Blogging, tweets, journaling, writing and what it takes to make me effective.  Until I was into my doctoral studies, writing was something I did after thinking.  My thoughts were kept in my mental diary and pieces were delivered for whichever requirement I had to meet.  Call it a school project, work project, or something for family/friends.

Part of understanding comes from writing.  “Writing is thinking”.  I’ve found that writing is thinking; let go – forget punctuation and grammar – and just keep the pen, pencil, or keyboard moving.  Something worthwhile may surface and don’t throw out what is written – since I’ve been writing papers and blogging, the worthwhile items surface over time. 

At first, I would have a set time when I would write.  Now, my typical procedure is free-write; reflecting on an idea/thought as quickly as possible to keep the cognitive development flowing. 

So find a safe place to journal.  I like using my blog.  I have public pages and private pages which are searchable.  My public pages have increased my level of engagement with others and has made a difference in my learning.

Thank You for listening.

With a new year approaching, it’s good to reflect and get motivated.  Do you need some words of advice, some items that will help you focus, and some energy to turn things around? 

Seth along with 70 big thinkers have shared their ideas in a free ebook to help you head into the new year.  It’s free, download it here and visit Seth’s write-up here.  Need some fresh reading for the holidays, Here’s a lens with all the links to books by the authors.

Happy Holidays.

[local copy of “What Matters Now”]  

are little ideas that no one killed too soon.

Thank You for listening.

Don’t have time to blog and tweet?  I’m focused on my blog and don’t have time to repost via a tweet. 

There's a service – twitterfeed.  It’s free; I will keep you posted on how well it works. 

Thank You for listening.

… Update … it worked! Twitter snapshot below:

When a situation goes sour or the outcome is not optimal, often the overseers go looking for accountability.  Often, this search is driven down the organization chain to the lowest entity. 

Instead of taking the item of concern and building a chain of responsibility, to use for reflection and improvement, accountability is pushed down like the curse of the rotten potato. 

On an outing to a buffet, me and two colleagues (Ed, Eddie: kids show called Ed, Ed, and Eddie :-) went out to lunch.  Each ordered a baked potato (free, so why not).  After the drinks arrived, the trio approached the buffet and filled up their plates.  Shortly after, the potatoes arrived.

After the waiter departed, Ed noticed that his potato looked rather… odd.  He smelled it and the odor was repulsive.  Of course, everyone wanted a chance to smell the rotten potato.

The waiter delivered a replacement potato.  Ed smelled his “new potato” and it was “rotten” also.  I tried to convince Ed to report the second rotten potato, but instead Eddie offered to eat it for him. 

Meanwhile, I was beaming that my potato was, as I described it, “flawless”.  I decided to offer my potato to Ed, but he declared that it smelled rotten also.  I could not understand.  The other potatoes did indeed smell rotten, but mine smelled, as I put it, “like a potato”.

During the rest of the meal, Eddie with, my iron-stomach can-eat-anything abandoned the second rotten potato, Ed announced that the pineapple wasn’t ripe and that the lettuce was soggy, and I announced that the restaurant’s trademark rolls were hard.

By the end of the meal, our stack of plates, many of which still held uneaten food, had overflowed onto the neighboring table.  The waiter finally came to take some plates away but the accumulated stack of plates in his hands slipped out of his grasp and crashed onto the floor.  After picking up the broken pieces of plates, the waiter said “it’s just one of those days”. 

Despite the fact that we had a bad experience in terms of food, we thought it was funny we didn’t think of filling out a comment sheet.

The story rings true for many.  It’s interesting to see that people are better at putting up with things that happen than taking the time to fill out the “comment sheet”.  To eat the rotten potato to avoid confronting the situation.  Instead of contributing and getting the team to note what’s wrong and what’s right: to see everything as rotten. 

What if we had taken the time to fill out the comment sheet?  Would the owner have investigated where he purchased the rotten potatoes?  Additional checks to make sure they don’t get to the cook?  Additional instructions to the chief to dry the lettuce?  Help for the waiter so he didn’t have dual responsibilities?   Who is accountable?

Thank You for listening.

Wallah as defined by Webster:

Noun 1. (India) usually in combination: person in charge of or employed at a particular thing: "a kitchen wallah"; "the book wallah"; “chai wallah”.

In our day-to-day lives, it is tempting to say “Yes” I can do that.  That, may include coding a requirement, writing a blog, fixing the front door, or many other items.  Sometimes, we call a person a “generalist” when they can transform their skills to accomplish many different tasks. 

Seth talks about the idea of a chai wallah.  A person who succeeds or fails on the performance of one task – selling spiced tea.  Maybe we call such focused people “specialist”; when you go all in, it focuses your attention and effort.

Go talk with Mrs. X, she can solve just about anything.  Mr. Z can complete that for you – he does that for everyone and knows all the tricks.  Which stereotype fits you?  Depends on what motivates you.

Working on my dissertation, I was focused.  Speaking at events – it was great having in-depth knowledge on a subject.  This is a must in the academia world, you must specialize in the subject at hand to get the grant.

Working in the industry, I’ve played both roles.  I’ve developed products which specialized in a given market for a given tasks.  It was great selling that suite of products to many companies.  Working for start-ups and small companies, I’ve created customized solutions for unique individuals.  If you have many of such projects up in the air, it can be frustrating and exhilarating. 

Look at swarming, first the population is randomly scattered over the search space.  After running the simulation for awhile, if you set your parameters correctly, the swarm begins to focus on given solutions.  I think the same is true in many situations.  At the start of a new adventure, you randomly deploy your efforts and as you get better – you begin to see the specialized solutions that may work for you. 

Thank You for listening.

As of August 2009 I am officially done!  It was a long trail, 5 years.  It was an exhausting and amazing journey filled with incredible events and struggles.  How I did it: a wonderful support system. 

My first weekend with no dissertation writing and no job related work!  I’m out of here. 

Thank You for listening.     

In most interactions, we take a defensive posture. We try to defend or position. The problem with defense is that it's static and time consuming. The best way to get smarter, is to first embrace an idea and then replace.  Think about how you could take a scientific approach/method to such interactions.

Ask yourself, "what do I believe that's wrong? How can I change the way I do things?  How are others doing things?  What is their position? What works? What doesn't?"

If you enter a conversation looking for something to test, measure, and change, you will find it - probably much more. On the other hand, if you enter a conversation concerned about maintaining the status quo, it's likely that this is exactly what you're going to do.  Be scientific with your approach, this will position you to keep the cheap talk at bay.  Beware, it is easy to poke holes but takes more effort to build a position. 

How to recognize an ineffective opposition?  The screaming is a key part, because screaming is often a tool used to balance out the ignorance of someone parroting opposition to an idea that they don't understand. It's essential that you know more about the topic at hand than everyone else, not less. Be skeptical, but be informed. Screaming ignorance gets attention, but it distracts us from the work at hand.

If you want to change what your tribe believes, or the strategy your company is following, the first step is to get smarter and be the best informed person in the room.  Take a scientific approach for your ideas and this will position you to get your ideas heard; even if you are the quiet member.

Thank You for listening.

Olympic relay races are often won by teams whose members do not have the fastest aggregate times. At some point you have to decide whether to run your guts out and literally not be able to see straight when you pass the baton; or whether to hold something back to make a better baton-change and enable your team-mate to run a faster time. The value of this sort of decision-making – each individual's contribution to the team – is beyond measure.

This is true when developing a product.  Solution providers are focusing more on how the organization interfaces with partners and clients. When you purchase a product or a service that relies on effective data transfer across the organization, you know how frustrating it can be when those interfaces are cumbersome, inefficient or otherwise broken.  Plug standards into your product strategy.  Develop Interface Agreements.

Thank You for listening.

In our fast moving world, our culture is to move fast and consume more.  Same rings true in our software development processes; the templates and boilerplate lists start to flow and soon a schedule is stamp with approval. 

Often, we look at the lists and see some missing items that have rang true over the years.  Often, we look at the list and say “Wow, what a full list of tasks” – our bucket of hours for the day are filled to the rim.  Often over stuffed. 

Think about your schedule.  Is there room for the unexpected?  You get a call because a drive just failed, the flu sneaks up on you, your client would like to discuss a great opportunity, or you want to take your family out to the ballgame before the summer is over.  Look, my schedule is full yet when my boss schedules a critical review – suddenly there’s room.

Please help me understand, if there’s time for emergencies, why isn’t there time for thinking?

Thank You for listening.