My favorite story about this was working for a very large paper company and getting a new boss who clearly had very little technical or business knowledge. After 4 weeks, he approached me with his smugness and said that anyone could do what you do. I agreed and replied. Yes, but no one could do it six months ago. He missed the point and I left within the next 30 days for another company.
Posted by Todd at 12:31 PM
June 13, 2006
What is Average?
Within the world of High Performance, what is Average Performance?
Is it...
1. The mid-point or 50%; such that half of the people have lower performance and the other half with high performance
2. The 80-20 Rule where we say 80% are Average
3. The 89% of Online Dating Average: 99% of Respondents have Above Average Looks
4. The 99% of Average Child Behavior; All Kids are problems but mine
5. The School System where "C" is average but 90% of the students make A's and B's
6. The Bell Curve where 96% are predictably average or 72% definitively average
7. Where Average is defined as a minimum; the average sick days equal the allocated days published in the company handbook
This is important because its hard to define high performance if we cant define what average is. More importantly, being average has social stigma and no one wants to be below average even when that is the definition of average.
Posted by Todd at 5:50 PM