Thought of the Day - Brilliant or Crazy?

Yesterday I finally solved my backup quandary, I got 6 free months of the premium version of Dropbox to backup 50Gb of data online. I received this for participating in Tim Ferriss's 'Tweet to Beat' campaign along with 33,000 other people. Running the numbers I realised that even if only 50% of the other participants take up this offer, Dropbox will loose out almost $1 million in revenue over the next 6 months. My initial reaction was; 'they're crazy' but it then dawned on me that they might actually be brilliant instead, taking the 'Freemium' model to the extreme.

Anyone who has used web applications should have experienced the 'freemium' model. There is a limited free version of the WebApp that is available, but as you use it more and more, there are then paid levels to allow you greater functionality. The theory being that you can get used to the service, input a heap of data, then you are tied in and likely to pay because of the amount of time you have invested. A more common model is the '30-Day Free Trial' which is similar, but you have 30 days of free use before you have to start paying.

These models are an excellent idea for both the customer and the seller. The customer gets to decide if the product is worth paying for and the seller can reach a wider audience because people like to 'try before you buy'. The downside is that increasingly customers are wise to tactic and may try to resist it. The seller hopes that in the 30-Days or free period, the customer uses the product so much that they are effectively locked in to paying for it by the end. I suspect more and more, that cynical customers are deliberately not using the full potential of the services to avoid this lock-in. I know my first reaction to a free trial or freemium service are to avoid using it too much for precisely this reason.

So how does this relate to Dropbox? Well i have been considering using an online backup system for a while now and have seen various options ranging from free to really expensive, however i was having a hard time deciding between them. There was no easy way to compare features, prices, security and usability, which resulted in decision paralysis; too many options, so i won't pick any of them. Dropbox is offered on a freemium model.There is a free version where you can store up to 2Gb of data and a premium version for $9.99 per month with 50Gb of storage. Unfortunately i suspect this model doesn't work very well in this situation. The full version is really designed for backing up all (or most) of your documents, which is a very different market from the free version, which is so small it is really just for temporary online storage of documents. Due to the fact they are targeted at different markets, I suspect the conversion rate from free to premium is fairly low, this is further exacerbated by the fact that 2Gb isn't much of a lock-in. The alternative would be to offer a 30-Day trial of the premium version, but as i mentioned above, people are wise to that tactic. Few people would bother uploading 50Gb of data to a service if they might not like it or want to move.

On the other hand, how about offering 6 months free? Well that's a different story, 6 months is long enough that it doesn't feel like a lock-in and well even if it is, you're getting $60 of service for free! In reality the lock-in is very high, even higher than the other models above. Once you've setup a system for backups, used it for 6 months and are familiar with the system, there is very little chance you will move when the free period ends. The customer wins; they get some 'free' service and the company wins because they have excellent differentiation in the market and superb retention after the free period ends.

So why doesn't everyone do it? Firstly the company will still have to pay for the storage space, the bandwidth and other overheads that are going to be there. Furthermore they have deferred a large portion of their income for 6 months which is a bit of a cash flow no-no. Also if you offered it to everyone, 6 months is long enough that unscrupulous people would find it worth exploiting. Effectively you are betting the farm that having extremely high retention will benefit the business in the long run.

So is this deal genius or madness? Only time will tell, though after thinking about it i am now a little worried that cashflow might put the company (and all my data) under ...

Thought of the Day - Right Brained Computing

First it was widley belived that machines couldn't replace people at making things (pottery, textiles etc), then the industrial revolution happened. While the machines would never be quite as good at making some things (hand-crafted is still seen as a good thing) they do most of the making in the world today.

More recently it was thought that machines couldn't replace people doing knowledge based tasks that required left brain thinking and again they have been proved wrong again. If a computer can win at chess, properly programed it can probably replace a person doing anthing relying on procedure, decisions and memory. This is still progressing and there is still a gap where people are required.


Is the way forward to leap-frog people working on automating the left brained activites and start trying to automate more right brained work?

I suppose this is where researchers in artificial intelligence are going but is there a simpler approach? Does a computer have to be able to think and be self-aware to create? If a million monkey's at a million type writers will eventually come up with the works of shakespeare and a computer can do the same work in a considerably shorter period of time, is it not just a matter of selecting the best version. As the old saying goes; "ideas are like a**holes, everyone has one", surely this means that creativity is simply selecting the good ideas from the bad.

Thought of the Day - Christmas Business Book Reviews

Well i succeeded in my goal of reading 5 books during my 11 day Christmas holiday, 6 in fact, if you count one i read just for fun. So i thought i would do a quick roundup of what i read, some i have already posted 'book notes' on and some will require a second reading before i can do that. So without further ado:

Plugged In by Tamara Erickson [2008]
A book on how to find the right job and succeed in work as part of Generation Y (born 1980 - 2000).
My Thoughts: An interesting book with some very good observations and useful generalisations. Though it did lack some of the more specific strategies i was hoping it would provide. It would be a great book to read if you were leaving college and looking for a job. I found it interesting that in most respects i am Generation Y but i have some Generation X tendencies.
*** 3 out of 5

Personal Development For Smart People by Steve Pavlina [2008]
A guide on personal development using a logical framework.
My Thoughts: I started reading Steve's blog 3 years ago on a recommendation from a friend. I was initially drawn in by the inspirational articles, which unlike most other personal development sites had a slant towards the rational and geeky. Unfortunately as he has developed over the years, he has moved towards a more new-age viewpoint and this book is heavily influenced by that direction. Don't get me wrong there were some interesting ideas in it, however i had read most of them in his blog prior to the book.
** 2 out of 5

The Back Of The Napkin by Dan Roam [2008]
A book on the power of using simple drawings and visual communication.
My Thoughts: An interesting book, particularly if you have never done; art, graphic communication, presentation skills or six sigma training. Unfortunately i have done all of the above, which means most of the book was a refresher course. I have always been a very visual person and this reinforced my view that if something needs explained a picture is a good way to do it. Where i did find it particularly useful was in explaining why visual communication is powerful and providing a framework for visual problem solving.
**** 4 out of 5

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell [2008]
A book looking into difference between the myths of success and actual causes of people who are exceptionally successful.
My Thoughts: As with Malcolm Gladwell's previous books (The Tipping Point and Blink) Outliers is a very compelling and easy read. Unlike its predecessors, it has some interesting social commentary highlighting ways that the current system can be improved for the betterment of society. It is also one of those books that i suspect may have a profound bearing on how i live my life going forwards.
***** 5 out of 5

Pro Blogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett [2008]
A book on how to successfully make a living from blogging.
My Thoughts: An interesting read, though i didn't really learn anything that i didn't already know. It would be much more useful for non-technical individuals that have read, but never written, a blog. A lot of the advice is common sense, the remainder is available online and can be found relatively easily. Where the book does succeed is putting structure to that advice, which can be used a checklist if you plan to start a blog with aspirations of making money from it.
*** 3 out of 5


Something i hadn't noticed until i wrote this down is that all of the books i read were published in 2008. Random given that i didn't set out to do that and have many unread books that were published earlier.

Thought of the Day - Theory X Vs Theory Y

In management there are two theories of employee motivation; Theory X posits that employees don't like work, will avoid it where possible and must be driven to it. Theory Y on the other hand is based on the assumption that work can be satisfying and employees will be self-motivated to work. While it initially appears that these theories are all to do with employees internal motivation, it has also been suggested that whether a boss manages to Theory X or Theory Y determines how the employees behave. I tend to subscribe to the latter idea, if you manage your employees as if they will do everything in their power to avoid work that is how they will behave. If on the other hand you manage your employees by giving them responsibility and trusting them that is how they will behave.

It is interesting to see how people behave when managers aren't around, while not being able to control for things like; workload, task allocation and clarity of goals, how employees behave in a management vacuum should indicate whether the culture of a company is Theory X or Y. If the employees have a; "while they cat's away" attitude and avoid work you can safely guess that there is a Theory X culture. If on the other hand the employees treat it as; "business as usual" and work as they would if the manager was there you can assume it is a Theory Y workplace.

This is another reason that i think ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) is the way forward. Under that culture it doesn't matter where the manager (or infact the employee) physically is, there is work to be done and it either gets done or it doesn't. People won't come into the office just to show up, they aren't just there to look busy while the manager is there and slack off when he/she isn't. In ROWE on the other hand there are specific tasks that get done, the manager can monitor them in or out of the office, the employee can complete them in or out of the office.

In the end, i think seeing how employees behave when they aren't around is an interesting insight that most managers are unlikely to see. Unless of course they resort to spying, in which case it would be safe to assume they are Theory X.

Thought of the Day - Career In Reverse

I just had an epiphany, my career so far has been in reverse. Not reverse in the normal meaning; going backwards in terms of money or responsibility, but reverse in the progression of job titles.

For most people: Engineering Degree > Mechanical Engineer > Process Improvement Specialist > Leadership Development Program > Project Manager, would be a logical progression of jobs. And yet somehow i have gone in completely the opposite direction. I don't know whether this is a bad thing or a good thing or in fact what it means, it just struck me as an interesting observation.

I suppose my next job either needs to be an internship or back to university ...

Thought of the Day - Complex Decision Making

I just read an article in the 'Boss' supplement from The Australian Financial Review which was a reprint from the Harvard Business Review (June 2006). It concerns something that i have given a fair amount of thought to but never really considered from this angle; how to get a group to decide between many options.

In the past i have largely focused on tools like; the Pugh Matrix, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Impact-Effort Matrix and simple voting. While these techniques result in a decision, what i failed to consider is that just because an option is selected doesn't mean that there is broad agreement with the decision. The article focused on the CEO/Leader as a deadlock breaker and the negative aspect that they become a 'dictator by default' and while i suspect that is a frequent occurrence, the problem is equally valid in groups of peers.

The crux of the problem is summed up in this quote; "majority wishes can clash when a group of three or more people attempt to set priorities among three or more items ... different subsets of the group can generate conflicting majorities for all possible alternatives". E.g. Persons 1 and 2 agree on option A but persons 2 and 3 also agree on option C, by selecting option A you satisfy 1 and 2 but C would have been an equally valid choice as you satisfy 2 and 3.

Once you accept that point, it suggests that it is impossible to resolve this conflict. However this assumes that there are only fixed options, the article advises that you carry out the following steps to come to a better solution:
1) Articulate clearly what outcome you are seeking - Classic problem solving, you can't solve a problem until there is a common understanding of what the problem is.
2) Provide a range of options for achieving the outcome - Again classic problem solving, brainstorm as many solutions as possible.
3) Surface preferences early - There is no point wasting time on options that no-one has any interest in, by eliminating them you don't waste time on pointless debate. This step can be done through voting, possibly weighted, or other techniques.
4) State each option's pros and cons - See the good and bad on both sides, in the article it is recommended for someone to present the pros and another person to present the cons, one may have to play devils advocate.
5) Devise new options with the best features of existing ones - Again classic problem solving technique, synthesize new options by combing the best parts of old ones.

While these steps don't solve the decision making dilemma they will help. I think most important of all is to acknowledge that this problem exists, preferably within the group making the decision, so that you know the pitfalls while you are making the choice.

Book Notes - The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Daniel Pink [2008]

Summary:

1) There is no plan
There are two types of decision; instrumental and fundamental. You make a decision for instrumental reasons if you are prepared to put up with the present because you think it will lead somewhere. You make a decision for fundamental reasons when your not sure where it will lead but it seems interesting. The former rarely work out and the latter may not get you where you thought you wanted to go but normally lead somewhere interesting.

2) Think strengths, not weaknesses
Steer around your weaknesses and focus on your strengths. You will be more motivated, more enthusiastic and more successful if you do what you are good at.
See: Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

3) Its not about you
Focus your energy outward not inward. Unless you are a starving artist it isn't about what you want, you have a client, a customer or someone else who you need to satisfy so apply your strengths to that.

4) Persistence trumps talent
"The people who achieve the most are often the ones who stick with it when others don't"
You need to show up, practice, practice and practice some more, perfect your art whether that art be painting, music or engineering. Talent only gets you so far, sticking with it and persisting make you successful.

5) Make excellent mistakes
If you aren't making mistakes you aren't trying hard enough. Make mistakes for the right reasons, pushing the boundaries, trying something new, trying to make a difference. If it does all blow up then you need to learn from those mistakes so you don't make the same mistake again. Try to: "Make a mistake from which the benefits of what you've learned exceed the costs of the screwup."

6) Leave an imprint
Try to make a difference, leave things better than they were and be proud of what you do.


Quotes:
"Is this mind-numbingly repetitive? or repetitive mind-numbing?"

Thought of the Day - Online To Do List Roundup

A while back i blogged about my love of To Do Lists and at the time i was enamoured with Ta-da Lists by 37 Signals. While it is beautifully simple and totally fulfils their vision of; "competing with a Post-It note", i started to yearn for something with more control and flexibility. So over the last couple of months i have been moving between various webapps for capturing To Do's. I don't think i have yet found the ideal webapp (and it might not exist) but i thought i would share my experience with each of the sites so hopefully other people can find the perfect To Do List for them.

Ta-da Lists
Despite my quest to find the perfect mix of features, i still use this on a fairly regular basis, its great for short ad hoc lists and capturing things to be done quickly. I even sometimes transfer To Do's from other sites into this for the satisfaction of ticking them. Superb for short ad hoc lists, not so good for more complicated projects.
Pro's: Beautifully simple, replaces Post It notes, quick and intuitive to use, satisfying animation when tasks are complete.
Con's: Can't arrange your high level lists, no support for rearranging tasks between lists, not hierarchical, does not support; tagging, reminders, due dates, searching.

Remember The Milk
So from Ta-da Lists i briefly moved on to Remember The Milk after reading a great article on how to use RTM with Getting Things Done. It has support for tagging, reminders, multiple categories of lists and even setting locations with google maps. I think in principle it could be great but i find there are some interfaces niggles that annoy me.
Pro's: Very clean looking interface, works offline with google gears, support for; tagging, reminders, due dates, prioritisation and reordering of tasks, physical locations for tasks.
Con's: Can't reorder your high level lists, not hierarchical, interface doesn't quite work for me (rollovers don't stick), clicking anywhere on a task marks it as complete, slightly silly name.

Treedolist
I had a few annoyances with the user interface of RTM and it didn't offer what i really wanted; a hierarchical task list. I worked in project management for a bit so i like the idea of having subtasks that all contribute to a high level task and i hadn't found that in any of the other webapps. While it is possible to do this in Ta-da and RTM it is only to one level i.e. you have a list composed of tasks, but you can't have subtasks within each task. A google search for "hierarchical to do list" lead me Treedolist which is specifically designed to be hierarchical (like a tree).
Pro's: Hierarchical, intelligent search bar, support for; notes, links, due dates, virtual tagging (if combined with search), changing font sizes.
Con's: Visually it is rather ugly, the interface is quite clunky (old fashioned and unintuitive), you can't reorder tasks other than to the top of the list or to become subtasks, there are some inconsistencies with keyboard shortcuts and actions (sometimes they work sometimes they don't).

Backpack
I had looked at Backpack a while back but i dismissed it as some sorta weird replacement for a company intranet, but after reading Getting Real (great book - notes to follow) it seemed like it might do what i wanted too. Overall there are a raft of features that i have no need for (newsroom, writeboard, journal etc) but the Pages (and if i paid for it, the Calendar too) are excellent. The Pages in particular are really flexible, not only can you have multiple lists on each page, you can split them with dividers, add notes sections and even writeboards. Alas you are limited to 5 pages on the free account which is workable but not ideal.
Pro's: Great interface, easy to move tasks between pages/lists, best visual layout method i've seen (lists, dividers, notes, writeboards etc), the same satisfying animation as TaDa Lists when you complete a task.
Con's: Can't reorder pages (only alphabetically), very limited number of pages on free account, no support for; due dates, task level tagging, assigning notes/links to individual tasks.

Todoist
I literally just stumbled on this tool while writing this post during random googling for links and it seems to be just what i'm looking for. If it works out i will do a longer review of it later, but here are some initial observations.
Pro's: Great interface, hierarchical tasks AND projects, ability to reorder tasks and projects, due dates, multiple projects, easy to move tasks within lists and between projects, prioritisation/reordering of projects.
Con's: Slightly strange query system (it might search?), the page is too wide for my 7" EEE, i haven't used it in anger yet.

Some other resources:
Top 10 Web To Do Lists
LifeHacker Poll Of Top 10 Web To Do Lists
LifeHacker To Do List Tips
Information on the 'Getting Things Done' System

I should start a new trend; Blogging As A Problem Solving Tool, by researching and writing about your problem you may find a solution to it. Alas i have been here before, i think all of the above To Do Lists have seemed like the answer to my prayers at one stage or another and after extended use i have found little annoying niggles with them. So hopefully Todoist will work as well as it seems to, but time will tell.

Thought of the Day - Economics Books

I was at the airport last Friday and i noticed in the business section there were a glut of new economics books which i would suggest are probably a result of the success of Freakonomics. Whether these are new books written because of Freakonomics or whether they are old and have just been made more popular by the success of Freakonomics i'm not sure.

Within these books there seemed to be 3 distinct categories:
1 – Economics can predict the future well – I did have an example however i can't remember the title or author, just that the cover was orange.
2 – Economics can explain the past (in an interesting way) – Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner or The Economic Naturalist by Robert H Frank
3 – Economics can't predict anything well – Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

To be honest i am rather cynical about the first group, they argue that if you have a good enough model and enough computing power you can predict anything. I would argue that there is far to much randomness to come up with anything better than a guess. The only situation where these models are likely to be accurate are when they are self-fulfilling prophecies; i.e. the models predict a recession, the economists preach a recession, so sure enough there is a recession when there might not have been one otherwise.

For the second group, just about anyone can explain things retroactively, but i will admit that economists do have some interesting explanations.

The third group on the other hand have a lot of valid points, no matter how good the model is you can never be certain. We live in a Quantum not Newtonian world, everything in life is probabilities.

Thought of the Day - Mismatch Problems

Anyone who has felt like they had to jump through pointless hoops at an assessment centre for a job (i would imagine just about everyone these days), can now rest assured that they are infact a complete waste of time. At least according to best selling author Malcolm Gladwell.

In the video of a presentation he made, he argues that most assessments used to determine peoples suitability for jobs are fundamentally flawed. That the entry to careers ranging from ice hockey player to lawyer, are based on tests that have no bearing on actual ability to perform the duties of a job. Moreover he argues that they only thing that indicates if someone will perform well at a job is if they actually do the job.

I suppose the question is how can you tell if someone can do a job without incurring large costs in terms of time or money?

The mismatch problem is only a concern to you and me if people believe that tests and interview questions are doing anything more than weeding out the blatantly unsuitable candidates. And more to the point, accept that the candidates that do well at the tests may be useless at the job.

Idea From: http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/gladwell

Thought of the Day - Timing

Well the timing for my first 30-day trial sucks, the first 4 days i have been too tired, bored and apathetic to do anything. For the next 4 days i am up in Scotland for my cousins wedding so other than maybe a bit of planning i'm not likely to get anything done.

Most people will agree there is never a perfect time to start something and rarely a good time, so you might as well just get on with it. I suspect when i get back from Scotland i will have to get my butt in gear and start actually doing something.

Thought of the Day - Spit Shining Shoes

According to a body language book i read, two things that almost everyone judges you on at a job interview are; how shiny your shoes are and how big your watch is.

The latter is to do with a big watch being associated with power and class, the shoes i'm not so sure about. Fortunately it isn't something i've ever had to worry about, i don't remember how old i was but my granda taught me to spit-shine shoes and it has stood me in good stead ever since. My granda was in the police for a long time so i guess he picked up some good tips. So today i am going to share with you the best way to spit-shine your shoes (and secure any job you interview for):

1. Put your index finger in clingfilm or a plastic bag and take a fair dollop of shoe polish (i would recommend Kiwi Parade Gloss) and apply it liberally to your shoe, massaging it in. There should be enough polish that you are really just spreading it around.
2. Leave for 5 minutes (normally the amount of time it takes you to do the second shoe) and then remove most of the polish with a dry cloth or soft brush.
3. Take a fresh cloth (i recommend a yellow duster), wrap it tightly around a finger tip, dampen the tip and apply a tiny amount of shoe polish to it.
4. Gently apply the polish in small circles to the shoe, you are aiming for a light haze. Then repeat on the other shoe.
5. Move to a fresh part of the cloth and dampen the tip again (or spit on the shoe) and gently rub small circles to shine the haze but don't remove much of the polish.
6. Apply a little polish to the tip and rub gently onto the shoe again aiming for a light haze. Then repeat on the other shoe.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 moving from shoe to shoe until the surface is smooth. This can take a long time, particularly if this is the first time they have been polished but you want to build up lots of very thin layers of polish to smooth the leather and allow a really deep mirror shine.
8. Once the surface is smooth, take a dry section of cloth and rub the shoes more vigorously (not too hard) to create the shine. If they are shiny enough great! If not go back to step 5 and repeat until they are.

While very repetitive i find it strangely relaxing in a zen-like way, it is also quite satisfying when you get a really deep mirror finish.

Thought of the Day - Tasks I Achieve Flow In

This morning i read an article on how to achieve flow (link at bottom of post) and i realised that i really don't experience it in work a lot.

Some things in life i find it easy to achieve flow in, most notably; reading (both books and articles), researching a topic online and coding websites. At work it is much more rare, if i get some peace and quiet i can achieve it doing data analysis or creating a presentation. Unfortunately to achieve flow i normally need music on in the background, so it doesn't help that we aren't allowed to use headphones. One other area i think i might achieve flow in is delivering training, i must admit i haven't really thought about it but when i get going it does feel effortless, maybe something to look at in the future.

So if flow is an optimal state of working and i don't experience it in my job very often then am i in the right job?


Idea from: http://zenhabits.net/2008/06/guide-to-achieving-flow-and-happiness-in-your-work/

Thought of the Day - Ready, Fire, Aim

Sometimes a theory or and idea keeps coming up over and over again and in those situations it is hard to ignore. Recently i kept reading about the benefits of the "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach, it was in books, on websites and in podcasts and it made sense.

Most people use the "Ready, Aim, Fire" approach. Only it normally turns into "Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim ... maybe Fire", too much planning and not enough action. On the other hand "Read, Fire, Aim" relies on action straight away, the results of which can be used to improve your accuracy. It is like firing a gun for the first time, you don't know whether the sights are set correctly or if the barrel is straight, therefore until you fire the aiming might not matter at all.


Something i have been meaning to take action on for a long time (like since 2004) is updating my WebCV into the modern age. It was originally built like a site from 1996; a pain to update, not very modern looking and rubbish for search engine optimisation, frankly it was an embarrassment. At various times since then i have bought and read books about web design, i have felt guilty for not updating it and once or twice i have even started to put something together. But it never quite got done, i spent too long planning and worrying about how difficult it would be and how long it would take to get it perfect. Even the most recent time i made a start in March i had a big elaborate plan, it was gantt charted out over 3 or 4 months but of course after a week i lost interest and nothing ever came of it.

On Friday evening i was listening to a podcast from SXSW where various entrepreneurs who were renowned for being 'fast' were speaking on the topic. These were people who had built the likes of Twitter, Blogger etc which are rather complicated pieces of software and the timescales they were talking about from picking a concept to first release were ridiculously short, months if not weeks. At this stage i began to feel rather embarrassed, my WebCV really isn't that complicated, i have most of the skills to update it, so how come they can launch huge brands in a few months and i can't even build a website?

The answer is simple; they set a short timescale to get something out there, it may not be complete, it may not be perfect, but it is something that they can then build on going forward. Programmers call this "release early, release often". It is better to get something out and get real customer feedback about what needs changed than it is to spend years building what you think customers want only to find it isn't actually what they want or the opportunity has passed.


With this in mind i decided that 12 hours was a reasonable amount of time to build a website. I set key tasks that had to be done and decided if something was taking too long that i would accept something that was ok, rather than taking longer and getting something that was perfect. It was difficult, first off it is the weekend so it was hard to avoid distractions and secondly i had forgotten most of the CSS i used to know. But after 11 hours of work i updated my WebCV and uploaded to the site.

I would be grateful if anyone who reads this could go and have a look at my WebCV and provide any feedback they can think of through the contact link. So far my list of things to do includes:

• Validate the xHTML and CSS against the W3C standards
• Improve consistency across browsers (IE7 and Firefox 3 are ok but i suspect it needs work on IE6, Firefox 2 and IE8)
  
• Sort out the padding and margins to get the spacing between the headings and text right
• Make a better header (the current one will do but its not great)
• Make the navigation tabs a bit less bland and angular
• Think of some ways to make it more visually appealing without being tacky

At least i have something out there, a base to build on. It is a much less daunting task to make lots of small improvements than it is to come up with something brand new and perfect first time. So remember; if you are procrastinating, if a project seems to big to know where to start, set a tight timescale and "Ready, Fire, Aim".


Idea from: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/05/29/the-art-of-speed-conversations-with-monster-makers/#more-362

Thought of the Day - Did The British Invent 5S?

I heard an interesting story, that it wasn't the Japaneses but the British who invented 5S, the Japanese just gave it a name and applied it in factories. Hah! you may say, look at how bad the 5S is in most British manufacturing companies, did we invent it and forget?

Alas no, it was just invented and still used somewhere that most people never see - on boats in the Navy. Only in the Navy it is called being 'ship shape'. I'm sure you have all seen war films, sailors out scrubbing the decks etc. If you think about it what happens on a boat conforms to 5S;
Sort - there is nothing on the boat that doesn't need to be, space and weight are at a premium.
Set In Order - because the boat will move in the seas everything needs to be secured and hence in the right place.
Shine - things are cleaned on a very regular basis, you want to find any problems as soon as possible.
Standardize - The captain or senior officers make it clear what needs to be done and how regularly.
Sustain - The sailors get a bollocking if the previous 4 steps are not done.

In retrospect the best 5S implementation i have ever seen was onboard a nuclear submarine. Not only is space at a serious premium ensuring Sort has to be right, but you want to minimise the noise so the enemy can't detect you so your Set In Order has to be perfect (and noiseless) too.

To be honest i haven't done any fact checking about which Navy first coined the term 'ship shape' or that the Japanese didn't invent 5S thousands of years ago, but it is an interesting thought.

Thought of the Day - Process Improvements I Love To Hate

There is one process improvement in particular that i love to hate.

Anyone who has stayed in a Travel Inn or similar budget hotel recently has probably noticed the increase in Lux Shower Gel/Shampoo bottles in place of traditional soap and shampoo. If you weren't a process engineer you might wonder why. The simple reason is cost reduction, how many barely used bars of soap and mini-bottles of shampoo do you think are thrown out each year? So something that you don't have to replace after every guest is quite a big saving, huge infact, probably millions of pounds a year, especially for a hotel chain as big as Travel Inn. It is also good for the environment, the waste generated from individually packaged soap and shampoo must be orders of magnitude more than large bottles of Lux. Finally who wants to steal a huge bottle of shower gel that only fits in a mounted holder, so there must be a significant reduction in theft too.

Unfortunately i really really hate shower gel, i always feel greasy after i use it and never quite feel clean. So on a personal level i hate it but on a technical level its is a great process improvement and i only wish i had thought of it first.

Book Notes - Why Work Sucks

Why Work Sucks by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson [2008]

Summary:
Judge people on results, not the amount of time they spend in the office. A simple and some would say common sense statement, however 99% of the world is managed in completely the opposite way. This book provides a great argument against the prevailing management methods and also what they should be changed to.

Definitions:
Presenteeism - Being physically but not mentally present in your job. (page 17)
Sludge – The negative commentary that occurs in the workplace based on the erroneous beliefs on page 23. (page 30)
Sludge Anticipation – Mental preparation you go through if you are expecting sludge, wasted time and energy. (page 49)
Sludge Justification – The time and energy taken to present your excuse to the sludger, not only wasting your time but the person sludging too. (page 51)
Black Sludge – Sludging people behind their back in groups of 2 or more people. (page 52)
ROWE – Each person is free to do whatever they want, whenever they want as long as the work gets done. (page 66)

Notes:
Page 13: The core problem with work is the theory that Time + Physical Presence = Results, when infact it is very easy to put in a lot of time and physical presence but not accomplish anything.
Page 15: Random Thought: If you are working in an ROWE and can accomplish your job in say 20 hours per week, what happens if your boss wants you to do more, do you get a pay rise or do you just get more to do?
Page 19: Presenteeism isn’t the employees fault it is the fault of the system, of the judges of performance. Show me how you measure me and i will show you how i behave.
Page 23: List of erroneous assumptions we currently have for work. My favourite is “if people get their work done in less time they should get more work”.
Page 24: Random Thought: I wonder how much the above statement has to do with problems in project management, one of the big things in Critical Chain is that “finish early” is never passed on to the next step, one of the reasons for this is that there is no incentive to do so, you will just get more work or be expected to do future work in less time.
Page 33: Paragraph two goes on to say that almost all companies are the same, even young ‘progressive’ ones because the people working there have the same assumptions.
Page 34: If you have a high level of demands (stuff to do) and a high level of control (you get to prioritise and manage the work) it may be hectic but it is not so stressful. However if you have high demands and low control (someone else decides what you do when) life becomes unbearable.
Page 41: Flexitime is not the answer, it is considered a perk, the company will do anything within their power to put you off doing it and you will likely be ‘sludged’ for not being committed.
Page 54: Random Thought: Is Sludge the 8th lean waste?
Page 61: Black Belt pointing out that it isn’t all about fluff bunnies and spending more time with the kids, it is about focusing on what really matters to the company and eliminating waste.
Page 66: The irony is most people go from a ROWE (college/university) into jobs that are all about how much time you spend at your desk. You go from an environment where you are completely free to select and prioritise your work (within a certain framework) to being told what to do and treated like a child. Is it any wonder that there is a serious adjustment period for graduates?
Page 82: The perception is that ROWE is a win-lose situation (employees win, employers lose) this could not be further from the truth. How can the employer lose if the employees have a focus on business results, are more committed to achieving those results because they want to keep working in an ROWE and are generally happier and more productive?
Page 85: Random Thought: Consultants and freelancers already live in an ROWE world, all ROWE is doing is bringing that ethic to companies. Maybe this is how Charles Handy’s view of the future will happen, rather than everyone becoming freelance and being bought into a company, ROWE will allow similar flexibility and benefits without the hassle of coordinating hundreds of independent workers.
Page 89: The 13 Guideposts:
1. People at all levels stop doing any activity that is a waste of their time, the customers time or the company’s time.
2. Employees have the freedom to work any way they want.
3. Every day feels like Saturday.
4. People have an unlimited amount of “paid time off” as long as the work gets done.
5. Work isn’t a place you go – it’s something you do.
6. Arriving at the workplace at 2:00pm is not considered coming in late. Leaving the workplace at 2:00pm is not considered leaving early.
7. Nobody talks about how many hours they work.
8. Every meeting is optional.
9. It’s ok to grocery shop on a Wednesday morning, catch a movie on a Tuesday afternoon, or take a nap on a Thursday afternoon.
10. There are no work schedules.
11. Nobody feels guilty, overworked, or stressed out.
12. There aren’t any last minute fire-drills.
13. There is no judgement about how you spend your time.
Page 125: The side effect of “Every meeting is optional” is that people are much more focused on why they are having the meeting, who they want to attend and why and if people don’t turn up it probably saying you got it wrong.
Page 144: Random Thought: An ROWE would eliminate the need for project reviews, it would be up to the project leaders to schedule time for coaching, mentoring and questions.

Quotes:
Page22 : “Perception is reality”
Page 29: “We have this weird permission to be shitty to one another at work.”

Thought of the Day - Results-Only Work Environment

99% of people are paid for their time and not their results. Which do you think is better for the company and the individual? Unsurprisingly for anyone with half a brain, the results method is better for both.

I really should have posted this when i came across the concept on Tuesday but i wanted to read the book (Why Work Sucks) first to make sure i really understood what i was talking about. The books notes will be up very shortly after this post but i wanted to offer some comentary that wouldn't have been appropriate in the notes.


Having just read the book it feels like the culmination of thoughts that i have been having in my career up until now. It really ties together; behavioural management, self-directed companies (Maverick, Open Minds etc), process improvement (Six Sigma, metrics etc) and even the more recent lifestyle design (4-Hour Work Week).

It also finally puts a name to something i have expereinced first hand, i am a morning person when it comes to work, i like getting up early and making a start on work. I tend to be in the office before everyone else (~7am), i don't take lunch or breaks and i know that after 3pm i'm not really at my best but i have to hang around until at least 5pm because it is expected, because people will call me a slacker if i don't. It doesn't matter if i don't accomplish anything in those 2 hours, as long as i am at my desk people assume i am being productive.
In my first job after grduating from university i took the approach of doing my contacted hours, i'd start early and finish early. The hour before my colleages arrived tended to be my most productive, so i thought logically it was good for the company. However it wasn't long before my boss took me aside and said that he didn't care if i was in early, he wasn't there so he didn't know if i was working or not and leaving before 5pm was showing a lack of comitment. Which sent the clear message to me that he didn't care if i worked or not, just that i was at my desk. It also prompted me to start recording my hours so that if he ever said i wasn't comitted again i could throw my regular >50 hour weeks in his face.
That conversation has stuck with me for the last 4 years and i still record my hours for the same reason. After reading the book it strikes me that it is a huge waste of time. A waste of the companies time because i do it in work time. A waste of my energy because i worry about how it might be perceived if my average hours drop below 45 despite the fact i am only contracted for 38. It also provides zero incentive to improve, if i know i have 2 hours of reduced productivity why not stretch things out to fill them time, the only outcome of working faster is getting more work to do in my least productive time.

I suspect this will be a recurring theme in this blog, so i have given it a tag "ROWE" if you want to group all of the posts together.


Idea from: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/05/21/no-schedules-no-meetings-enter-best-buys-rowe-part-1/

Thought of the Day - To Do Lists

First off i will admit i love To Do Lists, normally on Post Its or on paper at home but at work if Outlook didn't remind me to do tasks they would surely be forgotten. I have a memory like a sieve so if i don't write down something i need to do then i am almost guaranteed to forget to do it.

One of the problems i had was coordinating tasks between home and work. At work i have Outlook and at home i have bits of paper, but frequently i think of something i need to do at home when i'm at work and vice versa. Previously i used the To Do List function in Basecamp (project management web-app) to manage a web-to-do-list, but it was overkill, i always forgot the web address to access it and there was too much complexity to get to the To Do List. Fortunately i recently discovered that the people who made Basecamp (37 Signals) have also made a really simple To Do List application.

Its called Tada and it is perfect! Very basic To Do List functionality, but so simple and effective you can't fault it. It is web based so you can access it from anywhere, you can create multiple lists (To Do At Work, To Do At Home etc) and prioritise the tasks within them. Sure there is no support for setting completion dates and reminders or creating sub-lists but if you wanted that you could use Basecamp, overall a superb little web-application that i would highly recommend.

Thought of the Day - Metrics

I read an interesting article about metrics, specifically it was about metrics for software projects but the main rules are applicable to all projects.

A metric should be:
1) Informative (and ideally Predictive) - It should give relevant useful information.
2) Objective - It should not matter who is determining the metric.
3) Automated - The more work it takes to generate the metric the less likely it is to get used or recorded accurately.

Idea From: http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/IT-Management/Lies-Damned-Lies-and-Project-Metrics-Part-1/