Info Tech

Well that was our last class. I'd have to say I actually learned more than I expected to. I'm still genuinely freaked out about the security class and now I'm constantly thinking about that--especially when I just saw a commercial for a bank that said you can check your records from your phone. I yelled at the TV, "don't do it!". Yes, I am fully aware of my dorkiness.

I also find myself thinking of the internet bloggers as terrorists. As a marketer, this is something that I really only briefly thought of before this class. My previous company used to get attacked by a weekly periodical, an "US Weekly" for our industry called the Monday Morning Quarterback. The information was always so off base that our company usually just ignored it. In most cases it helped us because our competitors were the main readers of the Quarterback and often believed what was published, but our trusted customers knew better. I wonder if we should have responded? How would you? I'll be looking into this as time goes on...I never knew bloggers had so much clout.

Now I need to study for the test even though grades really don't matter. I've never once had an executive ask me what my grades are...but just the same I guess I should study...

Security

I started to panic in class. I had no idea you weren't supposed to check your bank account at a coffee shop. I sat there trying to remember how many times I had done that...then I remembered my fiance's iphone addiction and that he had even checked our bank account while we sat at a restaurant once.

So, we are both idiots. How did we squeeze through the system without knowing this critical piece of information?

When I thought about it, I think I just blocked out security concerns as "paranoid". I thought it was for people like my mom who didn't really understand the internet.

Again, I'm an idiot. I don't have an excuse for my fiance either.

So now I know to never check anything with my bank unless I'm sitting at home...and even then I might be a little worried.

Second Life

I just had my first Second Life experience--and unless my future employer uses Second Life for collaboration, it will be my last.

I believe I was just teased by a bunch of people on Second Life…a group of people sitting on Second Life in a virtual world on a Saturday afternoon, standing around chatting. After creating my avatar, Layton, I was teleported into some region and all of these characters were just standing around. I typed “chat” and asked what everyone was doing standing around.
The reply was, “we are all having cybersex Layton. One big orgy”. This was the sort of activity I expected—I cannot even tell you what I picture when I think of users of chat rooms and Second Life but I was about to sign off when some kind user told me it was just a chat room. I didn’t understand what they were chatting about because so much of it was acronyms.

I told the group that this was my first Second Life experience. I literally got an, “eye roll”—apparently you get updates from gestures? I asked if anyone had any recommendations. One kind user told me to just explore the search and teleport. Other users started inputting, LMAO. I then asked what LMAO meant, and got more LMAO. I googled it to find out that LMAO means “laughing my ass off”. How original. I left the chat.

I then teleported to IBM’s region. It was empty. I saw some signs, a motorcycle, and a fountain. I flew around for a few minutes. Then I looked outside my real window and saw that it was still sunny out and thought my dogs could use a walk. Turns out Second Life just doesn’t do it for me-- I’d rather actually go outside…even if it means I have to walk instead of fly.

Godango

I thought it was wonderful for Peter to fly in from San Fran to share his thoughts with us. He has a fascinating business--and he is a very likable guy. I thought it was particularly interesting talking about the struggle monthly magazines face with now continuous streaming content--and how to market their magazines online.

I'm still a big fan of actual print and publications, receiving several magazines each month from Businessweek to Domino, Dwell, and Metropolitan Home. Then again, maybe I'm a little old school...but there is just something about curling up on the couch and reading your magazine. It doesn't feel the same with a laptop.

Knowledge Management

I was thinking in class today that knowledge management and knowledge exchange are not mutually exclusive. A truly successful knowledge management system would facilitate knowledge exchange. Companies struggle with creating a system that employees will actually take the time to use...and the "system" does not have to be all electronic. Why not create a system that connects you with someone based on what issues you are facing and automatically schedules that cup of coffee for the two of you?

It's not just the tacit nature of the knowledge that makes knowledge exchange difficult. It's also the timing. You need to hear the right information at the right time for it to be relevant. Otherwise the information is just noise...which is usually how I felt in my previous company's "best practice" sharing at national conferences. It wasn't the right information at the right time. It wasn't relevant.

Knowledge management is difficult but it's important for companies to keep trying.

Mine mine mine...

I get where we were going in class...especially separating the task from the process. We would always get so hung up on internal complications because someone external asked us to do something--provide a service--that our "process" wouldn't allow. We certainly had the capabilities to do what was requested, but it was sometimes damn near impossible to execute what the client was asking for.

What it really came down to is that people didn't want to break the process--the rules of engagement, out of self protection. If they let go of something, a process, a piece of information, whatever it may be--in some way they were losing power. If you lose power you are more vulnerable. So even though someone else within the company might be able to do it better, they don't give. They hug and protect whatever has been granted to them by the ivory tower as "their thing". To quote Office Space, "I take the specs to the customers"...

I do believe that companies need to operate in this way to be more flexible, but the difficulty beyond identifying what each component should provide isn't the only problem...it's getting people comfortable with their value and how they are valued by the company. Think about it--if you are really successful at making your value a component, isn't it that much easier to replace your component entirely if there is a cheaper option out there with close to the same performance? No wonder you get shot down because it's "someone else's job"...Can you blame them?

The Promise of Enterprise Software

I had the pleasure of working through several software implementations in my previous career...not from the side of IT but from the user side. Yes, I was one of the guilty ones in marketing that found the work-arounds and messed up the program for everyone else.

We would get caught in the day to day demands...the squeakiest wheel gets the grease right? It seemed any software package the company introduced that was supposed to make us more effecient took TWICE the amount of time as it did before. Oh it was such a pain.

SAP and a package with a CRM tool named LSP was the worst. We had so many glitches and problems...so many orders that didn't show when they were supposed to. Split shipments. Missed deadlines. Etc. etc. etc.

To the credit of my previous employer they stuck to it. They MADE us use the software...they forced it down our throats. It took longer to begin with, yes...but it's funny how when something becomes a performance criteria you suddenly find a way in your busy day to make it work. It turns out all the extra time was just because it was different and I didn't know how to use it. Once I got used to it, it took the same amount of time or less...

As more and more of the company discovered the same fact I did, it's also funny...there were less problems with split shipments...missed deadlines...and inaccurate forecasts.

Wow. It stinks to find out you are part of the problem...and that the folks in the ivory tower do know what they're doing...sometimes anways.