Collaborage

Dear Leadership, It's Called Appreciation

2010-03-14T13:30:32Z

No, I am not talking about the brain numb appreciation that we get when our leadership tells a community of 2,500 people how much they appreciate everyone's commitment and dedication. All the while, you glance over at Joe who is the epitome of the walking dead. No, what I am talking about is the real, personalized and heart felt appreciation that was, not just popular, but part of the business culture years ago. So, I'll ask the questions that need to be asked:

When was the last time you called an employee on their birthday, employment anniversary, or wedding anniversary?
When was the last time you took the time to recognize your employee whose kids are graduating College?
When was the last time you emailed an employee thanking them for just being a part of the company?
When was the last time you wrote a real thank you note and mailed it to an employee congratulating them for getting certified?
When was the last time you reached out to a co-worker that you haven't seen in 5 years?
When was the last time you took an employee two levels below you to lunch and picked up the tab?
Now, let's flip this around. When was the last time you thanked your manager for being there?

Look, I am no Polly-Anna. My rose colored glasses were ground to powder a long time ago but this stuff matters. At home, I have just a couple of things on my desk. One is a real thank you letter; on company letter head, that I got 22 years ago. The Vice President simply wanted to say thank you for being there and helping the company succeed. How many have I received since then? Not a single one that was personalized but plenty rubber stamped ones that everyone else got. How would I describe this lack of real and heart felt appreciation in corporate America? Sad, Stupid, Idiotic, and one major reason for such a high degree of turnover. Why don't managers extend themselves with a little appreciation? Simply, they don't get it either. This stuff starts at the top and filters down. If you manager doesn't thank you very often, then you can bank they aren't getting any appreciation either. What happened to us, to busy, to proud, to afraid, or to embarrassed to do the right thing?

American Pickers and Corporate Intranets

2010-03-11T11:50:11Z

Not sure why I like this show but it has my attention every Monday night. American Pickers comes on the History channel and is basically a show of a couple of guys looking for antiques in piles and piles of junk. Anything that they can sell, they buy, from old bikes to metal advertising signs. The best shows seem to center around the guys digging through 10 feet of rubble or cutting back kudzu to find that special item. Their ability to spot something of value in a large pile of junk is nothing short of astonishing which brings me to my analogy; our intranet. Is our intranet a big pile of rusted junk? Many think so since it seems to have very little information architecture or overall data strategy. A simple search for collaboration yields 13,658 results out of 772,000 sources. Imagine 13,000 rusted car parts sitting in a yard and you want that 1942 Desoto Hood Ornament. Are you going to sort through each and every one? We brag about the amount of information we have and we may have as much as 7 million pages of content ready to be absorbed. And, that’s just the stuff that's captured by the search engine which is estimated to only be about 10%. Could it be, we have 70 million document artifacts wandering around in the Corporate junk yard? Now, what skills do you need to be an Corporate Information Picker? The ability to find the exact document, web site, or person you need is a rare skill indeed. Although it wouldn't make good television, it would be funny asking a new employee to see if they can find the process for ordering a laptop, getting office supplies, signing up for discounts, or finding the metadata expert within this 300,000 person sea of knowledge. I wonder how much productive time is wasted sifting through the junk looking for the right piece of information. Hey, look what I found! Sweet, a 1980's Executive Manual printed in dot matrix print. This should come in handy. I wonder if it has any value?

Can You Keep Corporate Secrets?

2010-03-10T13:39:52Z

A few years ago, I read that the number one trait that a CEO looks for in their executives is discretion. Basically, the ability to keep secrets is a critical skill that is required in the executive ranks. You don't hear much about this and you certainly don't see any training classes on the topic. Some secrets are famous like the seven herbs and spices used by KFC. Perhaps the most famous one for those of us in Atlanta is the formula for Coca-Cola. Since, I am not in management and there is little hope of it ever happening, here you go... Ingredients: 1 oz. Caffeine Citrate 3 oz. Citric Acid 1 fl. Oz. Vanilla Extract 1 qt. Lime Juice 2.5 oz. Flavoring 30 lb. of Sugar Other companies are a little more open about their secrets such as Disney. They even found a way to monetize their secrets in an executive training program known as the Disney Institute which is on my bucket list to attend. Discretion is a skill that I need to improve upon but no one ever tells me anything. Maybe this blog has something to do with that. We talk about transparency but some secrets do need to be held in check. Perhaps the key is knowing which ones need to be leaked and which ones don't. Apple seems to have mastered the idea of secrets as well. OK, after I wrote this I did a Google search for best corporate secrets and it looks like Forbes beat me to it. Oh well, a day late and a dollar short. http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/19/protecting-trade-secrets-leadership-managing-halligan-haas.html

Conforming Leads Us to Dante's Inferno

2010-03-03T11:45:16Z

Conforming is something we do everyday because it makes life easier. Some symbols of conformity are funny when we think about them like the white shirt only dress code at IBM. Conformity is fairly easy to teach to the masses of employees. In some cases we just hand out a manual or send folks to an online training class. Conformity is easy to measure and test for success. Take it from someone that sometimes fails to take the required training in the required time frame and routinely shows up on "The List". Conformity is also easy to manage because it’s so black and white. You didn’t get the project done in the time allocated. You failed to allocate your time appropriately and didn’t fill the appropriate forms. You stepped outside the process and that must be punished. Our schools thought us conformity, our higher education systems followed suit, and now our employment organizations believe our future relies on it. What’s the problem with conformity? It must be the greatest thing since the executive manual since every organization seems to thrive on it. What we like about conformity, more than anything else is the predictability. We love the ability to predict success which, by definition, attempts to eliminate the possibility of failure. Maybe it's better stated that we strive to eliminate the variations of life that create failure. Of course, without failure there is no progression. Progress comes a top the failures which we strive so hard to get rid of. We need more failure, more people willing to step out of the Six Sigma mindset. Maybe I need to return my white belt after saying such blasphemy. It’s not just our processes that hate failure but our evaluation systems. Will I be better judged by delivering 10 projects on time or failing on a stretch commitment? We need more failure, not less. When Paul Ehrlich discovered the drug to treat syphilis, he called it Formula 606. This was due to his 605 failures that came before. We need more innovation, more initiative, and more ideas that rethink the basic definition of doing business in a 2.0 world. I put forth one of my favorite quotes:

The number one reason that organizations fail is Good Management - Clayton Christensen.

How could this statement have a shred of truth? Because "Good Management" strives for conformity, control, and predictability. Not what you want is a fast, dynamic, and evolving business environment. More importantly, this is the death nail for any organization looking to compete in a 2.0 world. The Olympics just ended and we should applaud all those that didn’t win a medal. You can bet everyone that even participated in the Olympics didn’t conform to the mediocrity standards set by the majority. They failed, failed, and failed again to be the best in the world. That deserves praise, not condemnation.

Go Google Yourself

2010-01-20T16:55:58Z

It’s that time of the year where you reflect on your past accomplishments and look toward the New Year for professional growth. Google is now a verb so I have to ask have you Googled yourself lately? What does it mean if you do and nothing comes up in the results? Well, that indicates that you have spent a career focusing inside the walls of the corporation for your career development. That strategy was fine in the 70's, 80's and 90's but your falling behind if you try that in today's environment. Google seems to index just about every information source including many of the Social Software sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, and Slideshare to mention a few. Our own company is using sites like Twitter, and YouTube to advertise our products. How long do you think it’s going to take before they start using these same tools to build their new 2.0 workforce? Here is a simple test, fire yourself. How long do you think it would take to get another job? Do you think working for the same company for 30 years is an asset? Do you think people still use old worn our resumes to look for high performers? You do realize that every time you put your resume in for a job, 5,000 other perfect resumes go in for the same job. What should you be doing in today's environment other than just working hard?

Update your CV and Resume quarterly
Actually put some time into your annual review
Create and update your professional profile (LinkedIn)
Get involved with a local trade organization
Get Published on some level
Get a Blog or Twitter account and start sharing your ideas and thoughts
Take advantage of the Tuition Aid program
Volunteer and leverage your professional skills

What else could we be doing to ensure our marketability in this job market?

Don't Be a Tool; 2.0 Style

2010-01-18T13:48:50Z

By now, I am sure you have heard of that insult "Don’t be a tool". This odd phrase has seems to have found its way into our lexicon and pop culture over the past few years. Allow me to take you back to 2001 where my wife and I were on vacation in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. I remember sneaking out of the house to get in a quick 18 holes at the par three course across the street. I soon caught up with a couple of college kids who seemed to be having a real good time. I am sure the cooler of beer was helping. Within minutes they were insulting each other, as most young men do at that age with slams such as:

"Don't be such a tool", "That was such a tool shot", "Put your tool self back in the cart".

This went on for 18 holes. I found myself getting into the spirit by the last couple of holes and tossing out a few slams as well. As we were walking back to the cars, I asked them about this "tool" thing and they were very clear. They wanted to get that phrase into the pop culture just like "Where's the Beef" by Wendys. Now, I have played golf with plenty of strange folks and I don't think I would have remembered these guys until a few years ago when I heard the phrase on the radio and again on TV within a few weeks. Since then, I heard it many times and that got me thinking. They actually did it, not sure how they did it but they pulled it off within 6-7 years. I am sure that by the time they made it, no one remembered them but this wouldn't be the case with our new technology. How long would it take our friends in today's environment with our current technology? They could have posted a video on YouTube, posted on twitter, and maybe even launched a website for "Tools on Parade". What this experience always reminds me of is that if you put your mind to something you can make anything happen and with the tools you have available today, it's even easier

The 2.0 Ties that Bind Us

2010-01-14T11:47:17Z

You have probably heard of folks using the term "ties" to describe the strength of a relationship between two people. A strong tie indicates someone that is close to you while a weak relationship is one more of an acquaintance. Of course, there is a mountain of grey between those two descriptions. For example, there are people that sit next to me in "Cubeville" that I have strong ties with. These are not as strong as the ties I had earlier in my career when I worked in close proximity to where I lived. Today, I work about 45 miles away from home and living on the south side of Atlanta puts me an additional 30 miles away from most of my co-workers. This distance weakens our ties since we don't go out for dinner or play softball on a weekly basis. My weak ties extend to people on my own team since I have never actually met them in person and they may live on the other side of the country. Social Software adds another example of weak ties in that many of us read blogs or check out wiki pages authored by people we have never met or worked together on a project. That being said, the technology allows us to develop those weak ties and still find value in the relationships. I have no issue IM'ing several members of our community and asking them what they think about an idea or technology. Clearly, I wouldn't even have known they existed or were interested if we didn't have this social software available. Reach and touch someone that you don't know, maybe they have the solution to a problem you've been facing for months. There is tremendous value in weak ties and in a global company that may be all that we have in the near future.

Evolution of Web Design

2010-01-08T17:48:42Z

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love web design. Moreover, I love to tinker with my own web sites and implement new design techniques that I might pick up by reviewing other great designs or by reading books. For some unknown reason, I thought it might be fun to look back at the different designs that I have used for my personal brand. Some of these will make you wonder what was he thinking but keep in mind this all started back in 1999 when Jacob Nielson was the only design expert out there. The first couple of designs were prior to RTodd.com that I leveraged for my Ph.D. research but you can see that I moved on to my own domain in the early 2000's. How fun is it to look back and see what you have done. Moreover, you can tell when I learned something new like CSS or Flash.

1999: Ph.D. research with PhdSurvey.com	2000: Actual study with TrustStudy.com

2001: First version of RTodd.com	2002: Added Flash with a simple design

2004: Expanded the core content and Added Blog	2005: Got cute with a time based header

2007: Small changes and Web 2.0 integration	2008: Added a wood background and hidden div's

2009: Current Version

Comments on Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

2010-01-05T12:00:40Z

For those that don't know Gary Vaynerchuk, he is one of the leading Wine experts in the country and clearly one of the pioneers in Web 2.0 technologies. You can read about Gary on his blog at http://garyvaynerchuk.com/ or review his video blog at http://tv.winelibrary.com/. My first exposure to Gary was on the web site Cork'd which is a wonderful example of how to integrate Web 2.0 into a small business. Personally, I review this site often if nothing else but to get ideas on how to utilize these tools in the right way. The two books I asked for Christmas was Crush It and Andrew McAfee’s new book Enterprise 2.0. I had really hoped to finish both of them over the break but time always gets the better of me.

If you haven't read any books on Personal Branding, including mine (Trademark 2.0: Defining Your Value in a Web 2.0 World), then this is a great book to start with. What I like most about the book is the credibility of the author. He is one of the few people to have actually utilized the new technologies to build a world class brand. For wine enthusiasts, Gary is one of the few honest voices out there. I really like the way Gary hit the work ethic component of building your personal brand. Many authors shy away from this in fear of turning away readers but Gary hits it perfect in stating that you simply have to out work the other guy if you want your brand to stand out. He also discusses various tools, technologies, and processes that might help you in your personal branding effort. The core message is simply find your passion, work hard, be patient, and then monetize it to the nth degree.

The only real disappointment is that the book doesn't really offer anything new if you have read other books on the subject of personal branding. That isn’t a slam on Gary but more of an acknowledgement to the other authors for a job well done. Overall it’s a great book and I highly recommend it.

2010 Web 2.0 Predictions

2009-12-22T15:08:51Z

Web 2.0 Interests me from a variety of view points. First, as a technical architect within a Fortune 100 company, I am interested in how organizations are incorporating Web 2.0 into their internal business environment. Commonly referred to as Enterprise 2.0, I want to understand the "How" of implementation and the real value delivered to the enterprise. Second, I spend a great deal of time writing about the impact of Web 2.0 to small business. In either of these perspectives, when Web 2.0 is leveraged appropriately real business value can be generated. The impact of Web 2.0 can be seen in the interaction and dramatic shift of how work gets done. Global organizations now have to compete and communicate 24 hours a day and they need tools that enable a type of seamless communication. Whether you're an employee, consultant or customer, you now have the tools to communicate directly with your audience without layers of management impacting the message. We have seen a huge migration to collaborative tools that have a capacity for 2.0 interaction but limited success in Web 2.0 only technologies. The reason for this is simple. The vast majority of people want a solution not a technology. The biggest change I think you will see in 2010 is the migration away from the technology: blogs, wiki, twitter, profiles etc. to a more solution based approach. Organizations will come to the solution provider with problems which can be addressed with a collection of technologies instead of a single silver bullet. This will require the creation of patterns to address specific business needs which may include collaborative technologies, mobile devices, unified communications, as well as Web 2.0 technologies. Finally, you will see Web 2.0 continue to struggle within large enterprises. While we hear the success stories, they are still a very small minority. Some of these struggles can be attributed to small contribution rates, lack of ROI, management, culture, or even the economy but these hurdles will not be over come by 2010. Despite the rose colored reporting, our Web 2.0 implementations are not succeeding. The good news is that they are not failing either which allows them to continue to fight for another year.

Globalization is the Next Stage of Work

2009-12-17T13:10:19Z

In my book, Trademark 2.0, I completely missed the next step in the natural progression of work. I wrote about the obvious transformation from an agricultural economy to an industry economy. Those observations continued to the transformation to a technology based economy. Where I messed up was assuming globalization was a component or symptom of this transformation when in fact it was the fourth rung on the ladder. In the prior three we looked toward technical changes to modify how work was done. Globalization will eventually show that it too was driven by technology change but the ramifications are far from being felt. Today, Americans are blaming big business and our government for causing this recession but underpinning this is the transformation where work is getting done faster and cheaper in other places around the world. Alain Minc commented:

With the free circulation of capital and technologies, competition will be unbearable with the Chinese, who are fortified by their capitalist chromosome, by their productivity, and their capital and who can work as efficiently as we, for thirty times less.

With this new global economy questions emerge to who should be in control, who should lead, who is responsible for ensuring our place and many other question emerge. For a country born on democracy, it's interesting to see so many looking to the government for that lead when in fact it's us that must lead this next transformation. Unfortunately, our life styles are killing our drive to succeed. I read a funny quote that China has more honor students then we have students. We are clearly getting out gunned in this next war for talent. Globalization is a great thing but for those left behind the road will indeed be a challenge. Just as those who stayed behind in the factory, we may soon be left behind the rest of the world.

IT Professionals and Personal Branding

2009-12-07T00:39:58Z

This weekend, I spent sometime updating my web site. In order to get some fresh ideas, I took a look at many of the personal branding sites that are online. One observation is that the vast majority of personal branding sites belong to freelancers, authors, and real estate professionals. Web developers were clearly in the lead when it comes to promoting their work. Obviously, they have the Internet where their work can easily be found and promoted. For many of us not having a visual representation can be challenge but one that can be overcome. Missing from the personal branding bandwagon was individual information technology professionals that work within our enterprises. I suppose folks don't feel the need to create their online persona or has the utilization of LinkedIn or Facebook made us lazy. The Web 2.0 tools are great but they can't replace your own online environment. I discussed this need in my book (Trademark 2.0) but I realize that most folks don't see the need or have the skills to make a professional web environment. That is until this current recession. With unemployment breaking 10% with a real unemployment or underemployment figure ate 20%, I wonder if any of those out of work technology professionals are rethinking that strategy. Last year was not a good year for me in the development of my brand and I hope to rectify that in 2010. I made the same mistake that so many information technology professionals make; we assume the organization will take care of us. Unfortunately, those days have passed and your career is up to you. My advice is to develop your self internally as well as externally. If you have the skills, get online and start building your own brand.

Last Sharepoint Site

2009-12-03T13:47:10Z

Well, my last high end Sharepoint site went into production this week and I hate to see that happen. Within my company, I was moved into a more Architectural role which ensure that I don't add any additional customer value. Over the past 7 years, we have built and integrated Sharepoint into the very fabric of business and did it with great design in mind (80,000 Sites). I will miss working so closely with the business and delivering value but change has come. While I won't be directly involved with the troops on the ground, I am going to stay involved with Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration Tools, and many other technology areas. This seems to be more of a research position than what we developed over the past few years. The future is now, let's make something of it.

Paul Harvey's Dirt Roads

2009-09-15T10:41:33Z

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved. There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character. People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog. We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets before they were paved. Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun. And there were no drive by shootings. Our values were better when our roads were worse! People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks. Dirt Roads taught patience. Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you walked to the mail box. What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody. At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini. At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out. Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a Dirt Road! by Paul Harvey

Sharepoint Design Gallery

2009-09-12T12:21:47Z

SharePoint Design Gallery is a Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 site dedicated to bringing you the information on how organizations are actually utilizing collaborative technologies in the creation of business value. Like you, I want to see and understand how this technology is impacting the bottom line of the business. My original plan was to showcase about 100 sites but we are well past that and by the end of the month we should have around 250 in the inventory. Specifically, I want to focus on organizations that utilize the Sharepoint technology in an Internet strategy. This site brings together my interest in design, usability, Sharepoint, and the creation of value. Let me know what you thnk or any ideas to make it better. Sharepoint Design Gallery