Notes, updates, and random thoughts

Wow, it's been a busy week and since I didn't manage to get a solid (or even a shaky) post up this morning, I figured I would clean out at least some of the 'stuff I wanted to blog about' backlog and start fresh next week.

So here you go, presented in no particular order or assumption of importance:

I did a webcast this week over at HCI and sponsored by my friends at Oracle HCM. The webcast was about trying to find the right balance between Talent (really people) and Technology. I am not totally sure I know how to do that, but I took a shot and shared some thoughts. My slides from the webcast are here, and over on the HCI site you can access the webcast archive if you are so inclined.

And if you decide to check out the webcast slides, you should also (if you have not previously) take a look at some of the other stuff I have out on Slideshare, including the still popular 8 Man Rotation, The 2011 Season E-book on Sports and HR. Each week that old Ebook gets a few dozen views which always gives me a chuckle.

Also, the HR Happy Hour Show and Podcast has been on a roll in the last few weeks, so if you haven't had a chance check out some of the most recent shows including 'Data Driven HR' with the great people at Equifax Workforce Solutions, 'Putting People First', recorded live from Ultimate Connections 2014, and last week's show, 'Wellness for the Modern Workforce' with ShapeUp. You can always get all the HR Happy Hour Shows for free on iTunes as well - just head to the podcasts section of iTunes store and search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

On the 'real job' front, I have been busy finalizing the agenda for this October's HR Technology Conference. Head over to the website for updates about the program and to register. We are planning the biggest, most expansive, most comprehensive conference yet, and I promise you don't want to miss it. Also, HRevolution 2014 tickets are on sale for the event that will be held in November. Act fast on that one, as only a few tickets remain.

I am waist-deep watching the NBA playoffs at the moment. There's nothing better after a long day than watching the best basketball players in the world competing at the highest levels for a couple of hours. And I am on the Atlanta Hawks bandwagon right now.

Lastly, I wanted to mention and say thanks to the great folks at PeopleMatter for inviting me to participate in their upcoming Collaborate conference. I will be down in the great city of Charleston, SC in a couple of weeks to present a talk and to meet some of the PeopleMatter customers as well. I am really looking forward to getting back to South Carolina and am already contemplating not coming back.

Ok, that is it for now. Have a great weekend all!

The Culture Trap

Short post today - just a call out for you to take a few minutes today or over the weekend to check out a fascinating piece by Ryan on the anthropology blog Savage Minds titled 'When Culture Erases History'.

While on the surface an essay about anthropological field work in the Baja, California region, (interesting in its own right), the piece's essential question, or perhaps more accurately challenge to us is this: Are we too often  confusing 'culture', complex, long-developing, and ever-evolving, with much more practical and visible characteristics of a people or place, (and I'd argue a corporation), like politics, history, land ownership, and economic power?Jasper Johns, Spring, 1986

An excerpt from the article:

This use–or misuse–of the idea of culture is quite common, and I think it’s a clear case that calls for some more anthropological engagement.  Because culture is, after all, one of our bread and butter concepts–even if it has run a bit wild on us (all the more reason to get back into the game, no?).  In the end, I think one role for cultural anthropology–in this specific case and other related instances–is to point out when culture is a viable, meaningful explanatory factor, and, just as importantly, when it’s not.  Granted, sometimes culture can tell us a lot about human differences.  Sometimes culture is the answer.  But when culture is used to make an end run around history (and politics), well, maybe it’s time to take a closer look.

If you're interested at all the the interplay between culture and power and money and the ways that people do or do not get along in an ecosystem, then like I said check out the Savage Minds article for if not the answers to some of these problems, at least for a way to frame the questions and discussions in a useful way.

Sometimes culture is the answer, in anthropology certainly, and once in a great while, in business too,(although I'd submit in the corporate world it's far less a factor than what seems to be currently fashionable to suggest). 

But other times, and maybe most of the time, behaviors and characteristics we think might have some kind of deep-seated or inherent cultural influence turn out to be much more practical and even mundane.

If we don't get along, it could be because of some deep-seated, thousands of years to develop and almost inherent cultural difference between your people and my people. It could be that. Or it could be that you will not stop posting pictures of everything you eat on Instagram.  That probably is the reason, actually.

Hmm. Maybe too heavy for a Friday, especially after this week.

Have a great weekend!

Cleaning out the attic: A Few Friday links

Some quick links to a few interesting reads on a 'feels-like-it-should-be-the-holiday-break-but-we-are-not-quite-there-yet-Friday'.  Mostly these are items that have been sitting as perpetual open tabs in Chrome or as 'starred' items in Google Reader for a while and that I thought might be subject matter for the blog, but I just never got around to using them.

In no particular order of importance or relevance:

Most infographics kind of stink. This one, covering the T-shirt history of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory is awesome. 

Did 'Big Data' give you a big headache in 2012?  Well, you are not alone. For a very readable and brief look at Big Data for the rest of us check out A Veteran Mad Man Tries to Figure Out the Point if Big Data in Advertising.

The McRib is coming back! - And it looks like it will be with us for the Holidays!

From Retronaut - some very cool British WWI Recruitment posters

There are always quite a few 'The High Cost of a Bad Hire' stories kicking around the HR blogosphere at any time, but few of those carry an $11M price tag like Auburn University has to shell out to bid farewell to their football coaching staff.

If you don't have big plans for the holidays, or just don't like to cook, you can always go for the 'Self-Heating Holiday Dinner in a Can' this year.

I have always held that basketball is the greatest sport of them all. This (long-ish) piece from Wired, Luck and Skill Untangled: The Science of Success, breaks it down more scientifically, but arrives at the same conclusion - basketball is the greatest sport of all. 

The birthrate in the US has sunk to its lowest level since 1920.  I guess we will all be working longer into our old age.

Not a fan of Klout or other attempts to measure 'influence?' Well you may not be able to simply ignore what you don't like (or understand). According to this HBR piece, the future of enterprise influence analytics will be inside the organization.

Let me know what you're reading!

That's it from me for a Friday - have a great weekend everyone.

What's in it for me? The Space Junk Version

In case you are really unlucky, this is what might be coming for you

So have you heard about the large piece of space junk that is soon to come crashing down to earth?

It's actually an old, out-of-service satellite that is expected to fall to earth, in pieces, starting as soon as September 23rd. Ack! That's today!

Here's the essential information from Space.com:

NASA space junk experts have refined the forecast for the anticipated death plunge of a giant satellite, the U.S. space agency now predicting the 6 1/2 ton climate probe will plummet to earth around September 23rd, a day earlier than previously reported.

So what are the chances that a piece of this 'bus-sized' debris will actually strike a person? Well estimates vary some, but the figure is generally thought to be about 3,200/1. One in only thirty-two hundred? That doesn't sound good. In fact that sounds downright troubling. That doesn't really seem like that many people and when we see the descriptor 'bus-sized' along with it, well somehow it doesn't feel all that abstract and unlikely that a piece of debris might hit you or someone you care about and the entire issue might be something you need to think about.

Because we can quickly read those odds and interpret it quite differently, like 1 in every 3,200 people is likely to be hit, or in a town of 10,000 inhabitants chances are pretty good at least 3 people are going to have a rude introduction to a piece of space junk.

But of course if you interpreted the odds in that fashion you'd be seriously overstating your real chances of actually having your own version of a close encounter of the most unwelcome kind. Because while the chances of any person on earth getting hit with space junk might be only 3,200/1, the chances of you getting hit with a piece yourself are quite a bit higher, something on the order of 2 trillion to 1.

We (mostly), see and interpret the world around us via the prism of our own self-interest. And why not? It's actually really hard to let go or at least loosen our grip on the 'What's in it for me?' mindset.

Whether we are selling products, services, or even just advocating and recommending relatively minor changes in simple business practices or processes we are trained and encouraged to speak very clearly to the 'What's in it for me?' proposition for our audiences and constituents. If you don't have a good answer for that question, we are told, then you are quite likely to have a hard time making the sale, winning converts to your cause, or making any progess on your desired behavioral changes. No 'What's in it for me', then no joy my friend.

What's any of that have to do with giant out of service satellites plunging out of the sky? Not much I suppose. Besides we've just figured out that the likelihood of you getting plunked on the bean with a piece of mini-Skylab are really low, ridiculously low in fact. 

But the chances of a piece of debris hitting someone, while still pretty unlikely, are not at all out of the question. But if we all just focus on our own odds, all of us thinking about the 2 trillion to 1, the 'What's in it for me?' version of the space junk plummeting to earth scenario, then there's nothing to worry about.

Someone else can worry about the 3,200/1. 

Have a great weekend! And watch out for falling space junk!

S'mores

The best ingredients, when carefully combined, arranged into appealing combinations, and allowed to come together into a cohesive and improved manner can often result in fantastic accomplishment.S'MORES - Pamela Michelle Johnson

Whether it is the inputs to a multi-part process, the components of a product, or the individual steps that lead to a desired outcome - almost all the work we do (unless you are a solitary artist of some kind), involves us contributing our efforts and work towards some larger or greater goal. 

And truly, if the individual contributions are not of high quality, delivered on time, and often consistently repeatable, then certainly the overall product or service or project will suffer, and possibly fail.  So, thusly we focus, heads-down on our pieces, making sure that ultimately we feel proud of our effort, knowing if the end goals are not actually met, well, it was not our fault.  Which is sort of comforting to a point. You can only control what you can control right?

But the real consumers of the product, be they end users, employees, customers, or fans - they are less concerned with the relative quality of the various components (if they can even acknowledge at all the process), they only care about the end results.  

The S'more is either good or it isn't.  No kid has ever been handed a S'more and commented, 'The marshmallow is good, melted nicely, but I think the chocolate is a little off, and I give the graham cracker only a 'meets expectations'.

You can get pretty far in the world making the 'best' graham crackers, but what kids remember are the best S'mores.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Picture Credit - 'S'mores' by Pamela Michelle Johnson, oil on canvas - to learn more about Ms. Johnson's work visit here