Preventing Divorce…

by Rog42 on 28 January 2012

Project 2012: Day 28

Here’s a common family scenario:

“Honey, will you hang the washing for me please?”

“Sure.”

Then later, when the washing is not hung out, an inevitable fight ensues. There’s an urban myth that the catalyst for most divorces is the argument that ensues from not taking out the garbage (who knew).

You find it almost impossible to pinpoint the source of the fight. If you do even remember being asked, which in the overwhelming information overload of the day, is perilous at best.

If you’re the one doing the asking though, you remember the interaction vividly.

The issue here isn’t the content of the request, or even the way it’s asked. Rather the implicit assumption that was overlooked. Let’s try it again:

“Honey, could you hang the washing for me in a minute (this morning, once you’re done etc) please?”

“Sure, as soon as I’ve finished reading the paper (watching this program, finishing this report etc)”

By respecting that your partner has an agenda of their own, and seeking to fit in with that, you’re far more likely to influence them and get the job done. Anything else is treating them as a subordinate.

Of course as the requestee you can help here too. Don’t just say “yes” but highlight that you’re doing something, and suggest a time that is good:

“Honey, will you hang the washing for me please?”

“Sure, when would you like me to do that? I’m just finishing this article, and need to run an errand.”

“When,” such a small word, but will save you a ton of grief.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

or to be a little more equitable

Happy Spouse, Happy House Smile

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The Rise of Shadow IT

by Rog42 on 27 January 2012

Project 2012: Day 27

Car CloudShadow IT is not new of course. For as long as I’ve been in IT there have been more technical users bringing consumer products into their organisations to connect to the network. I first saw this when programming COBOL on IBM 3090’s in the late 80’s when my Systems Analyst brought her PC into the office.

Over the years individuals have brought in network hubs, rogue wireless access points, and more recently, unsupported smartphones.

Generally this happens because the individual, or the business unit, believes IT can’t provide the functionality they need as quickly, cheaply, or effectively as they can themselves. Of course even if they are right, this creates business risk that is your responsibility to contain.

Disruption

Pretty much until recently IT has been able to contain these efforts. It’s relatively easy to secure the network against rogue entry points, block protocols or websites at the gateways, and require authentication schemes that stop mobile devices from attaching to the network.

The advent of cloud means that for the first time in the industry the business can totally bypass IT. Need a CRM system, take out your Amex and subscribe to Salesforce.com; a new expenses management system: Shoeboxed.com; synched, shared storage: Dropbox.com or Box.net; and the list goes on.

Increasingly the control of IT assets will shift from IT to the business. By 2016 Gartner predicts that over 30% of IT budgets will be owned by the business. This has large implications for the CTO.

Here’s a couple of thoughts to support your IT strategy through this changing time:

  • Audit:
    • Ask the CFO to do an audit of corporate spend for IT services, specifically expenses under $5,000 on individual charge cards.
    • Ask the COO or your IT Manager to scan for cloud websites on port 80/443 – common domains include the ones above, as well as aws.amazon.com, rackspace.com, gmail.com, live.com etc.
  • Analyse:
    • Use this to map out the services the business perceives that IT can’t/won’t provide.
    • Aggregate the tangible costs to the business, as well as potential risks
  • Comunicate: Create a roadmap that:
    • Enables IT to adopt public cloud services in a cohesive (i.e. corporate negotiated rates) and secure manner, where appropriate.
    • Catalogue the Services that your organisation does provide, and whether they will shift to managed public cloud, trusted community or private cloud, or remain as on-premise services.
    • Provides a regular update to all business units about risk of specific public services, and alternatives that IT has put in place to support the business.

In summary, the first step to adapting your IT organisation remain current is to understand which IT services the business is actually using.

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You Are Not Your Customer

by Rog42 on 26 January 2012

Project 2012: Day 26

This seems self-evident, but just listen to people when they talk to you about your business idea. It’s either, “that’s brilliant, I’d pay money for that” 0r “I wouldn’t buy that…”

And that’s the point – unless the person you’re speaking to fits into your customer micro-segment – It. Doesn’t. Matter.

Would you buy your product? Again, only if you fit into your customer micro-segment! If you don’t: It. Doesn’t. Matter.

The problem for start-up directors getting caught up in liking their product so much is three-fold:

  • Scope creep is driven more by your personal, emotional, desires than the data.
  • Launch paralysis. It’s more important to launch and iterate than it is to wait for the feature you want.
  • The inability to change, or to see any flaws in your solution. You believe in your product so much, it’s just that well, no-one else does

Now I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t be able to empathise with your customer, or know at an experiential level what will delight them. That was the thrust of last weeks post.

But the next time someone suggests that they wouldn’t buy your product, respond with:

“Would you if you were a Pakistani 15 year old girl?”

or

“But you’re not a left-handed tennis player” Smile

By all means believe in your product. Definitely passion for your solution is more important than business spreadsheets. But remember that you are not your customer.

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Backwards and Forwards

by Rog42 on 25 January 2012

True story: I went for an interview as a Microsoft Trainer with the then Oxford Computing Training back in 1996. (The real Oxford in England) I never did take the job as we lived too far away at the time. But I’ll never forget one of the interview questions:

“Which part of what sort of wheel, goes backwards when its vehicle moves forwards?”

Of course I never knew the answer, but did manage to work it out. All I can say this week is that I’m going to post answers to conundrums and puzzles in the following week.

But it has to do with diameter…

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Putting the Sizzle into Home Movies

by Rog42 on 24 January 2012

Project 2012: Day 24 

What’s happened to the water? I know at least 3 people having babies in the next 6 months. And you can guarantee that when those children grace us with their presence, an evil will visit us, the like of which we haven’t seen since Uncle Ernie got his VHS Camcorder in 1985…

…Home movies.

Of course today we get to endure this indignity to our sanity far more than ever before. Camcorders are on our phones, and instead of being invited over for “Fondue and Movies of our Holiday in Wollongong (Ibeza, Florida)” we get to view them on YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.

With all of the high tech cameras at our disposal, why are home movies so dreadful?

Well, a couple of reasons:

  • No story – the movie was just shot and thrown together chronologically
  • Crap editing – you really don’t have to put in every transition known to man – but mostly –
  • Poor shooting.

Equally a couple of things signify the home videographer’s shooting style:

  • Interminable panning and zooming
  • Rocky, handheld camera work – I know this is the favoured shooting mode of the Bourne Movies, but seriously, tripod!!
  • Shoulder height shots of everyone

It’s this last point I want to address. The one thing that will change your home movies from snore, to “show me more!”

Take the camera off of shoulder height (or adult eye height) and change up the angles.

Get down to your subjects’ (usually kids) eye level. Get in close. Pop the camera on the floor and shoot up. Even give your camera to one of the kids and ask them to shoot.

You really don’t need an expensive camera, or fancy editing software. Neither will help you if you’re shooting from standing up anyway. Just a little creativity with camera angles. Try it, I promise your home movies will never be the same.

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Congruence–Finding Your Sweet Spot

January 23, 2012

Project 2012: Day 23 What do you value? Seriously, have you every written it down? Have you prioritised your values? Do you know, say, your top five values? Do you really value your family above achievement? Which is more important to you Honesty or loyalty? Why should you care? More importantly, why care when all [...]

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The Killer BBQ Entree

January 22, 2012

Project 2012: Day 15 How can you use your BBQ right from the outset to beat the standard “chips and dips” fare most people start with? An recipe I’ve found hugely successful is my BBQ Nachos. This is inexpensive, easy, yummy, very social, and takes your starter to a whole new level. This also follows [...]

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When You Say “Yes”, Where Do You Mean “No”

January 21, 2012

Project 2012: Day 21 You know these people. Your favourite person. When you ask them something, they immediately going into problem solving mode. The “can do-ers!” Always busy, never say “no”… …to you! Maybe, you are one of them. You’ll find they typically congregate with IT Consultants and Support folk. Do you find that you [...]

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Losing Control

January 20, 2012

Project 2012: Day 20 By now you’ll notice that we’re settling on regular categories for our Project 2012. As I’m CTO for Enterprise Cloud Services at HP, I’d like to contribute about the role, the industry, and IT strategy to our discussions. Today let’s begin setting the scene for the Tech Industry in 2012 and [...]

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Left-Handed Tennis Players (in Paddington)

January 19, 2012

Project 2012: Day 19 This week we’ll be contributing towards the Project with answers for start-ups. Of course like most of the topics we discuss, there are learning’s for other facets of your life/career. But hey, I’m passionate about high-tech start-ups. So here we go. First a question for you: “What is the single most [...]

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