tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35098932024-03-13T01:37:11.767-04:00Living by Design... on the journey with eyes wide openHoward Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-5311477147731010012019-10-22T23:52:00.003-04:002019-10-23T14:04:02.288-04:00A Framework for Meaning and Focus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Everyone should work through a personal mission statement. It's not about the end result, but it's the process that is so important. What other activity is as powerful for clarifying the big picture and making your values and beliefs explicit? Investing in this critical exercise accelerates the experience of an integrated life and provides a crucial foundation to inform actions and choices along the way.<br />
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<h3>
Better than Google Maps</h3>
As I get older, life's challenges organically encourage me to climb up the <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html" target="_blank">Maslow Hierarchy</a>. I find it untenable to take a nihilist view of life or even a humanist view of aging. Equally, a simple "take life as it comes" leaves me feeling demotivated and perhaps even felling somewhat irresponsible.<br />
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At this junction, the stresses of finance, career ambition, and social status have diminished to a comforting background buzz. This provides the perfect white noise for a serious and meaningful review of my value framework, something that's been an important navigational system for guiding my journey.</div>
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Preparing the Ground</h3>
In this process, here are the questions I ask myself:</div>
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<ul>
<li>What do you really believe is true about how life works and why? (my worldview)</li>
<li>What's really important to me based on my worldview? (my values)</li>
<li>How does this work out in practical, day to day decisions, actions and challenges? (my priorities)</li>
<li>How does this play out in how I spend my resources? (my stewardship)</li>
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As a Christian, I have a rich arsenal to tackle this quest. My faith, life experience, and world view increasingly collide "in phase" to form a reinforcing pattern of constructive interference. This powerful symmetry of meaning anchors me with growing confidence and conviction.<br />
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Working from this tapestry, I've tried to make a few things explicit to help me focus and evaluate my decisions and actions. And, of course, every important thing needs a good acronym to make it easy to remember:</div>
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<h2>
JOYES</h2>
Here's how I break it down, in order of significance:<br />
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<b>J - Jesus and our relationship with the divine.</b><br />
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Relationships require active participation for continuous vitality. What's more important than hanging out with the ultimate entity in the universe? Relationships enrich us, transform us and are central to purpose and identity. See <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">John 14:6</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A27&version=NIV" target="_blank">Luke 10:27</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A37&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 22:37</a>.<br />
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What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Shorter_Catechism" target="_blank">Westminster Shorter Catechism</a><br />
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<b>O - Others. Our interaction with humanity and creation.</b><br />
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We're not here in isolation, there's an eternity to interact with in the here-and-now. We each have a collection of relations that form the webs of our family and community. Dive deep, be kind, be brave. Sense the God-images resonating as you purposefully interact. See <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+4%3A7-10&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Peter 4:7-10</a><br />
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<b>Y - Yourself. The responsibility to steward our resources and health in order to run the race well.</b><br />
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It may seem honourable to neglect your own needs in light of opportunities to sacrifice for higher things. Yet, there is a wisdom to "sharpening the saw", a discipline of self-care that values who you were made to be and provides a platform of blessing for the long haul. We're not talking about being selfish, but about being responsible, self-compassionate, and staying steady for going the distance. See <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+6%3A10-18&version=NIV" target="_blank">Ephesians 6:10-18</a><br />
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<b>E - Experiences. A focus on life and what is meaningful versus being constrained by the trivial.</b><br />
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Take the time to reflect on the previous values and how these impact our time and energy. Allow yourself to experience life directly rather than shy away from things that will challenge and enrich you. Expect God to show up, look for the miracles rather than fear the risk of disappointment. Fully engage in the school of life, growing wise through constant learning. Graduate well. See <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A33&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 6:33</a><br />
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<b>S - Simplicity. A proactive avoidance of distractions that can so easily blur what is of real value.</b><br />
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Remember where true joy comes from. Don't buy into the culture of accumulation and thinly coated status building. What you own ends up owning you. Why be a slave to the mundane and soul-sucking activities that have no ultimate significance. Actively clean up the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual clutter that detracts from your focus. Don't be enamored by technology but squeeze it's power to accelerate simplicity. See <a href="https://www.blogger.com/1%20Timothy%206:6-8" target="_blank">1 Timothy 6:6-8</a><br />
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<i>May you fill your life with JOYES</i><br />
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<i>H.</i></div>
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Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-51460078003976689542018-10-21T22:52:00.001-04:002018-10-21T22:52:29.827-04:00Choosing to Lead Well<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Viktor Frankl, in his classic book, Man's Search for Meaning, said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."<br />
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I've been reflecting on this, particularly from a leadership perspective. The issue is that we need to project an attitude of hope and encouragement despite how we perceive our own feelings to be. In order to help visualize this, I mapped out the following diagram:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuTrF_0gPpWxhzIY6eGYUaJv7MO15qRkJxAwFzy85og47NEW7VmTOoa-BOaiqjk8Tk9vsK3s_V-QijNAoVQzpY77fbwQRe5JfDCa7ZSwsVbJdDV7bA76zYNgWBhFsCpco7oqS2A/s1600/Choose+to+Lead.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuTrF_0gPpWxhzIY6eGYUaJv7MO15qRkJxAwFzy85og47NEW7VmTOoa-BOaiqjk8Tk9vsK3s_V-QijNAoVQzpY77fbwQRe5JfDCa7ZSwsVbJdDV7bA76zYNgWBhFsCpco7oqS2A/s400/Choose+to+Lead.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
A leader is most helpful when they project rational optimism. Interestingly, this is often reinforced by a deeper sense of purpose and a productive faith-based worldview. Some may feel that faith is a delusion and this is irrational, but I am convinced from experience and research that a healthy faith life is constructive towards maintaining a positive outlook. In this space, we can also find positive authenticity, a key to building trust, particularly in an age of growing leadership distrust and cynicism.<br />
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Sometimes leaders oversell their optimism, and as a result, authenticity begins to slip into irrationality and dysfunction as things become "too good to be true". People quickly become suspicious and skeptical, particularly if they have been burned by previous scenarios that used this approach.<br />
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Leadership also falters when it slips into the pessimistic side of the graph. Becoming fatalistic or "slogging through" problems and challenges, makes them grow bigger and builds the level of fear in the mind of the leader. In this mode, these fears and attitudes are reflected on to those that are critical for helping push an organization through such trying times.<br />
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If the fear grows into a level of despair, leadership is no longer helpful and can bring significant self-harm to an organization. This scenario requires intervention and likely leadership replacement.<br />
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Bottom line: Despite occasional feelings of despair or fatality, it is important to find the strength and discipline to project a rational optimism to lead well through the successes and challenges of any organization. Combined with a vibrant faith life, there is every reason to evaluate our personal feelings and keep returning to the rational, optimistic attitude of an effective leader.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-55154195875969363022015-03-11T15:57:00.000-04:002015-03-11T15:59:51.020-04:00Why Are Questions So Powerful?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been blessed with a curious mind.<br />
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I ask myself a lot of questions. Things like, "Why is life so wonderfully mysterious and why am I growing less and less tolerant of simple, pat answers?" Over the years, inquisitiveness has led me to new perspectives, meaningful relationships, and creative inspiration. So much so, that <b>I'm becoming convinced that asking more and better questions may be the most important skill we need to develop</b>.<br />
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Recently, I ran across an idea. The premise was this; instead of making a New Year's resolution, why not come up with a meaningful New Year's question? This led me to some interesting resources, including the book, "<b>A More Beautiful Question</b>", by Warren Berger. Warren eloquently explores the power of questions, and why questions trump answers. He points out how four-year-olds ask an average of 390 questions a day, and how we systematically (and quickly) lose that skill as we age. The book is full of poignant examples of how <b>many of today's innovations were born out of simple questions</b>. I would certainly recommend this provocative, inspiring, yet practical book on the power of inquiry.<br />
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<h3>
As Simple as a Game</h3>
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Many years ago, I stumbled across the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ungame" target="_blank">Un-game</a>. The author, unable to speak due to medical reasons, wondered, "<b>Why do we spend so much time talking… but never communicate?</b>" She developed a "game" which, in essence, consisted of a variety of questions to ask people, allowing them to then respond without being interrupted. We found this simple experience to be revolutionary in connecting with those we care about. The Un-game questions added a spark to many date nights, family outings, and social gatherings. How might we refresh this discovery that is so easily buried in the dust of passing time?<br />
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It's also interesting that the best selling book of all time, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/" target="_blank">The Bible</a>, <b>is full of questions</b>, apparently over 3,000 of them. In fact, many significant questions are asked by God himself to awaken a neglectful humanity. Why are so many so easily pacified, using this resource as a simple answer book, when it is so pregnant with challenge and discovery?<br />
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<h3>
How Can We Ask Better Questions?</h3>
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How might we, once again, battle the atrophy and<b> learn to ask better questions, improving our creative contribution</b>? Since it's <b>Question Week,</b> (March 14, corresponding to Einstein's birthday), why not head over to the <a href="http://questionweek.com/" target="_blank">QuestionWeek.com</a> website for some helpful resources?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/33055017" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="425"> </iframe> <br />
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<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/WarrenBerger/8-quickquestioningtips-33055017" target="_blank" title="8 Tips for Becoming a Better Questioner">8 Tips for Becoming a Better Questioner</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/WarrenBerger" target="_blank">Warren Berger</a></strong> </div>
Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-81699531704815304572011-04-23T14:44:00.000-04:002019-10-22T21:49:45.991-04:00Play It Forward"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmmYSDf2zZU6LnRtS6agVyLNElMkFRaDsCmXggu1oN1Q2eROIW9GiqCaCPGa2yVvnybNrBNcsw9lx567p8_Yis54VYS2tFfba9_5kWMmG8VA2PtWVhquMFXS5J_zgi4Vkpl03nA/s1600/Kitten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmmYSDf2zZU6LnRtS6agVyLNElMkFRaDsCmXggu1oN1Q2eROIW9GiqCaCPGa2yVvnybNrBNcsw9lx567p8_Yis54VYS2tFfba9_5kWMmG8VA2PtWVhquMFXS5J_zgi4Vkpl03nA/s320/Kitten.jpg" title="Photo by Kazuky Akayashi on Unsplash" width="213" /></a></div>
It's always very entertaining watching kittens wrestle and pounce. Although this rough-handling looks like all fun and games, these little rascals are learning something very important. The game is developing critical skills that will turn them into proficient future hunters.<br />
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In the same way, games have had a prominent role in our family. We all enjoy the thrill of a strategic board game, such as "<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan">Settlers of Catan</a>". The combination of using critical thinking skills, intense social interaction, and strategic forethought is deeply engaging. And it's no surprise that these skills have proven to be directly transferable for success in a variety of educational contexts and business accomplishments.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gamestorming-Playbook-Innovators-Rulebreakers-Changemakers/dp/0596804172?ie=UTF8&tag=livibydesi-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers" src="https://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0596804172&tag=livibydesi-20" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gamestorming-Playbook-Innovators-Rulebreakers-Changemakers/dp/0596804172?ie=UTF8&tag=livibydesi-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969"></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=livibydesi-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0596804172" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Recognizing these principles, I was thrilled to read the new book by the folks at Xplane. This resource, titled "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gamestorming-Playbook-Innovators-Rulebreakers-Changemakers/dp/0596804172?ie=UTF8&tag=livibydesi-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers</a><img border="0" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=livibydesi-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0596804172" style="cursor: move;" /><img border="0" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=livibydesi-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0596804172" style="cursor: move;" />" is a comprehensive collection of "games" that you can use for a variety of teams and situations. In the pages, I found some familiar processes and techniques that have served me well, along with many additional brilliant ideas.<br />
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More than just a helpful reference, this book also contained confirming insights about how to maximize productivity and results in complex work environments. Here are some of the main points:<br />
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<li>Complex knowledge-based environments <b>don't have convenient single point outcomes</b>, but rather a desireable range of worthwhile outcome possibilities.</li>
<li>Getting from where you are to one of these possible outcomes requires<b> a creative and focussed approach</b>, far better served by the principles of a "game" than traditional change-management methods</li>
<li>Understanding the principles and concepts of setting up and facilitating "games" in the business environment, is a very effective way to <b>help teams move forward towards</b> productive outcomes. </li>
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The following video explains this in more detail:<br />
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There's lot's more information on the Game Storming website:</div>
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<li><a href="http://www.gogamestorm.com/">http://www.gogamestorm.com/</a></li>
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Just another reminder that leadership in innovative environments is challenging. Try using some fun to move your teams forward. Get in the game!</div>
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Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-11810596337073466132010-10-01T22:02:00.001-04:002011-06-07T11:05:15.734-04:00Superstar Productivity in the CloudI've been a <a href="http://www.davidco.com/">Getting Things Done</a>© disciple for a few years. Over that time I learned a couple of secrets to leverage David Allen's principles in my day to day work environment:<br />
<ol><li>Work context is everything - physical context is becoming less important</li>
<li>Keep it simple - use the parts that make sense for you</li>
</ol><div><b>Work Context</b></div><div>I spend 80% of my day online. Either on my computer, or my Android phone. A large portion of that time is spent communicating with people ... and Gmail does most of the heavy lifting. Since this is where I work from, this is where my GTD experiments were honed. If you have a similar work profile, perhaps you'll find something useful in my experience.<br />
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<b>Getting Organized</b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">1. Collection</span></b><br />
The Gmail Inbox is a natural collector. Don't fight it ... feed it! Stuff all ideas, tasks and loose ends into your inbox. How? Simply email yourself. I've added a little twist to boost this process. First, I added a contact with the email address of <i>my_email+action@gmail.com.</i> Gmail essentially ignores the +action part and sends email to your usual address. The extension lets us setup a filter, essentially flagging incoming email directed to this address. The filter: Mark as read, Star it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap4oO-q1axgq9m1V1h8nM0BWkkpVIKDYmqrEpI1EW75aL-Z6BCzLJfuyQy9HIdAT4X6PW-CgRFWNp0VoSsoItk9FF8Qn8ZZjDoWBfexfHIshiGMRP0wE7Q4EyfYxyqW0NoKjKOw/s1600/Gmail+Filter1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap4oO-q1axgq9m1V1h8nM0BWkkpVIKDYmqrEpI1EW75aL-Z6BCzLJfuyQy9HIdAT4X6PW-CgRFWNp0VoSsoItk9FF8Qn8ZZjDoWBfexfHIshiGMRP0wE7Q4EyfYxyqW0NoKjKOw/s400/Gmail+Filter1.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdUx2_Wi_o2mUEL1bdbF9vZAnFBhyrL7LDmZ8yCjZoq2bbKrNYdhJpVhJG8SenjeBJqUKI1lWpIErEHJLZPtwSDYg1W2V02CjTu8JRQId-encMivuq_ckkvcHzmP6dWE-y2IDEtA/s1600/Gmail+Filter2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdUx2_Wi_o2mUEL1bdbF9vZAnFBhyrL7LDmZ8yCjZoq2bbKrNYdhJpVhJG8SenjeBJqUKI1lWpIErEHJLZPtwSDYg1W2V02CjTu8JRQId-encMivuq_ckkvcHzmP6dWE-y2IDEtA/s1600/Gmail+Filter2.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">2. Inbox Processing</span></b><br />
One of the worst habits that people develop is using their inbox as their task list. This creates anxiety and confusion since there are actionable items, reference information and a collection of flotsam all jumbled together in there. To avoid this dilemma it's important to grasp a few key GTD principles:<br />
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<ul><li>Collection, Inbox Processing, and working through your Task Lists are distinct processes, not to be intermingled.</li>
<li>One of the results of Inbox Processing is the creation of several lists. I've simplified these task lists into three: Things I need to do soon (now). Things I need to do sometime (action). Things I've given to someone else and want to follow up on (waiting)</li>
</ul><br />
<b>A Bit More Setup</b><br />
Gmail has a very cool Labs feature called <i>Superstars.<b> </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Basically it let's you put different types of stars on your email entries. In addition to beautifying your mail lists, we can use this feature to quickly organize our task lists. First go to the Settings -> Labs tab in Gmail and enable Superstars. Then in the General Settings tab, pick three specific stars that best represent for you the three core lists: now, action, waiting. Here is my setup:</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4xUjqwxxedeOaRsccw12tuLo-KD6aB0rTh5mWmGlOPDMfl8-Y8KEsZNV4SfT_L5bGzijSEHe57M4Qwf5WEUIH58TlYfP9XfCtN5v42-zOWnKeBTJkxIRWVBgwfdyfI8OHx2fGA/s1600/Superstars1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4xUjqwxxedeOaRsccw12tuLo-KD6aB0rTh5mWmGlOPDMfl8-Y8KEsZNV4SfT_L5bGzijSEHe57M4Qwf5WEUIH58TlYfP9XfCtN5v42-zOWnKeBTJkxIRWVBgwfdyfI8OHx2fGA/s1600/Superstars1.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ylK8Jlltl-iO83gRO1ViIuZrN9FXG8oYsL358kI8esEuf3olXnkbMzF385vJJPH9_nKBsn1fDNqm-tIOS2hADOkI5rfN8_p_yJhtHtnxMgEjE0KlI_ZzvT5iJQfVRRky-K0xRg/s1600/Superstars2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ylK8Jlltl-iO83gRO1ViIuZrN9FXG8oYsL358kI8esEuf3olXnkbMzF385vJJPH9_nKBsn1fDNqm-tIOS2hADOkI5rfN8_p_yJhtHtnxMgEjE0KlI_ZzvT5iJQfVRRky-K0xRg/s1600/Superstars2.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">In my case, I've used the red exclamation symbol for items that need to be done soon, the yellow star for things that need to be done sometime, and the purple question-mark for things I am waiting on others to do.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></b></div><b>Process Logic</b><br />
With this simple setup, you have the recipe for quickly processing your inbox. Several times a day (or more often, depending on your situation) go through everything in your inbox from top to bottom and apply the following logic:<br />
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<ul><li>Is it actionable?</li>
<ul><li>Can I do it in under 2 minutes? If yes, just do it, then archive the item to remove it from your inbox.</li>
<li>Can someone else do it? Mark it with your "waiting" superstar and forward it to them, changing the subject to describe the desired action. Archive the item to get it out of your inbox.</li>
<li>Does this have to be done at a specific time and date, or is it a meeting? Create a calendar item and archive the email.</li>
<li>Does this need to be done this week? Mark it with your "now" superstar and archive it.</li>
<li>Does this need to be done sometime? Mark it with your "action" superstar and archive it</li>
<li>In each case, change the subject as necessary so that it reads as an action item, you can do this by simply forwarding the email to your +action@gmail.com address outlined above. Mark the new item appropriately and archive all processed items to remove them from your inbox.</li>
</ul>
<li>Not actionable.</li>
<ul><li>Need to reference this later? Consider attaching a label to the item to help organize them. Archive it to remove it from the inbox.</li>
<li>Not important information? Delete or simply archive it.</li>
</ul></ul><div>The goal is to quickly and frequently empty your inbox, and set up your work activity for efficient processing. Also, it is important only to schedule things that have a fixed date and time and allow all other actions to "float" so you can have maximum flexibility in prioritizing your work. Your "starred" list may look something like this:</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82xuKgG2LLAsyE2Klo1K7WtBH6oHgd9Z-X5Y5dSsoFBr_dwiXFLRmAWE7MCUI-kVuDGZF4rYLeYfbJDcvXNG3sQBI_RW5ULQQvluffJP1F8fAxwrYQ4byM87-bZP5ITYV7kgoYg/s1600/List.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82xuKgG2LLAsyE2Klo1K7WtBH6oHgd9Z-X5Y5dSsoFBr_dwiXFLRmAWE7MCUI-kVuDGZF4rYLeYfbJDcvXNG3sQBI_RW5ULQQvluffJP1F8fAxwrYQ4byM87-bZP5ITYV7kgoYg/s400/List.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">3. Doing the Work</span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Now it's just a matter of working through your top action items. Basically you access your list of things that need to be done now and work through them. I've used another feature of GMail Labs - Quick Links. Once you enable it, you can easily save any email search into a list for easy future access.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgx53mMPwv7bHRfAbXzyS_Eejbx7fpXbfFf_kDuPczBe2v0eFj8SHfq9DPNcAW23OWFsn8nt6sLSrv8Qa571slxvo8tsJVsTAKVGGbec1B8s4uCWKAwK2as9_awfDXOGQLt9xqmw/s1600/Quicklinks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgx53mMPwv7bHRfAbXzyS_Eejbx7fpXbfFf_kDuPczBe2v0eFj8SHfq9DPNcAW23OWFsn8nt6sLSrv8Qa571slxvo8tsJVsTAKVGGbec1B8s4uCWKAwK2as9_awfDXOGQLt9xqmw/s1600/Quicklinks.png" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Here's an example of searching for my top priority to do items and creating a quick link:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xAd9xSr8atDwwtTPtMI7H-PsTR_fASHfUN8OjMIWoxNWk7dzISzOhqAzBZwZPI9HbEvT1moPrQLnAqgTyHoCtcF1lhRH6dfDLw3caPgTY_COwlD6ft6SOaO_1uCzIBmiIdwW5g/s1600/quicklinks2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xAd9xSr8atDwwtTPtMI7H-PsTR_fASHfUN8OjMIWoxNWk7dzISzOhqAzBZwZPI9HbEvT1moPrQLnAqgTyHoCtcF1lhRH6dfDLw3caPgTY_COwlD6ft6SOaO_1uCzIBmiIdwW5g/s1600/quicklinks2.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWBRGELioOvKhLKRSzxf9dHIjgI6B8e8xVP6-6IbnSVXfOtIVCSiygrhmNyW49ImkBWVM9j59618YfLz75S7r4rTERh6b1mvfwFTl5SscBVltMV5HzIp7ieLsndqhY4cpi3txTg/s1600/quicklinks3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWBRGELioOvKhLKRSzxf9dHIjgI6B8e8xVP6-6IbnSVXfOtIVCSiygrhmNyW49ImkBWVM9j59618YfLz75S7r4rTERh6b1mvfwFTl5SscBVltMV5HzIp7ieLsndqhY4cpi3txTg/s1600/quicklinks3.png" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Once completed, remove the star from the item and it automatically will disappear from your list. Don't worry, everything is still saved in Gmail and you can use the powerful search features to quickly find it in the future.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">4. Weekly Review</span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Once a week review all your tasks and update them accordingly. Just click on the native "starred" category in Gmail and you'll get a complete list. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFCMFdAsTJc1dlFrUAGXa3NGEBwP_3MrIfksmqBuxXogVimEPZRDOqPBH0a-ld1Tw4wTRmjqb66qcGtsyvGrSwWf08072AKguG5R17qyjwtYHTZ353MET7ZoG8YTH7mXvtDO7hg/s1600/starred.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFCMFdAsTJc1dlFrUAGXa3NGEBwP_3MrIfksmqBuxXogVimEPZRDOqPBH0a-ld1Tw4wTRmjqb66qcGtsyvGrSwWf08072AKguG5R17qyjwtYHTZ353MET7ZoG8YTH7mXvtDO7hg/s1600/starred.png" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div><br />
</div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b>A Few More Tips</b></span><br />
Here are a couple more things that I've found helpful:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>From your urgent task list, put the ones that have to be done today back into your inbox. I know this breaks the "empty inbox" rule, but I have found that since the inbox is the natural place you are working in constantly, having these items always "in your face" is helpful.</li>
<li>Make sure you restate email subjects as action items before assigning them to yourself.</li>
<li>Send yourself an email whenever you get a random thought or a useful piece of information. You'll be surprised to find how quickly you will build a highly usable knowledge base, and attain superstar productivity in the cloud </li>
</ul><div>References:</div><div><br />
</div><div><ul><li><a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/07/gmail-superstars.html">Using Gmail Superstars</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=145401">Gmail Quick Links Help</a></li>
</ul></div><br />
<br />
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</div><div><br />
</div>Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-61002823164959653532008-10-01T09:41:00.002-04:002008-10-01T16:51:44.188-04:00All the World's a StageThis famous quote from Shakespeare has probably never been more apropos than in this age of emerging social media. I could not resist sharing this fascinating and profound presentation by <a href="http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?author=1">Michael Wesch</a>, the Assistant Professor of Cultural <span class="nfakPe">Anthropology</span> at Kansas State University. Michael was also the author of the famous viral video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g">Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us</a>.<br /><br />The video below is compiled around Michael's recent talk at the Library of Congress. It's an entertaining and touching journey through the history of social media and how these changes impact our behaviour and develop new cultural norms. The presentation is a little lengthy, but definitely worth the watch!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPAO-lZ4_hU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPAO-lZ4_hU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><blockquote> <p> <strong>Jaques:</strong><br />All the world's a stage,<br />And all the men and women merely players;<br />They have their exits and their entrances,<br />And one man in his time plays many parts,<br />His acts being seven ages.<br /></p> <cite><a href="http://www.enotes.com/ayli-text/act-ii-scene-7#stage">William Shakespeare - As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143</a></cite> </blockquote>Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-55744595025869340232008-07-22T22:18:00.010-04:002008-11-19T01:55:47.378-05:00The Company with an Agile CoreI keep tripping over a fascinating company with an intriguing set of values, processes and services. They are committed to community, to making the world a better place, to taking innovation to a new level, and at the same time are commercially very successful. And no, I don't work for them... yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOfhzbryUF9P80gX3MzTERyFMGEyuwM97IS6nmo5V9fNUd-zHiwNcGjF1hyGL2cpXu75G5rRrROGye1sjeOK8r-4wB33O28ANSHPu4XOvbM5zZbOriASpCDXR2kKWUj4GBdZySg/s1600-h/salesforce_ideas_process_map_071408.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOfhzbryUF9P80gX3MzTERyFMGEyuwM97IS6nmo5V9fNUd-zHiwNcGjF1hyGL2cpXu75G5rRrROGye1sjeOK8r-4wB33O28ANSHPu4XOvbM5zZbOriASpCDXR2kKWUj4GBdZySg/s400/salesforce_ideas_process_map_071408.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227443695776767906" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.salesforce.com/">Salesforce.com</a>. What's the big deal? CRM as a service, so what? Sourceforge has taken the "R" in CRM seriously, and have nurtured a core competence that's sure to keep them in the lead. We're already seeing these dynamics in play in their <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/09/google-and-salesforce-cooking-up-something-new-together/">ongoing dance with Google</a>. It's refreshing when companies actually do what they believe in. It provides a fundamental driving force that accelerates their success... <span style="font-weight: bold;">inspiration</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >They Care</span><br /><br />The Salesforce Foundation was set up within a year of the start of the company. The "<a href="https://admin.acrobat.com/_a13852757/foundation/">Power of Us</a>" philosophy is a core value of the company: giving back to the community. 1% of employee time is allocated towards community projects, 1% of the product is donated to nonprofit organizations, 1% of revenue is used to finance this capability and to reduce their environmental footprint. In their own words:<br /><blockquote>The launch of the Foundation came less than a year after the launch of the company with the goal of building philanthropic programs at the very beginning of the company's existence rather than waiting until the company had reached a certain level of 'comfortable success'. Our belief is if emphasis is placed on philanthropy from a company's inception, the value of service will be a core cultural value that is built into the fabric of the company.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;">From the <a href="http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/node/14">Salesforce Foundation website</a></span></div></blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.salesforce.com/assets/images/company/ban4_foundation.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.salesforce.com/assets/images/company/ban4_foundation.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">They're Agile</span></span><br /><br />Salesforce is also doing Agile in a big way. They've swallowed the pill and are demonstrating the results, propelling forward. Using their Adaptive Development Methodology, they're leading the evolution of the Agile corporation by scaling the principles, embedding them into their DNA.<br /><br />Keep it simple, listen to your customer, iterate, radical transparency, encourage experiments... are all part of the core values that are accelerating this organization. <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sgreene/salesforcecom-agile-transformation-agile-2007-conference">Watch the ADM presentation</a> from the Agile 2007 Conference, you will come away inspired.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >They're Innovative</span><br /><br />Salesforce.com is taking a traditional data-driven CRM product and creating an open community-building and innovation management platform. It's still raw and complicated, but already they've implemented huge improvements in this challenging segment. Things like facilitating collaboration innovation, providing flexible connections between relational entities, and creating powerful templates to kickstart major projects (including a very creative implementation for nonprofits).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ9SzmEdrfSQ2N_2gJo4NBvNKryKBOwrE-tfXCjj_rxgv8iB4M0EUrkhufcW5fB692GSIFvk47sV4KgJQivvteLs53Pav35gz2Zwp7rYsL0qOPxrxOxs7imyN_dThovQphix9Jw/s1600-h/salesforce.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ9SzmEdrfSQ2N_2gJo4NBvNKryKBOwrE-tfXCjj_rxgv8iB4M0EUrkhufcW5fB692GSIFvk47sV4KgJQivvteLs53Pav35gz2Zwp7rYsL0qOPxrxOxs7imyN_dThovQphix9Jw/s400/salesforce.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227448360248678754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Going Forward</span><br /><br />All this of course is inspiring me to wade in further, past the knee-deep level I'm currently implementing. Perhaps, as I delve further, the limitations and idiosyncrasies may leave me jaded and cynical. Somehow I don't think so. It's time to take innovation to the people, and Sourceforge is on the playing field. A company worth keeping an eye on...Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-55043679109615717272008-06-30T12:23:00.004-04:002008-06-30T13:18:53.627-04:00Taking Teamwork beyond the BoundariesAgile development experience has demonstrated how practical conditions and simple processes <a href="http://www.scrumalliance.org/articles/92-wellformed-teams">foster highly-performant teams</a> that produce sustainable results.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Small-World View</span></span><br /><br />Here are some of the "rules-of-thumb" that contribute to success:<br /><ul><li>A small number of people, no more than can be <a href="http://derivadow.com/2007/02/20/two-pizza-teams/">fed by two pizzas</a></li><li>Everyone in the same room with no walls and barriers</li><li>Lots of collaborative tools, include shared computers, full wall visuals, and whiteboards</li><li>Optimal mutual availability and accountability</li><li>Full awareness of roles and capabilities</li><li>Easily communicate with all members</li><li>Maximum opportunity for serendipity and knowledge sharing</li><li>Everyone focused on a single well understood project</li><li>No personnel turnover</li></ul><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beyond the Ideal</span></span><br /><br />Of course, we all would love to have the conditions that accelerate effective teamwork as described above. The reality is that people are constantly moving, often collaborating across corporate and geographic boundaries, and working on a variety of projects in very complex domains.<br /><br />Often, technology has been used like an anesthetic to mask the pain of this challenge, slowing the corporate blood flow in order to create the illusion of control. As long as the playing field is level, everyone gets to stay in the game. But the dynamics are changing. People are recognizing the need to reclaim technology and leverage it to support effective teamwork, <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/">principles well articluated</a> by the Agile Community.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />Moving Beyond the Boundaries</span><br /><br />I believe it is possible to achieve effective teamwork even when resources are shifting and people are not co-located. The video below has some great examples of how the creative use of technology can move teamwork beyond today's boundaries. Marketing messages aside, it includes principles such as:<br /><ul><li>Real-time presence awareness of other team members</li><li>Optimized communication channels, available anywhere<br /></li><li>Virtual face-to-face interaction</li><li>Natural, collaborative creation environments</li><li>Expertise awareness both within and outside of the team</li><li>Just-in-time, in context knowledge artifacts and documentation</li></ul>I trust it will spark some ideas for your organization.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiTb3-t4YJk&hl=en"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiTb3-t4YJk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-50634738291629838282008-06-21T18:22:00.003-04:002008-11-19T01:55:47.636-05:00The Politics of Social NetworkingThis <a href="http://www.xplane.com/obama/">artifact</a> from <a href="http://www.xplane.com/">Xplane</a> is a terrific combination of several areas I have been covering on this blog:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5S_vlYco5TmqwluqbEmKKzBJoR1YycVKujkONWpZEJPmDe6vk09kHpp9Kp0rNMqBnZRohE1r7Lghyphenhyphens1G8wv9iNXzh-ufhqfG32dp_0F4Nb48Yz8WISgW-lzU94bwrIVDGXlhrg/s1600-h/obama_graphic_tn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5S_vlYco5TmqwluqbEmKKzBJoR1YycVKujkONWpZEJPmDe6vk09kHpp9Kp0rNMqBnZRohE1r7Lghyphenhyphens1G8wv9iNXzh-ufhqfG32dp_0F4Nb48Yz8WISgW-lzU94bwrIVDGXlhrg/s320/obama_graphic_tn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214471162426300098" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.xplane.com/obama/"><span style="font-size:85%;">image from Xplane - full pdf version available</span></a><br /></div><br /><ol><li>It's another example of how <a href="http://www.xplane.com/">Xplane</a> creatively combines graphics and text into <span style="font-weight: bold;">content-rich, single-page visualizations</span> to produce clear and powerful communication vehicles. Over the years this company has been a great source of communication ideas and inspiration.</li><li>It highlights the disruptive dynamics and scaling capabilities of <span style="font-weight: bold;">social networking</span>.</li><li>It demonstrates how social networks are far more than merely relationship building tools and trivia exchange centers. In fact they are extremely efficient engines for <span style="font-weight: bold;">raising money and driving revenue</span>.</li></ol><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">No Rocket Science</span></span><br /><br />There's nothing terribly new here, social networking and word-of-mouth dynamics have been impacting business and society since the rise of the first human communities. The exciting difference is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">emerging visibility</span> of these networks and the ability to <span style="font-weight: bold;">observe interaction behaviour</span>, even when we scale it up. The opportunity:<br /><ul><li>Social networks can now <span style="font-weight: bold;">be visualized</span> and made explicit.</li><li>Social interaction can now <span style="font-weight: bold;">be measured</span> and correlated to ROI considerations.</li><li>Influence and knowledge can now <span style="font-weight: bold;">be more readily focused </span>and directed.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Copying Google</span></span><br /><br />Why is <a href="http://ventureblog.com/articles/2003/05/4_keys_to_googl.php">Google so successful</a>? How can <a href="https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/independencefeature">Barack Obama</a> raise so much on so little effort? How can Wikipedia accomplish so much <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2008-January/037383.html">with so few staff</a>?<br /><br />They <span style="font-weight: bold;">understand the recipe</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">emerging capabilities</span>. There's still lots of room in the pool. Why not jump in, learn, and benefit from these dynamics in your context?Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-92020776425652475502008-06-07T18:53:00.004-04:002008-11-19T01:55:47.747-05:00The 90-9-1 RuleWhat does<span style="font-weight: bold;"> successful collaboration</span> look like? Understanding how communities and people interact online is essential for setting the right expectations. Often people misinterpret metrics or focus their energy in the wrong direction because they do not have a reasonable benchmark to assess how well their on-line communities are functioning.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />All Things Are Not Equal<br /></span><br />In any team or community you can expect to find a variety of expertise and strengths. We usually don't expect everyone to do the exact same thing, or to have the same skill sets and strengths. In fact, the complementary nature of individual strengths is essential to creating strong teams and vibrant communities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgh92XVJwi6s3OEHX-fbCQh7GBfqaotKsw0ZX-ae8uETa3-PnuVratOpIGZhaqNKEHlf96KfkSHRfkuiaG7lIXLVYuxS2OQKEDoKMhC1b9crk1_yjD6JGANP-6XfVQfY8D_uYGjg/s1600-h/pieces.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgh92XVJwi6s3OEHX-fbCQh7GBfqaotKsw0ZX-ae8uETa3-PnuVratOpIGZhaqNKEHlf96KfkSHRfkuiaG7lIXLVYuxS2OQKEDoKMhC1b9crk1_yjD6JGANP-6XfVQfY8D_uYGjg/s320/pieces.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209960823462041906" border="0" /></a>Knowing this, it is surprising that the <span style="font-weight: bold;">default expectation for online interaction</span> is identical contribution, with performance metrics that reinforce this unhealthy view. Not only is this unrealistic, it's a sure recipe for failure!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Setting Expectations</span></span><br /><br />Most everyone is familiar with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle">Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule</a>. Although frequently misapplied, the principle generally refers to the inequality or clumping of factors in a particular context. For example, in volunteer organizations, we often use this rule to articulate the perception that <span style="font-weight: bold;">20% of the people do 80% of the work</span>.<br /><br />Jakob Neilson, in his article, "<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation_inequality.html">Participation Inequality, Encouraging More Users to Participate</a>", describes the ratio of on-line participation as a 90-9-1 rule:<br /><blockquote><ul><li><strong>90%</strong> of users are <strong>lurkers</strong> (i.e., read or observe, but don't contribute). </li><li><strong>9%</strong> of users contribute <strong>from time to time</strong>, but other priorities dominate their time. </li><li><strong>1%</strong> of users participate a lot and <strong>account for most contributions</strong>: it can seem as if they don't have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they're commenting on occurs.</li></ul></blockquote>He then goes on to describe how Wikipedia contribution and general Internet participation complies roughly with this rule. Although not mathematically conclusive, this breakdown does seem to be congruent with our observations regarding on-line communities.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Positive Reality</span></span><br /><br />Rather than seeing this as a problem, it is far more helpful to view participation behavior as a reflection of <span style="font-weight: bold;">the variety of skills and strengths</span> of the participants. Instead of seeing the 90% as "Lurkers", I prefer to view them as a "type" of participant, that is, primarily an audience that uses and applies community content.<br /><br />The challenge is not to try to make everyone participate equally, but instead to <span style="font-weight: bold;">optimize the community</span> by <a href="http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/90-9-1+Theory">leveraging the 90-9-1 rule</a>. So instead of spending all of our energy trying to make the 90% mimic the 1% behavior, we can stimulate the community much more effectively using the following ideas.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Accelerating Community</span></span><br /><br />First let's re-label the participants. We'll call the 1% "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Knowledge Champions</span>", people who excel at sharing knowledge and evangelizing ideas and content. Then we'll call the 9% "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Knowledge Agents</span>", people that readily connect people to information and are proactive in responding and interacting to knowledge flow. The rest, the 90% we'll label as "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Knowledge Users</span>", valuable community participants that convert explicit information into solutions, products and value.<br /><br />Now we'll focus our community stimulation efforts:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Map the social network</span> to identify the <span style="font-style: italic;">Knowledge Champions</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Knowledge Agents</span>.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Optimize support and communications structures</span> around the <span style="font-style: italic;">Knowledge Champions</span>, they are the "collaboration core" of the community.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Empower the Knowledge Agents</span> by making sure they are solidly connected into the community and have full visibility and convenient contribution mechanisms.</li><li>Finally, provide the Knowledge Users with very <span style="font-weight: bold;">low-barrier interaction mechanisms</span> that align with their working contexts.</li></ul><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Designed for Success</span></span><br /><br />When we leverage principles in our community building and management designs, efforts are <span style="font-weight: bold;">quickly transformed</span> into accelerated knowledge flow, collaboration and innovation. Rather than trying to make everyone equal, why not use the <span style="font-weight: bold;">power of the 90-9-1 rule</span> towards successful on-line teamwork in your organization?Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-89074963981939064752008-05-31T16:39:00.004-04:002008-11-19T01:55:48.015-05:00Measuring CollaborationYour company does not need to be very large before it starts grappling with <span style="font-weight: bold;">two significant problems </span>that plague the knowledge economy:<ol><li>How to maintain and improve <span style="font-weight: bold;">effective teamwork </span>between people that are often separated by geography or time.</li><li>How to share <span style="font-weight: bold;">timely and useful information</span> across the organization, reusing existing knowledge and channeling emerging experience.</li></ol><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsr9fpY13tLno393zVjnikkndRXudhDCuNKavArMbK2NlkA-2IX3mjA_d6JbxhthVYCOtq1srQ0dsteaYxi4y55U2vdsOJ_FWJUWkzS1Q5yW0I3yo3dOWNwZs1l7mbc0qrFMG5qA/s1600-h/PMOCollaboration.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsr9fpY13tLno393zVjnikkndRXudhDCuNKavArMbK2NlkA-2IX3mjA_d6JbxhthVYCOtq1srQ0dsteaYxi4y55U2vdsOJ_FWJUWkzS1Q5yW0I3yo3dOWNwZs1l7mbc0qrFMG5qA/s320/PMOCollaboration.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206662710745863890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.pmthink.com/PMOCollaboration.jpg">PMThink! Blog</a><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Technology Helps</span><br /><br />Fortunately, Web 2.0 technologies and emerging communication practices are helping slow the growth of these corporate tumors. However, it takes more than just technology to reverse the trends. Effective design, initial content seeding and proactive facilitation are <span style="font-weight: bold;">critical factors</span> for re-firing in the innovation engine.<br /><br />Is it working? There's only one way to know... <span style="font-weight: bold;">metrics</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Measuring for Success</span></span><br /><br />A successful community generally has <span style="font-weight: bold;">two hallmarks</span>: a high level of interaction between the participants, and a growing body of valuable content. That's a wonderful end-state, but how do we assess the current state of collaboration? Here are some criteria critical to success:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Discovery</span> - How easy is it for others to see what your community is currently doing or intends to do?</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Participation</span> - How easy is it for others to contribute to the community?</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Promotion</span> - How do you help others connect with your community and stay informed?</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Production</span> - How valuable are the contributions of the community?</li></ul>Of course, you can replace "communities" with "team" if it fits better with your model. Here are some questions you might use to evaluate these aspects further:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Discovery</span><br /><ol><li>Do you have a central community info portal?</li><li>Is your portal web accessible?</li><li>Can your portal be viewed by anyone?</li><li>Is the purpose and identity of the community clearly stated?</li><li>Is the current activity of the community visible or obvious?</li><li>Is it clear who is facilitating the community?</li><li>Is it clear who is involved in the community?</li><li>Is it easy to explore the content of the community?</li><li>Is significant content emphasized and accessible?</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;">Participation</span><br /><ol><li>Is it obvious how someone would start a discussion with the community?</li><li>Is it obvious how someone would join a discussion in the community?</li><li>Is it obvious how someone would stay informed on news and activity?</li><li>Is it clear on how to gain the basic knowledge that would help someone engage?</li><li>Is the tone and language welcoming to potential participants?</li><li>Do you monitor community interaction levels and trends?<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;">Promotion</span><br /><ol><li>Is your community linked to other important areas visited by potential participants?</li><li>Do you have a process to identify and follow up with visitors to your community?</li><li>Do you have a published communication channel for your community?</li><li>Do you monitor and manage subscriptions to your communication channel?<br /></li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;">Production</span><br /><ol><li>Is it clear how the community provides value in the larger context?</li><li>Do you monitor content usage?</li><li>Is there an obvious way to submit feedback and suggestions?</li><li>Do you have a process for canvassing or interviewing your stakeholders?</li><li>Do you have a process for implementing continuous improvement?</li></ol><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jump the Hurdle</span></span><br /><br />Armed with the right questions, make it a priority to put in place measurements that demonstrate how you can benefit from your efforts to empower collaboration.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-39150664879500820022008-05-17T22:40:00.005-04:002008-11-19T01:55:48.303-05:00The Knowledge Factory<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2HJSfBWJT7662grfRIWQbiRNHn723mhfUZQNepnsIESEoEXAW8o5FK_Ujq6xLKHhn0FBZxZsnQcXvgNIYYniGVyrbJ6h8-_9Nhg5BFO6p0KMuRW0hABy5pOj0i7_0sOLA-3IdQ/s1600-h/seci.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2HJSfBWJT7662grfRIWQbiRNHn723mhfUZQNepnsIESEoEXAW8o5FK_Ujq6xLKHhn0FBZxZsnQcXvgNIYYniGVyrbJ6h8-_9Nhg5BFO6p0KMuRW0hABy5pOj0i7_0sOLA-3IdQ/s400/seci.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201545891267885314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">SECI Model at Fuji Xerox - from the <a href="http://www.jaist.ac.jp/ks/labs/umemoto/km_e.html">Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology</a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Model for Learning</span></span><br /><br />When researching knowledge management and organizational learning you're bound to come across the <a href="http://www.12manage.com/methods_nonaka_seci.html">SECI model</a> and the work of the Nonaka and Takeuchi. Appreciating the value of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge">tacit knowledge</a> (carried in people's minds) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explicit_knowledge">explicit knowledge</a> (codified or articulated) is paramount for the knowledge based industries.<br /><br />The authors of the SECI model emphasize that as valuable as the knowledge assets may be, the process of creating knowledge and how it is transformed is where the real potential lies. Simply <a href="http://www.jaist.ac.jp/ks/labs/umemoto/km_e.html">managing existing knowledge is not enough</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Heart of the Machine</span></span><br /><br />Intuitively we know that human talent <span style="font-weight: bold;">is the critical success factor</span> in hi-tech and other knowledge based contexts. Creativity and innovation are primarily human functions and are hard to systematize but are essential for ongoing success.<br /><br />Additionally, the picture below demonstrates how all significant knowledge transformation, and ultimately it's conversion to business revenue, is primarily a human function. In fact, I would suggest that the individual human mind is the core, the engine of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">knowledge to value transformation process</span>. Effective teamwork and collaboration accelerate and amplify this individual capability, but the processing is still ultimately individual.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYIVsvRT1FCn4wEKjihgSrvpmLxWLCNUA2kwLWLiMlSr9s-kG87-mPjA7BT7fJmtXWL7uiMdfvV8e58gK8vIDXyN6PSuChlUrE_Fhgh0XtL0dWLGwc9RSPCM6pNgH8OQn4f3TmA/s1600-h/Knowledge+Factory.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYIVsvRT1FCn4wEKjihgSrvpmLxWLCNUA2kwLWLiMlSr9s-kG87-mPjA7BT7fJmtXWL7uiMdfvV8e58gK8vIDXyN6PSuChlUrE_Fhgh0XtL0dWLGwc9RSPCM6pNgH8OQn4f3TmA/s400/Knowledge+Factory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201545706584291570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Empowered for Value</span><br /></span><br />Is your organization designed to optimize the knowledge to value transformation? Or are most of your energies centered around managing your existing knowledge assets? Perhaps it's time to put the fuel back in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">real engine</span>.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-74397533714971603492008-05-03T16:05:00.006-04:002008-11-19T01:55:48.510-05:00Why Wiki? Part 4 - Publish As You Write, Together!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZc8-ae-wberJ8iwDIYOHQKFA-vkT7k8ih6TkKn4CwBU_7KXQB3UHXWmpswumzSA9pII9xW5H20Yjl_l210GSpTvAkBMR4H70uqWcgv4RxZuS9dZB_zW49XqrDxe-9NiglqF90yA/s1600-h/logo_docs.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZc8-ae-wberJ8iwDIYOHQKFA-vkT7k8ih6TkKn4CwBU_7KXQB3UHXWmpswumzSA9pII9xW5H20Yjl_l210GSpTvAkBMR4H70uqWcgv4RxZuS9dZB_zW49XqrDxe-9NiglqF90yA/s200/logo_docs.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196260736788222482" border="0" /></a>What looks like a doc, sounds like a doc, but doesn't behave like a doc? It's a Google Doc! <a href="http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html">Google Docs</a>, along with similar offerings from other web based vendors, is an innovative collaboration environment that behaves a lot more like a Wiki than a traditional document management system.<br /><br /><a href="http://work.miramarmike.co.nz/2008/01/about-mike-riversdale.html">Mike Riversdale</a> captures this eloquently in his post, "<a href="http://work.miramarmike.co.nz/2008/04/google-docs-so-what-one-reason-why-you.html">Google Docs ... so what - the ONE reason why you should care</a>"<br /><br /><blockquote>Wikis live by understanding the connectivity of their environment and the innate desire of 'words' to love all and be loved by all. In the future there will be no difference between a Google Doc and a wiki page ... in fact, it may be so close already it's just a matter of semantics and opinion.<br /></blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Collapsing the Publishing Process</span><br /><br />One of the dynamics of a Wiki is that whatever you create is immediately, or very quickly, published. This means that knowledge can be communicated as quickly as it is captured, significantly outpacing the change in knowledge demand.<br /><br />To appreciate how dramatic this effect is, consider this example: I recently collaborated with a partner using a <a href="http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html">Google Docs</a> Spreadsheet. Not only could we see each other's presence on-line and chat using the collaboration window, I could see exactly what cell his cursor was on as he moved around in the spreadsheet, and we could simultaneously update the sheet, immediately seeing all the changes!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Everyone in the Pool</span><br /><br />This effect is amplified, by the openness of the environment. Not only does everyone get to see things right away, they get to play! Depending on permissions, like the example above, they can all contribute and increase the value of the knowledge we are sharing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyD3q251rO-o0wtpUrXh9TOqzabvSQehUC8QrPrHJiY5sr8ux-Y7ToRmFjEjXPGZ4aq5Gp1zbNrNRsUE7oH-5n8LwHRTrbOdiMMUUFm3UMY3NG7b6kmQu8sTLpnEJPugTZvgUsfw/s1600-h/wiki_collaboration2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyD3q251rO-o0wtpUrXh9TOqzabvSQehUC8QrPrHJiY5sr8ux-Y7ToRmFjEjXPGZ4aq5Gp1zbNrNRsUE7oH-5n8LwHRTrbOdiMMUUFm3UMY3NG7b6kmQu8sTLpnEJPugTZvgUsfw/s400/wiki_collaboration2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196261192054755874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Staying Out of the Danger Zone</span><br /><br />This capability has a downside as well. Having a managed create, review, edit and publish process has its merits. In situations where communication delivery has high impact, it is imperative to balance the risks of misinformation versus the immediacy of publication. However, even in these situations, valuable knowledge assembled in Wikis can be quickly harvested, accelerating the formal processes for delivering sensitive or critical communication.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2008/03/29/wiki-collaboration-leads-to-happiness-updated-and-revisited/">Image Credit: Wikinomics Blog - Wiki collaboration leads to happiness</a></span>Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-45610762605401587502008-04-26T19:06:00.007-04:002008-11-19T01:55:48.890-05:00Why Wiki? Part 3 - Knowledge Incubation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGxZpD-h4ULNkOc_1Rzgn2sIyPUX_1HeCzoiakY2nNPJNYpRH7BhSDlMPv7s-P53hP3_pJylTpKji_TQKTWW2n4Tgkk5iZ9zun-_zAWZ0rR58PU6SfmWpa5gNbxrXpvtlkz4Tnw/s1600-h/Incubating+Knowledge.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGxZpD-h4ULNkOc_1Rzgn2sIyPUX_1HeCzoiakY2nNPJNYpRH7BhSDlMPv7s-P53hP3_pJylTpKji_TQKTWW2n4Tgkk5iZ9zun-_zAWZ0rR58PU6SfmWpa5gNbxrXpvtlkz4Tnw/s400/Incubating+Knowledge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193700674286801394" border="0" /></a><br />Perhaps because we were raised on encyclopedias and textbooks, we tend to think of knowledge in two primary forms:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steam</span> - The thoughts, ideas and concepts that rattle around in our heads.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ice</span> - Books and polished documents that we reference from time to time.</li></ol>In the context of knowledge work, this oversimplification fosters miscommunication and <span style="font-weight: bold;">information management bureaucracy</span>. A far better metaphor is to see knowledge as a dynamic, continuously flowing stream, with resulting artifacts passing through various stages of <a href="http://www.dkms.com/papers/firestoneoklc.pdf"><span style="font-weight: bold;">a knowledge lifecycle</span></a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >How Knowledge Grows</span><br /><br />You don't require too much imagination to visualize <span style="font-weight: bold;">how knowledge transitions</span> from simple ideas through further crystallization, eventually forming reusable artifacts and polished publications. All knowledge workers have participated in this process. Many of the steps occur informally or are managed in isolated environments on personal computers.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system">Content Management Systems</a> (CMS) or <a href="http://www.dkms.com/papers/firestoneoklc.pdf">Document Management Systems</a> have helped us organize the mature stages of the knowledge lifecycle. However, much of the critical knowledge growth remains hidden in people's heads, e-mail threads, and in personal files. Lack of access to emerging knowledge <span style="font-weight: bold;">critically stunts </span>corporate innovation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >A Powerful Knowledge Incubator</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiRNNy6dVQhpNcLb8OcD7hUgUyATyoCHDqSfu676WITlvRcPwsIvdE8WHLMxqVtrjVmfGduuXZpl9D8TYuHEJi4LpA2bD_xHr5n68m6AQWzJ7LXZZdjXcS1nJqcJwV9n7UXD7DA/s1600-h/incubator.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiRNNy6dVQhpNcLb8OcD7hUgUyATyoCHDqSfu676WITlvRcPwsIvdE8WHLMxqVtrjVmfGduuXZpl9D8TYuHEJi4LpA2bD_xHr5n68m6AQWzJ7LXZZdjXcS1nJqcJwV9n7UXD7DA/s200/incubator.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193733693995373058" border="0" /></a>The first step in growing knowledge is to <span style="font-weight: bold;">make it explicit</span>. Searchable e-mail and forums are great mechanisms to capture conversation and interaction. Next, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Agency is required</span> to move knowledge to the next level of maturity. This is where a Wiki shines, providing an excellent shared incubator for rapidly capturing content and incrementally polishing it.<br /><br />A Wiki facilitates <span style="font-weight: bold;">"any time" knowledge improvement</span> by allowing everyone to quickly find and easily edit information in a highly associative environment. When you effectively deploy a Wiki, it generates a dramatic acceleration of the knowledge lifecycle process. The practical outcome is <span style="font-weight: bold;">improved knowledge sharing</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">increased innovation</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Incubating Together</span></span><br /><br />The additional effect of optimized collaboration should not be underestimated. Making early-stage knowledge visible while allowing everyone to easily improve it creates incredible synergy as the size of the community increases. A Wiki, combined with an emphasis on the people in the community, constitutes a powerful platform for <span style="font-weight: bold;">moving knowledge quickly</span> from ideas into highly valued, reusable artifacts.<br /><br />If you haven't already done so, <span style="font-weight: bold;">consider adding a Wiki</span> to your knowledge management environment. By paying attention to <a href="http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/Wikipatterns">effective adoption patterns</a>, you'll be surprised how quickly this investment can produce value and improve teamwork in your organization.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-89744756379023921142008-04-18T23:11:00.003-04:002008-11-19T01:55:49.112-05:00Why Wiki? Part 2 - The Transparency Effect<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAVfZr-HCWoiO-vEUUI6KvF7Wabw0GwSwQZGNidYiWEL1geXz-G2GZmdl3qF5SPGMTR4fBYsN4LbD8mYDpwa1aM2W7bmunhTcuOdXMi-xdxz2p7mfD7NqOssSFwfPbXI8a1G8LA/s1600-h/silos.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAVfZr-HCWoiO-vEUUI6KvF7Wabw0GwSwQZGNidYiWEL1geXz-G2GZmdl3qF5SPGMTR4fBYsN4LbD8mYDpwa1aM2W7bmunhTcuOdXMi-xdxz2p7mfD7NqOssSFwfPbXI8a1G8LA/s400/silos.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190802832518926754" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Photo Credit: Dominion Coal and Wood Silos - from <a href="http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/dominion.html">University of Western Ontario Libraries</a></span><br /></div><br />One of the fastest ways to build trust and foster collaboration is to make everything visible. Complex organizations quickly become specialized and fragmented, creating isolated knowledge silos. Significant human effort and heroics are often required to bridge these gaps and maintain ongoing productivity.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >How Dangerous Is Open?</span><br /><br />In most organizations the tendency is to emphasize protection instead of knowledge sharing. Many systems start with out-of-the-box permissions that restrict everyone, allowing for manual overrides to allow individuals and groups to share content. Not only is this a sure recipe for clogging the knowledge arteries in an organization, it also tends to <a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/pdfs/ManagingAccesstoCriticalDataforProtectionandPrivacy.pdf">generate complex and unmanageable access matrices</a> that introduce new risks and security holes themselves.<br /><br />The reality for most information is:<br /><ul><li>Most people can't find it anyway, even when they have full access.</li><li>Generally, the benefits of sharing far outweigh the risk of abuse.</li><li>Having more eyes on information improves the potential for correction and ongoing value.</li><li>Overly restrictive environments encourage <a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2007/11/ip-bunker-buster.html">informal social sharing</a> as people compensate to get the work done.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Wiki Contribution</span><br /><br />Wikis have a number of characteristics that balance these knowledge flow constrictions, creating transparency and visibility by:<br /><ul><li>Making it easy for everyone to publish content, so that there is something to see.</li><li>Using powerful search algorithms that combine content and behavior to "bubble up" the most relevant content - quickly.</li><li>Making it easy for everyone to link content, quickly creating associations across the enterprise.</li><li>Providing dynamic notification mechanisms that help people "stay aware" of what's going on, or discover helpful information automatically.</li><li>A visible and detailed audit trail helps reinforce peer accountability and productive behaviour.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Beyond the Wiki</span><br /><br />Visibility is probably the most powerful accelerator for building trust and potential teamwork that we can directly influence. Having said that, there are scenarios where visibility is counterproductive:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Context Confusion</span>. There are scenarios that are extremely sensitive, or strategically incubating where premature or sharing could cause significant confusion, or critical corporate risks. Timing and context are important leadership aspects for effectively communicating these issues.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Off the Record. </span>A large amount of useful knowledge transfer happens through "off the record" sharing. This is often seen as a direct conflict to explicit knowledge capture and teamwork. However, this behavior is an essential component of social behavior and an effective knowledge sharing environment. Leaders need to foster a healthy "grapevine" communication channel in the organization to complement the more explicit mechanisms.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Culture Shock</span><br /><br />It's time to take a hard look at the practices and culture. What changes can you make to begin to create a more open and visible environment? Don't wait too long, you can be sure your competitors are asking the same questions.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-28307371672474606362008-04-12T13:18:00.005-04:002008-11-19T01:55:49.246-05:00Why Wiki? Part 1 - A Design Definition<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggICjyUX8DiS5-PD3Gy_n2pwMzSMGZDFYVRak_o5GfElaMH72kuUiHIFOURCJRf015c7OkeZ9cKmoRLSbNQ7pJP-5T_-tUJ5mT5p1wtZPsZZJr42Uegak8KFH1oQ5suRzACdSFpg/s1600-h/slwiki.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggICjyUX8DiS5-PD3Gy_n2pwMzSMGZDFYVRak_o5GfElaMH72kuUiHIFOURCJRf015c7OkeZ9cKmoRLSbNQ7pJP-5T_-tUJ5mT5p1wtZPsZZJr42Uegak8KFH1oQ5suRzACdSFpg/s400/slwiki.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188453227709976978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Photo Credit: 3D Wiki in Second Life - <a href="http://www.3pointd.com/20060618/the-unexpected-third-dimension/">3pointD.com</a></span><br /></div><br />Almost five years ago, I introduced one of the first wikis into the corporate environment of a large healthcare company. We needed to solve a very simple, pervasive problem. The common challenge for a global team of analysts was twofold:<br /><ol><li>I found something interesting, but there is no obvious place to store it in the project infrastructure or corporate taxonomy.</li><li>I need to quickly find this stored information when it becomes relevant, even if I forgot about it in the interim.</li></ol>The best solution at the time: a reused server under my desk loaded with SWIKI, a dead-easy Wiki server, all under the radar of corporate IT. Apart from solving the above-mentioned problems, we quickly experienced some of the exciting knowledge flow and work team dynamics that are inherently encouraged by <a href="http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples">Wiki technology</a>.<br /><br />Five years later, Wikis are the talk of the town. This same company has now purchased <a href="http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/">an enterprise Wiki</a> that is accelerating interaction and knowledge flow between multiple R&D centers across the globe.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Magic by Definition</span></span><br /><br />To really appreciate the potential impact of Wiki technology, it's important to understand what a Wiki really is. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham">Ward Cunningham</a>, the inventor of the Wiki, defines it as, "the simplest possible database". The name "Wiki" is a Hawaiian word meaning "quick".<br /><br />A longer definition from the <a href="http://c2.com/cgi/wiki">WikiWikiWeb</a> is:<br /><blockquote>The ideas of "Wiki" may seem strange at first, but dive in and explore its links. "Wiki" is a composition system; it's a discussion medium; it's a repository; it's a mail system; it's a tool for collaboration. Really, we don't know quite what it is, but it's a fun way of communicating asynchronously across the network.</blockquote>Although these descriptions give us clues about the characteristics of a Wiki, here's my definition, that I believe captures the design concepts that make Wikis magic:<br /><blockquote>A Wiki is a set of searchable web pages that are easy for everyone to create, edit and connect together.<br /></blockquote>Breaking down the definition:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Searchable</span>. Information is only helpful if you can remember it, particularly when you need it. Good Wikis index all content and help you find information quickly by using smart search algorithms that automatically include text relevance, popularity, and date information.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Pages.</span> Hypertext allows content to be quickly browsed and associated through convenient hyperlinks. Information is immediately accessible and can be explored in a completely flexible manner.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Easy.</span> Wikis let people quickly create, edit and link web pages by simply clicking a button. Everyone can use simple text, no coding or HTML required. The Wiki takes care of the rest.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Everyone.</span> Wikis are usually open, allowing anyone to create, edit, or connect. This eliminates the need for administrative bottlenecks, completely collapsing the creation/publication process. This creative and editorial freedom is accompanied by a full audit trail of every change.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />More Than a Tool</span><br /><br />There's a lot more to say about why Wikis change how organizations work together. Some companies have installed Wikis and then expressed disappointment with the lack of demonstrable improvement. As a tool, a Wiki only has the <span style="font-weight: bold;">potential</span> to accelerate teamwork and knowledge flow. To realize this potential requires committed leadership, special roles, and initial content seeding.<br /><br />We'll be unpacking these dynamics together in upcoming articles...Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-63292211415192891302008-04-04T20:32:00.004-04:002008-11-19T01:55:49.328-05:00How Training is the Enemy of Learning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzNycyq2lYEGbivxY4lIGPjjUllELosaNifu5xg1ecRxSwdfFWlxDTLgwjnqRRhYMAQB6w52vvLtb6jFiS8zUymMajB-dNRkOmc6lO79A2jOLEE4QmRQq4F7DcpAI5sySlGRY6g/s1600-h/proflrng_cycle.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzNycyq2lYEGbivxY4lIGPjjUllELosaNifu5xg1ecRxSwdfFWlxDTLgwjnqRRhYMAQB6w52vvLtb6jFiS8zUymMajB-dNRkOmc6lO79A2jOLEE4QmRQq4F7DcpAI5sySlGRY6g/s400/proflrng_cycle.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185565297584220050" border="0" /></a><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/ilwebb/research/proflrng_cycle.htm">Learning Cycle: University of Tasmania</a></span></blockquote>Buried deep in the psyche of quality management systems is the discipline of training. It goes something like this:<br /><ul><li>Define what needs to be done</li><li>Train people how to do the work</li><li>Test to ensure compliance</li><li>Repeat activity in a predictable manner</li><li>Optimize as needed</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Danger Zone</span><br /><br />Much of this emphasis finds its roots in Taylorism. Also known as Scientific Management, this discipline focussed on studying current work processes and optimizing quality and performance in mass production environments. Unfortunately, the context has shifted dramatically to what is needed in today's knowledge-based organizations.<br /><blockquote>"In political and<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> sociological terms, Taylorism can be seen as the division of labour pushed to its logical extreme, with a consequent de-skilling of the worker and dehumanisation of the workplace."<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management">from Wikipedia: Scientific Management</a><br /><br /></span></blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Learning in the Brave New World</span><br /><br />The truth is that in our current information-age work contexts, there are a number of significant dynamics that truly make training the enemy of learning.<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Much of what we tackle is emerging</span>, and therefore unknown. Focussing only on what is "known", training tends to emphasize the status quo and stifle innovation. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The work is learning</span>. It's often difficult to get people to create documentation because much of what they are doing is "figuring out" how to creat something or solve a problem.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sustainable value requires disruptive activity</span>. Linear improvements are no longer adequate to ongoing competitive success. The rate of change and nature of work require discontinuous practices to exploit emerging opportunities.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patterns are more important than details</span>. Learning design principles and strategies is more relevant to tackling new challenges than methodically following previously defined recipes.</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Put Training Back in its Place</span><br /><br />Is training still important? Of course, however:<br /><blockquote>"More is learned through legitimate peripheral participation than overt instructions"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://hi.uwaterloo.ca/hi/WIHIR_Research_Seminar_Schryer.htm">from Catherine Schryer: The Dark Side of Health Informatics</a></span><br /></blockquote>Here are some practical tips to move beyond training into a continuous learning environment:<br /><ol><li>Focus training on <span style="font-weight: bold;">empowering people</span> to collaborate, research and develop learning skills.</li><li>Allocate and enforce a segment of <span style="font-weight: bold;">exploration time</span> (2-5%) that is dissasociated from the current project and work tasks.</li><li>Use social <span style="font-weight: bold;">collaboration tools</span> to encourage serendipity and intra-organizational knowledge flow.</li><li>Provide a rich environment of tools and support that <span style="font-weight: bold;">allow people to create</span> and share learning content, configurations, and practices.</li></ol>By consciously emphasizing learning as an integrated activity, you will soon augment your training programs with a new level of productivity and innovation.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-45053459903213384832008-03-28T21:56:00.007-04:002008-11-19T01:55:49.567-05:00The Community Is the Platform - Part 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3qmEjvY1YdictLDArfMjJ76qbtxN_jDv4Re4X2NKS1s9KFXLx1FbgHvwRF2qbirot1zgSqI5zd8Ly12PqGxt0F8X8yfwbRZfjb9kuRQeEs3SZW_VAmaEh-N7hJoY1q57tMGP1g/s1600-h/interaction.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3qmEjvY1YdictLDArfMjJ76qbtxN_jDv4Re4X2NKS1s9KFXLx1FbgHvwRF2qbirot1zgSqI5zd8Ly12PqGxt0F8X8yfwbRZfjb9kuRQeEs3SZW_VAmaEh-N7hJoY1q57tMGP1g/s200/interaction.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182987243464796018" border="0" /></a><br />In <a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2008/03/community-is-platform-part-1.html">the last post</a>, I talked about the importance of focusing on communities as the context for collaboration and knowledge sharing. How do you accelerate community building in your organization? Here are some ideas:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Community Portal</span> - Create a convenient, helpful central page of information that helps others discover, explore and engage your community. Include elements like:</li><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Identification Info</span> - meaningful description of community context and purpose, links to core community artifacts.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Communications</span> - engaging news about community activity and contributions.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">People</span> - highlight who is involved in your community.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Exploration Tools</span> - intuitive links, search and other navigation to help visitors find valuable content.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Self Help and Interaction</span> - FAQs, Q&A, and discussion forums to help the community find answers and kickstart collaborative contribution.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Orientation</span> - online training and help to remove barriers for new visitors, paving their transition to community contributors.</li></ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Knowledge Base</span> - create a highly accessible, interconnected repository of knowledge. It needs to accommodate both formal and emerging information. Leverage collaborative technologies to speed up the collection of emerging content.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Social Info</span> - make human expertise and social relationships highly visible. Emphasize social information on all community artifacts and communications.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Facilitation</span> - ensure success through upfront investment in knowledge professionals to:</li><ul><li>Creatively help others "bump into" your community through deploying a wide variety of promotional techniques, particularly directed at unfamiliar audiences.</li><li>Maximize the impact of the community portal.</li><li>Design and automate metrics to gauge community health.</li><li>Actively remove barriers to collaboration.</li><li>Stimulate the knowledge lifecycle by helping others transform implicit knowledge through the steps of communications capture, artifact incubation, and collaborative content improvement, creating a continuous stream of reusable and valuable explicit knowledge.</li></ul></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >What Are You Waiting For?<br /></span><br />The good news is that many organizations already have tools and infrastructure that support the above suggestions. Where there are gaps, excellent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software">open source and low cost solutions</a> are available. By matching these technical capabilities with effective community development skill sets, a new level of collaboration and knowledge sharing is just around the corner.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-51607710947434016992008-03-15T17:16:00.006-04:002008-11-19T01:55:49.814-05:00The Community is the Platform - Part 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tG82d-RC3yliDxxZ3mKykgL_zGgwO0ZbgLnfPRBgmC0sSc-qleXEoUyd7ksKHOVjhF0pAOnqBV1R3EIvGTTGK6wtYqI1GehjF5LozT2nkPk-ZIPRTqet4FNYb_pYigvOJ9mzIQ/s1600-h/Crystal_128_three.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tG82d-RC3yliDxxZ3mKykgL_zGgwO0ZbgLnfPRBgmC0sSc-qleXEoUyd7ksKHOVjhF0pAOnqBV1R3EIvGTTGK6wtYqI1GehjF5LozT2nkPk-ZIPRTqet4FNYb_pYigvOJ9mzIQ/s200/Crystal_128_three.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178097965504839954" border="0" /></a>In a previous post, I suggested that <a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2007/11/people-are-product-part-1-momentum.html">the People are the Product</a>, particularly in knowledge-based industries. However, when people in these contexts work and interact in <span style="font-weight: bold;">a</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> community</span>, it becomes the platform for realizing continuous improvement and value innovation.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What is a Community?</span></span><br /><br />Some of the definitions for community from the <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community">Miriam-Webster dictionary</a> include:<br /><ul><li><span class="sense_break"><span class="sense_label start"></span><span class="sense_content"><strong></strong> a unified body of individuals</span></span></li><li><span class="sense_break"><span class="sense_content"></span><span class="sense_content">an interacting population of various kinds of individuals </span><span class="sense_content"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="sense_break"><span class="sense_content">a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society<span class="vi"></span> </span></span></li></ul>In businesses, you find a variety of structures that help people interact and align to create value:<br /><ul><li>Organizational units and teams</li><li>Functional teams</li><li>Cross functional teams</li><li>Project teams</li><li>Ad hoc communities of practice</li><li>Informal associations and social relationships</li></ul>If we only recognize the traditional or formal "communities" or organizational structures in a business, we can easily end up managing and assessing only a fraction of the "real world" social activity and potential. Taking a view of all "communities" allows a more complete perspective of the known activity while adding a new capability to "sense" and influence <span style="font-weight: bold;">emerging </span>activities and events.<br /><br />One could view these various constructs through the lens of "community" to create a much richer, more comprehensive picture of the organization. Seeing an organization as a set of "communities" creates a powerful source of information about organizational design and behavior that can can be measured and then encouraged for sustainable, competitive value creation.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Accelerating Value Creation</span></span><br /><br />In knowledge-based industries, communities are not simply the facilitators of existing collateral, but also the engines for future content and expertise. In order to optimize the agency of communities, it is important to:<br /><ul><li>Identify and catalog the existing communities</li><li>Assess the health of specific communities</li><li>Provide an environment that supports community development and cooperation</li></ul>Concrete value is produced at the juncture where a community (via its members) uses its expertise to convert implicit knowledge into explicit products and artifacts. The conditions for accelerating this process, or scaling it include:<br /><ul><li>Visibility - how easy is it for others to see what you intend to do or are currently doing?</li><li>Openness - how easy is it for others to contribute to what you are doing or need to do?</li><li>Promotion - how ineffective are you at making others aware of your contribution and potential?</li></ul>These conditions result in an increased level of output quality and volume. We call this output the <span style="font-weight: bold;">contribution </span>of the community.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Measuring for Success</span><br /><br />The <span style="font-weight: bold;">health </span>of the community, or its potential for sustained contribution, can be measured by focusing on the following areas:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interaction Levels</span> - an assessment of the visibility, openness and promotional aspects of the community. It includes:</li><ul><li>Measuring new visitors to your community</li><li>Measuring contribution ratios and activity</li><li>Measuring dialogue and other forms of interaction</li></ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contribution Value</span> - an assessment of the output of the community. It includes:</li><ul><li>Measuring contribution levels</li><li>Measuring usage of content via access, ratings etc.</li></ul></ol>In my next post, we'll take a look at some practical tools and ideas you can use to create an environment that fosters community building. You'll be surprised at how executing simple principles and tools can generate significant short-term results, while reinforcing long-term productivity and innovation.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-20368741992033985732008-03-03T22:41:00.004-05:002008-11-19T01:55:49.908-05:00Six Sigma Under Tension<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv2t2S113kkd66NIF7GvfT2kgaKnp75cOpChcJbiOhvfQIkMWuA4RTPyfajTa7knJGNFQOmtZna-2wHrQler68m7cWDeZLCevT1xM60CzWx1oYsvwp5gHFoddZ4g5fPs0uvHaEw/s1600-h/314px-Six_sigma-2.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv2t2S113kkd66NIF7GvfT2kgaKnp75cOpChcJbiOhvfQIkMWuA4RTPyfajTa7knJGNFQOmtZna-2wHrQler68m7cWDeZLCevT1xM60CzWx1oYsvwp5gHFoddZ4g5fPs0uvHaEw/s200/314px-Six_sigma-2.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173739254706296178" border="0" /></a><br />A friend of mine passed along <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038406.htm">an insightful article</a> on the challenges of balancing efficiency and creativity at 3M. It describes how James McNerny, the previous CEO helped "turn-around" the failing stock price through aggressive cost cutting, discipline, and efficiency measures, modeled after successes realized at GE. This included the introduction of an army of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma">Six Sigma</a> "black belts" trained to measure and eek out every opportunity to improve the organization.<br /><br />The program had its desired result: predictability restored, conformance enforced, and profitability returned to target levels. Despite this success, dangerous side-effects were beginning to emerge. Break-through innovations were no longer the <a href="http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/our/company/information/history/century-innovation/">hallmark of 3M</a>, a company that regularly generated a large amount of its revenue from newly introduced products. Patents based on new research also began to dwindle.<br /><br />When McNerny left for a position in Boeing in 2005, he was replaced with George Buckley. Buckley has used his keen insight into the strengths of 3M to re-introduce policies and practices that encourage innovation. Under his guidance, <a href="http://www.ideafinder.com/features/century/3m.htm">3M is returning to it's innovative roots</a>, attempting to maintain a healthy balance between it's recently gained efficiency and former creativity.<br /><span class="text" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,univers;"><blockquote>"You cannot create in that atmosphere of confinement or sameness," Buckley says. "Perhaps one of the mistakes that we made as a company—it's one of the dangers of Six Sigma—is that when you value sameness more than you value creativity, I think you potentially undermine the heart and soul of a company like 3M."</blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;">There's plenty of lessons for innovation-driven companies seeking to balance creativity and efficiency, direct from the experience of 3M. Read the <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038406.htm">full article on Business Week.</a><br /></span></span>Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-22744870352421187332008-02-23T11:56:00.006-05:002008-11-19T01:55:50.065-05:00Success in Complexity - ScrumMost significant software development projects feel more like a ride on a roller-coaster than a managed success. We lay out the track, check that everyone's strapped in, and scream our way through the out-of-control ride. However, unlike the amusement park counterpart, we feel more frustrated than exhilarated when we step back out on the platform.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Power of SCRUM</span><br /><br />Does it have to be this way? Discipline and good engineering are definitely lacking in many contexts, but even where these are rigorously applied, there is ample dissatisfaction from excessive delays, lack of creativity, and the inability to adapt to changing circumstances. Perhaps there is an alternative that gives us the best of both worlds -- discipline for the known challenges and adaptability for the emerging ones?<br /><br />Enter <a href="http://www.controlchaos.com/">Scrum</a>, a set of software development practices and roles that use <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">agile principles</a> to empower teams to delivery high value on time. Combining flexible requirements prioritization techniques, intense levels of communication and time-boxed short development iterations (called "sprints"), Scrum has begun to demonstrate significant improvements in software delivery and quality output. It's no wonder more and more organizations are including Scrum practices into their core software development process.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.conchango.com/Admin/ImageGallery/blogs.conchango.com/Colin.Bird/Scrum%20Overview%20Diagram.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://blogs.conchango.com/Admin/ImageGallery/blogs.conchango.com/Colin.Bird/Scrum%20Overview%20Diagram.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Credit: <a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/colinbird/archive/2006/03/10/3058.aspx">Conchango </a></span><a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/colinbird/archive/2006/03/10/3058.aspx">-</a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/colinbird/archive/2006/03/10/3058.aspx"> Scrum on a Slide</a></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />Can Scrum Go Big?<br /></span><br />A common critique of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development">Agile methodologies</a>, is that they are optimized for small-scale, often co-located teams. Can the practices be scaled to large, multi-national projects with multiple interdependent teams. <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/">Salesforce.com </a>thought so. Using Scrum as the basis of their <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sgreene/salesforcecom-agile-transformation-agile-2007-conference/">Adaptive Development Methodology</a>, they were able to dramatically improve productivity in just a few months in an environment involving more than 200 R&D staff. The graph below summarizes their current experience.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3shoyXdEgnaAMzsKzwEZ_hSZdJzdyFUKjUdW1_NFI-5oHOdDd5PE62Pbnp5ELrW_uq0kkxl9HMC1YI69qJwnCGwthpcOhJ0jJ6PkHXKE7EtQIqAX1Tt-bspS1Bu9zudOXBf-cqQ/s1600-h/scrum1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3shoyXdEgnaAMzsKzwEZ_hSZdJzdyFUKjUdW1_NFI-5oHOdDd5PE62Pbnp5ELrW_uq0kkxl9HMC1YI69qJwnCGwthpcOhJ0jJ6PkHXKE7EtQIqAX1Tt-bspS1Bu9zudOXBf-cqQ/s320/scrum1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170228556374590322" border="0" /></a><br />Others are also documenting their experiences and designs for scaling Scrum. Folks like Colin Bird at <a href="http://www.conchango.com/">Conchango</a> have been thinking hard about these challenges. Read his posts on <a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/colinbird/archive/2006/11/21/Scaling-Agile-_1320_-Part-1.aspx">Scaling Agility</a> to take full advantage of these insights. He has put together a collection of helpful materials in <a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/colinbird/attachment/9099.ashx">the presentation </a>created for the recent London Scrum Gathering.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Get Moving</span><br /><br />If you are not already experimenting with Agile methodologies, it may not yet be too late. However, in the emerging complexity of globalization and disruptive markets, you can't afford not to take full advantage of every opportunity for sustained success and productivity.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-66522263771751732732008-02-16T21:34:00.000-05:002008-11-19T01:56:11.821-05:00Why CRM is the New Project Management<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0T-Yv0a2c3IS916-OQaY-HcqqbOoAixGAw2P25O2C5_7oHoLxKskKYJ9aoOwpFD0DH9A5vNxfuWfTD7zsqc01U41pSrhxWOf4lWSKoh4fCAnwJoweoYsMgw6DDkPsBpFYcZYLg/s1600-h/Crystal_Clear_app_browser.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0T-Yv0a2c3IS916-OQaY-HcqqbOoAixGAw2P25O2C5_7oHoLxKskKYJ9aoOwpFD0DH9A5vNxfuWfTD7zsqc01U41pSrhxWOf4lWSKoh4fCAnwJoweoYsMgw6DDkPsBpFYcZYLg/s200/Crystal_Clear_app_browser.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167775142206096210" border="0" /></a>Well, not quite... but definitely getting closer. I've been having the pleasure of playing with Highrise, an innovative CRM (Customer Relationship Management) offering by <a href="http://www.37signals.com/">37Signals</a>, the makers of Basecamp and sponsors of <a href="http://www.rubyonrails.com/">Ruby on Rails</a>. As my initial experiment with <a href="http://www.highrisehq.com/?source=37s+home">Highrise</a> turned into serious reliance, I realized something magical was at play.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Project's Not the Real Challenge</span></span><br /><br />Here is the magic, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the people are the project!</span> Of course, defining what we know about the project is still critically important. Goals, milestones, and work breakdown structures are still highly useful for the known elements of the project. However, as any experienced Project Manager will tell you, project success is primarily about <span style="font-weight: bold;">managing the people and managing the unknown</span>. This is where some of the core elements of CRM are extremely helpful.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x8M3IiKnCrLOSYVmti3vAsKkOfuLRmAVZSBt-SIeZhyphenhyphenF6SILAogmLqPXOWRnajVNj2ke54olhfdcw1g_D-a4n9_MDNMjE5sBHZCqH_CnWMDpFN-9Y57h7EPjT3Su76I88mTQXQ/s1600-h/logo-highrise.png"><img style="margin: 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x8M3IiKnCrLOSYVmti3vAsKkOfuLRmAVZSBt-SIeZhyphenhyphenF6SILAogmLqPXOWRnajVNj2ke54olhfdcw1g_D-a4n9_MDNMjE5sBHZCqH_CnWMDpFN-9Y57h7EPjT3Su76I88mTQXQ/s200/logo-highrise.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167776258897593186" border="0" /></a>The focus of CRM is the people (traditionally in the form of leads and contacts). Highrise lets you quickly organize your tasks and communications around individuals, making the social dynamics of your project highly visible. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Project success</span> is really about <a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2008/02/managing-unknown.html">managing </a><a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2008/02/managing-unknown.html">complexity</a>, a combination of discipline and sensing, of tracking the known and dealing with emergence.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >We haven't quite arrived</span><br /><br />The folks at <a href="http://www.rolemodellers.com/">HumanEdj</a> get this as well. They organize projects around human interaction. The tools are clunky, but it's great to see things moving in the right direction.<br /><br />So, what does innovative project management look like?<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Highly visible social network.</span> Highly visible interaction management, including how people are collaborating both within and on the fringes of the project.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prioritized participant views.</span> All communications, activity, and knowledge contribution needs to be grouped for each individual, allowing easy views of consolidation.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Activity metrics.</span> Instead of simply measuring progress to defined schedules and dates, add metrics of emerging contribution and interaction activity.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Empowered project managers</span>. Provide decision support data for the real challenges of project management, behavioural analysis and emerging risks or opportunities.</li></ol>I'm excited about this fusion of socially aware, task driven capabilities. And even though we're still missing the killer app for large scale, leading edge project management, we're close to having all the ingredients necessary for the recipe. Along with my <a href="http://theweeklyreview.ca/2008/02/08/gtd-with-highrise/">innovating contemporaries</a>, I'll be fully engaged with pushing these tools towards meeting the challenges we face in the real world every day.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-78148052749808564092008-02-10T23:50:00.000-05:002008-11-19T01:56:11.917-05:00Managing the UnknownWe've become experts at managing what we know. To achieve our goals, we break down the work and carefully measure our progress. We squeeze out efficient business practices and powerful system architecture through rigorous planning, testing and execution. But it's not good enough. Are we not often blindsided by the unforeseen? And isn't it true that most of the really valuable discoveries seem to be things we inadvertently trip over, almost by happenstance?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Managing Complexity</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5T9r0mcNc255BXuYWXM0XQa_G4cJZYkQQ_jX-ArPG8Y7gr1SZ8SdZHf9Er9NrzIfrIk_6UyRV7fKBezmVb2faT7n_DiU6fLsKlI-DWaSeqqIE0ZqOQdt9q8FBefwhiBhFDSuzQ/s1600-h/Cynefin.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5T9r0mcNc255BXuYWXM0XQa_G4cJZYkQQ_jX-ArPG8Y7gr1SZ8SdZHf9Er9NrzIfrIk_6UyRV7fKBezmVb2faT7n_DiU6fLsKlI-DWaSeqqIE0ZqOQdt9q8FBefwhiBhFDSuzQ/s200/Cynefin.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165211652320772930" border="0" /></a>Rather than relegating these circumstances to luck or fate, complexity science offers us some insights into how to manage the unknown. This is the premise of the recent HBR article published by Dave Snowden and Mary Boone, entitled "<a href="http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=R0711C">A Leader's Framework for Decision Making</a>". The authors suggest that by identifying the context of a business situation, leaders can consciously choose an appropriate management approach:<br /><blockquote><ul><li><b>Simple</b>, in which the relationship between cause and effect is obvious to all, the approach is to <i>Sense - Categorise - Respond</i> and we can apply <i>best</i> practice.</li><li><b>Complicated</b>, in which the relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge, the approach is to <i>Sense - Analyze - Respond</i> and we can apply <i>good</i> practice.</li><li><b>Complex</b>, in which the relationship between cause and effect can only be perceived in retrospect, but not in advance, the approach is to <i>Probe - Sense - Respond</i> and we can sense <i>emergent</i> practice.</li><li><b>Chaotic</b>, in which there is no relationship between cause and effect at systems level, the approach is to <i>Act - Sense - Respond</i> and we can discover <i>novel</i> practice.</li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;">graphic and descriptions from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin">Cynefin article on Wikipedia</a></span></blockquote>Don't have access the HBR article? Read <a href="http://blog.pennlive.com/shoptalkmarketing/2007/11/hbr_article_demonstrates_that.html">this review by John Caddell</a> or the original <a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/423/kurtz.html">white paper</a> published in the IBM Systems Journal.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Bottom Line</span><br /><br />Evaluate your business challenges relevant to its complexity. Are you applying the appropriate management disciplines in each situation? We'll take a further look at some emergent practices for handling complexity in upcoming articles...Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-19938718497153402112008-02-02T13:09:00.001-05:002008-11-19T01:56:12.146-05:00Making a Mesh - Social Computing in Business<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRix_ky7Cf8dKlcXIdZhRQB2ePSABdbomN6K_lEXA1Amj_VfCkjdRpcsFP7JLtEh8pHzjDB1G5AqM0rPVO7yik8MwhfZX0tvmhsVHibkL7k2bCAQcbM82Ply6uFJO8GHQvepRjA/s1600-h/mesh.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRix_ky7Cf8dKlcXIdZhRQB2ePSABdbomN6K_lEXA1Amj_VfCkjdRpcsFP7JLtEh8pHzjDB1G5AqM0rPVO7yik8MwhfZX0tvmhsVHibkL7k2bCAQcbM82Ply6uFJO8GHQvepRjA/s200/mesh.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162517630492747970" border="0" /></a>After viewing <a href="http://blog.ted.com/2008/01/robin_chase.php">Robin Chase's video</a> on how wireless <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_network">mesh networks</a> could help reduce global warming, I was struck by how the characteristics of mesh networks are related to human interaction improvements in the business world.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >What is a Mesh Network or Meshwork?</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-K2_XrGdgTjw4GpCpCbw7fLhaRb0uW-SYLzqWl0Rjhyphenhyphenk32Dx1gW1nZPZICBiyPcyB_XeJF5Y3PnwS43V_vkwtKr6RLC6JX-1PlkbJhjmop1kdRPmI0PRCa6VGEyy6ELs6eHgSw/s1600-h/NetworkTopology-Mesh.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 95px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-K2_XrGdgTjw4GpCpCbw7fLhaRb0uW-SYLzqWl0Rjhyphenhyphenk32Dx1gW1nZPZICBiyPcyB_XeJF5Y3PnwS43V_vkwtKr6RLC6JX-1PlkbJhjmop1kdRPmI0PRCa6VGEyy6ELs6eHgSw/s200/NetworkTopology-Mesh.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162517626197780658" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Mesh_Networks#Meshworks_are_different_from_P2P_Networks">Meshworks</a> are highly distributed networks of devices which connect to each other without prior infrastructure. Let's apply some of the characteristics of mesh networks to our innovation design for human networks in the business context.<br /><br />Characteristics of mesh networks include the following:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Many possible interconnections.</span> Any node can connect to any other node. Connections are dynamic and temporary.<br /><ul><li>People have many dynamic and temporary interactions with a variety of others, both within and outside of the organization. By <span style="font-weight: bold;">increasing presence awareness</span>, through capabilities, such as instant messaging and self-publishing, it is possible to dramatically improve the frequency and range of interactions.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Nodes have purpose and intelligence.</span> Nodes are able to make decisions in near real time. Nodes handle the routing for each other.<br /><ul><li>Recognizing that <a href="http://howardlenos.blogspot.com/2007/11/people-are-product-part-1-momentum.html">people are dynamic knowledge repositories</a> allows us to <span style="font-weight: bold;">design collaboration contexts</span> that encourage contribution by everyone in the network. Not only do people regularly route a variety of information, they also have the propensity to add substantial value to the content they transfer.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Self healing.</span> Nodes are able to self-discover alternate paths for routing information to other nodes. if any node fails, another will take its place.<br /><ul><li>Word of mouth is a powerful, and efficient communication vehicle. By complementing this effect with <span style="font-weight: bold;">knowledge "watering holes"</span>, promotional information and interest hubs, we create multiple opportunities for discovery and self-organization. In addition, allowing everyone to <span style="font-weight: bold;">build expertise awareness</span> on each participant, creates opportunities for access to the right person without predetermining the context. Traditionally, companies have either ignored or suppressed these ad-hoc channels, often seeing them as unreliable, undermining official communications. Instead we need to <span style="font-weight: bold;">encourage, promote, and influence</span> these channels to accelerate communication throughout the organization and beyond.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Resilient. </span>Nodes are free to communicate with any other node at any time, regardless of location, creating robust communication grids.<br /><ul><li>Leveraging <span style="font-weight: bold;">open, highly visible collaboration and communication technologies</span> such as Wikis, shared development environments, and visible interaction systems, creates virtual presence and improved access to all participants. Visibility automatically increases peer accountability and overall performance.<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Latency and Scaling.</span> Open protocols and dynamic routing can create interference and delays as the number of nodes increases.<br /><ul><li>Efficiently <span style="font-weight: bold;">capturing knowledge flow and interactions</span> is essential for capturing the collective knowledge and experience across the network. State of the art content management systems, and semantic decision support provide the necessary infrastructure to create persistence of content, making large scale interaction viable.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Beyond the Mesh</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br />There is a lot of buzz around the potential of large scale mesh networks, despite the challenges that still have to be solved. Similarly, we are already experiencing the potential of networks where <span style="font-weight: bold;">people are the ultimate network nodes</span>. Understanding these dynamics will help unleash new levels of innovation and value for businesses of all sizes.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3509893.post-3592139066547811722008-01-26T10:05:00.000-05:002008-11-19T01:56:12.454-05:00Looking for Intelligence<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2CK7xHrE-cvegrR1UbwjpiLCw9RiAJbQT6IQIPKYV35_AoS3mE88D02lkRbiDOWZetrHFtdNa5ISekFpW61kGc8wKGD5o2oeA7VsN6ivUTtFBBp_-QxRAyXOu5mzOL6_RKj08g/s1600-h/seti.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2CK7xHrE-cvegrR1UbwjpiLCw9RiAJbQT6IQIPKYV35_AoS3mE88D02lkRbiDOWZetrHFtdNa5ISekFpW61kGc8wKGD5o2oeA7VsN6ivUTtFBBp_-QxRAyXOu5mzOL6_RKj08g/s200/seti.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159855867460724850" border="0" /></a>I am fascinated by the emerging thinking about how to individually and corporately thrive in complex environments. A common thread in these discussions is the growing dissatisfaction around our experience of optimizing known processes and activities. It seems that the more we use technology to eliminate one type of human effort, the more we need new human capabilities to bridge the glaring gaps. This awareness manifests itself in a variety of contexts:<br /><ul><li>Highly controlled sequential development <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs. </span>Agile methodologies</li><li>Capability maturity <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs. </span>Value innovation</li><li>Rigorously implemented workflow <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs.</span> Adaptable decision support</li><li>Six sigma continuous improvement <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs. </span>Creative process innovation</li><li>Business intelligence data <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs.</span> Business process management</li><li>Enterprise Project management <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs.</span> Dynamic social collaboration</li><li>Directed leadership <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs. </span>The wisdom of crowds</li><li>Tightly integrated implementations <span style="font-weight: bold;">vs. </span>Autonomous loosely coupled services<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >It's Not a War</span><br /><br />Although the proponents of any emphasis tend to aggressively critique their novel counterparts, I believe their fear is largely misplaced. We need to keep <span style="font-weight: bold;">both the baby and the bathwater</span>. When dealing with complexity, it is imperative to <span>simultaneously</span>:<br /><ol><li>Maximize the efficiency of what is known, and</li><li>Maximize the probability of successfully leveraging the unknown</li></ol><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Human Body Metaphor</span><br /><br />Andy Moore, uses a very helpful metaphor in his <a href="http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=40461">January 2008 KM World article</a> on business process management. Here he compares human physiology with these business realities:<br /><blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DnpVbbnU-E3EqFibxo6Zuu7cGgsBLMx8garNZSSFl0E5GO95aD5Fg5IRq-3rpmzNlXdn-z_eyLXRY3uEAqn5mdjeNEyeoc_7SHyI_-8YkTi8ZwlarI2Iq5kxpZUAvDueeMUa2A/s1600-h/post_musculature.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DnpVbbnU-E3EqFibxo6Zuu7cGgsBLMx8garNZSSFl0E5GO95aD5Fg5IRq-3rpmzNlXdn-z_eyLXRY3uEAqn5mdjeNEyeoc_7SHyI_-8YkTi8ZwlarI2Iq5kxpZUAvDueeMUa2A/s200/post_musculature.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159856644849805442" border="0" /></a>[mature data and workflow implementations..] represent only brain-stem functions—the autonomic respiration and blood flow that continue to pound away in the daily existence of the organism... But—excuse me while I completely beat this metaphor to death—what do you do about the immediate, real-time response to environmental stimuli? The observation, reflexes and response to the changing influences that come at you from all directions? For that you need higher brain functions—you need sight, hearing and touch to protect the body corpus from the elements. </blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Learning from Design</span><br /><br />I think we have much to learn from the design of humans and our capabilities (physical and otherwise). To navigate today's complex challenges, businesses need to improve their "senses", tuning their corporate ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, heightening the awareness of what's happening around us. We need to be incredibly introspective to be self-aware and adaptable. And, as an organization, <span style="font-weight: bold;">we need enhanced cognitive and intuitive abilities</span> to discover patterns and and identify emerging threads of opportunity that emerge. Thankfully, decision support technologies like <a href="http://www.bptrends.com/">Business Process Management</a> and <a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/">Semantic Web</a> capabilities are accelerating these corporate "higher brain functions".<br /><br />Perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that the <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Universe&tag=livibydesi-20&index=books-ca&linkCode=ur2&camp=15121&creative=330641">universe itself</a> seems to be a combination of precisely engineered dynamics and seemingly disconnected activities. There is much to observe and much benefit to be derived by applying what we learn.<br /><br />As the folks at <a href="http://www.sensemaker-suite.com/index.htm">Cognitive Edge</a> remind us:<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"Serendipity is a human quality"</span></blockquote>And, as we continue this journey of discovery, you might just discover that there is, in fact, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Intelligence out there</span>.Howard Lenoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04822405577117240936noreply@blogger.com0