Cmuoniactoin

This is cool. check this out...this works ok w/human-to-human communication; I don't think it would work so well (yet) in creating computer programs (unless you had some good AI involved)...

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

(...and yet, while I can comprehend this, I'd still feel bad if I sent somethign out that was missspelled...)

:P

Facebook

I just set up a Facebook page - check it out and let me know what you think. Make a comment, post something, express yourself (or something like that)...

What's Your Proposal?

Where do you draw the line between “the things you teach your children so that they can take care of themselves” and “letting them be a kid”?

I see these as two parallel tracks that intertwine, not two separate things...

And although I do not conduct regular quarterly performance reviews w/my wife in lieu of “regular” conversations about our relationship, my children (all under the age of 10) are not so lucky! I've been teaching my two youngest ones negotiation skills since they could form their thoughts and desires into a semi-coherent sentence, and will start teaching my son (the middle child) project management skills this year (he is in the second grade).

My hope is that:

1. they will be easier to manage & relate to when they are teenagers (I am an optimist, and of course, I think all of my children are mature geniouses...!)

2. they will feel more in control of their thoughts, actions and behaviors, and be more willing to be held accountable for the consequences of their actions (I told you I was an optimist!)

3. Worst case scenario - they will at least be more marketable and ready for the work place when they are older (and not living on Mom & Dad's couch post-college).

Most of the people I've told this to have laughed nervously and told me that they think it's overkill. I just look at it as imparting the benefit of my experiences to them – I've managed projects, and from a certain perspective (and allowing for the many contextual differences), what's the difference in the disciplines and thought processes one has to apply in successfully managing a 9-month server consolidation and a 9-month course load?

In school, they give you the guts of the project plan (called a Syllabus) with defined milestones (various exam and project due dates, etc.). Why shouldn't I help my kids get 10 years of project management experience and thinking, by the time they enter college? Franklin Covey even makes time management tools targeted specifically for the college demographic, so I don't think
I'm entirely alone in thinking this way...

My wife (who is definitely my better half!) has been very supportive of this approach. And the neat thing is that the kids have really responded to it...

Their earliest negotiations comprised them making a proposal of pre-bedtime activities, where they had to give us at least 3 (but no more than 5) options of something they wanted to do before going to bed (e.g. - reading story A, reading story B, playing a video game, playing with a certain toy or watching a certain video). Mom & I then had the option of either accepting those alternatives and picking one, negotiating with them on their proposal, or else we could say that none of their proposed options were acceptable and they had to formulate a new proposal. This gave them control over their own lives and showed them a pathway to success in getting what they want.

What about when they can't agree w/each other, like having the same story read to them, or watching the same movie? I make them negotiate w/each other (and I provide some supervision to that process, now and then, so one sibling doesn't feel like they always get the upper hand).

What about whining? Early on we established a rule: “If you whine the answer is “No”.” End of story. No discussion (and yes, I made the assumption that if they were in pain then they wouldn't be whining...). As a result – any time the kids start to whine all we have to do is ask the question, “What's the answer if you whine?” and they either say “No” or they reformulate their statement in a more acceptable manner. We don't yell, raise our voices or negotiate w/them on this; they understand the rule and live by it.

The lesson for them is that – from a very early age – they know that if they are going to get what they want in life, then they had better be prepared. Part of my job as a parent is to prepare them to be successful the best way I know how.

Will this work? Is this the right approach? Am I being too hard on them or too demanding? Will they still be able to “be a kid”? Who knows...I am sure that in the course of my parenting I will give them plenty of neurosis to sustain a wealthy lifestyle for some therapist in the future.

Until then, I'll gage my results (in part) on the behavior and demeanor of my kids – they are happy, they absolutely love each other and my wife and I, and they seem to like doing “grown up stuff” like negotiating and project management. I've recently started talking to my second grader about how the world of work is changing, and that people in other countries, whom he's never met, are already trying to work much harder and smarter than he is, in order to get ahead and compete in the Global Economy. Those are the people he is competing against, not the other kids in his class. And do you know what he said?

“Dad, if the kids in India, Japan and China, and the kids in Europe and Germany and France are all good at different things, then why can't they all just work on different parts of the same project with me? Because then we could all work together and we could all be happy and and help our families...”

I think I'm getting through to him...I hope I am open enough as I grow older to let him get through to me...

Easy, Entertaining, Informative Read - Check It Out!

One of my favorite books of the last 12 months is Bangalore Tiger by Steve Hamm. I bought it when it first came out and couldn't put it down. Well written, it describes Indian Outsourcing firm Wipro (specifically) and gives a detailed review of what's behind Outsourcing / Globalization (in general). I definitely recommend reading it. I'd consider it required reading for anyone providing Outsourcing services to customers, and am disappointed when I see that it's lessons aren't applied.

One of the best takeaways I enjoyed is how Wipro pragmatically applied disciplined approaches to production and quality, and saw great results. Were there failures & setbacks in their approach? I'm sure - but they learned from them and re-adjusted their approach. The examples they highlighted really aligned with what I have seen first-hand from Wipro consultants CMM, Six Sigma and Lean Sigma provide a good framework and set of tools (much like ITIL does), but it takes some skill to understand when and how to apply what tools for what effect.

There are other great points conveyed throughout various chapters in the book - "Growth: Keep a Thousand Fires Burning", "Adopt Ultrastrict Ethics to Build a Sterling Brand", "Reward Employees with Recognition and Respect", "Measure Everything Constantly", "Plan Three Years Ahead to Prepare for Rapid Growth", "Adopt the Best Ideas, Then Make Them Your Own Way", "Be Obsessive About Customers"...and there are others...

It's not so much that there were a lot of new or novel insights in the book - and that's the point! Much of what I read I have read before elsewhere - and so has Wipro. Wipro has tried, applied and "refried" these ideas to affect a positive force for consistent growth at their company, growing from $500 Million USD in 2000, to realizing a market capitalization of more than $20 Billion USD 6 years later - surpassing EDS' market capitalization of $13 Billion at that time (now at $10.91 Billion USD, as of this writing).

"We have a feeling that the platform we're on, offshoring, with price arbitrage, is a burning platform. It's only good for a few more years," says Chief Strategy Officer Sudip Nandy. "We need to do things differently to compete against international competition." (p. 69)

Well said, and a point that is easily lost on American Nationalists worried about "offshoring of work" - which (I believe) is itself a myopic, misanthropic term that prejudices the speaker into an inaccurate way of thinking about how the nature of work is changing.

N'est-ce pas, "NES Paul"? Oui, oui...

As much as I enjoy both guitars and games, I think this is going a little too far! :)

I gotta hand it to his creativity, though...wonder how it sounds? Still, it's his original machine...that just seems wrong on so many levels...maybe he fried the motherboard from too much playing!? Still, it is a creative way to join the genres...

I wonder how this would work w/Guitar Hero or Rock Band??? Or even a blind-folded piano player played it(...BTW, I saw him live as part of Video Games Live (...very worth while show; gives you a different perspective on the industry, and a deeper appreciation for the art in the entertainment...) and he was awesome!).

Also, check out Tommy's house here...he's composed music for over 200 video games, so odds are you've probably heard one or two of his tracks...Enjoy!