Naomi podcast

What I find refreshing about Kutik's interviews is he's so blunt and to the point. I found the same in Naomi. I have enormous admiration she has remained enthused about one subject matter for 40 years. Incredible. The main thing I take away from this podcast is to approach vetting your vendors in the same manner you would a new employee hire. Smart, simple, to the point. I also appreciate it is not lost on her that her human interactions have played a significant role in her own success. I hope I have the opportunity to attend this HR Tech conference someday. Have you attended it Jun? 

Web 2.0 revisited

It's so amazing when everything falls into place. We've read about Web 2.0 and it's collaborative nature. I've blogged about its analogy to the collective consciousness. Today, in my Organizational Development & Change class, our instructor emphasized the importance of teamwork and the nature of its Group Brain.  Same thing!  

wiki sites

Jun, and the 2 others currently following my site: I am so enthused with the potential and capabilities of wikis! But I am, thus far, unimpressed with the facile nature - or lack thereof - in creating them. This is NOT a complaint about the class. It's me venting about a frequent frustration I have with technology.  

Programs are of course created by techno geeks. I pay homage to them so I am using the term fondly. But many offerings are simply not user-friendly for those of us whose brains do not reside in that world. And it frustrates me because there are enough examples of technology that is totally user friendly. SurveyMonkey is a prime example. In less than 5 minutes, you can be taught how to use their software. Brilliant! I'm not finding that in the wiki space yet. I've spent (lots of) time with Google and Wikidot ... and it's not happening for me. In business, I would have abandoned this hours ago. wiki means fast, so it should be intuitively fast. I can see it's headed there because Wikidot has a preview of their new user-friendly front page - not yet available.

I have created 2 wikis: one @ Google Sites and one @ wikidot and neither have all the content elements they are supposed to have by our homework deadline. The work is done, just not where it is supposed to be. You can find my wikidot site here but it doesn't have my timeline because I can't figure out how to import it. :) And I cannot figure out how to lay the front of home page out properly.  www.sscott.wikidot.com  

Capability Maturity Model

I would say my sole proprietorship is on Level 2: Managed.  As a one-man show, most of my project management takes place in my head.  I am not trying to brag, but it is one of my strengths so perhaps I have less of a need to document when I am frequently the only one implementing my outline of the project.  The use of wikis would be a fantastic tool in my business if only the work relationships were collaborative.  But, as a manager, our primary role is to persuade others to do their job - and make them think it is their idea.  Individuals at different companies with different agendas do not respond well to outlines - even if you are inviting them to collaborate. Nonetheless, I think I'm going to try to use a wiki for my next record release and see how things go!

On the other hand, the foundation of the music industry are record companies (please note "industry" not "artistry" which are distinct).  I would easily argue they fall into Level 1: Competent People and Heroics.  This plays an integral role in the demise of the industry as we know it.     

Google Sites

Google Sites is what makes me feel like a tech twit.  

I've done all my homework: created my Charter in Google Doc, created my Team Roster in a table in Word after giving up on Google tables and created my timeline on a free version of Bee Docs timeline but have no idea how to get it into my wiki.  I've spent the last 3+ hours trying to play with the wiki, watching the Google tutorials and I still have no idea what I'm doing.  I am utterly frustrated!  For my last HR class, I created my first PowerPoint presentation.  It wasn't high-tech but I learned the basics in under 5 minutes.  This is a completely different animal. The Google woman who gets paid $5 million annually for insuring user-friendly applications should be flogged.  :)

I need a better tutorial on Google Sites in order to complete my wiki.  Help from anywhere is welcome.

 

The Machine is Us/ing Us

my first observation: how cool he used music by Deus!  but I digress ...

This video brings me back to something I walked away with from the first Web 2.0 assigned reading: collaboration.  It allows us to take this thing we refer to as "collective consciousness" to the next level.  Individual thoughts all collaborating can truly move mountains.  I'm still in awe of Obama's presidential campaign and the extent to which he harnessed technology to create the ultimate grassroots campaign.

I'm really excited by all of these opportunities and proud of myself for finally taking enough of a breather to learn more about them.  But I'm equally pleased Jun chose to teach the class in person rather than strictly with technology.  I still crave my personal interactions.

HR's Struggle w/Web 2.0

Ah, this article emphasizes the need for skills in Change Management!  But just as importantly, it also proves organizations need to be presented with evidence-based HR in order for them to move into new recruiting techniques and/or new systems.  If you cannot back up your need for Legal, IT and Marketing resources, you should not be petulant they were not allocated to you.  As Jun says: it's all about data!   

Social Technographics

Well, I now fall into Creator with my blog!  

Prior to this class, I fell into the Spectator realm with the exception of my LinkedIn profile which is considered a social networking tool - though I see it as a business networking tool and I do distinguish the two.  Now that I am an official blogger and have been introduced to wikis, I will surely be an ongoing Creator which is definitely exciting to me.

I'm trying to wrap my head around exciting new ways to turn Spectators into Critics, in other words ramp up viral marketing efforts with existing fan bases.  If anyone has some amazing incentive ideas, please pass 'em along! 

25 Trends

This was such an interesting read for me.  Short of evaluating where each of the 25 trends stand today 5 years later, my overall impression is most of them remain just that: trends.  The ones that seem to have made significant advances lie in technology.  This speaks directly to something I am reading about in my Organization Development & Change course: Dynamic Conservatism.  HR and its role in business organizations can been seen as a social system.  It has been recognized that social systems tend to follow a sequential pattern as they move toward adopting change.  

1. Ignore it.

2. Counter-attack it.

3. Allow change a limited scope of activity and contain it.

4. And finally when it can no longer be ignored, "respond by change - but by the least change capable of neutralizing or meeting the intrusive process."

"At the root of most innovations significant enough to precipitate a change of state, there are individuals who display irrational commitment, extraordinary energy, a combativeness which enables them to battle established interests over long periods of time, a remarkable skill at guerrilla warfare."

I dare say the aforementioned "irrational" individuals are [yes, the rare CEO - think Jack Welch - but] predominantly the Web 2.0/tech "geeks". 

    

Spock

in class, i researched spock.  i thought it was a service that allows one to manage their public profile [reputation] on the web.  evidently, i signed up for it over a year ago when invited by a trusted colleague.

what it really is, is a service that collects all of an individual's web activity in one place.  if you search for someone, it will identify their blog site, their flickr posts, LinkedIn page, Facebook page, etc.  it also sends out email blasts to those who are registered for the service information on people you know: who recently posted a blog, who signed up for a new radio station on Pandora and what they are listening to, etc.

it's a search engine so comparable technology is Google but Spock is limited to people.  it's site says it is "the world's leading people search engine."

the problem it is designed to solve is: "see where your friends are on the web"

pros: it collects all public web data on a person in one place

cons: a person [such as myself] may want to compartmentalize their activities: professional v. personal.  it also is revealing activity on people i have not linked to via Spock.  it must be identifying my LinkedIn or Plaxo networks.

 

Why We Hate HR

this article depicts my very reason for wanting to work in human resources management. down to a t!  it depicts everything i have experienced in my years in business and and everything i envision is possible. not only can organizations become more profitable but imagine a world where people are working in jobs they are well-suited for, jobs they love, jobs where they are recognized and respected ... it makes me giddy.  and it's all possible!

  

O'Reilly Web 2.0

my eyes glazed over a few times while reading this article.  some of the content is likely intended - and certainly better understood - by tech engineers.

but, i love the concept that the web should be about data that becomes richer the more it is used and that it is collaborative experience.  i especially loved the idea of "harnessing collective intelligence."

i remember telling friends during the dot.com boom that it was unsustainable.  venture capitalists were throwing millions of dollars at companies that simply could not and did not generate income.  i never understood how dumb they were not to see how things would end. but after reading this article, i now understand that they were throwing millions after the talent that was designing the internet frontier. [now, if they had thrown it after engineers who could improve specific work needs, the crash may have been avoided but i digress.]

the article also reminds me how annoyed i am that i pay for internet for my computer, wireless for my computer and mobile phone and cable for my TV.  talk about redundancy!  i was also struck by a recent tv commercial: Heroes gave fans the opportunity to create their own Hero and there are now mini episodes (i think) running on the internet! how cool is that? TV is now interactive, allowing for collaborators! (So, again, why the redundancy? one screen and hard drive that is for your computer and tv please.)

problem at work / podcast #13

aaaargh! the past few days my biggest problem has been keeping my email and Google accounts straight.  evidently, i started my first blog on an account that i can't seem to access today and don't want anyway so i am starting a new blog for this class.

i don't currently work in the field so i don't have a specific HR problem at the moment.  and i couldn't help but chuckle: if i am unsuccessful in my career transition, i may never have one.  :) 

 

frankly, the biggest challenge i face is securing that job in HR.  one that utilizes my skill set and years of business experience without requiring the typical "7 years of progressive responsibility" in  HR.  my challenge is even greater in this day when computers handle the first screening of resumes.  even when my resume does get read, people just don't seem willing to accept why i am choosing to leave such a "cool" career and move into HR ...

Kutik's interview with the founder of Knowledge Infusion really resonates with me.  Averbrook talked about many of the very issues that led me to HR Management.  he made such an astute observation when he said LinkedIn and Facebook know more about the profile of a company's talent than the company itself.  and i love the possibilities he outlined for using those outlets and others to search for available talent using very specific criteria.  

so ... it got me to thinking about my project for this class.  what if it were possible for me to identify specific companies that would welcome someone like me to their HR department?  a company that values an executive who may not have spent their entire career in HR.  one of my instructors for this certification course recognized my "advantage is my ability to understand business, how it works and how essential selecting the right talent is."  i would add that i understand how essential it is to nurture that talent, as well.  

Jun, how do you feel about my project being finding a way to identify such companies and identify how i might best present myself perhaps beyond just the traditional resume?