Most of us go through life obeying some set of unwritten rules. Whether they are legal, cultural, personal or developed through training and experience we all have them. Unknowingly they dictate our actions. Being young and impressionable still (relatively at least) means that I run up against them a lot. I have lots of my…
Playing Crazy
Going off my recent post about Subject Matter Experts HBR brings me back around to the topic again – this time with a discussion around Managing Crazy Ideas. This dovetails very nicely with the thinking about subject matter experts because that same group is usually the one that defines what is crazy and what isn’t. …
The Value of a Deadline
Deadlines make us all more effective. They motivate us and present a wall past which nothing more can occur. Their use on reality competition shows should emphasize this. Those that do not finish before typically only blame themselves for it – not the rules of the game itself. Simultaneously, most of us delay work on…
Heading a little offbeat….
Sometimes it’s fun to think about the same topics but from a wildly inappropriate direction. Such as: What does commercial real estate and Swamp Thing have in common? The answer is not much, but the later can yield surprising takeaways that can be applied to many situations (particularly when written by Alan Moore and featuring…
Subject Matter Experts
I have a love/hate relationship with subject matter experts. On the one hand they have tremendous experience in a given area and can show you how to avoid common mistakes and issues that are likely to come up. They’ve seen solutions around just about every problem type and bring valuable knowledge. But on the other…
What is request vs. what is needed
I find it interesting that most projects I work on I have to rescope after the client signs on. During the first week of the engagement it is my responsibility to take the agreed scope of work and massage it into something that more closely resembles what the client really needs. This initial gap reflects…
Building your community
Networking. Whatever, everyone does it. Community – great buzzword, but what does it mean? I started talking about it not long ago, but like with geography I’m not sure I really covered it well. With the Facebook IPO the meaning of community is back on the forefront. Is a community a list of your “friends”? …
Balancing the left and right…
Not political affiliations – but hemispheres of the brain. Most people fall somewhere on the spectrum of math/science oriented – balanced – creative oriented and their position on the scale influences how they look at problems. I’m a through and through left brainer even though I feel I have a strong ability to see the…
Making life more convenient for yourself
I’m often amazed when I fly how people don’t pick the exit rows on their own. I find it amazing how on most Delta flights I can book a ticket 10 days before traveling from Atlanta to somewhere (New York, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Seattle, etc.) and still get an exit row aisle or window seat. …
Zuckerberg’s the “Hacker Way”
So this has been making the rounds, but I think it puts the new technology world into perspective. Only now are the old guard industries beginning to realize what the Information Revolution is all about. It’s not a digital revolution, it’s all about information. Facebook (love it or hate it) is an enabler of personal…