Tagging is futile

One of my favourite subjects to talk about is note taking.

Why?

Because by writing things down I remember them much better. Solidifying it into memory. Otherwise lots of stuff is forgotten and simply replaced by the next set of information. “Meeting overload” I hear you saying. Yes, agreed, there is that. If you haven’t got the time to do something about your recent conversation within a certain amount of time, you (or better I) probably don’t do it at all or far to late.

And there begins my filing system.

The reality is I can’t complete all tasks right now and then. Hence the information must be filed in such a manner I can find again. In addition, I like to store related information together with this note.

Since the invention of tagging, I love it! Gone are the times of fixed categories or double entries 🙂 Tagging allows virtual folders and sorting notes, information, and emails becomes a breeze.

GMail got a ++ from me and Outlook is still lightyears behind. I always struggle to remember if I filed the invoice under budget, the vendor, or contracts.

The other view

For some reason I stumbled today across an old blogpost that condemns tagging. It not only talks about the disadvantages of tagging such as the proliferation of tags, the ease of creating variants that actually should be the same, and the lack of control which without doubt is counterproductive to its original purpose. No, in contrast it makes a case for structure and stigmergy.

If you haven’t heard about this before, neither had I. The principle is that we (as in humans) remember things better in context. Hence, consistency or strong association help. Multiple tags are therefore not necessarily helpful. In my invoice example I will very likely find an invoice in either the tags “contract”, “budget”, or “vendor”. Although, I’m very sure I will not find all invoices that way because for some I might have missed the tag “budget”.

What is the solution?

Personally, I still believe tags are fantastic. They do have their disadvantages and the biggest one is how are tags created and maintained. Categories like in WordPress are one method. Artificial intelligence (“did you mean “xyz”?”) like Google searches when you make a spelling mistakes might also help creating the right or better associations. And when tagging is used across an organisation the services of a librarian – virtual or as a gatekeeper – can also be of great help.

The core requirement is consistency. If half of the company is using a folder structure (e.g. SharePoint’s team sites) and the other half wiki pages (e.g. Confluence) the search for information will never be easy. The same is true for a personal knowledge system. And I’m falling in my own trap from time to time taking notes in my trusty paper notebook one day and using OneNote the next.

My work in progress continues…

The hard work begins

Close to 2 weeks into the new role things begin to take shape. There is certainly a lot of “stuff” to do ranging from re-forming the team, providing direction, to setting a few guidelines in place. While I was going through the environmental parameters, the change patterns, and the strategic objectives I came across John Wooden’s pyramid of success. I found it fascinating and so applicable to my thinking and the process I’m working through that I decided to share it.

Please note the image has been published by Theresa Kimm in 2014.

John’s Pyramid of success was based on the following creed he received from his father at his graduation:

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

which he translated to a 12 point list of leadership lessons

1. Good values attract good people
2. Love is the most powerful four-letter word
3. Call yourself a teacher
4. Emotion is your enemy
5. It takes 10 hands to make a basket
6. Little things make big things happen
7. Make each day your masterpiece
8. The carrot is mightier than the stick
9. Make greatness attainable by all
10. Seek significant change
11. Don’t look at the scoreboard
12. Adversity is your asset

A damn powerful list! Most I agree without thinking about, some I would have worded probably different, a few I might not have thought of straight away and one (highlighted) I wouldn’t have included.

Don’t look at the scoreboard.

Our culture is build around “what is measured gets done / is managed / ..”. Quality control and lean management can’t exist without metrics and measures. So, how can a very successful NBA coach have a principle of ignoring the scoreboard? Doesn’t he need to re-act when his team isn’t performing at their best?

The answer to that conundrum is hidden in the pyramid of success and a strong belief that when you do the right things and do them well success is the natural outcome.

The cornerstones of the pyramid are hard work (industriousness) and a strong belief in what you are trying to achieve (enthusiasm). The foundation is nothing else then respect of your teams strengths and abilities coupled with enduring willingness to work together (friendship, loyalty, cooperation).

The second layer is aimed at the individual concerning their sincerity and ambition. Determination, Decision making, and Active Listening are 3 of these 4 elements. The 4th one “self control” or “emotion is your enemy” reminds me of my time in the German Army. The sergeant who was leading parts of training said to us, “When something goes wrong and it goes to your head, don’t act straight away. There is usually time to sleep it over. Review the situation with fresh eyes and make a much more rational decision about it.” I feel good to recall that advise and find it on the pyramid of success.

The middle layer centres around skill. Although it makes clear that your attitude and the team spirit are essential to make success enduring. That level is key to next: Poise and Integrity. I think, I rambled about posture in an earlier post citing Isabel Allende. That is exactly the essence of this layer.

Which leave the capstone “competitive greatness”:

Be at your best when your best is needed. Your best is needed every day.

And if you do all that and your team is doing that, too there is no need to look at the scoreboard because success will come. Quality assurance is not neglected, on the contrary, it is built into each step on the way.

The Art of Presenting

Throughout my career I did and still do presentations. I remember the first time being nervous as hell and so close in forgetting my story line. My mentor at the time simply said, ” These are just people like you and me. just imagine them naked.” My mind got the picture, took the focus of the nervousness, and from then on I had a good time presenting.

Audience

While this is a great method to overcome stage fright, it is no substitute for not knowing your story. I assume you know your stuff and the topic at hand. And let’s take a wild guess, that’s why your audience has come. They want to hear from you what you gotta say about the subject. With that in mind there are still some distinct options. For example:

• The audience knows about the subject, too and wants to learn more or hear a distinctive view.
• The audience doesn’t know and expect news or clarification.
• The audience is preparing for a decision and you present a recommendation or options.

Story

That brings us back to your story. A good presentation is like a good children story, it comes with a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. The beginning is setting the scene. This can be done in multiple ways. Start with a bang if time is of essence and your audience is known for making quick decisions. Tell a brief personal story that captures a large audience, or do something where the audience can relate to. The beginning is all about making a connection.

Body language

Now that you have it, don’t loose it. Make eye contact. Don’t stare but look at the eye brows. Let your gaze go from one end to the other. Speak confidently and assuredly. Loud enough to be heard at the back of the room or the end of the board table. Don’t yell – use a microphone if needed. Don’t hide behind a stand up desk with a fixed mic and your bunch of papers. Be visible and stand up. Even in the board room – stand up. Your voice carries more weight and you look more confident. Hands out of the pocket, even if it’s your team you are talking to. Avoid walking like a Tiger from one end to the other on stage all the time. Be in different places fitting to your story and acknowledging all parts of the audience.

Story

You are telling the main part of your presentation. This is the meaty part. Don’t let your slides do the talking. They are there to illustrate your point. The audience came to listen to you or you could have send them the slides. Remember that the human short term memory is good for 5 to 7 items. Also keep in mind people remember the first few and the last few best. When I present options I limit those to 3. That magic number works wonderfully and I can be assured people will remember those when it comes to decision making.

Conclusion

Your presentation must come to and end. Be on time. Steve Jobs rehearsed for weeks to that right. No shame to do it a few times yourself. You will become more confident and know where to cut fluff out and add more details in. The end of your story should highlight your main point. If anything what is the single thing your audience should remember? You made your case for a recommendation in the middle, now is the place to tell.

Questions and Answers

Allow for questions. Always. Make it clear from the start if questions are limited to the end or allowed throughout. Questions are fantastic. They mean the audience is listening, is interested, and wants to know more. Repeat a question to ensure everyone heard it. It also ensures you understood it correctly and gives you to time to formulate an answer. Be not afraid if you don’t know. Say so, offer to answer later (a good opportunity to present your contact details), or ask the audience of their opinion. It’s an opportunity for you to fill a gap.

In Summary

(1) Know your story

(2) Know your audience

(3) Use your body language

(4) Enjoy question and answers

(5) Emphasise your main point at the end

Inbox Zero?

InBox Zero

Recently Inbox Zero popped up again. Not a surprise considering summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere are coming to an end.

Automated responses

The BBC ran an article 2 days ago where German car maker Daimler offered employees to delete holiday emails in a very friendly way:

I am on vacation. I cannot read your email. Your email is being deleted. Please contact Hans or Monika if it’s really important, or resend the email after I’m back in the office. Danke Schoen.

Comments are consequently positive: “This is good email management.” It doesn’t address the standard flood of emails although it makes the re-start after being away a lot easier and not daunting.

Another approach is trialled by the Christchurch City Council. The management team implemented a suggested response when the recipient is “just copied in”. The response reads similar to this:

“Thank you for your email. As I’m just copied in, your email has been parked in my “for info” folder. I’ll endeavour to check those emails once a week. If your correspondence is urgent please re-send it to me directly with your expectations of my action.”

The objective is to reduce cluttering email inboxes with information that doesn’t require an urgent action by the recipient or in short to reduce clutter.

Most email applications allow for such automated actions via rules and filters, and categories, folders and labels.

Decisions

While the technology allows for such things, it’s up to us humans to actually do it. That means,

1. consider your response types (do, reply, defer, delegate, archive, delete or see the original post from Merlin Mann),
2. create good auto- and template responses,
3. and then actually do it.

The reality looks, unfortunately, different. Some follow their good intentions and put such actions into place while others don’t. There are some good and not so good reasons:

• a full inbox means I’m busy
• I actually like having that many emails
• the Inbox search is great – why hiding important stuff in many folders
• those rules are too complicated
• I fear I miss important stuff
• people expect I’m informed what’s going on
• the tools don’t match how I work

Some options

Hey, it’s your Inbox, isn’t it?

or

Could we check how you work and see if there is a process that can be adjusted, another tool be found, or expectations managed more efficiently? There are systems like Sanebox, or MailBox, Mailstrom, and Tapermail that all take a different approach. And there is this blogpost for Outlook fans. One might work for you well 🙂

 

Internal versus External

In many discussions the view of customer  is often cited as a core driver. Organisations have long made a distinction between an external customer and an internal employee. While there is a strong push to only see one customer in recent times, this push comes from a UX (user experience perspective) and “mobile first” perspective.

In this post I’m looking at Information Management from a security perspective. I strongly believe there are differences for employees and customers. In this case customer includes the B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Customer) elements.

The Internal View

Most organisations have adopted a policy of openness and information sharing. Fileserver security is often implemented as open unless specific needs require folders or files to be secured. The latter is usually bound to confidential or sensitive information like commercial negotiations and agreements, NDA (non-disclosure) data, and personnel files. Other information is shared to achieve better re-use of data, enable master data management, foster staff engagement, and nurture cross functional teams.

The element of trust plays a significant role at what level data is shared.

The element of control plays a second level role which data is classified and who is the gatekeeper.

The balance between those two is for each organisation different and largely influenced by what is commonly called Culture and the Industry the organisation plays in.

A good description is “Enable and Protect if necessary”

The External View.

Customers want to have easy access to their information with the organisation. Repeat data entries is a turn off. If I can’t see what I’ve done previously is also a big no – no. At the same time my information should be protected from other customers or organisations but not necessarily from other employees of my business. For example a third party is working on a project with the organisation, then this information should be shared between the relevant team members of both businesses.

Consequently such external collaboration is often implemented in closed groups or spaces where membership is controlled. This model requires a much closer attention to detail and review of membership in particular when staff on either side move to a different business or part of the organisation.

Trust and Control play again an important role, although the weight towards control is much larger and often reversed to the Internal implementation.

The description here would be “Protect and Enable where appropriate”.