Personal Productivity, Collaboration and Respect

Grafiti

My thesis for today is that our personal productivity is compromised by the way we do collaboration these days and that we all need to learn a new way of working that respects each other’s personal productivity. We also need to find and deploy technologies that foster these respectful working practices. I have written a bit about this in the past but I’m coming more and more to the opinion that the biggest issue is working practice and that the working practice needs to be governed by a very old fashioned word – respect.

The tools that we have today are powerful, but they don’t foster respect.

Take, as an example, the least respectful technology of them all – email. How many of us have been bombarded by email storms that simply wasted our time. How much time do we spend each day reading emails that are irrelevant to us. It’s easy for people to add people onto an email distribution without any real thought as to whether they would be interested, and no-one would ever think of asking someone if they were interested in an email subject before sending it. Once on the list though, there’s no way off it. This doesn’t happen in the paper-mail world because sending paper-mail is difficult so you think far more carefully about who you send it to. Unless of course the paper mail is driven by technology and then it becomes junk-mail.

No respect = reduced productivity.

Another example; teleconferences. How many times have you been dragged onto an urgent teleconference only for it to go on for hours with little or no progress and definitely no focus. This is a much smaller issue with physical meetings because a physical meeting is much more expensive, requires people to travel and results in a face-to-face meeting. If you are going to meet someone face-to-face you don’t want to waste their time, it’s embarrassing.

No respect = reduced productivity.

As a collaboration tool RSS and blogs help with some of these problems but we need to be really careful here. As soon as we start to be disrespectful by including posts that are unfocused, off subject, etc. we diminish the value and impact on others productivity. That’s one of the reasons that the Top 100 list thing really bugs me.

So how do we build respect. I think the first thing that we need to do is acknowledge that it’s an issue. Once we do this we will start to invest our own time in thinking about how we interact with others and how we impact upon their productivity. This might cost us, but people will soon come to realise that we are better people to work with because we don’t waste their time. The other thing that we can do as a technology industry is to start providing some better feedback loops. I would love to be able to mark an email chain as ‘not interested’ and then to never be bothered by it ever again. Going further, I would love someone running a poorly focussed teleconference to feel the embarrassment that they would have done if we had been meeting face-to-face.

Anyway, I’m not going to be disrespectful by waste any more of your time rambling on needlessly.

Customer Experience Idea

Haighton Path

Something occurred to me today. I was completing a registration for Jonathan’s laptop when at the bottom it asked the usual question “we would like to send you promotional…” you know the one.

As I had registered with my true production email account that I want to keep clean and away from junk the answer was a definite ‘no’. But then the thought occurred to me. If there was an option to say “yes, but to a different email account” the answer would have probably been yes. I don’t think I’m unusual running multiple email accounts. I have one where I (hotmail as it happens) where all of the advertising goes. I look through it occasionally, but don’t look in detail because I have another account where I receive emails that are important, personal, etc.. If something is important they get given this email account, if it’s not they get the hotmail one.

The registration number of the laptop is important so they get the ‘important’ email address, the advertising isn’t…

Am I the only one who thinks like this?

Count Your Blessings #33 – The Smell of Burning Wood

Lancaster Canal

Over the weekend Sue, Emily and myself (Jonathan was away on a youth weekend) went for a walk along the Lancaster Canal. It was one of those Sunday afternoon walks, which for us means – short.

While we were walking a barge passed us. I love to see barges. This one had something extra though. He was burning his log stove.

The smell of burning wood always brings memories flooding back. All sorts of memories.

When I was young we had a real fire at home. It was really a coal fire, but it burnt wood just as well. We had central heating so we didn’t need to light it for the warmth, we lit it for the experience.

Lighting the fire always bought with it a sense of achievement, because everything that we burnt we had worked to gather.

People around us knew that we burnt wood (because they could smell too) so every time they were doing something with a tree in their garden they knew that if they asked us we would come and do it for them on the condition that we took the wood. This was in the days before the health and safety people really took a hold on our society. We didn’t use chain saws, we used a bow-saw. Sometimes this was a one man operation but often required two of us; one on either end and loads of teamwork. My Dad also understood the theory of pivots. Most people wanted the tree out – roots and all. Having first attached a rope to the top of the trunk we would often chop off the branches of a tree; leaving the main trunk. We would then proceeded to dig the tree out pulling on the rope to make sure that it fell the right way. Every now and then one of us (usually Stephen, my brother, or me) would climb up the trunk to provide a bit more leverage. I remember Stephen being up one particular tree when there was an almighty crack and the tree came down with a thud. We both learnt when to jump. In modern speak we would call these occasions male-bonding times; we were just having fun.

When I was a child the popular Sunday afternoon activity was to go walking along the East Yorkshire coastline. We would often use this as an opportunity to collect drift wood. Drift wood burns in a different way to other woods because it contains loads of salt; this makes it cackle and hiss, but it also makes it glow blue and violet. One time I remember us biting off a bit more than we could chew and carry this huge log between us for what seemed like miles only to find that we couldn’t fit it (and us) in the car. There’s only so much you can get in a Morris Marina.

Saturday’s were reserved for a different type of fun – the allotments. We had two. For some reason which I have never understood (because you don’t ask those questions when you are younger) there were at opposite ends of Beverley; where I was bought up. You can’t have an allotment without having a fire. There is always something to burn. Even if there wasn’t we would make sure that there soon was. In the Autumn a fire wasn’t just fun, it was essential I remember sitting in front of it trying to warm my hands up so that I could feel them again. An Autumn fire brings another delight – fire baked potatoes. There really is nothing like the smoky, nutty taste of a potato straight of the embers.

We have a chiminea in the garden these days which burns reconstituted wood because it’s too smoky with real wood. It doesn’t quite smell the same but the memories are still as powerful.

The joy of a wood fire seems to have passed down the generations too. Jonathan always has a story to tell about the fire whenever he returns from Scout Camp.

Smell is a powerful sense. The way that it connects together memories is a real blessing.

Structured Active Directory Schema Management at Microsoft

Slow

Microsoft have published another one in their series of documents detailing how they do IT internally. This one covers the whole arena of Active Directory Schema Management. It’s an interesting read.

If you are looking for something that removes the leap-into-the-dark feeling that anyone updating schema gets then sorry but this document doesn’t do that. What it does do is outline a practical industry-standard mechanism for reducing the risk, but nothing that actually removes the risk. They seem to have become confident in doing lots of changes which I suppose is an advantage that they have. Most of us do so few schema updates that we are always going to be wary of them.

In my personal opinion the Microsoft technologies currently contain far too many leap-in-the-dark moments that have the potential to result in massive impacts on the customer base. Schema changes is one of them, group policy changes another; but perhaps that’s what we get when we cry out for more powerful tools.

Feeling the Pain of Bugs

Cold River

Speaking as someone who has to deal with the consequences of bugs a lot of the time this video really appeals.

Speaking as someone who works on projects the thought of this type of technology coming our way scares me.

The simple things that catch you out

Cows

I regard myself as someone who reacts to change well and as someone who is constantly changing the way I do things.

So why am I being so useless at adjusting to a Bluetooth headset for my phone?

I keep picking the phone up rather than sticking the ear piece in.

I keep forgetting to switch it off when I’m not suing it. I phone home on it the other day while it was in my shirt pocket. Which means that Sue knew I had been shopping.

I keep holding the phone in my hand while using it.

I suppose it all goes to show that our brains are wired a particular way and changing that wiring isn’t always easy.

Perhaps us IT folk should be a bit more tolerant of users reacting to new software.

I must say, though, that I don’t think that the Bluetooth stuff has quite got there yet. The phone doesn’t always reconnect the headset when it’s turned back on, nor does it always react to button presses.

Recovering from bad news (not that bad really)

Bricks

Sometimes I am stunned by my reaction to bad news. It doesn’t have to be that bad for my ‘bad news’ reaction to kick in but it always seems to go down a very similar route.

I get the bad news and then I enter into this state of numbness where I can’t think or move forward for a while; quite often the time taken to recover is completely disproportionate to the news.

Take today for example. Next week is a school holiday for my kids and I was hoping to take two days off during the week. As it’s getting towards the end of the year I thought I had better check how many days holiday I have left. unfortunately I only have enough days to take one day off. Argghhh.

For what seems to be a very long time I have sat here going ‘argh’ and little else.

I’m actually writing this blog as a kind of therapy to help me get the news into perspective. It’s not really that big a deal, it just feels that way. And as I write I feel the numbness lifting.

Recognising a reaction is often a big part of resolving it. I think what I need to do now is to try to understand the process that gets me back going again.

Count Your Blessings #32 – Song lyrics that paint a picture

North Berwick at Sunset

I love song lyrics that paint a picture. I think it’s because I love to imagine and lyrics in songs, like poetry, build that picture in a minimalist way that lets me imagine all of the rest.

Sometimes I imagine by picturing a real place or places that I have been to, blending them together into a collage of memories. Sometimes I imagine a blank canvass and literally paint on it, but unlike my physical efforts these pictures are wonderful. Sometimes, every so often, I fill in the picture with my own words.

I am the type of person who can so often fill my imagination with problems that become disasters. I know how things can get worse and hence that’s what I imagine. The great thing about participating in someone else’s picture is that they imagine good things and great times. I know it’s not good to spend an entire life focusing on the negative, so to have a positive to focus on is great and it always makes me feel uplifted way beyond the end of the song. It’s a blessing.

Here are some of my favourites:

Sunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint I cannot
Make out what it’s pointing toward
Sometimes you feel like you live too long
Days drip slowly on the page
You catch yourself
Pacing the cage

Bruce Cockburn – Pacing the Cage

I’m sipping Flor De Caa and lime juice, it’s three a.m.
Blow a fruit fly off the rim of my glass
The radio’s playing Superchunk and the friends of Dean Martinez

Midnight it was bike tires whacking the pot holes
Milling humans’ shivering energy glow
Fusing the space between them with bar-throb bass and laughter

If this were the last night of the world
What would I do?
What would I do that was different
Unless it was champagne with you?

Bruce Cockburn – Last Night of the World

Lenny Bruce is dead but he didn’t commit any crime
He just had the insight to rip off the lid before its time.
I rode with him in a taxi once, only for a mile and a half,
Seemed like it took a couple of months.
Lenny Bruce moved on and like the ones that killed him, gone.

Bob Dylan – Lenny Bruce

GOD, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of GOD for the rest of my life.

Psalm 23

Count Your Blessings #31 – Wildlife in the Garden

Three SquirelsWe are very blessed living, as we do, in a house that is close to woods. This means that we get all sorts of wildlife in the garden.

Today is a particularly active day because Emily filled up the feeders and the bird (squirrel) table yesterday evening.

Although I’d prefer to see British Red Squirrels rather than American Grey ones it’s still a blessing to see them bouncing around, scurrying for food. It’s not such a blessing to have to clear up some of the mess from where they have buried things, but that is a small price to pay.

I love to see how different animals interact with each other. The Jay comes and follows the squirrels around, because he knows that they will soon be burying what they have just collected and that he can steel it from the hole. There is definitely a pecking order between the Jay and the Magpie too. The Jay seems to be king. Talking of the Jay, the way that they bounce around the garden is so comical that it brings a smile to my face every time we see them.

The little birds are very active today to, we don’t seem to have a shortage of Sparrows around here, there are loads of them. The Cole Tits dart in and out spending as little time as possible on the feeder. The Green Finch spends longer, stripping the husk off the sunflower seeds before eating them. The songs are wonderful, filling the air.

I am a bit of a worrier and seeing all of this life in the garden brings me back time and time again to the words of Jesus:

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.


“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion–do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen colour and design quite like it? The ten best–dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers–most of which are never even seen–don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.


“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Matthew 6 The Message

Meida Center Update 2

Media CenterI have installed the Media Center Update 2 today. All seems to be fine so far. A few little tweaks but nothing dramatic. I noticed something on optimisation in the settings pain – has that always been there, I don’t remember seeing it before?

Hopefully it will have fixed the occasional black screen that we get – it will certainly make Emily happy anyway.

Count Your Blessings #30 – Finishing a Book

BooksSitting on the train this evening I finished a book. I love that feeling of achievement. Having lived with a book for a period of time it’s great to get to the end.

This feeling is particularly fulfilling when finishing a novel. Getting to the end of the story is great.

Count Your Blessings #29 – Listening in to Other’s Conversations

IMG_1446

I’m writing today while sat on a train from Preston to London. Opposite me is a young business man who has been talking to and ‘motivating’ his employees most of the way. Next to me is a group of three pensioner men who are on there way to a union reunion (I think); sat with them is an older lady on her way to meet family.

Each of the conversations that is going on is intriguing.

The young business man apparently sacked a lady yesterday who had only been with him for 6 days. It turns out that she thought that his business was in a right mess, as it has grown 70% in the last year he couldn’t quite see how. His self confident thrusting would please many a motivational speaker. The flash suit and the striped shirt just go to finish off the stereotype.

The three pensioner men have obviously known each other for a very long time. They are typical working-class (and proud of it) northern men. They are loving the time of reminiscing. I have heard stories from their youth about gambling on horses and winning a fortune of £41. I have heard how they believe that the government has short changing them on their pension. I have heard how terrible the England football team was at the weekend and how it could never compare to the good old days – Nobby Styles, Bobby Moore. “The pies at the football these days are very expensive – £1.40, terrible”. I have heard the stories of their grandchildren. I particularly liked the one about the granddaughter who’s reply when here Dad said to her “My Dad would have never stood for this” was “Your Dad was a much better Dad than you are”. I have heard their worries about the future especially in light of the recent earthquake in Pakistan. I have even heard how they feel isolated within the society – “they never ask us do they”. That all stimulates the lady to join in, it’s obviously struck a cord. It turns out that she has retired to the Lake District. “I was on holiday in the Lake District and saw this house, when I got home I applied for early retirement and left”.

It may be a terrible thing to be an eaves-dropper, but it’s fascinating. By sitting here on my computer and just listening-in these people are all talking in a completely different way than they would be if they knew I was listening. Their conversations are revealing something about themselves that wouldn’t be revealed if I interviewed them for weeks.

It’s a blessing to me to get a glimpse of other people’s life. It’s very stimulating to realise that other’s lives are completely different to mine. The diversity of God’s creation, just in us humans is infinite. Different views, different attitudes, different bodies,  different, diverse, immense, precious.