How are you going to make change happen and learn to enjoy it, relish it and want more of it?

I’m going to dress nicer for work, show up at the office earlier, do my best work and lead by example.  It is time to step it up.

I’m reading Made to Stick. The timing is excellent….

Change and Its Wonderful Blessings

This one’s got a bit of nostalgia in it, but it all comes together in the end…

In 2008, I wrote a brief blog post about a change in personal technology that I had noticed over the previous 10 years.  At that time, that blog was branded differently and was using a different web site address.  Even now when I went to revisit that post, I noticed that now there is a contextually relevant Google Ad for a Professional Master’s Program at the University of Washington.  My guess is that if we had other advertising here on this blog that this post would now get similar treatment.

You may be asking how this yields these “wonderful blessings.”  I’ll get to that.  For now a few more examples.

This morning as I was thinking about what I was going to write, I thought about how I used to do that same thinking at coffee shops in college and around town.  So, I thought it might be conducive for writing for me to revisit a coffee shop I had not been to in a while.  Here I sit, by the University of Washington at the University Village Starbucks.  (Well, there may be more than one now.  I’m not sure.)  Goodness, was I in for a healthy dose of change when I walked in!  This store is likely still one of the busiest Starbucks locations in the world and I’m not surprised that they have changed the layout.  I was surprised by looking around and seeing at least 80% of the 68 people using laptops or iPads.  (Yes, I counted.  Hey, numbers are fun for some geeks!)  I’m just assuming cell phones are more than 100% because I’m sure a few of these people have more than one cell phone.  Also, Internet is free here.  Also, the baristas are wearing wireless headsets to relay the order information (inside the store — not in a drive-through).  Also, there are several tables with power outlets easily accessible.  Etc.

As I sit, I’m typing on a Mac that’s running Windows.  I’m even one of those guys that has those crazy stickers on his laptop.  I never thought I’d be that way.  Times change.  Technology changes.  People change.

Okay, that’s change, but what about blessings?

Well, I’m going to list 3 things here that I consider huge blessings, blessings that did not exist the same way prior to some of these changes.

1- Many, if not most of us can work remotely and can telecommute.  This is a *huge* advantage to be able to work where and when there is inspiration, or maybe where the kids are and a diaper change is needed, or maybe at a cabin or coffee shop or friend’s house or office.  Yesterday I learned that when I ordered a part for my motorcycle and went to a local shop here in Washington state to pick it up, the person who answered the phone telecommutes from California.  She had great service and I never would have known except that it somehow came up in conversation with the in person associate at the store.

2- We can better serve the people and teams that we work with.  This may sound like a contradiction to people that may tend to dwell on the increased number of distractions that we have now and the less quality time that some may feel like they are missing with so much more attention grabbing stuff around us.  I can agree up to a point, which comes up very quickly.  It is our responsibility to manage distractions.  Here’s the flip side, the blessing… Because we need to contribute to our teams, we can work in our preferred setting so, so, so much easier now than we ever could before.  This lets us be more mentally available and intellectually available to serve and contribute better.

3- We can find value in more places and we can add value in more places.  There are many more people here at the coffee shop than in my office or home.  This may sound silly, but I think it’s true.  I like to smile and encourage people.  On days like today, there are so many people that I think are happier because we can increase our social experiences due to many changes.  And, we can work in a way that enriches us and brings about better results.

Think about the environments that you want to be in and how you think you may work best.  Are you positioning yourself in those situations?  Are you removing distractions?  I have a co-worker who often works at our office rather than working from home, many times because there are many fewer distractions at the office than when working at home.  I am very much the opposite.  I frequently work at home because I feel like there are fewer distractions there.

How are you or your sales team or business associates able to collaborate on information?  Are they tolerating the systems that they use or are they bragging about them to other co-workers and friends?  (Not that we have to have the most awesome systems, but having good systems helps us “want” in addition to “need” to use them.)

As a business leader, manager or owner, are you able to inspire or encourage better teamwork with the technology changes around you?  Does your team feel the same way?  Have you asked them?

Now for the sales pitch that wraps this all together.

I’ve spent almost 10 years working with SharePoint.  It is not always the best platform and not always the tool of choice, even though I believe it is the best group collaboration and productivity platform of all time.  At J Street, we have worked on many systems, both internally and for numerous clients.  As consultants and developers and project managers and as a team, we think about a lot of the things I’ve mentioned here when we work to find the real requirements for a project.  We strive to interpret pain points and translate them into real needs.

When you or your organization are going through changes, consider the blessings and the rewards as well as the need for adjustment.  Change is not easy on its own.  It takes patience and perseverance.  However, if the process is worked through well and the appropriate respect is given to the stakeholders, the end state is such a blessing.

HT: my friend Carrie who shared it on Facebook

This is a cross-post from the J Street Technology – Blog.

Engaging in Conversation

By way of introduction, I am Toby Getsch, a Program Manager and SharePoint MCTS here at J Street.  I’m excited to engage in some conversation and start leveraging blogging and social networking more – all while trying to promote and bring awareness to the SharePoint practice and other great services.

To get started, we’ve done a few things to open up the dialogue.  We’ve turned on comments here on this blog and will be monitoring them to make sure your input and feedback and conversation is heard and you know that it is valued.  On each blog post we’ve enabled both Facebook and Twitter buttons for you to share/tweet about the post.  We’ve added J Street Techand CartGenie Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.  (@JStreetTech and @CartGenie)  We’ve integrated some more social links in various other places.  And, we’ve also enabled a mobile browsing format so you can use your favorite mobile device and still have a great viewing experience.

Any time an organization makes some changes like this, there can be a variety of results.  One thing we’re aware of is that it increases your access to us.  We have to take that in with everything else going on, and also try to engage in it.  Please know that we’re working hard to provide excellent service.  To that end, we’d like to request that you continue to use the regular channels for support requests.  Those are linked here and available at JStreetTech.com.

In short, we are definitely listening!  And, now we want to spread the J Street love in more places.

Thanks for your time.
~Toby

Sweat the small stuff: Rory Sutherland on TED.com

It doesn’t require leadership to think about solutions like this.  However, I do think good leaders do have tendencies to think like this.  That’s nothing scientific.  And, it doesn’t mean that if a leader does not think like this they are bad.  I just like to think of good qualities and strive towards those.

Kevin Bales: How to combat modern slavery

Are we truly free?

Twitter and retweets are nice, but discussion in a closed system among people who care about similar things and can hide certain “friends” makes for a better medium than other places.  It’s actually open communication and open discussion, inside of a closed system.

I’m all for transparency (appropriate transparency), which means that not everyone should be a friend of yours on your personal Facebook account.  It does mean that if you want to have an open Facebook page, then you should make a Facebook fan page and let anyone add you to that.  It’s totally impossible to be a “friend” with thousands of people.  That’s what acquaintances are.

I could be wrong and you may disagree.  However, look around at where comments get made and where web site traffic comes from.  Do some analytics.  Referrals come from Facebook, because people want to talk about things there, not totally out in the public.

What does this mean?

This means that you can have multiple content sources, but you need to think about how you want to make it easy for people to discuss.  Check out http://kevinrose.com and look at a post or two.  Sure he’s popular and blah, blah, blah… But, there are two links for every post.  One goes to retweet on Twitter.  And, one goes to share on Facebook.  Look at the numbers next to each.  Facebook “wins” because it is a closed system that allows for and encourages open discussion.  That’s not contradictory.  That brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

I kinda like the song.  I’d like it even more if it was praise about how well the airline handled the blunder.  Yeah, deal with mistakes (already).

This trip back was done with everything I own able to fit into my truck with the top carrier.  It was not really that tight of a fit.  That’s mostly because I don’t have very much stuff.  I love that (for me).  I know that most people (in America) chose not to be that simple.  However, for me, it has become a mantra of the past few years.

I think this mantra carries over into the tech world.  Simplicity rules.

As a technologist and consumer of various technology, I have watched a lot of gadgets and programs and computer systems.  I’ve watched as people design and build things.  I’ve watched as end users gobble up or reject things.  The one solid constant is that simplicity rules.  That doesn’t mean that there should not be advanced options.  It does mean that defaults should be secure and simple, not just fastest to completion and fastest to sell a product.

Part of our information overload is due to too many products that are not designed well and ‘simply’ put, have too much crap.  For me, I decide to simplify and not consume as much.  I decide to make a personal choice to have less.  That is not for everyone.  But, it is one idea to help the glut of unorganized chaos not have such a negative force in my life.

Now, my motives and thoughts are not always to be the most profitable.  I’ll give you that.  My motives are not always to get the biggest numbers of users.  I’ll give you that.  My motives are more often to make the best, to solve a problem or to fill a niche.  Designing systems and processes that have a smaller scope is a different complexity that designing for the masses.  (That’s something that I hope to learn a lot more about in the near future and in the coming years!)  For now, I’m commenting on some feelings and some observances, not on everything and not totally comprehensively.

When we put in a CD or DVD and want it to play, we push play.  When we leave the house and want to secure it, we lock the door.  When we want to go online to view something, we want it to just work and the Internet to just be there.  Yes, I do understand the work it takes to make technology be simple.  But, I think there are things that we’re doing wrong – like making devices and systems and processes with too many options.

This post speaks more to the point of what I’m trying to say here.  Computers shouldn’t make people feel like idiots

Here are a few quotes that I think we should take to heart and should make it into the new systems we build.

“People don’t know how to use computers. And not just stupid people. Millions of people. People who are adults. And that’s pretty damn lame.”

“For those of us surrounded by the minutiae of computers all day, it’s easy to forget there’s a world of people out there who just don’t get it. And it’s not their fault. It’s ours.”

“(Note: It’s not just about making a computer or an app more accessible for people who don’t get it. It’s also for people who do get it because this way is better.)”

“You can crank up the snow machine. You can set up the slalom course perfectly. You can shape all the moguls so they’re just right. But if people can’t ever get on the ski lift, there ain’t gonna be any race.”

In short, we need to cut features.  We need to eliminate designing for false target users when our audience is not “everyone” and we need ot make things that work for a real group of target users.

We need to shape the market and redefine the market and help the market by making simple things that just work.  We need to educate the market and facilitate growth by making things that people will use… We cannot just feed the market and expect that it will figure it out.  Many times it will not.  And, many times it will find another way – if we don’t adjust and make things to be simple.

When the consumer says, “I don’t get it.” that is our fault as designers.  It is not the consumer’s fault. We need to take responsibility as technologists and designers and developers and IT pros and builders of any kind.

Take note: Simplicity rules.

P.S.  It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted here.  There have been very few times like this, lasting longer than a month, even going all the way back to 2003 or 2004, when I started blogging.  And, when it has happened, it’s been due to a good reason, like I have a bad attitude or I’m burned out or I’m moving across the country or, or, or… The point is, that it’s a new year and a new season and, well, here I go again…  (Actually, I do have several other blogs where I did post.  So, it’s not like I have not been blogging.  It’s just on this particular blog that it’s been a little while.  Anyway…)

“A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the world’s digital mobile phone calls, saying it was his attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of global wireless systems.”

…hmmm… More perspective is in the full article.  However, it does make one think a little bit more.  Who is listening?  ;)