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  • John Erik 2:29 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: bill gates, , microsoft, science, Technology, youth   

    My answer to Bill Gates 

    Today I logged in to a freshly redesigned Linkedin.com and saw this question by one of my favorite people, Bill:

    Q:

    How can we do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology?

    A:

    As a millennial, I can tell you exactly how.

    Bolster our *existing* young/outspoken leaders in science and technology. Help them be leaders, then allow them to talk. The younger the better, our youth have to be able to empathize with the person they are listing to. If they can see an inclining of themselves within that person then you have a chance. “If s/he can do it, so can I.” Open up.

    Please don’t even try with a traditional media company or traditional media outlets. It has to be peer2peer — and you’d better hurry up because trust there will be gone soon like the rest.

    Romanticize those leaders.

    You, Bill, have the ability to do this. And I believe you will. Please keep asking questions and talking. You’re a leader, you have an obligation. Thanks for realizing that.

     

    • David 2:58 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      cheers to that! well spoken.

    • David 1:58 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      cheers to that! well spoken.

    • Kevin 4:43 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      hell yes. very well said john, as always.

    • Kevin 3:43 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      hell yes. very well said john, as always.

  • John Erik 10:57 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    Thoughts on managers/execs 

    Thanks to http://notanmba.com and Todd’s comment for getting me thinking like this.

    As an outsider (corporate outsider, that is), it seems unbelievable to me that managers don’t make a point to communicate/get to know their team. I can understand the desire to keep secrets/keep things non-transparent, but I liken that to being a wimp. A pushover. And other terms. That’s just weak. If you are the best, you should have nothing to worry about, challenge that. Be the best. Let your guard down and ask questions.

    Here’s something I was talking about with my uncle yesterday: You get into upper management because you are a gal/guy who can get things done. You got there because you are a top performer. Now you’re leading a group and you think you have to continue doing the same thing. So, you crack the whip and push your team hard. You work 90hrs vs 60 because “you know best.” Nothing happens.

    Here’s what I think: Rethink the position you are in. A great manager/exec is a coach/a teacher. You’re not there to continue doing what you did. You’re there to teach your whole team how to achieve, like you used to. To do this successfully, be a good teacher you have to stop doing, doing, doing and start talking, communicating, getting to know your team, understanding why each of them do things the way they do. Allow yourself to empathize with them, and they with you.

    This is good for two reasons. 1. If they can see themselves within you, and they respect you, it will encourage them, motivate them. 2. If you can empathize with them then you can understand their intentions. Understanding their intentions is like understanding their thought process.

    Where did I come up with this response? I thought about what I learned from the ad industry: How to reach and know your target market. …The same principles apply to so many domains. Listen. Communicate. Ask questions. Achieve empathy.

     

    • Skyler 12:58 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      If you gathered all the literature on the ‘net, went to every conference in the nation, skimmed every blog with any hits whatsoever on the subject of ‘keys to success’, and then read BETWEEN the lines, you would see the word empathy etched everywhere.

      Empathy is the epicenter of connection. It is the cement of a strong friendship. It is the sneeze of virility in the figurative sense.

      Within psychology, and especially within clinical therapy circles, it could be argued that the grounds exist to start a Church in the name of Empathy. It is not a new concept, nor is it unfamiliar, but for many reasons its importance is downplayed time and time again in the mainstream, so that in the end we’re paying $200 an hour to have someone help us get to know our wife of 12 years, to settle an argument over property, or to sit in an auditorium as a ‘people’ person describes the secrets to a six-figure income.

      But, as with anything that is popularly misunderstood, empathy is a two-edged sword. Does empathizing with friends and family strengthen relationships? Absolutely. Does getting to know your employees (your employer) and your potential customers help? Of course. But the strength of the empathic connection can make or break the deal.

      In a world of instant gratification, polling, misunderstood thin-slicing, and misrepresented statistics, some people can make decisions with too little empathy, or, for those in power, with too MUCH empathy. Those who use too little are left scratching their heads when confronted with the virility solution, and those with the resources to gain a lot of empathy can wield it to sell used car ‘lemons’, convince them to put toys with lead in them on store shelves, or frame political speeches so that issues are played down and religious values are played up. Venturing into opinionated here, so I’ll slow down hoping you get the point.

      Being suddenly thrust into the Marketing world, I look forward to using Empathy to solve problems, strengthen friendships, and see peoples’ lifestyles in a different, more accepting way every day. This, after all, was something I looked forward to using as an aspiring psychotherapist. Seeing failed ad campaigns, domestic and workplace disputes, and billions being lost in productivity due to spam each year as companies and applications try to ‘penetrate the market’, I would love for empathy to lead a new world order in the way people connect with each other, both in person and virtually. My fear, however, is that someone does find the formula, and empathy’s role is streamlined efficiently into every effort in all industries.

      In my opinion, it won’t happen in the near future. It won’t happen because Facebook and Google are carefully tabulating every action and purchase you’ve ever made and compiling databases. It won’t be because people move into ‘smart’ houses in which every product inside is seen and registered, and it won’t be from the ads that result from the tabulations of these data. Rest assured, someone is working on it right now though. For some, it’s like a physicist working on a perpetual motion machine, but for others it’s a code that will be cracked. What happens when that day comes? My fear is that we see the dark side of empathy when it’s already too late. Just as with word of mouth, advertising has found a vein of gold when mining the human psyche, and now hundreds of millions are spent each year on tapping the power of word of mouth. When people discover that the trustworthiness of people spreading word of mouth has been tainted, it potentially does deep damage to society as a whole. What happens when the sanctity of empathy is used up in the same way?

      My hope is that the fields of advertising, science, technology, and psychology converge at one point to realize exactly how much they overlap, and future efforts take into account the potential damage they can have in terms of immediate impact as well as future generations. When depression rates continue to rise, and peoples’ trust and personal relationships continue to suffer for apparently unknown reasons, what will we do then?

      I don’t know, but I hear the new Macbook Air is awesome.

    • Skyler 11:58 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      If you gathered all the literature on the 'net, went to every conference in the nation, skimmed every blog with any hits whatsoever on the subject of 'keys to success', and then read BETWEEN the lines, you would see the word empathy etched everywhere.

      Empathy is the epicenter of connection. It is the cement of a strong friendship. It is the sneeze of virility in the figurative sense.

      Within psychology, and especially within clinical therapy circles, it could be argued that the grounds exist to start a Church in the name of Empathy. It is not a new concept, nor is it unfamiliar, but for many reasons its importance is downplayed time and time again in the mainstream, so that in the end we're paying $200 an hour to have someone help us get to know our wife of 12 years, to settle an argument over property, or to sit in an auditorium as a 'people' person describes the secrets to a six-figure income.

      But, as with anything that is popularly misunderstood, empathy is a two-edged sword. Does empathizing with friends and family strengthen relationships? Absolutely. Does getting to know your employees (your employer) and your potential customers help? Of course. But the strength of the empathic connection can make or break the deal.

      In a world of instant gratification, polling, misunderstood thin-slicing, and misrepresented statistics, some people can make decisions with too little empathy, or, for those in power, with too MUCH empathy. Those who use too little are left scratching their heads when confronted with the virility solution, and those with the resources to gain a lot of empathy can wield it to sell used car 'lemons', convince them to put toys with lead in them on store shelves, or frame political speeches so that issues are played down and religious values are played up. Venturing into opinionated here, so I'll slow down hoping you get the point.

      Being suddenly thrust into the Marketing world, I look forward to using Empathy to solve problems, strengthen friendships, and see peoples' lifestyles in a different, more accepting way every day. This, after all, was something I looked forward to using as an aspiring psychotherapist. Seeing failed ad campaigns, domestic and workplace disputes, and billions being lost in productivity due to spam each year as companies and applications try to 'penetrate the market', I would love for empathy to lead a new world order in the way people connect with each other, both in person and virtually. My fear, however, is that someone does find the formula, and empathy's role is streamlined efficiently into every effort in all industries.

      In my opinion, it won't happen in the near future. It won't happen because Facebook and Google are carefully tabulating every action and purchase you've ever made and compiling databases. It won't be because people move into 'smart' houses in which every product inside is seen and registered, and it won't be from the ads that result from the tabulations of these data. Rest assured, someone is working on it right now though. For some, it's like a physicist working on a perpetual motion machine, but for others it's a code that will be cracked. What happens when that day comes? My fear is that we see the dark side of empathy when it's already too late. Just as with word of mouth, advertising has found a vein of gold when mining the human psyche, and now hundreds of millions are spent each year on tapping the power of word of mouth. When people discover that the trustworthiness of people spreading word of mouth has been tainted, it potentially does deep damage to society as a whole. What happens when the sanctity of empathy is used up in the same way?

      My hope is that the fields of advertising, science, technology, and psychology converge at one point to realize exactly how much they overlap, and future efforts take into account the potential damage they can have in terms of immediate impact as well as future generations. When depression rates continue to rise, and peoples' trust and personal relationships continue to suffer for apparently unknown reasons, what will we do then?

      I don't know, but I hear the new Macbook Air is awesome.

    • Todd Sundsted 1:53 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This is great, guys!

      I’m not going to try to address the entire thread but I will add one comment.

      I try to emphasize the difference between a “leader” and a “manager”. John, you just described a “leader”. In my opinion, we have too many managers and too many good people trying to move up into “management”–it’s not that great a role. I want to see people strive to be great leaders.

    • Todd Sundsted 12:53 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      This is great, guys!

      I'm not going to try to address the entire thread but I will add one comment.

      I try to emphasize the difference between a “leader” and a “manager”. John, you just described a “leader”. In my opinion, we have too many managers and too many good people trying to move up into “management”–it's not that great a role. I want to see people strive to be great leaders.

    • John Erik 2:10 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      isn’t a manager a leader. ?? shouldn’t that be the case?

    • John Erik 1:10 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      isn't a manager a leader. ?? shouldn't that be the case?

    • Julie Gomoll 2:29 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Management is about the business – about getting things done. Leadership is about the people – it’s about motivation and inspiration.

    • Julie Gomoll 1:29 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Management is about the business – about getting things done. Leadership is about the people – it's about motivation and inspiration.

    • John Erik 2:44 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Perhaps I’m wrong. Wouldn’t you expect a manager to be a leader. Would you be worried about there being too many leaders, then. Is being a leader reserved for executives?

    • John Erik 1:44 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Perhaps I'm wrong. Wouldn't you expect a manager to be a leader. Would you be worried about there being too many leaders, then. Is being a leader reserved for executives?

    • John Erik 2:50 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Skyler, thank you so much for the feedback/insight/story.

      I see what you mean in the story. How empathy may be used for manipulation. My dad always tells me how crazy advertising is today. How prescription drug commercials are amazing. He can’t believe kids are being exposed to such a thing…

      Since we’re looking into the future. Let’s talk about how it can be used for good.

      We have people sharing more and more online. The aggregation of their various profiles can create a near mirror reflection of their real world actions and feelings. We have the power to empathize better then ever, to understand in a new light. How can we use that to preempt mental downswings, specifically in kids?

      You can’t just watch over and swoop in every time you see something negative. What is the balance? Should we have social workers trolling profiles for “signs.” Will we just develop the sense to tell if someone is having a hard time. I’m talking about preventing tragic events – every time they happen it seems it was all over the students profile. right

    • John Erik 1:50 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Skyler, thank you so much for the feedback/insight/story.

      I see what you mean in the story. How empathy may be used for manipulation. My dad always tells me how crazy advertising is today. How prescription drug commercials are amazing. He can't believe kids are being exposed to such a thing…

      Since we're looking into the future. Let's talk about how it can be used for good.

      We have people sharing more and more online. The aggregation of their various profiles can create a near mirror reflection of their real world actions and feelings. We have the power to empathize better then ever, to understand in a new light. How can we use that to preempt mental downswings, specifically in kids?

      You can't just watch over and swoop in every time you see something negative. What is the balance? Should we have social workers trolling profiles for “signs.” Will we just develop the sense to tell if someone is having a hard time. I'm talking about preventing tragic events – every time they happen it seems it was all over the students profile. right

    • Julie Gomoll 2:55 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Leadership can be found at all levels. Think revolutionaries and pioneers.

      Dictators are often excellent managers.

      (I recognize these are extremes)

    • Julie Gomoll 1:55 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      Leadership can be found at all levels. Think revolutionaries and pioneers.

      Dictators are often excellent managers.

      (I recognize these are extremes)

    • Julie Gomoll 3:00 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      AND…

      Ideally, managers are leaders and leaders are managers. It’s jut not always the case.

    • Julie Gomoll 2:00 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      AND…

      Ideally, managers are leaders and leaders are managers. It's jut not always the case.

    • Todd Sundsted 3:10 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      You may be trying to cut the distinction too fine. I like Julie’s definitions — they’re very close to how I think. And an effective businessperson needs to be able to do both to some degree. Problems occur when you try to “manage” people the same way you “manage” projects.

      I suppose, depending on how you define leader, you could have too many leaders. In the coaching/teaching/communicating sense you describe, however, I don’t think it’s a problem in practice.

      I don’t think leadership is reserved for executives.

      Good questions. Someone needs to tackle Skyler’s comments, though.

    • Todd Sundsted 2:10 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      You may be trying to cut the distinction too fine. I like Julie's definitions — they're very close to how I think. And an effective businessperson needs to be able to do both to some degree. Problems occur when you try to “manage” people the same way you “manage” projects.

      I suppose, depending on how you define leader, you could have too many leaders. In the coaching/teaching/communicating sense you describe, however, I don't think it's a problem in practice.

      I don't think leadership is reserved for executives.

      Good questions. Someone needs to tackle Skyler's comments, though.

    • John Erik 3:36 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I probably am, Todd. …Just trying to figure out the landscape.

    • John Erik 2:36 am on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I probably am, Todd. …Just trying to figure out the landscape.

    • Kevin 3:37 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      well said Skyrog. very.

    • Kevin 2:37 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      well said Skyrog. very.

  • John Erik 4:43 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Internal social media strategy 

    Last night I had dinner with my Uncle. He’s a leadership/exec coach so after dinner we hung out and he gave me a couple hours of coaching. I was surprised how much what he was saying sounded like a social media pitch.

    The ideas are the same: get to know your customers/employees, build (empathetic) relationships with them, be able to understand where they are coming from, ask questions, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.”

    It seems like companies should have an internal social media strategy: a series of outlets created just for employees. A way of keeping a conversation going.

    Just asking questions now… Is that the value of having an internal social network? How do you keep people using it? How do you make it fun? Who is an expert in this?

    I’ll be thinking.

     

    • Todd Sundsted 8:31 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I wish I could have listened into the conversation.

      There are good solid reasons to build interfaces between customers and employees/management and between employees and management. And between employees and employees (in different functional groups). In fact, it’s hard to imagine why it’s not more common.

      Here’s where it gets weird. In 1999 (the height of Web 1.0) a group of people got together and wrote the Cluetrain Manifesto (http://www.cluetrain.com/). They had identified issues in the way companies were being run, and called those companies out. #41: “Companies make a religion of security, but this is largely a red herring. Most are protecting less against competitors than against their *own market* and *workforce*.” The emphasis is mine. There are many other fine gems.

      Why were they pointing this out?

      The problem is, in 1999 and today, in many many large organizations, there is tremendous personal advantage in opacity and control. Even when this personal advantage comes at the expense of customers and employees (and the company as a whole). Remember, there are huge six-figure salaries and bonuses at stake. I’ve met one or two executives who will say “I don’t know” to a customer. I’ve never met an executive that will say “I don’t know” to an employee. Social media is about transparency… And that’s the problem.

      Okay. Enough negative.

      There are good reasons why more transparency would be beneficial to companies, if you can sell them on the benefits. A good company culture encourages employees to expend their discretionary effort in ways that help the company, for example. Transparency is either going to help build a good company culture, or it’s going to be the nail in the company coffin (if the company’s culture is a disaster and they won’t fix it). Transparency also facilitates cross-functional collaboration, up-down communication, etc.

      Your question is a great question and it identifies a great problem to solve because it cuts to the core of company work-culture, and impinges on strategy, innovation, etc.

    • Todd Sundsted 7:31 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I wish I could have listened into the conversation.

      There are good solid reasons to build interfaces between customers and employees/management and between employees and management. And between employees and employees (in different functional groups). In fact, it's hard to imagine why it's not more common.

      Here's where it gets weird. In 1999 (the height of Web 1.0) a group of people got together and wrote the Cluetrain Manifesto (http://www.cluetrain.com/). They had identified issues in the way companies were being run, and called those companies out. #41: “Companies make a religion of security, but this is largely a red herring. Most are protecting less against competitors than against their *own market* and *workforce*.” The emphasis is mine. There are many other fine gems.

      Why were they pointing this out?

      The problem is, in 1999 and today, in many many large organizations, there is tremendous personal advantage in opacity and control. Even when this personal advantage comes at the expense of customers and employees (and the company as a whole). Remember, there are huge six-figure salaries and bonuses at stake. I've met one or two executives who will say “I don't know” to a customer. I've never met an executive that will say “I don't know” to an employee. Social media is about transparency… And that's the problem.

      Okay. Enough negative.

      There are good reasons why more transparency would be beneficial to companies, if you can sell them on the benefits. A good company culture encourages employees to expend their discretionary effort in ways that help the company, for example. Transparency is either going to help build a good company culture, or it's going to be the nail in the company coffin (if the company's culture is a disaster and they won't fix it). Transparency also facilitates cross-functional collaboration, up-down communication, etc.

      Your question is a great question and it identifies a great problem to solve because it cuts to the core of company work-culture, and impinges on strategy, innovation, etc.

    • John Erik 10:16 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      thanks todd for the great comment/insight.

      these corporation need some internet culture injected into their bubble. or maybe that would be their downfall.

      how do you possibly penetrate some of these large corp. ..maybe the key is to creating small teams with living by the new culture and let them slowly infect the beast.

    • John Erik 9:16 pm on February 16, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      thanks todd for the great comment/insight.

      these corporation need some internet culture injected into their bubble. or maybe that would be their downfall.

      how do you possibly penetrate some of these large corp. ..maybe the key is to creating small teams with living by the new culture and let them slowly infect the beast.

    • Todd Sundsted 2:48 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I was going to try to summarize this post, but I’d just screw it up…

      http://notanmba.com/blog/2008/02/space-trust-innovation

      Check out the link the Business Week article about BMW. There’s a set of cultural values that encourage openness and transparency, and a (more common) set of values that encourage hierarchy and order. The BMW article talks about the importance of a near-death experience as the catalyst to changing those values.

    • Todd Sundsted 1:48 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink | Reply

      I was going to try to summarize this post, but I'd just screw it up…

      http://notanmba.com/blog/2008/02/space-trust-in…

      Check out the link the Business Week article about BMW. There's a set of cultural values that encourage openness and transparency, and a (more common) set of values that encourage hierarchy and order. The BMW article talks about the importance of a near-death experience as the catalyst to changing those values.

  • John Erik 2:53 am on February 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Where to post jobs in Austin / active communities 

    Let me know if I’m missing any important ones under these topics, this is the list I sent to the City of Austin guys…

    Communities with active job boards

    Other Active Groups

    Happy Hours/Events

     

  • John Erik 2:39 am on February 15, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Know any good UI designers in Austin? 

    To follow up on my last post, we had drinks with the AustinGo guys. They’re working hard on the site – I told them a list of places to post for jobs. They need Plone developers.

    On that note, I’m always surprised with how little people know about what is going on in the city.

    I was watching DEMO the other day and discovered a new Austin startup: Voyant Inc., purveyors of Voyant @Home. It’s a downloadable java app that allows you to create a financial time line for yourself and/or family. meh.

    It’s not like mint.com (a service that connects to all your financial accounts and creates pretty graphs to tell you when you’ve spent to much eating out, etc.)- you have to enter everything manually. I love time lines, but they have to be pretty. That makes them fun to use. My friend Michael had me watch a TED video of JJ Abrams, in it he says how he loves Apple computers because they are so beautiful. It’s like they look at you and say “what are you going to write worthy of me.” Needless to say, Voyant @Home is not really fun to use this time around.

     

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