Enterpise Technology Servant-Leadership

New Book: Servant Leadership for Project Management

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Recently published, "Business Driven PMO Setup, Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success", written by Mark Price Perry, includes a chapter on the Project Management Office (PMO) as servant leaders. As Senior Vice President of Operations at BOT International, host of The PMO Podcast and a regular contributor to Gantthead.com, Perry has a wealth of hands-on experience and a keen awareness for Project Management work "in the real world". In addition, his servant leader values were apparent not only in the book's content, but in his approach to it's creation as well. With 20 contributors, Mark was certain to balance his own insights with the experience and opinions of other practitioners. In fact, I was honored to be included as a contributor to the chapter on Servant Leadership.

In the chapter entitled, "Project Management Leadership: Servant-Leader vs. Subject Matter Expert", Perry introduces the concept of servant leadership for project managers. In addition, the author presents servant leadership for the PMO in the framework of the 10 servant leadership characteristices defined by Larry Spears (Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment to the Growth of People and Building Community). In addition, contributor Jennifer Arndt, PMO Manager for the American Chemical Society, wrote about Situational Leadership for project managers while Michelle LaBrosse, Founder and CEO of Cheetah Learning, wrote about How to Get What You Want.

In my contribution, entitled, "Servant Leadership for the IT Project Manager", I explain why the project manager is best positioned in the organization to execute and / or change leadership culture in an organization, given their multiple cross-functional touchpoints. In addition, I explained that Project Managers need to look at the Complete Return On Investment (CROI) for a project, not simply the tradditional, financial perspective. In addition to the standard financial ROI, the Complete Project ROI encompasses values such as new skills obtained by the project team, team building outcomes, education of stakeholders and enhanced morale. Finally, this contribution also addressed the concerns project managers face in the times of a crisis or turnaround and how we, as servant leaders, should respond.

Mark has done an outstanding job in creating a book every Project Manager should have on their shelf and he is receiving excellent reviews as a result. The feedback implies "Mission Accomplished" for Perry as he delivered the no-nonsense, real world actionable insights that seem lacking in today's Project Management literature and guides. I encourage you to pick up a copy (no, I do not receive a commision).

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Mission, Goals and Objectives — Business Driven vs. Theory Driven
Chapter 2: Organization — Constituent Oriented vs. Inwardly Focused
Chapter 3: Managing Projects — Think Process, Not Methodology
Chapter 4: Managing the PMO — Embracing Flexibility vs. Mandating Conformance
Chapter 5: PMO Tools — Establishing a PMO Architecture vs. Implementing a Tool
Chapter 6: Executive Reporting — Keeping It Simple
Chapter 7: PMO Leadership — MBWA 2.0 vs. The Meeting Manager
Chapter 8: Project Management Leadership — Servant Leader vs. Subject Matter Expert
Chapter 9: Creating High Performance Teams
Chapter 10: Establishing a PMO — A Practical Roadmap
Chapter 11: Line of Business PMOs — The Ubiquitous Nature of Project Management
Chapter 12: Advancing Organizational Project Management — From Theory to Practice
Chapter 13: PMO Passion — Where does it come from?

Conference Leadership Impressions from SAP SAPPHIRE

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:50:00 +0000

I was very fortunate to be offered a coveted pass to SAP's Sapphire conference last week. This is one of the larger conferences in the IT industry and specifically targets senior managers and executives requiring large-scale applications. As a result, although I was there for my employer and focused my time on their solutions, I also observed some of the leadership styles by so many information technology executives attending this conference. The attendance was down - a sign of the economic times, but there remained a broad range of leadership styles represented by Speakers, Vendors and Bloggers. Below are observations on the leadership styles these individuals presented at the conference*.

Speakers & SAP Executives (Positive)
While commitments back at the office prevented me from catching all of the keynote speakers and SAP executives presenting, I was able to get to most of the top keynotes.

Opening Keynote: Abbe Mulders & Steven Levitt (Neutral)
Major themes for this conference included clarity, transparency, Sustainability and, of course, advances in technology. A promising start for SAP Executive leadership and speaker expectations. The conference kicked off with Ms. Abbe Mulders, ASUG Vice Chairperson, Dow Corning Corporation CIO and Mr. Steven Levitt author of FREAKONOMICS. Abbe provided a good welcome and spoke of the power of ASUG, (the American SAP User Group). Again, a plus for recognizing the power of users, collaboration and support. Levitt provided a very revealing life history that included the fact that his father was not stellar in medical studies and practice, but chose the very uncommon field of intestinal gas. It worked for him - he became recognized as an expert in his field, even including a GQ article dubbing him "The King of Farts". Following in his footsteps, in a manner, the younger Levitt found himself terrible at Math - a bad sign for economists. However, he focused on very unique circumstances in which very few "self-respecting" economists practiced. It worked for him as well. This emphasis on "anything's possible" when you focus on the right area, was also a positive for leadership.

The only real negative from the opening Keynote was Levitt's surprising factor that drunk walkers are 8 times more likely to die than drunk drivers. Shocking as this may be, he avoided addressing the risks to others in equivalent detail. One would think drunk drivers are far more likely to kill others than drunk walkers. A setback for transparency by speakers at the conference.

Léo Apotheker (Positive)
Well rehearsed and spoken, Apotheker presented the importance of clarity and transparency SAP provides its clients to their customers. Also surprisingly strong was this Co-CEO of SAP's message on sustainability. Apotheker claimed the SAP sustainability roadmap is the first in their industry and set a goal for the organization to make every business process sustainable. Strong points for good leadership. Apotheker's style tended toward a traditional corporate leader - befitting his role.

Ian Kimbell (Positive)
Mr. Kimbell, SAP's self-proclaimed "Demo Boy" was first introduced at the conference while demonstrating solutions for Mr. Apotheker's keynote. Probably the most polished of all presenters, Kimbell seemed more comfortable on stage than most people are simply in their own skin. Kimbell's demonstrations, humor and general ease on stage was so good, in fact, that some people have questioned the reality behind his demonstrations and the effort required to achieve similar goals - was the demonstration too simplified? Still, Kimbell is to be applauded, especially for his later performance, balancing the ever-dynamic Hasso Plattner. Kimbell presented strong leadership through thorough preparation and charisma. A traditional leadership style, perhaps leaning a bit toward the hero-worship model, but positive nonetheless.

Hasso Plattner (Positive)
Co-Founder of SAP, he's been called the company's "Rock Star". In a conference that touted transparency, there were none more transparent than Hasso Plattner. His presentation was very technical for the crowd, but still remarkably clear given his to-and-fro speaking points. With comments like, "SAP may not want to tell you this" or speaking to examples that were still in proof-of-concept phase, Plattner suggested the most down-to-earth mentality of those on stage that day. If you wanted the reality of a situation, you knew Plattner was your person. Whether he could be considered a servant-leader would take much more research, but Plattner's ability to operate at a remarkably senior level while balancing in-depth technical details was very promising. One thing's certain, he did not over-rehearse his presentation.

Vendors (Negative)
Vendors with positive leadership were too difficult to identify from brief interactions on the conference floor. Poor leadership, on the other hand, was all too easy to spot. A wide variety of vendors were represented. From behemoths like IBM and Accenture, to companies most have never heard of. One vendor surprised me by asking if he could scan my badge without even speaking to me (a practice which would only add my name and contact information to his undoubtedly growing spammer's list). Also standing out on the floor were the obvious ploys to attract attention through any means possible. I remained disappointed by the number of "Booth Beauties" (other terms are more common). I still find it hard to believe that companies with quality products should have any need for these tactics and therefore, made it a point to avoid these stands. Milder marketing ploys, were also prevalent, such as the expensive sport cars, power equipment and sizable freebies. While there were undoubtedly plenty of well-led organizations on the floor, unfortunately, the negative still stood out. This resulted in a set-back for overall conference leadership impressions. (Note: I am pleased to say that the vendors I work with were all professionally represented at the conference).

Bloggers (Positive)
Contributing to the discussions and education was a great group of bloggers. Twitter was a popular means of sharing thoughts and feedbcak on the presenters, while other bloggers shared their proposed articles to come, following the conference. Watching these groundswells in action at any conference is always exciting. Within minutes of a presenter's notable commitment, the quote and feedback on that quote, was already online for the world to see and being discussed. Yes, social technology has truly brought the power to the people. Throughout the conference, though disagreements arose, it remained constructive on Twitter and blogs - another positive for the good guys and strong leadership from the Blogging community.

Now the conference is over, we've returned to offices piled full with issues to be addressed and fires to put out, and what have we learned? Besides the excellent lessons on SAP technology, strategy and opportunities, what have attendees experienced from a leadership perspective? They saw a positive side to SAP's executives, a negative side from many vendors, and a positive leadership example from the blogging community. Net result? Kudos to SAP for not only presenting their technologies, strategy and people in a positive light, but for also a providing a net-positive leadership experience.

* Observations are from the conference only, I did not take into account their character or broader leadership methodologies.

The Future of Leadership (from a conversation with Bill George)

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Through ExecuNet, I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bill George, a former CEO of Medtronic, now a professor at Harvard Business School and author of True North, Finding Your True North and Authentic Leadership. Bill's perspectives on Leadership support the servant-leader model and his work has been referenced as an example of measurable success through servant leadership. As a result, I was excited to hear Mr. George speak and ask his views on technology's impact on future leaders.

In the beginning of the call, Mr. George defined his views on authentic leadership. Bill stated that we need 4 things from leaders:

Alignment
Empowerment
Service
Collaboration

Bill also spoke of the many challenges facing leaders today. Chief among these challenges were the economy and shifting expectations between Baby-Boomers and Generation X. For the economic challenges, he suggested this era will produce more authentic leaders than before, stating that "leading through a crisis is the real test (of leadership)... coming through this crisis will launch more great leaders as a result." As for the challenges presented by differing expectations across generations, Bill had several excellent points, including:

The Baby-Boomer generation of leaders has been too "Me focused" (over all)
Generation X is more "We Focused" than "Me focused"
Today's younger work force is not motivated by the "Command-and-Control" model, resulting in talent acquisition challenges for companies still operating under this model

Other challenges he thought leaders of the future would need to address included:

Today's organizational model is too focused on the "proven skills" of individuals
We need to be more focused on talent and capacity to learn (the rate of change will not slow)
Our organizational models need to evolve into a more integrated solution, more "like the Internet" and less "hierarchical"
The "Taker type" of leaders (those that only take, while others only give) will not succeed in the future
We need to focus on "Ready, Fire, Aim" - the market is changing so quickly now that organizations focused on "Ready, Aim, Fire" will have difficulty passing "aim"

I asked Mr George his views on the impact technology is having on today's leaders. The focus was on the evolution of social technology, asking how these technologies are impacting leaders today and how leaders of the future can leverage these technologies to be more effective. His thoughts included:

Social technology is part of the answer to being a more effective leader
We are just getting started in our capacity to leverage this technology
We will still need small, peer-based groups, but not as many of the hierarchical groups
Legitimate networks will be necessary - not just mass connections
Great leaders of the future will be successful networkers and leverage people and tools to find answers and solve problems quickly
We are becoming more global and technology is connecting people as they move all over the globe
Technology is enabling everything he discussed today (less hierarchy, more "we focused")

I am grateful to Bill George and ExecuNet for creating this opportunity. Mr. George is an example of how Authentic / Servant Leadership models succeed and are, in many ways, even necessary to ensure the success of our organizations of the future.

Servant Leadership: The Answer to Leading From Behind

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:53:00 +0000

Whether you are the CEO of a Wall Street darling, managing a 3rd generation main street business or reforming social injustices, one thing is certain - we all feel behind today. From corporate scandals to our economic crisis, poor leadership has created obstacles for us all. Therefore, how we get out of this mess will take a different type of leadership. We need leaders that inspire us. Leaders motivated by something greater than themselves. Leaders focused on sustainable success over hollow, short-term gains. What we need is Servant Leadership. With servant leaders leveraging technology and a focus on the right results, yes we can, lead from behind.

Leading from behind starts with the right character, vision and selflessness to inspire; traits that servant leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa exemplified. These individuals all led from behind, knew there was a better way and forged the path to success through service to those they led. However, servant-leadership is effective in any field, not just social reform. Consider, for example, servant leaders in business like Herb Kelleher, Sam Walton and Max DePree.

Kelleher created and led Southwest airlines to be among the most successful companies, bucking one of the most devastating trends in its industry. Fortune Magazine even referred to Kelleher as perhaps the best CEO in America. This servant leader emphasized that people take themselves lightly, but their jobs seriously. As an example of service to those he led, Kelleher was known to spend holidays loading baggage with ground crews.

Like Kelleher, Sam Walton knew the key to success was serving the people that served the organization. Walton was famous for saying, "The folks on the front lines - the ones who actually talk to the customer - are the only ones who really know what's going on out there. " Walton also taught that customers were the real boss, not the stockholders.

Both Kelleher and Walton's beliefs aligned with Max DePree, former CEO and Chairman of Herman Miller, one of America's foremost furniture manufactures. DePree wrote "Leadership is an Art" and "Leadership Jazz". Both books received praise from President Clinton and other famous leaders. DePree stated, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. "

Many more examples of servant leaders in business exist, like Howard Behar of Starbucks fame or Ken Melrose from the turnaround of Toro Company. There are also other companies that found success through servant leadership, companies like Medtronic, Service Master and Marriott International. Furthermore, leadership experts in academia frequently proclaim the need for servant leadership, like Jim Collins' did in his book Good To Great.

Those who follow the path of servant leadership will have something in their favor - technology. Advances in social technologies are shifting the balance of power to the masses, thus increasing the demand for effective servant leadership and empowering those who leverage it. One recent example was the success of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. This "community organizer" used servant leadership, empowered by effective social technologies, to help win his election. Numbers like 6.5 million online donations, 13 million email addresses, 35,000 volunteer groups, his own social networking site, 70 million online fundraisers and over 400,000 blog posts all played an undeniable factor in the election . Servant leaders today will leverage social technology tools for the success of their organizations.

When we take this opportunity to perform as servant leaders, we will ensure the future success of our organizations and our communities. How then, will leaders recognize success at leading from behind? I believe Robert K. Greenleaf the father of modern servant-leadership put it best when he said:

"The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"

When answering affirmatively to these questions, the effective leader will recognize they are no longer leading from behind the curve, but ahead of it.

NOTE: The above post was originally written in February for "The Bill George Challenge" on ExecuNet (www.ExecuNet.com). The challenge was to describe a leadership style that would adapt to a more particapatory managament practice, listing role models you would reference and how you would measure results. The challenge was placed in the framework of President Obama's call to action for everyone to take responsibility and participate in solving the challenges we face.

Opportunities in a Recession for the IT Leader

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:37:00 +0000

I recently spoke to a group of college seniors in IT management about some of the challenges they faced. Like most IT professionals today, they had a depressing view on the economy and their opportunities. There is plenty of press on these challenges we face (for example, see Thomas Wailgum's article, "Why the Recession is Marginalizing CIOs"). On the other hand, there is virtually no press surrounding the opportunities now available to CIOs, VPs, Director and other IT leaders. While everyone focuses on the challenges, few recognize the opportunities before us. Everyone seems focused on "delivering more, with less". However, this focus does not open our eyes to the realization that there may never again, in our careers, be a better time to accomplish key objectives.

What better time to kill low value projects? For example, that project draining resources for months, producing little value, but is allowed to drag on because it is the "pet project" of another CxO. With a constrained budget, something will have to give. Now you can make that case to the rest of the executive committee that either this "pet project" or the plan to narrow your product margins, delivering bottom line results next quarter, will have to be, at least, postponed. Even the CxO in question would find it difficult to oppose shelving the project in lieu of more timely, cost saving initiatives.

What better time for talent management? There are, sadly, many people losing their jobs today. As an IT Servant Leader, one can see few if any positives in this scenario. However, with some companies outsourcing entire divisions, others cutting to the bone and being required to cut even further, there is amazing talent available today that was not there a year ago. Now is the time to bring them onto your team. And what about the great staff that you already have? Employees are very appreciative to have a job today. Now is the time for you to show how much you appreciate them. But, you say, your budget is cut, preventing celebration dinners? No problem - have BYO events. Just set a time and place for the team to meet for drinks or dinner. It doesn't always take money to make people feel appreciated. Sometimes just having a job and a little extra time from their manager to say "thank you", especially outside the office, is all someone needs.

What better time to decommission overhead drains? How many servers do you have laying around, running antiquated software, creating heightened security risks and yet rarely seeing the front of a user's screen? Come on! Now is your time to stop all that. Make the case to your customer they no longer need it. Point out the countless other applications they could use for the same work. Suggest enhancements to more current applications that could be adapted. Do you think there will be a better time than now to make the argument that maintaining these applications is not worth the overhead?

What better time to innovate? Yes, the budget is tight - virtually nonexistent some would say. But innovation does not always require a lot of money. What are the students in the IT program at your local college working on? Would they be open to researching an idea for your department? What about that new team member in your Business Intelligence area - wasn't she working on a new idea after hours? Leverage that passion already residing within your team by simply supporting their ideas. With most other IT leaders focused on cost control, few are considering this opportunity to innovate. Those that do, are more likely to emerge with the best products, services and people to tackle the challenges when the economy recovers.

Every time I am confronted by another person in the IT field - be it a college student, manager, or CIO, who sings the "poor me" song, I think back to opportunities like these. It reminds me of that great RE/MAX commercial, where people are kicking themselves for not buying now. As IT Leaders, our problem is not "deliver more, with less". Instead, our opportunity is to "deliver more value, with less waste". Rarely before and possibly never again in our careers, will the opportunities and support be greater to gain alignment on this goal. Instead of singing "poor me", why not view this as an opportunity to ensure you're not kicking yourself later?

Social Technology - Making Relationships More Personal Than Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:28:00 +0000

As the personal computer replaced typewriters and the Internet evolved into common use, more critics began to panic that we, as a society, would lose our human touch. After all, just how personal can interaction be through computer screens? One wonders if they thought the same of the telephone. Even a man I greatly admire, James A. Autry, a thought leader on servant leadership and remarkably successful business man, devoted an entire section in one of his books to the theme that technology negatively impacts the ability for personal interaction (and servant leadership) to be successful. James and many of these critics were right in their observations given the state of technologies at that time - the late 80's and early 90's. Before social technology hit rev 2.0, everything was static, there was limited conversation and nobody saw the Internet as a place for friends to connect. Instead, you had a mess of static webpages. These early websites closest thing to a personal touch was a bunch of personal data that was broadcast to anyone at all. The problem was, only a select network of individuals wanted to read these individual's broadcasts but there was no easily defined audience or targeting mechanism. That was then, this is now.

Then
Before Social Technology evolved into common place, in times that predate digital social networks, we had direct personal relationships based primarily on physical interactions. Those you knew living close to you, working in your office or family that visited semi-regularly were all in the know about your life's events. Even your closest friends from high school or college - the select few who kept you updated in Christmas letters or shared their updated contact information with each subsequent move. These individuals all provided "warm fuzzies" when you heard an update every couple of months.

If there were major life events, such as weddings, funerals or even the occasional reunion, you would even travel far to see those closest to you. You'd reconnect briefly, be amazed at how much had changed over the years and regret that you had not stayed in "closer contact". You'd promise to "do better this time" and maybe you would, for a couple of months at least, before the status quo returned and you'd meet up again at the next major life event....

And so it went for most of us. Sure, there were exceptions, those who were friends for life, those that didn't move far from home and made sure to visit everyone when they returned to visit, perhaps even the occasional high school "clique" that never ended. But as a whole, I suspect most of us experienced something like the above - only maintaining even semi-regular contact with a very small subset of friends and colleagues. However, modern evolutions in social technology have changed all this and flipped the coin completely. We now have the opportunity, through the technical empowerment of social technology, to make and maintain our relationships on a more personal level than ever before.

Now
It is easier than ever to stay connected or reconnect with friends and colleagues. A quick Google of someone's name is likely to identify a Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Ning, Naymz or similar networking reference. Physical vicinity is almost irrelevant. When you meet at the life event, you exchange your preferred profile space, go home, link up and now you're getting daily one-liner updates from Twitter or a similar service. You suddenly realize that their child is the same age as yours or slightly ahead and, trusting them from the common bonds of your youth, may rely on them for advice. How did they get that thumb-sucking under control?

Perhaps you discover that your old college roommate went back for his law degree. As luck would have it, you needed someone to go over that new contract before you sign. Again, the common bond of trust is pre-existing and new business is drawn up with old friends. In the end, it becomes easier and easier to make ties with your personal life and professional roles. For some this may not be what they seek. Many people prefer a work-life balance, vs. a work-life alignment. But even if for purely personal reasons, the daily status updates, photo sharing and routine communication with friends becomes more simplistic and readily accessible.

Still Room For Improvement
Of course, social technology solutions are still far from perfect. Many of the social technology services are awkward on mobile devices. The proliferation of these technologies is still relatively limited and standards have not yet matured. In fact, the lack of connectivity for a majority of mobile devices or even decent user interfaces for many of those that are connected, limit the adoption rate of mobile social technology. Meanwhile, the elders of our society, the age group most unlikely to adopt new technologies, remain virtually untouched by social technology. However, as we mature as a society and more youth become adults and adults become elders, all familiar with these systems and solutions, the adoption rate will naturally expand accordingly. Finally, there remains too many competitors and redundant solutions. As competitors battle for market share (user base) and systems settle into niches, these standards will pan out as they do for all technologies. Before long, all these roadblocks will become speed bumps and social technology adoption and proliferation will complete.

How Do We, As Technology Leaders, Respond?
Great, so we recognize that social technology is making relationships more personal than ever before. We understand this brings a human touch back to the office that may have been lacking in the last decade. In fact, we may even see our friends and colleagues are more connected than ever. So what does that mean for you, as a technology leader? It means first and foremost that this is not a battle, it means that we need to leverage these resources ourselves and it means we need to align our business plans with the social technology present and future.

Not a Battle
How are you structuring your policies and security around social networking? Are you completely blocking Facebook and Myspace? What about LinkedIn and the more generally considered "professional sites"? How do you handle Ning, which consists of a mix of both personal and professionaly-focused networks? Sadly, the reality is there may be some increased security threats from these sites and so proper precautions should be taken. But if you think that your staff could only possibly use social networking and media sites for purely personal reasons, think again. Whether you immediately open up access to these resources for your employees or you plan for it in the future, only you can decide. One thing is certain though, social technology is not going away and it is an excellent resource for your employees - both personally and professionally. Consider shifting your policies from one of absolute opposition, to one of moderated temperance. Of course, excessive personal use that abuses corporate assets should always be addressed, but the line between personal and professional networking is a very gray one and difficult to define. Otherwise, employees that are completely blocked from such resources, intending to use it for professional networking purposes will feel stifled, lacking the tools they need to complete their job effectively and not empowered to perform their best.

Leverage These Resources Ourselves
Are you connected with social technology? How many friends do you have online? When was the last time you connected with your old colleagues? You know that position that you've been trying to fill for months? Having a solid network on LinkedIn, empowering you to query your most trusted advisers and former employees sure would be helpful. Imagine, with one message you could immediately ping most of your former colleagues and know immediately how any referrals you receive are connected to you.

Aligning Business Plans with Social Technology
Does the marketing plan at your company encompass how they plan to leverage social technology? If not, why not? Social Technology should be considered as regularly, if not more so, than print, television, email and web alone. Viral marketing is best and most cost effective online, something everyone wants to hear nowadays. Leveraging YouTube, product watch sites and email campaigns that don't stink of force-fed ads are all low cost solutions to their traditional counterparts. What about your hiring strategy? Be sure to know what the discussion boards say about you as a manager (check eBossWatch for example) and as an employer (what do the hiring site discussions say?). Are you polling your own network online for hiring? In every new major initiative, within your own department and beyond, consider how social technology can help (or even hurt, if not properly addressed) your plans.

Yes, not so long ago, the Internet was evil, out to destroy our society by disconnecting us from the human touch. As the underlying technology evolves, adoption rates grow and interfaces become more familiar though, it is clear that social technology solutions have made our relationships more personal than ever before. There remains opportunities for improvement, but the fears of the past are fading and the promise of the future for both personal and professional opportunities to connect with friends and colleagues is immense. As a technology leader in your organization, it is up to you to ensure your teams realize this wave and help make it work for you.

Whiner or Winner?

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:26:00 +0000

For technology executives, the one constant is change. However, as humans, we are by nature, creatures of habit. This could easily explain why so many folks are resistant to change. Change does not, by definition, feel familiar. It's awkward, different and for many, uncomfortable. But like all things new, we can choose how we respond to change. My experience suggests there are not many folks that respond to change with indifference. Instead, it seems most people fit into one of two categories: Winners or Whiners.

Winners
When I was working on turning around a large back-office technology project, there was one individual who was thrilled to be a part of the "new solution". Although she had a vested interest in the old way, she looked to the future, realized things were broken and was anxious to be recognized for a successful project. As a result, she often came with a proposal for improvements, new technologies, processes or ideas. She understood the need for change, would lay out the problem in detail, explain why it was a problem and often have two or more recommendations for solving the problem. She was a winner because she embraced the change, identified roadblocks and problems with the old school of thought and proposed solutions based on solid examples.

Whiners
Of course, at the opposite end of the spectrum are individuals that resist change with a defeatist attitude. While the term may seem derogatory, "whiner" underscores where most of the effort is placed by these individuals. Certainly, it is not intentional. I don't think anyone, regardless of their frustration level, says, "today, I am just going to complain about what's going on at the office". Instead, some personnel, when faced with change, spend a lot of effort thinking about the negative side (not unlike their winner counterparts). The problem is, whiners stop there. And why not? It's easier to stop there and just tell their coworkers about the pain. Where whiners turn into winners is when they make that extra effort, they go that extra mile and do something about the negatives. Instead of simply communicating the problem(s), they become a part of the solution.

Whiners and Winners are in every organization. When you find winners, great, leverage them as examples to the whiners. When you find whiners, remember - they're not setting out to just complain, they're just stopping too soon. Ask them what they would do about the problem they mentioned? How would they improve the environment? What process would they use to avoid it from happening again? Then make them a part of the accepted solution. Without commitment and a role in the solution, it will be too easy to revert back to the Whiner.

Whatever you do, do not become a whiner yourself. Anytime you catch yourself complaining - especially in front of your team, be certain you come up with a solution and communicate it to them. This holds true for commiserating as well. Nodding in agreement with complaints without putting the complainer to task at finding a solution, makes you a whiner too. So make sure you're thinking like a winner and presenting solutions to your problems while putting your team to task, doing the same. Go the extra mile, set the example for your teams and build winners out of the whiners.

Servant Leadership Article on CIO.com

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:18:00 +0000

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones enjoying the best of the holiday season. As a colleague and friend in the IT industry, I wanted to share an article I recently wrote on CIO.com with you and ask for your feedback. The article is entitled “Servant-Leadership for the IT executive” (http://advice.cio.com/benjamin_lichtenwalner/servant_leadership_for_the_it_executive) and focuses on introducing the concept of Servant-Leadership to fellow IT executives.

You see, I have already had the chance to view and participate in many different leadership styles over the course of my career to date. This experience included one organization that promoted servant-leadership, one that was relatively indifferent and one that strongly opposed the concept. While each organization produced good results, I found that servant-leadership produced the greatest, long-term and sustainable results for the IT organization. As a result, given the limited number of individuals in IT familiar with the concept, I’ve taken it as a bit of a mission to spread the awareness of this leadership style. I hope you will help by providing comments on the CIO.com article or feedback directly, via email.

Thank you, in advance, for any feedback you may offer. If you are interested in more information on servant-leadership, you can also check out the following resources:
http://www.lichtenwalner.net/servantleader.html
http://www.greenleaf.org/
http://www.spearscenter.org/
http://servantleadership.ning.com/

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:09:00 +0000

The following is reproduced, with permission, from Russ M. Miller, LLIF Chairman and CEO of the Performance Institute (www.performanceinstitute.us):

"The Power of Leadership"

Where have all the leaders gone? We used to have larger-than-life leaders. Public figures such as Franklin Roosevelt, Golda Meir, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King who inspired millions with their visions. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan were equally influential in the business arena.

Those leaders and others like them are gone. Today we have fame without accomplishment, form without substance. We elevate people to leadership status not for what they did but because of the way they did it.

We need leaders today more than ever before. People spend millions of dollars attending weekend leadership seminars that promise instant leadership: Follow directions, insert anybody, and out pops a leader.

These "one shot" instant leadership seminars probably produce fewer leaders than those made by accident, circumstance, or self-invention combined. These programs may reveal skills and theorize about leadership evolution, but they cannot teach the character and vision that are the raw materials of leadership.

Your character is a key element in your self-image. Your self-image determines to a large extent the level of success you achieve as a leader. The level of success you achieve as a leader, of course, helps determine the level of success your organization will achieve.

Developing leadership is hard work. It requires time and commitment to form the core habits that make up the foundation of leadership behavior. Top athletes know that it takes time and personal commitment to develop their skills into championship form. The same holds true for top leaders. They also know that it takes time and personal commitment to develop their skills into top leadership form.

Thanksgiving at the Office

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is over. The turkey became Turkey sandwiches, the stuffing will remain for weeks and you're likely to run out of ice cream long before the leftover pie. So what do you have to be thankful for, besides lots of great leftovers? Like most people, you undoubtedly gave thanks for your family and friends, health and countless other personal blessings. But, did you give thanks for your professional interests as well? What about your team, customers, business partners and boss?

Did you give thanks for your team? What about that night when they stayed later than normal and cranked out the project just in time to meet the deadline that you committed them to? Did you thank them then? Did you thank them this weekend?

Did you give thanks for your customers? Remember the customer that signed a big deal just in time for you to meet your quarterly numbers? How did you show them your appreciation?

What about your business partners? Remember that Value-Added Reseller that warned you about the product's limitations before you wasted money on the wrong version? When did you thank them?

Finally, but certainly not least, did you thank your boss? Remember when she pushed you to meet that tight deadline that she committed you to? You worked hard, but met the deadline and the organization celebrated as a result. You got that award for going above and beyond. Your performance review looked great as a result. Maybe even that boss you did not like, the one that did not support your idea and created a real roadblock? You still succeeded though, in part because you were stronger for their resistance. Did you thank them at all?

When giving thanks, remember, time is more precious than money. "Thanks giving" does not require purchasing food or gifts. It does not mean you must sign a bonus check or necessarily commit to a raise (though it certainly helps). No, time is more precious than money. Stop by your team member's office, visit your business partner for lunch or take that time to email your old boss and let them know how they helped your career.

Yes, even this holiday season, regardless of our economic struggles, we have plenty for which we are thankful. Certainly family, friends, health and other blessings in our personal lives are reason for gratitude. Just do not forget to show your gratitude to those in your professional life as well. Even those that challenged you. Especially those that challenged you.

"Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune."
- Sam Walton

On a personal Post Note. I want to thank that amazing team that knocked out a huge project, just in time for the Thanksgiving break. Now we all have reasons to give thanks for the incredible business results you delivered. Thank you all.

Servant-Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:26:00 +0000

There is a disturbing trend among business leaders today. While problems are obvious on Wall Street, the challenge is systemic. For too long organizations have enabled and empowered narcissistic employees with the "win at any cost" mentality and an emphasis on their personal success over that of their staff, customers, organization and it's stakeholders. These self-centered managers, mistakenly dubbed leaders, often produce great short-term results, through hard-driving, fear-inducing and domineering tactics. As a result of these tactics, short-term benefits are often realized through excessive cost cutting, burning out staff and often deceitful manipulation of peers. These efforts often produce great results in front of the smoke and mirrors. However, as the smoke fades and the mirrors fall, these organizations are left a shell of their former selves. As a result, the narcissistic leader's successors and direct reports are dubbed poor performers as they attempt to revitalize hollowed resources. Unfortunately, many organizations do not realize there is a better solution called servant-leadership.

When it comes to leadership, there are many named styles, variations within each style and countless evangelists and critics of each. I have been fortunate enough to work under many different styles and found servant-leadership delivers the greatest benefits for all stakeholders while generating optimal long-term, sustainable growth. As a result, I researched the concept of servant-leadership and found it to be an ideal leadership style for executives in all fields. However, I also found limited knowledge of servant-leadership in most industries*, especially information technology. Below I highlight some of the core attributes of servant-leadership in an attempt to reveal how this leadership style excels where most leaders today fail.

The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.
- Robert K. Greenleaf

Serving First
Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term "Servant-Leader", explained that the servant-leader wants to serve first, then finds leadership their optimal method of service. When the primary motivation for a leader is their own career growth, the main aspiration is not placed on the organization's sustainable growth, but on the actions that will most quickly promote that individual's success. Unfortunately, these actions often directly conflict with the methods that will generate sustainable results. This is why it is important for organization's to identify and promote individuals that seek to serve first.

There is nothing wrong with the career-minded individual. Certainly, few people are successful that care little about what they achieve professionally. The problem rests with individuals that do not understand they are a part of something larger than themselves. When one's sole or even primary motivation is their own selfish gain, they are taking their eye off the ball that is the corporation's sustainable success. The proper servant-leader therefore can, and should still pursue career growth. However, the servant-leader pursues their career aspirations as secondary to serving others - their staff, customers, organization and stakeholders.

Stewardship
Meriam-Webster dictionary defines Stewardship as "the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care". Servant-leaders understand their role as a steward of the company's resources. For example servant-leaders are more likely to say "our team" than "my team", "the budget" than "my budget". Stewards recognize that resources are not given to them, but temporarily placed in their care with the expectation of strong returns. The best leaders therefore understand it is up to them to leverage those resources for optimal performance for the organization, not for their career. As stewards, servant-leaders do not possess anything the organization provides, but accept responsibility for the ROI of those resources.

Humility
One of the reasons it is difficult to find publications referencing servant-leaders is the inherent humility these individuals possess. By nature, those who want to serve first are unlikely to seek public attention for their accomplishments. In fact, the servant-leader often defers credit for accomplishments to their team, while accepting responsibilities for the team's failures. As a result, these humble individuals rarely grace the covers of Business Week, CIO magazine or other trade publications. There are exceptions though, outstanding servant-leaders like Herb Kelleher, founder and former chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines, that still receive press coverage for their famous success. Still, the vast majority of servant-leaders understand the success is not about them, but about their organizations, their staff, customers and other stakeholders that they serve. The result is humility that contradicts the over-the-top, shameless self-promotion so dominant in narcisisstic managers.

Sustainability
Quick wins at the cost of future success is not an option for the servant-leader. Instead, in their role as servant first, good leaders understand that any solution that is not sustainable, is not acceptable. Successful leaders realize their track record does not end when they move on, but instead, just begins to play. The successor that was developed and ideally chosen by the servant-leader, is the final determinant in the predecessor's success. Leaders that insist team members find their own replacement before accepting promotion, have the right idea. In contrast, managers interested in self-promotion often hop around, stretch the resources to the furthest extent and leave a shell of an organization behind.

Obviously, deriving quick results is great and even necessary. Working hard and expecting your team to do the same is important. Pushing for results, stretching your team for development and driving unnecessary costs out of the system are all expectations of good leaders - especially in turnaround scenarios. The difference is that servant-leaders draw the line when cuts become too deep, excessive hours drag on too long or engineering cuts results in abysmal quality. The servant-leader does not achieve immediate success at the cost of sustainable solutions.

Continuous Development
All too often, leaders who achieve a certain level of success, feel they "made it" and cease to focus on developing their skills as leaders. Assumptions are often made that because they have "been there, done that" for positions beneath them on the organization chart, they knew all they needed to lead. In contrast, servant-leaders understand there "are no human beings, only human becomings"** and recognize the importance of continuing to develop leadership skills. In fact, most good leaders do not consider themselves deserving of the description servant-leader. Instead, most of these individuals consider themselves students of servant-leadership, striving to develop the skills, but recognizing that becoming a full-fledged servant-leader in all one does is a nearly impossible achievement. As a result, most servant-leaders are life-long learners, excellent at proactive listening and never afraid to say, "I did not know that".

Given the apparent positive results generated in the short-term by narcissistic managers, organizations could almost be forgiven for supporting and promoting these individuals into increasing levels of seniority. Almost forgiven, that is, were it not for the well known fact that people, especially leaders, are the most important factors in the success of an organization. If organizations seek long-term results, sustainable growth and leaders who are out to benefit the organization, not themselves, they need to identify and promote servant leaders.

Of course, the above examples are only a few highlights of what defines the Servant Leader. Fortunately, there are great authors on the subject that are far more astute and comprehensive when explaining what it means to live the paradox of servant-leadership. For a short presentation introducing the concept of servant-leadership and other resources on servant-leadership, please visit www.lichtenwalner.net/servantleader.html.

* Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what servant-leadership is and is not, that may be proliferating this lack of awareness and support for servant-leadership. I intend to clarify some of these misunderstandings in a subsequent post.
** Attributed to the wife of James C. Hunter, author of The Servant .

Happy Customers Tell 400 (with Blogs)

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:59:00 +0000

Those of you in customer service know that, historically, a happy customer tells 5 people, while an unhappy customer tells 100. While that was true in the past and likely remains true for verbal communication, Web 2.0 functionality is leveling the playing field. In particular, through Blogging your customers may tell the same number of people - whether they are happy or unhappy.

A recent posting from one of the country's leading ITIL consultants rained down unsolicited praise for FedEx. Although the source was a personal blog, the estimated 400 member readership contained many IT consultants, contractors and industry professionals - all of whom rely upon carriers for their business.

Now I can hear the naysayers already: "one could complain just as quickly" - and you're right. That is precisely the beauty of this evolution in communication mediums. Like it or not, your customers will hear all the big customer service stories. It used to be that each bad incident was relatively self-contained. However, this is no longer the case.

Now, emotional (favorably or negatively) customers will log onto any of the growing number of vendor-neutral customer complaint boards, the Better Business Bureau, or industry discussion forums and distribute their thoughts. If customers Blog about it, you will see that incident quickly broadcast to hundreds of readers. The internet is undiscriminating and the communication is immediate. What are you doing to manage this environment? Are you:

Monitoring relevant industry and consumer discussion boards?
Surveying your largest customer's for preferred communication channels?
Researching customer service incidents online for "vent-sessions"?
Offering your customers a direct online forum through your own site?
All of the above?
Something else?

Today's leading organizations understand these benefits and challenges. Web 2.0 savvy-leaders are addressing the response in many different ways. You must be aware of these concerns and opportunities - leveraging the processes and related technologies for your benefit and avoiding greater detriment.

Quick Benefits of Enterprise Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:34:00 +0000

I recently had someone challenge the benefits of social networking for the enterprise, suggesting there was no real value for such technology in the workplace. I came up with a quick list and decided to post it here:

Examples of benefits to social networking in the workplace include:

Collaboration: The more your employees can find out about each other, the quicker they can share ideas. For example, if you have a large number of staff, there is a great potential for duplicating research efforts. Through digital networking, it will be easier for your staff to self-identify complimentary projects and align their efforts.
Innovation: Your staff may have a great deal of common interests outside the office that could transfer into a profitable new line of business. For example, perhaps you produce electronics and an office club forms around bicycling. The result may be the greatest electronic innovation for cyclists in generations, produced by your company and not the competition.
Resource Identification: Content Management systems are great, but what if your staff does not use the right search term? Identifying experts within your company can be much easier, quicker and more cost effective through networking tools than traditional, structured, data hierarchies.
Stronger Community: As the famous Gallup Poll pointed out, employees with friends at work are much happier and more productive. Social networking will empower your staff self-identify individuals with similar interests, resulting in larger and stronger community within the workplace.
Increased Communication: Industry experts have predicted that social networking is much like email or the web itself - another evolution in communication mediums. As a result, it is not a question of whether to adapt social networking, but when. Mechanisms like chat and forum discussions further empower your staff to communicate more effectively and in a manner that is easy to capture and compile.

These are very high-level and I suspect there will be more as I think about it. However, I will keep running list here as I come across them. If you have some to add, I welcome your comments.

Virtual Reality Creeps in with Wii Hacks

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:07:00 +0000

I should preface this one by stating it's interesting what one's mind thinks about when you are up for a 4 AM feeding with your newborn. However, I was sitting here staring at our Wii Balance Board during this particular feeding and remembered seeing some pretty fascinating hacks online.

The Wii system itself is pretty interesting. The use of relatively simple technology that is only moderately evolved from the days of the original Nintendo's Duck Hunt emphasizes the ability of innovation in user interface to produce results as great as, or better than evolutions in graphics. But take that one step further and make these relatively simple technologies an open source platform for others to tweak and you have a plethora of opportunities for new Virtual Reality applications of inexpensive technologies.

Johnny Lee has shown how a nominal additional investment in hardware can produce a digital white board and highlights the benefits for educational institutions. He also shows how reversing the sensor bar and controller can produce a head tracking, VR helmet-like imitation. More recently, the Wii Balance Board has been hacked by guys in a German Artificial Intelligence lab and can be used to navigate Google Earth and virtual environments like World of Warcraft and Second Life. Who wouldn't love to surf, both physically and figuratively, over their city anyway?

It is fascinating how, like so many successful evolutions of technology, Virtual Reality is not hitting us overnight with some single leap in evolution like so many predicted. Instead, it is creeping in among us through the continuous evolution of innovative interface implementations.

For more material on this topic, check out YouTube Wii Hacks and / or the clips below. As a bonus, in Johnny's Lee's famous hack video below, he mentions how YouTube has really expedited the evolution of innovations like these. Roughly quoting Johnny, "In 5 months an idea has gone from experimentation on my desktop to a commercially available product."

Johnny Lee's Hack Video, including VR head sensor:

The Wii Balance Board Hacks from Germany:

Just Released: Christian Marshall Lichtenwalner!

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Joint Venture, Trina Weymon and Benjamin Sean Lichtenwalner are proud to announce the much anticipated release of Christian Marshall Lichtenwalner^TM. Christian is the production version of the project formerly codenamed “Ichabod Hortimer”. This first release of the joint venture is the product of 9 months intensive development and quality assurance testing. Christian was fully deployed by 2:33 AM June 10^th, 2008 after a release effort of 14 hours led by Trina Weymon Lichtenwalner. Mrs. Lichtenwalner is now resting comfortably at the organization’s headquarters in Ossining, New York. Lichtenwalner, Inc. is proud to announce that Christian Marshall exceeds all analyst’s expectations. For a product sample, please see below.

On a more serious note, Trina and I would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Mother, baby (and father) are all doing well.

Web 2.0: Where Do You Stand?

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Business Week (BW) recently updated one of their hottest pieces from 2005. The article was on the impact of Blogs in the workplace. As a result, the June 2nd edition of BW highlighted the positive and negative impact of this evolution in communication on the workplace.

The metrics painted an interesting picture:

25% of U.S. adults online read a blog once a month (Forrester cited)
IBM's internal social network, "Beehive", has 30,000 employees on it
Twitter estimates 1 Million users now
Dell's service on Twitter has brought in $500k+, in new orders, in the last year
Splogs (Spam Blogs) now account for 90% of all blog postings (though filters catch most)
Technoratti now indexes 74 Million blogs (but only 5.2 Million are estimated as active)
Best Buy's social staff site, "Blue Shirt Nation" has 20,000 participants, most exited staff remain users

BW also had some good insights, both positive and negative, into the growing trends and impact at the workplace:

"Millions of us are now hanging out on the Internet with customers, befriending rivals, clicking through pictures of our boss at a barbecue or seeing what she is reading at the beach. It's as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides"
"This can be disturbing for top management who are losing control, at least in the traditional sense."
"...companies that don't adapt are sure to get lots of (the downside)"
"...we have developed top-down reflexes that are nearly Pavlovian. We have to reprogram ourselves."
"(employees) may see what technologies their competitors are putting into alpha tests and get the buzz on new rounds of financing."
"Work and leisure, colleague and rival; they all blend on these networks."
"...wikis raze traditional hierarchies: An intern can amend the work of a senior engineer."
"Managers have to make sure that quieter employees don't lose out."

The article sums things up nicely by stating "...the potential for both better and worse is huge, and it's growing". So not unlike other developments it is all about how each enterprise manages this evolution of communication. The question is, are you leveraging this evolution in communication for the benefit of your staff, customers and company? Your competitors are probably working on it now.

Whatever happened to those companies that didn't put up a website anyway? Happy twittering.

Achieving Your Dreams and Lessons for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Can you ask for more in a presentation? 1 hour and 16 minutes of life lessons, wisdom on achieving your dreams and much, much more. Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007. Included within is a great deal of humor, optimism and lessons for everyone. There is also a real servant-leadership undertone. By the time he finishes, you feel as though you've gained a mentor. As a bonus, Randy is a professor in virtual reality - so most of us "techies" will find a lot of the references particularly familiar:

ePhilanthropy Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:19:00 +0000

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my good friend Norman Reiss has a blog focused on Non-Profit IT and ePhilanthropy. Norman has worked in the non-profit space for many years now and has developed a wealth of knowledge in ePhilanthropy.

If you work in NPO technology and / or ePhilanthropy, I suggest adding his blog to your list. He's now linked on this site as well.

Norman's Blog: NonProfit Bridge
(Bridging Technology, Communications & Development to Implement ePhilanthropy Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations)

Fundamentals for IT Management in SMB

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:37:00 +0000

I have noticed a disturbing trend, for IT leaders (CIO, CTO, VP and Directors) in the mid-market to focus too much on the big picture and overlook the fundamentals. Sometimes, these executives that must also maintain an eye on the tactical become too absorbed in the crisis-of-the-moment and lose sight of the basics.

I was recently browsing one of the leading websites for IT management content, when there was an error in their application. The resulting screen display was the default error page for the web server (blocked out in the copy below):

Within an hour or so, the site was back up and functioning properly. Still, in that short period of time, the organization likely suffered a small impact to their credibility and provided lots of great information (web server version, database and version, method of connection between the two and application code structures) for would-be hackers. What (black-hat) hacker would not love to bring down and IT management content website?

In this case, it was an organization known for IT content that had (apparently) not yet customized their default website error pages. A simple, 15 minutes or so and the developers could have tailored the site for a more appropriate message.

All that said, it is easy to overlook these concerns. I confess, when I came across this error, the first thing I did was double check my own error page (on www.lichtenwalner.net). It is better now.... click here if you don't believe me.

Partying with the Macbook Air

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:16:00 +0000

It's 9:30 PM, Saturday night. I am at a swanky New Haven, Connecticut party. The condo building is a an old industrial structure renovated into a hip urban, contemporary, retro-industrial living space. The apartment comes complete with walls of mixed bare brick, drywall, exposed infrastructure, tasteful, artistic lighting and elegant furniture.

My wife and I are here to celebrate a dear friend's birthday. We're surrounded by terrific people, good friends and a fantastic live band. Then I spotted it, the husband's gift to the birthday girl- a MacBook Air. I hadn't seen one up close and personal yet. "Can I play with it?" I asked, mumbling under my breath that she knows I am the "computer geek in the room". She laughs and agrees.

So here I sit in the corner of a dimly lit, great place surrounded by good people, music and food and I am blogging away on the new machine... this is bad. But, that said, I had to tell you all about this slick machine. It is well designed, I like the button response, the weight, display and sleek lines. In classic Apple fashion, it is a terrific combination of art and function. The only negative is the super-small keypad. There are a few too little function keys for my taste, but that's a minor price to pay for such a cool machine.

Okay, enough from me now. I need to get back to visiting with some great folks before everyone starts pointing and laughing at me. Oh yeah, and by the way, Happy Birthday Ayana!

First-Time CIO (Entrepreneurial style)

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0000

CIO.com recently published, "What It's Like to Be a First-Time CIO" an article on first-time CIO Jason Scott of Innovation Ads, Inc.. This article was a great representation of what it is like for a first-time CIO in a very entrepreneurial environment. Jason's candor in the piece and reflected management style were refreshing, even as he fended off unprofessional, negative feedback from some folks from the old hierarchy (see the article's comments). As CIO Senior Editor Tom Wailgum reflected of Jason:

...You are, in my humble opinion, the next wave of CIOs that IT writers like myself have been yearning for and blabbing about for years... You have been shaped by a wealth of 21st century technological experiences that those people who are displaying "the hate" wish they could have had. You are a product of a generation of technologists who don't play by their 20th century rules...

The article and subsequent discussion thread through comments reflected the challenges new CIOs face, especially in smaller organizations, where so many new IT Leaders get their start in the executive office. Unfortunately, it's not always as positive of a result, as many readers comments suggest. Kudos to Jason for his candor, hard work, success and effective leadership - not only at Innovation Ads but also to the IT Leadership community.

If you are an IT Leader in an entrepreneurial organization, or considering such an oppportunity, this short article is a great read.

Team Building Across the World? No Problem.

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:32:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a study by the folks at IBM's Social Computing Group. I first met a member of their team (Jason Ellis) at Lotusphere 2008. There, I heard how the team used Second Life to create team building exercises. That was exciting, but it also felt a bit like, "just another cool use of virtual worlds". Still, I volunteered to help them in any future studies – and I am glad I did.

Today, our chosen team met to familiarize ourselves with the environment and try a simple game. The objective was not to begin "team building", yet, but to get us prepped for these exercises.

Shy of a few brief email exchanges with the coordinator of this event (Katie Bessiere), I had not met any of the team members before (Jason was not in this exercise). However, by the time we were done, I already had people I had never met before, providing me freebies (including a cool IBM T-shirt), suggesting hip places to check out in the world and offering advice on how to improve my SL experience. Within about 20 minutes, people were poking fun of each other (in a kind-hearted manner) and speaking like friends. So, I felt welcomed as a member of the group and registered everyone as friends in SL. Before we ended the event, several members from IBM were sharing knowledge on similar projects in the (admittedly gigantic) organization's research efforts. It was clear there was something to this concept of virtual worlds for team building and knowledge sharing.

Yet, as I mentioned earlier, we were only supposed to be preparing for the team building exercises yet to come. Perhaps that was the best part of all. None of this "felt" like team building or knowledge sharing. Unlike the "real world" (or "first life" as us hip SL'ers say), where you schedule the day for an off-site, dress in grunge clothes and march off to listen to (often) a stranger talk about how to build your team, we were doing something totally different. Our small group had gathered on relatively short notice, with virtually no extra effort (assuming you are already in SL) and were quickly chatting away, sharing stories and knowledge and yes, even team building.

There's definitely something to this. I can't wait to see what happens when we are actually building a team…

Change

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:16:00 +0000

Today on my commute in, the train engineer announced that the conductor was retiring after 40 years. I would miss this guy - after all, I chatted with him almost every morning and he rides a motorcycle, which makes us kin in some circles. More importantly (and potentially relevant to you), his 40 years of service made me reflect on career spans and industry changes. This man spent 40 years working for a transit organization. Certainly, transportation has made some significant changes in 40 years, but nothing compared to Technology, I thought. Perhaps that is why so many of us love this field. I did a quick search on the history of Technology over the last 40 years, and below is what I found. The History of Computers at About.com, highlights:

1969 - ArpaNet came online
1970 - First Dynamic RAM
1971 - The first microprocessor and Floppy Disks
1973 - Introduction of Ethernet
1974/75 - The first consumer computers (Altair & IBM 5100)
1978 - First Spreadsheet Software (Visicalc)
1979 - Introduction of Word Processors
1981 - The IBM PC - Home Computer
1981 - Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System
1983 - First home computer with a GUI (Apple's "Lisa")
1985 - Introduction of Microsoft Windows and so the war with Apple begins

For the full article, check out About.com's article.

I chatted with my fellow commuters in the IT field and we tried to uncover other industries exposed to such dramatic changes in 40 years time. We thought of several fields, but all were driven by Technology evolution first. In the end, perhaps it is change that makes all of us Techno-geeks and IT Business leaders so enthralled with our profession.

Mashups - Not Just Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:08:00 +0000

It seems like the topic of Mashups is getting a lot of press again lately. Conceptually, it's nothing all that new and mashups have been around for several years. Wikipedia defines mashups as:

... a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool; an example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data from Craigslist, thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally provided by either source."

With IBM's announcement of the release of Lotus Mashups at Lotusphere in January, we have another example of how Web 2.0 and web-as-a-platform solutions are presenting solutions for the early adopting enterprises. Still, the majority of mashups today seem to focus on map overlays. This is where I liked IBM's positioning at Lotusphere - while they covered the mandatory examples of map overlays, they also really emphasized data-to-data and other non-(geographic)map mashups.

I took a quick look around for some of the more innovative and popular non-map mashups and here some that stood out:

Love-o-Graph: Don't trust yourself, match.com or any other dating algorithms? Why not entrust the future of your love life to a mashup driven entirely off of your name and your prospective partner? I found the future for my wife and I is "open to interpretation".
LivePlasma: A cool visual representation of connections between musicians, actors, films, books and so on from the Amazon API.
Secret Prices: A really cool site that combines data including online coupons and rebates with sales sites and opinion data.
Similarity Web: This site takes Amazon.com's "Customers Also Bought" logic and provides an impressive visualization of similar products.
Google vs. Yahoo: With this mashup, you can compare the results of a search as reported by Google and Yahoo.

With IBM's investment in enterprise mashups solutions, we move from one-offs and technically challenging solutions requiring programming expertise to a common business platform. Then we look at examples like those above that range from the entertainment to consumer focused. It is clear there are many great opportunities for mashups beyond the geographic maps and expanding solutions for average business person.

For more examples of mashups, check out Programmable Web. In particular, they have a somewhat dated article on increasing non-map mashups.

M.B.A. T.I.M.I.N.G.

noreply@blogger.com (Benjamin Lichtenwalner) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:25:00 +0000

I had someone ask me the other day why I decided to get my MBA when I did if I thought the timing mattered. I did not have some grand scheme to relay to him that showed some great wisdom in my own timing. However, I did appreciate the "real world" experience I had before obtaining my MBA.

I went back for my MBA after approximately 4 years in the workplace. During those 4 years, I held 4 different IT roles. While I am certain I would have still benefitted from the MBA right after undergraduate, the experiences in those 4 years clarified my studies.

To put it another way, whenever I have read books on leadership they always made sense. However, it wasn't until I held a leadership role or two that these books suddenly made REAL sense. Instead of reading the text and thinking, "cool, I like that idea", the thoughts now are "Ah-Ha! Why the heck didn't I think of that, I must make sure and do that next time". The lessons stick better, you retain more and the reading seems more exciting.

In essence, this is what "real world" experience gains you before an MBA. There is no magic formula, no secret timeline. But in the end, I do believe you will be better served getting a few years under your belt before going back for an MBA.