Monthly Archives: January 2012

Empowered

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Empowered by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler is a great book.

The book starts out by answering the question “Why?” Then, they go on to answer “What?” Finally, they give detail what’s possible when you’ve empowered HEROS in your organization.

Why? Why do you need empowered employees? The story of Dooce and Maytag or David vs. United (United breaks guitars) are just two examples of why you need empowered employees. The old days of having very few people with the ability to influence a large audience are long gone. Just about anyone who has reached the end of their rope has the ability to influence the masses. Doubt that? Check out the reviews on Amazon.com. Sure, some of those are professionally written, paid-for reviews. Most, however, are just written by your average consumer who was either so pleased with a product that they had to tell someone, or they were so disappointed that they had to voice their frustrations to as many people as possible.

Real world example that came up as I was reading this:
Papa John’s Example

What? What is an empowered employee? The short answer is that they’re customer focused and motivated to find or create the tools that they need to make the customer happy. The empowered employee isn’t locked down by rules and regulations. No; instead, they’re likely to be the ones out there bending the rules trying to find ways to gather the tools they need or access those web sites that are blocked by the company’s firewall. They’re using their own tools and their own personal technology (cell phone/tablet/laptop) gadgets etc to get the job done. In an empowered workplace, these employees are supported by IT and management. They help to shape the tools, processes and ways that employees interact with the customer and client.

This book made me realize just how handcuffed I am at work and I’m a HERO! Hell, my department’s mission is to build the tools needed by HERO employees. From a typical employee standpoint, I have access to tons more tools and resources than the average employee at my company because I’m one of the few who have admin rights on my pc and I have the know-how to get around blocked web sites. They must feel completely hamstrung. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must be.

I recently said (several times) – in regards to a multi-million-dollar project for which I manage the online data collection, “Imagine how cool this project could be today if they’d have given me free reign to implement my ideas on this project over the past 4 years.” Instead, I’m unable to serve the customer (survey taker) or improve the quality of the product that the client is paying for. It’s frustrating.

Since I’m in IT and I’m a HERO (by this book’s definition) I have the greatest opportunity to make a significant impact. I’m going to do just that. This company needs to be shaken and if that shaking has to come from the bottom up, then that’s what I’ll do. The book goes a long way to pointing me in the right direction as to how I can make a difference and implement change and create an environment that empowers each HERO in the organization. My next step is to open the eyes of those who hold the keys that have everyone locked down. I’ll do that.

  • If you are an IT manager at a company that locks down employees laptops and restricts web sites, you need this book.
  • If you’re a manager at a company that locks down employees laptops and restricts web sites, you need this book.
  • If you’re an executive at a company that locks down employees laptops and restricts web sites, you need this book.
  • If you’re an excitable employee who’s constantly looking for ways to improve the customer experience and you’ve had a hard time getting management to listen to you, you need this book.
  • If you’re someone concerned with the direction of your company and you’re watching missed opportunities to make social media work on the company’s behalf you need this book.

Creating better habits

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Today’s readings led me down a slightly different rabbit hole. I’ve found 2 new feeds to which I’m now subscribed and a new (to me) Ted-like YouTube feed that I’ll try to follow – though, admittedly, I prefer to read.

In light of this Lifehacker article about the Pomodoro Technique, I’ve found a new YouTube channel to follow. I’m going to give the Pomodoro Technique a try this week as part of an attempt to create good habits consciously. Oh, yeah… check out this on that topic.

To get me started, I’ve downloaded the Android App, PomLife Lite.

I really like the idea behind the Pomodoro Technique and how it can be applied to my work environment. My department does agile programming and many of the projects require us to become intimately familiar with large projects in short order. A targeted, focused approach such as that advocated by Pomodoro is perfect for our department. Further, I’ve been wanting to try a modified version of the scrum technique in my programming efforts and this fits well with what I have in mind.

I’ll keep notes as to my thoughts on the Pomodoro technique and post them in the comments section, here. stay tuned.

The Power of Who

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The Power of Who was a quick read. I think it took me about 4 hours to read it. There are some nice parallels between Good to Great (GtG) and The Power of Who.

They both talk about the importance of “Who”. With GtG, it was about ‘who’ is on the bus and getting the right people on the bus. In TPoW, it’s about who you already know – as suggested by the title – and how you can tap those resources.

The hedgehog strategy is detailed in GtG and mentioned in a round-about way in TPoW. I think the hedgehog strategy is as good of a strategy for your own personal development as it is for a business. In short, the hedgehog strategy is to reduce the noise around you by figuring out what you’re passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and where your money comes from. The intersection of those three things is where you should put your efforts.

The author of TPoW doesn’t give enough credit to the quality of the people in his inner circles. As an executive recruiter for 29 years, he has amassed quite a list of A-List individuals in his circles. That leads to a lot of his successes. He makes mention of this once, near the end of the book. However, as I mentioned, he doesn’t give it much weight.

The book also makes mention of the need to nurture your relationships – not just everybody that you come in contact with, but the important people in your inner circles… friends, acquaintances.
If you’re taking the Eat Like a Bird/Sh*t Like an Elephant approach to absorbing things about how to move your career forward – this is worth picking up at the library. It’s a quick read and easy. There are some motivational ideas within, and overall, I came away with a bright outlook on how I can make the most out of the people around me.

Good To Great

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I recently read Good to Great by Jim Collins. It’s an easy read and it contains some identifiable and possibly repeatable business strategies. The overarching them was the hedgehog strategy wherein the author suggest that businesses identify these three things and where they intersect; 1) What are you passionate about? 2) What can you be the best in the world at? and 3) Where are your revenues coming from?

I think most companies are working toward that goal and I think that the strategies that the book suggests are being implemented by most companies. There is still an element of luck that can’t be ignored.

So, good: Overall strategies that are mentioned. There was something in each chapter that I circled or underlined or highlighted as a good take-away.
Bad: The book ignores those companies that have implemented the exact same strategies and tactics, but came up snake-eyes. I’m quite sure there are many.

I’m not convinced that the companies that he picked are good examples of success stories, either. Many of them are average – at best – today. Two of them aren’t even around as they were when the book was written (Circuit City & Fanny Mae.)