One dominant theme in business today is how to squeeze greater productivity out of fewer resources. Six Sigma, Process Improvement, Project Management - the newest buzz words in how to do "better." The biggest problem with theorizing is the tendency to gathering in groups of ten (or more) highly compensated individuals.
Hours (and thousands of dollars later) we have Defined, Measured and Analyzed. Then we analyze again... and again... and again... just to be sure. We become so overly concerned with finding the right solution that we suffer from paralysis by analysis. The Improve and Control functions are delayed until the point-of-no-return and we scramble to implement a solution that might work.
A facet of the Measuring must include a reliable account of how many intangible dollars are spent in conference rooms, on phone calls and via email messages. Once we can place the inefficient cost of our efforts on a project, we should have a better understanding of the criticality of our undertakings.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Social Applications - The New Virus?
Facebook. MySpace. LinkedIn. YouTube.
No doubt you have heard of these, but more likely, you are an active user of these social sites. Whether it is casual browsing or actively posting to one of these tools, you have stumbled across these sites. This is a glimpse into Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is the social evolution of the net. It allows users to eliminate the distance factor of relationships. Some of my closest "friends" are little more than a screen name from 1,000 miles away.
I know their email address and birthdays, but that is where these relationship ends. These are my internet friends. I know the limits of these relationships and I am comfortable in them.
Perhaps my fear of social engineering my own good intentions against me is scaring me from sharing too much information. Perhaps the anonymity of hiding behind the keyboard appeals to me. Perhaps I simply do not know what I am doing.
Then there are other who do not have this fear and leverage these tools to gain their 15 minutes. However, how many of us are still watching one of the most-watched on-line videos ever and still getting a chuckle? His 15 minutes are now into its third year and closing in on 90 million views.
This leads me down the path of what Web N.0 will be. How much of me can be put on-line to the point I become immortal? If AI (artificial intelligence) is as close as some believe, this is a distinct reality - forget about possibilities.
What's stopping me from capturing my skills and recreating the digital me?
Will I still be able to file taxes and earn an income if the digital me is still contributing to the GNP? Will I be able to download my consciousness to a server and continue to exist?
Perhaps the Wachowski brothers were not too far off when they created The Matrix. Let's see how far down the rabbit hole we can go...
No doubt you have heard of these, but more likely, you are an active user of these social sites. Whether it is casual browsing or actively posting to one of these tools, you have stumbled across these sites. This is a glimpse into Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is the social evolution of the net. It allows users to eliminate the distance factor of relationships. Some of my closest "friends" are little more than a screen name from 1,000 miles away.
I know their email address and birthdays, but that is where these relationship ends. These are my internet friends. I know the limits of these relationships and I am comfortable in them.
Perhaps my fear of social engineering my own good intentions against me is scaring me from sharing too much information. Perhaps the anonymity of hiding behind the keyboard appeals to me. Perhaps I simply do not know what I am doing.
Then there are other who do not have this fear and leverage these tools to gain their 15 minutes. However, how many of us are still watching one of the most-watched on-line videos ever and still getting a chuckle? His 15 minutes are now into its third year and closing in on 90 million views.
This leads me down the path of what Web N.0 will be. How much of me can be put on-line to the point I become immortal? If AI (artificial intelligence) is as close as some believe, this is a distinct reality - forget about possibilities.
What's stopping me from capturing my skills and recreating the digital me?
Will I still be able to file taxes and earn an income if the digital me is still contributing to the GNP? Will I be able to download my consciousness to a server and continue to exist?
Perhaps the Wachowski brothers were not too far off when they created The Matrix. Let's see how far down the rabbit hole we can go...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Jumping in the Deep End
At the urging of a co-worker (who shall remain nameless for the time-being), I have jumped into the deep end of the gene pool. Whether by design or by accident, here I am. I am not a blogger, but I intend to be... someday.
Much is being said about Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 these days. Virtual reality, 3D web pages, artificial intelligence... who knows? I still have issues with getting my VCR clock to stop blinking 12:00.
As a Gen X'er and Child of the 80's, I grew up on Atari 2600 and Reaganomics. Web 2.0 is a new concept to me, but I can appreciate the implications of what it is intended to do. David D'Angelo (the no longer nameless co-worker) pens a blog Recruiting in Second Life which takes us down the path of these concepts.
Gen Y is dragging the rest of us down this path whether we are ready to accept it or not. The generation with little hesitation before broadcasting some very intimate details about their personal lives is teaching the prior generations that today's workforce is most certainly not the same that leading-edge Boomers stepped into. And YES, I claim "stepped into" as most new entrants to the work-force of the 1940's did not face the competition today's employees do. Heck, that workforce is still working in some circles forcing the newest job-seekers to wait that much longer.
The impending implosion of the U.S. workforce at the hands of the Boomer exodus into retirement will no doubt change the way "business as usual" is conducted. Based on U.S. Department of Labor estimations, there will be a shortage in the neighborhood of 14 million civilian employees by the year 2016.
HR professionals need to find a way to control this before we see knowledge retention go the way of the sub-prime housing market. There is far too much knowledge and information nearing the point of walking out the door with no means of capturing it.
The answer: knowledge management? recruiting in Second Life? Twitter? Linked In?
...hard to say, but I intend to keep looking.
Much is being said about Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 these days. Virtual reality, 3D web pages, artificial intelligence... who knows? I still have issues with getting my VCR clock to stop blinking 12:00.
As a Gen X'er and Child of the 80's, I grew up on Atari 2600 and Reaganomics. Web 2.0 is a new concept to me, but I can appreciate the implications of what it is intended to do. David D'Angelo (the no longer nameless co-worker) pens a blog Recruiting in Second Life which takes us down the path of these concepts.
Gen Y is dragging the rest of us down this path whether we are ready to accept it or not. The generation with little hesitation before broadcasting some very intimate details about their personal lives is teaching the prior generations that today's workforce is most certainly not the same that leading-edge Boomers stepped into. And YES, I claim "stepped into" as most new entrants to the work-force of the 1940's did not face the competition today's employees do. Heck, that workforce is still working in some circles forcing the newest job-seekers to wait that much longer.
The impending implosion of the U.S. workforce at the hands of the Boomer exodus into retirement will no doubt change the way "business as usual" is conducted. Based on U.S. Department of Labor estimations, there will be a shortage in the neighborhood of 14 million civilian employees by the year 2016.
HR professionals need to find a way to control this before we see knowledge retention go the way of the sub-prime housing market. There is far too much knowledge and information nearing the point of walking out the door with no means of capturing it.
The answer: knowledge management? recruiting in Second Life? Twitter? Linked In?
...hard to say, but I intend to keep looking.
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