Monthly Archives: July 2012

Are Linked-In Groups Worth the Time and Effort?


I love the idea of LinkedIn Groups!  The reality, however, from my perspective leaves much to be desired!

As a huge believer in social networking as a business tool, but so far disappointed in the impact this has had on most businesses, I really hoped that LinkedIn Groups would work for me.  Let me define “work for me”:

Create a positive return on my time investment in being active in a select set of groups around topics of great interest to me.

Sporadic Success

Over the course of about 2-3 years, I’ve joined 12 groups, been very active in 4 of these, and co-moderate one of them.  There have certainly been periods where activity blossoms – often started by someone posting an interesting, challenging or provocative question or opinion, with others then weighing in, adding perspective, insight, and experience.  But these peaks of constructive activity seem to be few and far between.  In the gaps, a given group can drift from endless self-serving commercials for offerings that have nothing to do with the group’s mission, to periods of total inactivity.

Lazy Learners

I recall reading The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Eric S. Raymond’s seminal paper analyzing how and why the open source movement works so well.  Eric wrote about the culture of the communities and forums and the importance of ‘hanging out’ long enough to learn the ‘unofficial’ protocols of participation before you can be accepted as a credible member of the community.  I contrast that with the mindless posts I see from new group members who clearly have not taken the time to look back over the discussions in order to familiarize themselves with the group, or to find answers to their questions.  For example, (fictitious, to protect the guilty!) you might see a post from a new member of the Enterprise Architecture network asking, “What is EA and how do you do it?”  I’m not saying that naive questions don’t have their place, but questions like this have been beaten to death, and if the new member had taken the time to familiarize themselves with the group’s activity, they would never have posted such a question.

Spammers

A particular peeve of mine is people who trawl a whole bunch of groups posting some self-serving promotion, then “Like-ing” all their posts!  To this point, I was participating in two groups serving virtually identical missions (one of the downsides of self-organizing networks – I guess that over time one of these groups will fade away or the two will merge).  One of the groups was closed – you had to apply to join.  (This was the group I was co-moderating, which gave me an interesting perspective on the types of people requesting membership.)  The other group had started off closed, and then was made an open group.  Given the time I was spending moderating requests to join, I was tempted to make our group open, but I held off, preferring to see how this other group would fare with open enrollment.  Unfortunately, it did not fare well.  Spam reigned supreme – it was actually amazing to me that some people will put their name on inane and/or offensive posts, “like” them, and keep repeating the offense day after day!   As a result, and many complaints from group members, the moderator returned the group to a closed model.

A Total Waste of Time?

It would be irresponsible of me to damn all LinkedIn groups based upon my own experience.  I am hanging in with the groups I get the most value from, and will continue monitoring other groups of interest.  It may be that based upon the groups you chose, or what you hope to get out of/put into a group, you are having a very different experience.  Please let us know your own experiences – what works, what does not, and how to get more from the LinkedIn group capabilities.

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Update on My Samsung Galaxy SIII Experience


My previous post was written within 24 hours of my purchase of the new Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone.  The key factors behind the post were:

  1. I had never experienced Android before (any version!)
  2. I had no personal experience of a true smartphone – I’d been a Blackberry 8800 user for a while.
  3. I have mostly been an Apple customer since switching from the Wintel world a couple of years ago.

The key points I hoped to make were:

  1. The Samsung Galaxy SIII is a gorgeous device to use!
  2. The learning curve for Android 4 is non-trivial!
  3. The learning curve for the phone is non-trivial!

Now, one week into my Galaxy SIII experience, I have additional reflections on my experience with this device and with Android.

Open versus Closed Platforms

Behind my key points 2 and 3 above are the pros and cons of an open platform such as Android and a closed platform such as Apple’s iPhone or RIM‘s Blackberry and their ecosystems.  Beyond the much-discussed issues of open versus closed platforms is a more subtle one of deeply held mental models. With my Apple and Blackberry experiences:

  1. I expected everything – both on the device itself, and with its ecosystem (mail, calendar, applications on my computers, etc.) – to work together seamlessly.
  2. I expected one way to do anything – one app, one button, etc.

The open platform reality blows away both these mental models.  So, I experienced some difficulty getting to my music library (iTunes) on my new phone – seamless integration was not there, and there were multiple apps and methods for getting to my music library.  I experienced some confusion figuring out where to get new apps – Samsung provides a market and an app for getting to it, and so does Google!  I experienced some confusion in finding there were multiple apps for syncing with my desktop, including Samsung Kies and Google’s GooglePlay.

Once I got my head around the fact that I had choices, I realized that I needed to do some research and experimentation to figure out the best choice for me.  The good news – there are choices!  The bad news – you have to wade through them (or at least the most highly rated) and figure out the right choice!

My New Mental Model

So, I’m getting my head around the notion that there are multiple ways to do things.  Thankfully, the Internet makes it trivially simple to do the research to help make the right choices.  It also makes it easy to find answers to baffling questions about the phone – there’s even an extensive collection of YouTube videos showing you how to do just about anything on the phone.  As an example, I was not sure what the different color LED indicator alerts were telling me (new email versus missed call, and so on.)  In researching this I found that LED assignment was totally customizable (choices again!) and that there are several apps (more choices!) to aid in customizing those choices!

The Bottom Line

One week in I am really loving the device!  I’ve got it customized the way I want (for now!) and have added a bunch of nifty apps that I think I will get great value out of.  (All free, so far!)

One thing that amazes me is that the screen is remarkably finger print resistant – you can touch it all day long and it stays clean and clear!

The Samsung implementation of Android Ice Cream Sandwich (I can’t speak for other implementations) follows a very consistent UI, so once I got the hang of how to get to and get around settings and alerts, getting everything to work the way I want has been simple.

And for those who want to read a very detailed review of the device, I found C-Net’s review to be extremely helpful!  I was especially impressed by their “Always On Tortures the Samsung Galaxy S3″ videos – and how the device survived the freezing, baking, dropping, screen scratching and dunking tests!

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The Samsung Galaxy SIII Experience – From an Android Novice


My regular readers know that I rarely post technology reviews.  But given all the hype surrounding the new (to the US) Samsung Galaxy SIII, and that I’m just getting my first experience as a proud owner of this smart phone, I thought I’d share some initial thoughts.

From Blackberry 8800 to Android 4

I’ve wanted to upgrade from my Blackberry to a true smart phone for some time.  The Blackberry has worked well for the 2.5 years or so that I’ve had it, but over the AT&T 3G network, its abilities beyond email and calendar were limited to say the least!  Getting to the web took the patience of Job!  Seeing what you got once you got there took the eyesight of a spy satellite!

I’m a big Mac user (3 Mac desktops, a MacBook Pro and iPod) so I was very tempted by the iPhone, but I’d also been considering Android devices, and became quite interested in the Samsung Galaxy SIII when it was announced.  Congratulations to Samsung’s publicists – it must have been one of the most hyped product introductions of the decade!  But, in all fairness, congratulations to Samsung’s engineers for creating such a remarkable package – it was the technology that, I believe, mostly drove the hype.

Initial Experience

I bought my phone yesterday at a local AT&T store.  My contract had expired, so I paid the $199 plus tax, and an obscene amount for a flip cover (more on that in a moment).  The buying experience was fine – the local store is big, bright and airy – certainly nothing like an Apple store, but the AT&T folks are trying and do a decent job.  The longest part of the process was transferring my contacts.  Turns out the various sync problems I’ve had over the last couple of years, involving Entourage (the MicroSoft version of Outlook for Macs), Google mail, Spanning Sync and so on had somehow created literally thousands of duplicate contacts!  The whole contacts thing has been a pain for some time – if you want to use a more powerful Mac email client than the vanilla Mac product, you end up with a sync nightmare, having to go between Entourage, the Mac Address Book and Google Contacts.  I still have to resolve my duplicates – a story for another time (and place?)

I reluctantly opted for the Samsung flip case.  It’s an obscene price for a piece of plastic ($50!!!) but I wanted to avoid scratches and scuffs (my Blackberry 8800 looks like new, and I know from prior experience that my care and attention will pay back when I trade it in on Gazelle or wherever.)  I really liked the design of the case – it literally replaces the back that come with the phone with an identical unit, but one that has thin flip cover (with a soft inner lining) over the screen.  So, without adding significant bulk or weight, it seems like it will add the necessary protection.  No belt clip, but I think the phone size probably precludes that as a viable means of transport!

Once I got home and opened the box, my first reaction was delight.  (I had, of course, played with a demo phone at the store, so this was not a huge surprise!)  It is a beautifully made device – feels good – light but sturdy.  I don’t understand all the criticism about the “plasticy feel” – that’s how they keep it light, but it feels solid enough.)   Getting into the basics of using the phone was pretty simple – mostly intuitive, with some help from the fold-out “Quick Start” guide that came with the phone, and some tutorials at att.com.  Then the troubles started!

Android – Meet Mac!

Setting up my 4 email accounts (2 IMAP and 2 POP accounts) was pretty straight forward, in spite of finger troubles learning to use the on-screen keyboard.  Next, I wanted to connect to my iMac and get my iTunes library onto the phone.  NOT SO FAST, TONTO!  This proved to be a horrible experience!  The Mac would not recognize that it had a device attached.  I scoured the forums and ‘sources of wisdom’ and found the problem was extremely common, but the solutions were all over the place, and none seemed to apply.  Many relied on using Settings to select Wireless and network, then Developer options, and then select USB debugging.  None of this worked the way the forums suggested.  Eventually I found the Developer options elsewhere on the Settings menu, then discovered that you had to set up the USM PC connection as a Camera (PTP) rather than as a Media Device (MTP).  All this took a long time to figure out, including installing Android File Transfer (which refused to recognize an Android device until I set it as a camera!)  By the time I got connected, I was getting pretty frustrated and wondering if I’d erred in not going for the iPhone!

Android – my iTunes

The next frustration was getting to my music.  I did not expect this to be as simple as it would be on an iPhone, and I knew I’d have to deal with the AAC/MP4 conversion issues, but much of my library is already MP3, so I’d be fine with that for now.  No so fast!  The forums, Galaxy help and other ‘informed’ sources pointed me to Samsung’s Kies and to Google’s Google Play.  I found that neither of these were particularly well documented and did not immediately work.  Now I was starting to consider eating the AT&T’s restocking fee $35!) and returning my SIII and getting the iPhone!

An hour or so of futzing with settings and I don’t know what else (hey, this is not meant to be a technical advice column!) I was able to access my song library (the MP3 songs, at least) on the new phone.

Second Day Experience

So today, the second day with the SIII was my first full day with the device.  I’m adjusting to the keyboard, customized home screen, ring tones, etc. and added some apps.  It’s all still a little intimidating (and I’m moderately tech literate!) but I’m glad to say I’m over my “shall I return it to the store” feelings, and starting to feel like the SIII and me were made for each other!

Bottom Line

If you are a technophobe, or don’t have access to a “significant other” with the chops to help you, you might think twice about getting an Android device.  If your up to it, and are looking for a largish screen size smart phone (though not heavy or unweildy), I think Samsung have the high ground right now with the Galaxy SIII!

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Systems Thinking and Process Improvement – Pearls of Wisdom from Russ Ackoff


The late Dr. Russell Ackoff was described by Steven Brand as “the Einstein of Problem Solving”.  If you have ever brushed with the magic of Systems Thinking, you probably know who Russ Ackoff was.  He’s been described as a Renaissance Man, architect, city planner, philosopher, behavioral scientist.  He is considered the father of organizational systems theory and especially, Systems Thinking.

A nod to Alex Mathews and his excellent The Enterprise Advocate blog for coming across this excellent presentation.

 

If you are involved in any type of improvement effort, ask yourself (and your teammates) – are we approaching this with a whole systems perspective?  If not (the likely case!), what can you do about it?

Image courtesy of The Open University

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How Good are your IT Capabilities and How Good do they Need to Be? – Part 4


This is the 4th and final part in a series on assessing IT Capabilities.  (See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)

A Quick Recap

Part 1 introduced some assessment principles I’ve found to be important.  Part 2 defined the term IT Capability, presented a potential landscape, or normative model, if you will, for IT Capabilities, and discussed ways to determine what IT Capabilities are needed.  Part 3 covered assessment Dimensions, Options and Ratings.

In this final part in this series I’d like to address some contextual issues about why and how to conduct an IT capability assessment.

Why Assess IT Capabilities?

I think there are some parallels in the question, “Why have a medical check up?”  Sometimes, we have a medical check up because we suspect something might be wrong with our health – perhaps we are more tired than we think we should be, or we get a tightness in the chest if we exert ourselves.  This falls into the “I think I might have a medical problem – I need to find out if I do, what it is, and what I need to do about it!”  Other times, we have a medical check up because we like to be proactive about our health – assure ourselves that all is as well as we think it is, and find out about unrecognized problems before they become critical.  Still other times, an external force leads to the medical check up – applying for new medical insurance, for example.

So, the corollary is that we should assess IT Capabilities when:

  1. We think we might have a problem – costs to high, performance too low, etc.
  2. We think everything’s just fine, but would like to prove it!
  3. Someone of importance wants us to be assessed – e.g., the CEO, an Audit Committee, a major client, etc.

How to Assess IT Capabilities?

I’ve mentioned before, the best way to assess IT Capabilities is such that the assessment has credibility and the power to motivate improvement.  From my experience, a facilitated self-assessment, with an acknowledged expert facilitator fits both these needs well.

Here’s an outline of the approach.

  1. Identify the scope and depth of the assessment.  (See Parts 1, 2, and 3 for more on this.)  This will help determine the number and boundaries of Capabilities to be assessed.  I think the ideal is between 5 and 9, assuming you are going for full coverage of the IT landscape.
  2. Identify ‘leaders’ for each capability.  These will be people who will identify the SME’s and stakeholders (key customers and suppliers) for the assessment focus sessions.  An idea group size is between 7 and 9 people.
  3. Provide training on the method to the leaders – I find that a 1 hour session is more than adequate.  This positions the leaders to know who to invite and what to expect.
  4. Schedule the assessment focus sessions.  Allow 2 hours per session and timebox the sessions.
  5. Distribute the assessment results for commentary and feedback.
  6. Present the findings to the IT leadership team.
  7. Create a high level plan of actions coming out of the assessment.
  8. Communicate the high level plan to all assessment participants.

The Secret of IT Capability Assessment

But underneath all this, I have found the real power of capability assessment to be the dialog and insight it leads to – a way for suppliers, capability groups and customers to talk in a disciplined way about what they do, what works well, what needs improving and, to a degree, how best to improve it.  That is the magic – to view capability assessment as a social activity.

Capability Assessment as a Continuous Process

The insight of viewing capability assessment as a social activity has led my business partner and I to start experimenting with ways to leverage social tools to enable self-assessment and even to move it from a periodic to a continuous process.  Watch this space – or contact us if you are interested in getting involved.

Graphic courtesy of Elite Training

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Projects, Programs and Portfolios – 3 Common Traps


I recently got the following email from a reader of my blog:

I am a student of project management…  Thank you for the article Project vs. Program vs. Portfolio Management.  However, I have a challenge deciphering the relationship between these terms and I think an illustration using an example would help me a lot. I kindly requesting you to help me with that. May you help me please!”

I replied with an analogy, rather than an example, and, per her response, I guess the analogy helped!  Given that the post she referred to continues to be among the most highly read posts on my blog, I thought I’d repeat the analogy here, and use it to discuss three common traps I see IT leaders falling into.

Managing an Investment in a House

Let me take an example of owning a house.  (By the way, the details behind this analogy are totally fictitious!)  I may decide that I am going to invest $20,000 per year in this house.

I decide to allocate this $20,000 into a portfolio.  I will spend 20% on recurring operating costs (home owners fees, real estate taxes, etc.)  I will spend 40% on improvements – things that make the house nicer to live in and hopefully add value to the house.  I will spend 20% on maintenance – painting, pressure washing, annual contracts for maintaining heating and air conditioning, etc.  And I plan to spend the remaining 20% on major repairs – a new roof every 12 years, new air conditioning, etc.

Essentially, I have defined my $20,000 annual investment into a portfolio model.  This helps me manage my spending and hopefully lets me balance investment in future value (improvements) against necessary ongoing costs.  I can track my spending by portfolio category and either adjust my portfolio or get better at managing costs.

My Handicap Access Program

As part of my improvement investments, I decide that I want to make the house handicap accessible.  So I create an Handicap Access Program.  The goal of this program is to make the entire house conform with handicap access regulations.  I believe this will make the house more valuable on the market given the demographics (aging population).

My Handicap Access Program will take about 3 years to complete and will be funded out of the 40% “improvement” bucket of my total $20,000 portfolio – i.e., approximately $2,500 per year over 3 years.

The Handicap Access Projects

My Handicap Access Program will comprise 5 major projects:

  1. Ramps at the front and rear doors
  2. Wider doorways
  3. An elevator
  4. Grab handles around the baths and showers
  5. Invalid access bathtubs

Each of these 5 projects will be managed by a project manager and managed as separate projects.  I will take responsibility for the whole program, and at the end of the 3-year program, I will apply to the local authorities to get the house handicap access approved.  I know I’ve been successful when I get the approval.

So I have a Portfolio Investment Model for my house, one major Program (Handicap Access) and 5 home improvement projects that all have to be successful for the Program to succeed.  Also, there will be dependencies between the projects (I need to get the ramps constructed first to make it easier for the builders to do the inside jobs).

Common Trap #1 – Ignoring the Power of Program Management

I am fully convinced that these 3 disciplines – Project Management, Program Management and Portfolio Management build on each other – each is a foundational disciple for the next.  If you have lousy or inconsistent Project Management, you’ll never have effective Program Management or Portfolio Management.

The first trap I see many companies fall into is that they focus on Project Management and Portfolio Management, and forgo Program Management because they don’t really understand it!  Then they wonder why Portfolio Management never really gains traction or helps to elevate the business value of IT investments.  The Portfolio they end up with a simply a laundry list of projects. In my simple analogy, I’ve recognized that the 5 Handicap Access Projects are connected – I can’t gain the full benefit of the Program until all 5 Projects are completed.  Also, by recognizing they are interdependent, I ensure that they projects work together to reach my program goal.  You can’t easily connect Projects to a Portfolio without the intermediate abstraction of Programs.

Common Trap #2 – Portfolio Management as a ‘Bottom-up” Exercise

The second common trap is that people “back into” their portfolio model bottom-up.  Rather than take a position that they will budget 40% (using my analogy) of their total investment in “improvements”, they derive that number by summing up all their improvement projects.  That is hardly strategic!  They have failed to establish a portfolio strategy.  It would be like randomly picking stocks, bonds, precious metals, and so on, and figuring out what your portfolio model is, rather than saying, “At my life stage I want a conservative portfolio of 80% bonds and cash equivalents, and 20% mostly domestic stocks.”

Common Trap #3 – Failing to Engage Business Leaders in Defining the Portfolio Model

The third common trap is failing to bring senior business executives into the strategic thinking that leads to a Portfolio Model.  If business executives recognize that 80%, say, of the IT budget is consumed by day-to-day operational costs, and that only 20% of investment going to new capability, they may get quite interested in tackling the operational cost problem if it can free up investments in new capability.  And it is often the case that most of the cost drivers in operating IT are in the hands so the business executives.  Bringing them inside the tent and engaging them in deciding the right portfolio mix for the business strategy can be transformational!

 

Graphic courtesy of PM Study Circle

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