Over 80 per cent senior executives are hoping to find a new employment position this year, according to the latest research from BlueSteps.
The 2011 Mid-Year Outlook Report shows that 82 per cent of workers are planning to look for a new job and have no concerns about making a career move. (good luck with that – ed)
via Senior executives ‘planning to change jobs’ | Chartered Management Institute.
In the last post, I suggested that modern-day “finance” as we know it has little to nothing to do with (real) economics. Where economics is about creating authentic value, igniting positive sum games, discovering pathways to prosperity, finance is (or has become) about reshuffling yesterday’s value, extracting the lion’s share in zero sum games.
Yet, the self-appointed sheriff of the global economy–the master “trader”; in reality, a mere jumpsuited technician of a lethally dysfunctional machine–is viewed as the modern-day equivalent of a mystical seer, a Delphic oracle, whose visions earn the indisputable right to luxuries and riches beyond the most avaricious dreams of the kings of yore.
via Umair HaqueEudaimonicsRedesigning Global Prosperity.: Is “Finance” a Cult?.
What if our home was destroyed and we lost all our belongings? Or what if someone were to break in and rob us? Apart from one another, the only irreplaceable things in our house are the priceless memories, work, and other information that we keep on our computers.
Many of us work in jobs where process is king right. Whether you are a freelance worker, working in an office, project manager or creative, the importance of process is crucial to your success. So, changing your workflow is something not entered into lightly.
But if anything is going okay, why do we need to make these changes? Continual improvement!!!
As someone who is very interested in technology, and by technology I mean applications, and by applications I mean Mac applications, I am always looking at new offerings. Most times there are just too many apps to check out, but sometimes there is some wheat among the chad, some diamond in the rough. This week I was reading one of the many blogs I subscribe to (in google reader) and I came across another (I have 10) note taking app. This is called Notes+ and peaked my interest as it allows for the use of a stylus and the nifty trick of never-ending space…. It happened it would not change my workflow, but it’s a nice little app taking guards and maybe doing some brainstorming.
But the region this week changing my workflow, is the fact that I now have a new [to me] app called Scrivener. I have used the app for some time as a free download and it is just awesome for professionals who may have a weighty tome to write. Check out the vids on the site and you will see the potential it offers. It application is so big, I doubt I will ever use its full offering, but there is one feature that I find awesome. The ability to edit in Markdown and export as OPML. I can also use dictation via MacSpeech and the speed really flies then.
The importance of low is often overlooked by most people from the above list, the reduction of friction accelerates your capacity massively. Think about a river, when you remove rocks and other blockages from the river the flow of water improves: It’s the same with work. As someone who talks a lot about removing the common causes of variation, then clearly I would be someone who would be interested in improving my own performance.
See my quick pic above (done in OmniGraffle of course) for illustrative purposes. Firstly this blog post began life as a mind map, now depending on what mood I am in, I may want to use text, or I may want to use a pretty picture. For the former I would use an outliner called OmniOutliner by the brilliant OmniGroup. If I want to use a pretty picture then I would use Mindnode Pro by Marcus Muller.
Once I have a outline, then I export the file as an OPML file. There has been much said about the format so I won’t go into this, suffice it to say that if you are unfamiliar with it – get familiar with it.
Once I have this file then I need to import it into my text editor, and for these purposes I use the aforementioned Scrivener. Once the file has been imported into Scrivener, then I use a typewriter mode and compose in full screen view. Once I have this completed, I go through the document and add any Markdown information as needed. Should you want to know more about Markdown, visit this site.
Once I have finished the document, I copy all and paste into Notational Velocityby the genius that is Brett Terpstra. Then it is a simple matter of copying the HTML source.
Now we are nearly there, I open up my blog and paste from the clipboard into the new post.
There it is, job done…
As I have said above, I am constantly looking of new opportunities for improving my own performance, and sometimes people ask me what the best app is for this or that. When I do my writing for my research, which happens quite a lot, getting my thoughts down on paper is vital. So I need a smoothe flow with minimal hassles.
New apps act as external influences that provide opportunities for review. We should always be looking for opportunities to develop our skills and this is a simple way to develop – oh and it is fun too.
Now revising your workflow is a serious matter and should only be done when a real opportunity comes up. I have many workflows, for note taking, writing, photography, creating presentations or other work. Minimising friction and hassle makes us more productive and therefore improves the service we can provide to our clients.
At the end of the day, as we improve our productivity we improve our service and our sense of self-satisfaction and achievement benefits.
Yes
Simple
It quickly became apparent that the value is immediate, I am still tickled by the scrolling, just about used to it now…
Mission Control is fantastic – who knew?
Full screen – who knew???
Mail – yes! Sparrow is gone – sorry.
On laptop yes, on iMac nope – logitech mouse still cutting it.
Dr. Deming should not be associated with Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Lean, TQM or any of the many brands proliferating the market. Without effecting a true transformation in awareness and practice Dr. Deming would refer to them as tampering,
via Instapaper. #in
How To Break Through Bureaucracy To Keep Projects Moving :: Tips :: The 99 Percent.
Bureaucracy is like the icy surface that glazes over a frigid ocean. Small cracks can provide enough headway for a ship to pass. When you sit still, you risk getting stuck. But if you gradually break up the ice as you go, you can keep moving forward. Rather than surrender to bureaucracy, take it upon yourself to break it.
On why we need people skills and not systems to hide behind.
After all my studies and reflection I know one important thing. Management can be very boring to most normal people. It is like a passion for some and I would include myself in that group; it’s like fishing or cycling – its a subject that [some] people want to know the detail about and when there is an absence of information then people develop theories to try – some work others don’t – they can them fads. But when did we ever hear criticisms about cycling in the same way we hear about management buzzwords – chances are we don’t (or if we do I don’t hear them).
This brief note reflects on one of the reasons for this. We try to use abstract systems to manage people, instead of using real people skills and trying to understand who people work – they have to be managed by the system.
Remember Charles spoke to plants and Harry wore that ‘Fancy Dress Outfit’.
For the managers out there, you will be familiar with the reference here. Prince (Projects in Controlled Environment) and its successor Prince2 are systematic methods to get things done. In theory.
What I have seen when Prince2 has been used is the sheer volume of needless granular controls. When used in the wrong way – like all Prince2 practitioners seem to be (maybe just the newly initiated) – every aspect of the method is used and this seems counter productive. It certainly seems to put observers off and who are left wondering why we need to do this BS.
When I was promoted to being a supervisor – I had issues, I had zero confidence and without this I had no way to challenge poor performance constructively or praise people. If people weren’t performing well or blatantly skiving off, I would get all caveman and get annoyed, but never display it, so the only person that suffered was me. Either via stress or reputation as a weak manager.
Experience as in all things, improves performance. I reduced my reliance on worthless and ineffective tools and started to talk to people and guess what – performance improved
One thing that I am constantly perplexed by, is why managers are not schooled in personal psychology and psychology in the workplace. Even a basic awareness of this transforms the newly promoted managers chances of success. Understanding motivations, why people so what they do and what gets them out of bed in the morning: if you know some if this information then you will be a better manager – simple.
Systems mask problems and it takes people to unravel the problems. People can be motivated to improve their workplace, but they need to know why. “It’s your job” and other such comments will not get them flying to the rescue.
Hierarchies can damn performance and morale for all eternity. We are forced to manage by rank, “I have to do this because my boss says so”, not because it is a problem. We are forced to look at this issue this week and another the next when there is nothing wrong, it’s just normal noise of the system.
Everyone knows that ‘the team’ know more than the manager about what is affecting performance at any given time, so why would we not be more inclusive when tackling problems; because the system of management has been so corrupted by systematised hierarchies. These structures constraint performance due to protectionism and jockeying, twas ever thus and it is for the modern manager to break down these barriers (where possible that is).
One of the most negative traits of modern organisations is blame, it is always a tactical tool though this will never improve performance. Whether it is a defence measure or an attack tool, blame seldom builds team spirit. I have seen platitudes about “Our no blame culture” and then witnessed the real life when a manager chastises a report for not performing as required (though never explicated).
I found/discovered management systems – yey! – I had a tool that I could use to get people to perform better. Targets (the tool for weak managers) were the saviour for me at that time.
Why have you missed your numbers this week – work harder!!
Your graph is going up (or down) what are you doing about it??
All this was of course pointless tampering and seldom effective. But it made me feel confident, even though the ‘information’ I was drawing from the data was incorrect (at that time I wasn’t familiar with SPC and the scientific approach to performance improvement (that can really transforms performance).
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Of course others do this, it’s a school of thought in the management game – scientific management – targets, pins, Adam Smith, Henry Ford the whole thing. I think the whole system of teaching managers how to manage others is largely ineffective, I would put the aforementioned DP in front of a class of new supervisors and ask him nicely to show them how to get the best from people.
Back to Prince2 and the like. It seems that these tools are still riding high at the moment, largely as a result of the fact that the philosophy is driven by government through procurement and jobs relating to this often require Prince2 practitioners. And so it spreads. Any project manager post can normally be seen asking for a Prince2 qualification.
They would know what to do when the project turns from green to amber (RAG status reference).
It seems to me, as a management observer that it is nothing more than emperors new clothes.
The bottom line for managing improvements (forget managing projects – that is just a series of steps designed to achieve an outcome) is to get the team involved and motivate them. Show the what the can gain by being involved.
But it might take a generation to weed out the prevailing Prince2 zealots.
Charles spoke to plants and Harry wears dodgy fancy dress. Not all Princes are appropriate.
Avoid stressing-out staff
Avoid stressing-out staff and alienating people. See the dirty half-dozen:
Image by nick see via Flickr
1. Don’t sweat your assets
If you pile tasks on the best staff and let weaker ones do less, star employees get irritated and quit, leaving you with a mediocre team.
2. If you value them, set them free
It is madness to appoint executives then second-guess their every decision. Give staff autonomy or they will move to someone who does.
3. Smooth-running wheels still need oil
Don’t spend all of your time on problem staff. If you fail to support good people, they won’t support you.
4. Don’t tell tales
If an employee speaks to you in confidence, don’t betray them.
5. Avoid muddying the waters
Give your staff a remit and let them deliver on it. Failing to brief properly leads to muddled projects and low morale.
6. If it works, don’t fix it
Be careful before you change a system. You need a very good reason to justify altering a process everyone understands.
via Avoid stressing-out staff | Chartered Management Institute.