Welcome
Welcome to the Foresight Newsletter, a free monthly publication of Prevoyance Group Inc. This newsletter shares tips for high performance IT organizations and observations that we hope will prove informative and enjoyable.
Please note that subscribers to the newsletter are the first to receive each new edition. The newsletter is sent to email subscribers on the 1st of each month, and appears on the website on the 15th of each month. You can subscribe in under 10 seconds. We hate SPAM as much as you do, and we do not sell or rent your name to any party.
Contents
CONTENTS
Foresight is published by the Prevoyance Group, and this month contains four sections:
Work
Life
Heard in the Hallways
Travels with Patrick
Work
An expression that always makes me cringe is “we’ve always done it this way.” Whether you are an outsider or new entrant to a company attempting to shake up the status quo, or trying to implement new systems or processes, WADITW syndrome changes the dynamic of a discussion. No longer can a new idea be discussed on its own merits, but we often fall into a trap of attempting to systematically discredit the old guard before debate on the new idea can even begin.
WADITW syndrome often travels with his close relative That Will Never Work Here, and both stem from common ancestry. Fear of change, laziness, stagnation, a bad experience with a similar effort or just an excuse to eschew a challenging discussion, WADITW and TWNWH are a defensive mechanism designed to quickly entrench the status quo, and can become nearly insurmountable if their root causes are not attacked immediately.
Rather than attempting to dismiss the way things have “always” been done, or hammering the listener with a litany of other places the topic under discussion has been successful, attack the source of the problem. Does WADITW stem from arbitrary rules or exception processes that force a certain way or working? Was there a previous bad experience that engendered a TWNWH attitude, or is it a mere question of not having the patience to try? If you can identify and discuss the root problem behind WADITW and TWNWH, you can often uncover everything from organizational mythology to nuances in a process that can provide valuable insight into its redesign. Using these two specters to build knowledge, and a partnership with their originator as you jointly search for their source is far more productive than playing a game of my idea is better than yours.
You can apply the same techniques if you ever find yourself personally dismissing an idea immediately due to a case of WADITW or TWNWH. Dig below the knee jerk reaction inspired by this pair and look at whether there is a deeper organizational or process issue causing you to invoke WADITW or TWNWH.
Life
One of the greatest organizational tips I ever received was from David Allen’s excellent book Getting Things Done. He suggests that those who excel at organization are really masters of lists. Their to-do list is not merely an ever-expanding litany of tasks, but serves multiple functions, from tracking projects to managing follow-up. It is the later aspect that I have found most helpful.
In addition to keeping a standard list of tasks, at Mr. Allen’s recommendation I also keep a list of items I am waiting for, grouped by the person that I am waiting for follow up from. For example, if I need to produce a report that requires feedback from various people, upon completing the report I would create a task under the “Follow up: Mary” category for “Report feedback.” When I next speak with Mary, all the items I am waiting for from her appear under this category. I also keep a general follow up category for calls I’ve made, or emails that I’ve sent that require some kind of response.
In the traditional task list, you would create a task to make a call, usually related to some larger objective, say inquiring about an error on a bill. Once the outgoing call has been completed on your part, the larger task would be lost. Using Mr. Allen’s system, I move the task from “Calls” to the “Follow up” category, with a date and any notes. At a glance I can determine where I am waiting for follow up, and take an active step like calling again should the larger task not be moving towards completion.
Not only does the to-do list become more functional, but also begins to track your tasks as a series of process steps, rather than monolithic and unapproachable items like “Complete Strategic Plan.”
Heard in the Hallways
I have made a good living from technology. From slinging code and installing servers for extra money in university, to my current work on the strategy side of tech, I enjoy my work for its combination of interactions with both people and technology. While the work has brought me great joy, the litany of technical terms haphazardly thrown into otherwise mundane business parlance has become anathema.
This feeling came to a head a couple of years ago, while talking with a potential client he closed the conversation and asked me to “ping” him later. Not wanting to hint of my utter confusion, I readily agreed, then pondered why someone would want me to send them a network test packet. After considering for several minutes, I finally realized that the “ping” in question was a simple email. I had noticed this trend picking up steam, my previous pet peeve being the urge to no longer be too busy, but rather to not have enough “bandwidth.” Perhaps a switch from DSL to cable is in order? I have also been encouraged several times to take a conversation “offline,” completely unaware that the rather mundane meeting was somehow an “online” experience. If only I had pinged organizer in advance.
I dread what will be next. Will a holiday become a “reboot?” Rather than a mass layoff, will the next HR communication speak of a “reinstall” as employees are shown the door? Shall we refer to executives as servers? With that nomenclature, perhaps large CEO pay packages can then be seen as system upgrades rather than excess.
While there is little more impressive in business communications than a command of language, obfuscating your missives with meaningless and irrelevant technical terms does little to inspire. Clarity and simplicity have become such rare commodities that they will stand above the crowd far more than extraneous technical jargon. If you need any help in this area, feel free to ping me, and if I have the bandwidth, we’ll take it offline.
Travels with Patrick
I love taking trips with a stated objective of having no defined plan. Each year I try to take a least one such trip, usually either via motorcycle or foot, equipped with camping gear, a vague destination and little else. For most of us, our day is planned to the minute, meetings and conference calls abutting in endless and carefully arranged blocks. There is an unbridled joy that comes with waking up in the morning, and opening a map; a universe of potential destinations spread before you with none preordained, and any one a possibility.
Objectives set in the morning are changed without a second thought when a promising dirt road or trail appears before lunch, and no schedules are adversely affected or in need of juggling should you arrive many miles short of, or well past your original target. I rarely feel more alive than when life is stripped to its necessities, and you can travel from one place to another for the sheer joy of the experience.