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    Monday
    Jul252011

    A Pocketful of Zen Lessons

    Many years ago a former colleague gave me the book you see in the picture on the right, it is called 'Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership', a small (so small fits in your pocket), book of Zen stories and tales meant to be a guide to 'enlightened conduct for people in positions of authority, based on the teachings of several great Zen masters of China.' It is kind of an interesting little book, and while I don't claim to understand all that much about Zen, seeing as my entire education in Zen has been this pocket book and close and repeated examinations of the 'putting lesson' scene in Caddyshack, I have managed to keep this book with me through several moves, jobs, and life changes.

    To get an idea of the kinds of Leadership Lessons encompassed in the tiny book, check out some of the wise sayings from the Zen lessons:

    On not ignoring small problems in hopes they will just disappear or remedy themselves: 'Even dripping water, if it does not stop, can turn an orchard into a lake'.

    On selecting a mentor : 'You should always follow a leader that is a little better than you, to be alerted to what you have not yet reached.'

    And lastly, on seeking and accepting feedback from peer and from followers: 'Only the foolish dislike to hear how they are wrong and only expect unquestioning obedience from their communities.'

    I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Actually I couldn't go on and on very long, it is only a pocket book of Zen Leadership Lessons after all, certainly not meant to serve as anything more than reminders or examples of more universal kinds of truths that I imagine would take years and years to master. Which takes us to another question entirely - how much of something do you need to know in order to know enough of what you need to know?

    But regardless for some reason this little pocket book has stuck with me though the years, and while I can't necessarily point to any specific occasions where I have applied the lessons in business or leadership situations, I can be sure the lessons have served me well. Simply having the book around is kind of comforting in a way. I suppose it is the equivalent of a good luck charm or even my version of the 'red stapler' from Office Space. No matter what jobs, projects, challenges that have come the Zen Lessons have always been there, available to assist if needed.

    What about you guys? Do you have your own version of the pocket book of Zen? What little guides or good luck charms do you make sure travel with you as you move through your careers? 

    I can't be the only weird one.

    Right?

     

    Friday
    Jul222011

    Five for Friday - July 21, 2011

    Every week it seems like I read about 47,000 blog posts, articles, press releases etc. all in my continued quest to provide you, loyal readers, with ideas and insights to help, inform, or amuse you. But each week also, I am lucky if I can draw on at most 4 or 5 of these pieces that might eventually become the basis for posts, the rest slip off into the ether.  Sure, I share some of the links on Twitter and Facebook, but we all know how fleeting those media can be.

    So today I thought I'd do a classic 'Links to 5 articles I thought were interesting this week' take, so that at least I could find a way to share and promote some of the great stuff I read. But then I thought about it for a minute more and realized the 'Here are 5 links' posts are pretty weak, a little tired, and sort of a blogger's way of raising the white flag of 'I have no more good ideas this week. I surrender.'

    But then while I was debating this, (the mental debate was at least 43 seconds), I remembered a neat little presentation-type tool I read about this week that might make my little '5 links' post just a bit more interesting.  Below is the embed of the tool and the links, more details on what it is and how you can try it out after the jump). Email and RSS subscribers may need to click through and there is a little arrow on the upper right corner of the slideshow to use for navigation.

    Steve's Top 5 (or really 7) Reads of the week:

    Pretty cool right? 

    The tool is from a web service called Slidestaxx, and it allows the user to create embeddable and shareable slideshows from multimedia and social web content. Sign up for a free account, and in minutes you are creating a cool slideshow that can consist of online images, video, website links, and more. Add a short little description to each slide, (about the length of a Tweet), and publish.  You can then share your slideshow on social media, share a direct URL link, and grab the embed code to use on your site.

    All told, I think it is a nice improvement from the list of hyperlinks.

    Give Slidestaxx a try and let me know what you think.  And check out the 5, (really 7), links in my Slidetaxx presentation above.

    Have a great weekend!

    Thursday
    Jul212011

    Protecting the Boss - A Shaving Cream Tale

    The News Corporation 'hackgate' scandal is a mess, both figuratively and by virtue of a classic 'shaving cream in the face' gimmick, literally as well. In case you need a little refresher course, ('It's all ball bearings these days'), during Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch's appearance at a British parliament inquiry into the various alleged improprieties at the now defunct News of the World newspaper, a wacky protester rushed the Murdoch's table, and attempted to give 'ol Rupert an old-fashioned shaving cream face wash.

    Check the below video to see what transpired - (email and RSS subscribers click through)

    Pretty wild and interesting to me for two points. One, after the shaving cream incident you can hear the chairperson of the hearing announce a 10-minute break in the proceedings. Ten whole minutes? Only seconds after an apparently deranged man attempts some kind of assault in a parliamentary hearing, and there is no way anyone could have totally processed the situation and ongoing threat level, the chairperson announces a 10-minute recess? Gutsy. If that kind of incident happened in the US Congress, we'd be at a standstill for days, maybe weeks while a new inquiry led by a blue-ribbon 'Commission on Shaving Cream Incidents' is formed and begins an investigation.

    The second point of interest in the clip - check out Rupert Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng leap into action and toss a right hand haymaker in the direction of the assailant. Quick, decisive, powerful - and from the sounds on the video, it seems like she did make contact and swatted the guy. Sure, it would be natural and correct to interpret Ms. Deng's actions as the reflex of someone instinctively protecting a loved one, and while extremely commendable, it doesn't seem all that unusual. I think most of us would react similarly if we sensed a spouse, child, or anyone else close to us was in imminent physical danger.

    But if we spin this just a little differently, and indulge a bit of extension outside of the familial bonds here and think about the organizational ones, a slightly different take emerges. In the entirety of this ongoing News Corporation hacking scandal it is pretty much impossible to find any actor that will emerge from this looking good. The Murdochs themselves appear at worst complicit, and at best, ineffectual and out of touch with what their managers and executives were doing. Variously the police and politicians that are caught up in this might find themselves out on the street, their reputations and long-term career prospects significantly diminished.

    But you know who looks good in all this? At least to someone from outside the UK that might not be as intimately aware of the full details of the story? That's right - Wendi Deng.

    Think about her actions in the video in the broader context of career and organizational advice you have probably heard for ages - protect the boss, think about how you can make the boss' life easier, how you can get ahead by understanding your boss' objectives and how you can best help him/her achieve them.

    If you look at it that way, wouldn't you want to have someone like Ms. Deng sitting next to you at the next big board meeting?

    Wednesday
    Jul202011

    Welcome Back - News from Steve

    Requesting your kind indulgence today, as I have some personal news to report today on the blog.

    Recently I accepted a position with Oracle Corporation, working in the Fusion HCM Product Strategy team, and I will start in my new role next week. I am excited by the opportunity to work with such a fantastic team of Human Resources technology professionals, and with a set of new technologies in Fusion HCM that are driving innovation, capability, efficiency, and business insight for organizational leaders and managers. The Oracle Fusion HCM team has spent several years designing and building an incredible set of applications, and I am thrilled at the chance to help continue the momentum, and help customers with their critical Human Resources and Talent Management initiatives.

    Some of you might know that I have a long history of working with Oracle Applications, from my earliest days with AT&T implementing what now seems like a quaint 'green screen' Oracle Apps version 10.4 in the dusty desert city of Riyadh in the 90s. That project was simultaneously my first real experience with a true enterprise-class set of technologies, and my first taste of seeing up close how the implementation of the right technologies, by the right people having a shared commitment to the desired outcomes could truly transform an organization. It was the perfect project to get introduced to the world of enterprise software, large enough to have significance in the organization, but with just enough self-governance and individual accountability to keep the engagement levels high, and the spirit of teamwork alive.

    Eventually I moved back home from Riyadh, and continued to work with Oracle Applications for most of the ensuing stops in my career, (including working for Oracle Consulting directly), in roles ranging from client implementations, project management, enterprise HRIS management, and more.  But even as the geographies, industries, and responsibilities changed for me, I consistently stayed close, (some might say loyal), to the set of Oracle technologies that I first encountered many years before on a 115 degree day in Riyadh. Consistently, I derived the most satisfaction by learning new technologies, working with clients to assess their needs and goals, and finding and delivering solutions that could help them to meet these goals. And sure, getting the chance to 'play' with cool new tools is always fun.

    So for me, to return to Oracle, and to work with Oracle Fusion HCM Applications at this point in my career is, I think, a natural fit. As I said, the Fusion HCM team is the best in the space, (sure I am biased), and the Fusion HCM Applications that have been delivered, and the ones that are on the way, are on the absolute cutting edge of our industry. I am looking forward to the chance to contribute to the team, and most importantly to be back helping customers achieve their goals.

    Some other notes, (continuing the navel-gazing theme of this post), I do plan on keeping this blog active here, contributing to Fistful of Talent, and continuing to produce and host the HR Happy Hour Show, (although I am taking tomorrow night off).  In time there may be some changes to one or both of these projects, we will just have to see how that develops. Going forward, I will have to manage and determine my participation in other events and projects that I have been associated with in the past and balance the needs and objectives of my employer and our objectives. But I do plan on remaining active and visible in the HCM community, and look forward to continued engagement and dialogue with the many, many fantastic and intelligent people it has been my great pleasure to come to know in the last few years.

    Lastly, I wanted to say thanks to all the fantastic friends, colleagues, blog readers, show listeners for the assistance, kind words, advice and counsel over the last several weeks. One thing I have learned for sure is the value and power of community, and I am humbled and appreciative for all the generosity directed to me. I only hope that I can find a way to repay at least some of the good Karma in the future.

    That's it for now - tomorrow we are back to our regularly scheduled program of technology, innovative ideas, basketball, and barbecue.

    Have a great day!

    Tuesday
    Jul192011

    Are you wearing a wire? Tracking Employee Interaction Digitally

    These days it seems most organizational leaders have bought in at least conceptually to the idea that improvements in employee collaboration - discovery of ideas, sharing best practices across internal silos, unearthing insights from the far corners of the firm, and so on, is likely to increase in importance and urgency in the coming years, as almost all organizations try to do more work with less people.The Sociometric Badge - no you don't have to tape it on under your shirt

    Sure, a raft of technologies have emerged in just the last few years to facilitate and support employee collaboration, (Yammer, Jive, Socialcast, etc.), and while these tools and others like them all have some excellent features and capabilities, they are limited in scope by their digital nature. We can use tools like these to develop, share, track, and interact, and we can measure and report metrics about those interactions, but as systems that rely (mainly), on computer-generated and supported inputs, (individual status updates, shares of a document, group edits of content, etc.), they still miss capturing a key aspect of employee collaboration, namely actual meetings and conversations between peers and in group settings. 

    A new approach towards better understanding these 'real-life' employee (and customer) interactions, created by a company called Sociometric Solutions a wearable device called the 'Sociometric Badge' attempts to bridge this gap between analog conversations and digital collaboration tools and data sets by recording and assessing the information captured in a proprietary framework for further analysis and action.

    More information about the capability of the Sociometric Badge from the Sociometric Solutions website:

    Using a variety of sensors, the Sociometric Badge is capable of, among other things, capturing face-to-face interactions, extracting social signals from speech and body movement, and measuring the proximity and relative location of users.

    The process seems pretty straighforward. Turn up at the office in the morning, check your email and voicemail, then just before heading over to the office pantry for a cup of thin, industrial coffee, place the Sociometric Badge around your neck and the badge will begin recording how much you talk (versus how much you listen); it will gauge how much you sit versus how much you move around; and an infrared sensor will track how often you're facing other people also wearing the badges.

    After a period of data collection, about a month or two, the folks at Sociometric Solutions will use their analytics platform that combines Sociometric Badges information, e-mail traffic analytics, and other proprietary data collection methods to provide individual and group visualization dashboards. The idea being that these dashboards will provide organizations a more complete view of collaborative behaviors and interactions, than simple monitoring and metrics of purely digital forms of communication like shared wikis, activity streams, or email alone.

    Sociometric Solutions points to a case study from Bank of America where that found that call center workers who interacted more with their colleagues felt less stressed, handled calls more quickly, but had equivalent customer approval ratings to those who didn't interact as much. Addtionally, Bank of America scheduled employees' breaks so that they could interact and talk with one another more often throughout the day. 

    It is an interesting, if possibly instrusive approach, but one that makes perfect sense that people have been collaboratively solving problems, determining solutions, and generating innovative new breakthoughs for ages by simply talking to each other.

    It could be the next great breakthrough in harnessing the collaborative power of the enterprise won't be limited to rolling out the next 'Internal Facebook' tool, it might be simply gaining a better understanding of the informal, verbal, and offline interactions happening all the time.

    What do you think? Would you wear a workplace 'wire'?