Free Flowing Thoughts

A story from a birth mother

2010-04-26T05:15:35-07:00

My wife and I are in the process of adopting and came across this amazing story from a courageous woman who placed her firstborn with an adoptive family. This has been such an emtional process already, but I was not prepared for this story.

Small excerpt and full link below.

http://themorrillbunch.blogspot.com/2010/04/story-of-my-firstborn-pt14.html

Now, up until this moment there had been nothing funny about this situation.
But as soon as I set down the pen, everyone in the room gasped. And when I looked up it was like everyone had leaned in at least a few inches close to me.
I couldn't help but chuckle. And I told everyone to relax, and seriously everyone let out a huge breath of air. I guess you had to be there, cuz it was pretty funny.
So anyway.
I put the pen down and held Vivian up in front of me so I could see her face. She was out. But I said to her, "Okay, so this is it. This is the choice I've made for you. These people are going to take good care of you. I feel in my soul that you belong to them. Is this ok?" And my sleeping Miss Vivian opened her eyes for just a second and looked right at me, then went back to sleep.
I signed the last line.

My Friend's Work In Haiti

2010-01-25T10:11:07-08:00

A friend was in Haiti this week setting up a non-profit that will support rebuilding churches in Haiti. A recap of his time is below along with a link to images he captured. Thomas is a Pulitzer nominated photographer and the images are both beautiful and heart rending.

For those whose immediate reaction is why help churches instead of providing humanitarian aid, Thomas makes a brief mention of the reason below. For Courtney and me we are contributing to both causes. The humanitarian need is obvious, but the reason to consider helping rebuild churches is these communities are the primary providers of vocational training, health care, and loving support in a devastated nation. From a practical perspective it is an effective way to support systems that will help the country rebuild both hope and physical needs.

Thomas letter and link to the video below:

From Thomas Hurst:

Friends,

One week ago I was invited to be apart of a small team of men looking to get into Haiti to assess and assist the rebuilding of churches in Port-Au-Prince. The idea behind the mission was simple; because countries rely on networks of local churches to be a primary conduit for the flow of health care, humanitarian aid, and even education, rebuilding churches is an obvious means of helping to restore infrastructure in a country that so desperately needs it.

Within hours of the first conversations we were given access to a private jet loaded with doctors and medical supplies, and a specific flight arrival and departure time by the U.S. Government. Our team of nine had only 32 hours to be on the ground. The documentary portion of that team, a fantastic 2-man video crew, and myself, had roughly 12 hours to capture as much footage as possible.

Since the inception of the idea only 10 days ago, the organization, Churches Helping Churches has been founded, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised, the organization has hired it’s first Haitian staff member, and an outline for long term involvement, through education and job training, is being crafted.

For me personally, in the almost 20 years I spent in photojournalism trying to inspire and educate people with my images, what I was apart of in those 32 hours in Haiti, and the results of that work, have never meant so much, done so much, or impacted so many. I am humbled.

If you would like to see the results of my work in Haiti go to:

http://churcheshelpingchurches.com/index.php/media

Lastly - If you are moved by what you see, please take a minute to give. http://churcheshelpingchurches.com/index.php/give-now-2/

Thomas Hurst

Interviewing For A New Job At Your Old Company

2009-08-11T13:53:51-07:00

Recently I have interviewed several dozen people for a variety of roles I am hiring at Microsoft. We have a lot of interest in working on Windows Azure in the company and some very impressive people have come through my office recently. In the process I have noticed a few things anyone can do to stand out, and some mistakes everyone should avoid for the same reason.

Before The Interview:

1) Develop a plan: The standard is much higher for an internal hire in terms of what you should know about the business, the competitors and the industry. One of the most common reasons for hiring internally is the hiring manager expects an internal candidate will be effective in the role much sooner. Seek out others who are familiar with the business and develop a sense for the key challenges and opportunities. Build a plan to bring to the interview of what you will do in the first 90 days and a hypothesis for the longer term. While in the interview, walk through your approach quickly and share credit for key observations while still being clear you take personal responsibility for achieving results. Send the details of the plan in a follow-up email noting any changes you made because of feedback during the interview. It is less important that your plan is “right” (although that helps) than demonstrating an understanding of the business and a passion for making a positive impact.

2) Build your reputation before it is needed: Hiring managers are much more aggressive on checking references for internal candidates because they are more likely to receive candid feedback than with references on external hires. Success in finding a new role in your company will largely turn not as much on who you know, as who knows you—and what they remember. Every interaction, no matter how small, is building your reputation. Work to be known, and work to be known for accomplishing something significant. Seek out opportunities to share your success stories, involve other people in the success of your efforts, and be purposeful about building relationships and connections into as many groups as possible. Every project team, every meeting, every co-worker is a potential reference (good or bad). Make sure they will want to work with you in the future.

3) Enlist co-workers help, the right way: Ask your co-workers for help in finding a new opportunity and for advice on where to look next in the company. When you land an interview in a different organization, look for connections who can give you some context for the opportunities and challenges the new team is facing (see point 1 above). Do not have your co-workers send proactive endorsements to a hiring manager, unless they have an existing relationship.

In The Interview

1. Be prepared for the standard questions: As an internal candidate you may expect that the hiring manager already knows quite a bit about you or assumes your background and basic competencies are strong. Very few hiring managers know the full background of internal candidates, and only slightly vary their interview process and questions from those used with an external hire. When you come prepared as if you were interviewing for the first time with the company it demonstrates that you are taking the opportunity seriously. No matter how many meetings you have sat in with a hiring manager, assume they know almost nothing about your work history. If you are wrong it costs you nothing. If in fact they know less about you than you assumed it is useful to know this, and gives you a chance to build the perception you prefer. There are a number of online resources for interview preparation that cover the basic questions that usually come up in an interview (strengths, weaknesses, insights from your 3 greatest successes and failures, your leadership style, work habits, etc). Be prepared for these basics as hiring managers often believe they learn more about a candidate who cannot answer these questions. Be particularly well prepared with multiple stories of projects you led that made a significant impact on the business.

2. Answer the question you are asked: Hiring managers consider not only the quality of your response, but also whether or not that answer is related to the question they posed. If you are unsure of the intent of an interview question, or what is being asked, it is much better to seek clarification than to give a canned answer to the question you wish had been asked.

Notice When The Conversation Shifts

The first phase of an interview is often assessing basic competencies and work history. The second phase begins with a shift to a conversation of the business and the specific position. The first phase of the interview generally screens candidates out, but it is this second phase that will actually get you in. Most candidates prepare extensively for one phase of the interview but not the other. In the second phase of the interview the hiring manager is assessing whether or not you understand the business and that you can work effectively within the culture of the team. This phase of the interview should feel much more like a conversation. Ask questions, offer suggestions, listen carefully to what is said (and not said). Demonstrate that although you came in with ideas on how to impact the business you listen for new information and ideas.

Special Case 1: Interviewing For a Sales Position

Make an ‘ask’: Most sales managers will remember one part of the sales interview more than any other: how you try to ‘close.’ Most sales managers will turn down a candidate even if every other aspect of the process was ideal if the candidate does not effectively close in the interview. It is generally assumed that how you handle this aspect of the interview will be similar to how you will work with a customer. Consider carefully the selling style of the role, the interviewer’s role in the hiring process and the nature of the person. At a minimum, you should ask every interviewer in the cycle what other concerns or questions you can address for them in the interview and make it clear that you want the role. With the hiring sales manager you should explicitly ask for the job in a way that uncovers additional objections, makes it clear you want the role, and does make that person wildly uncomfortable.

Special Case 2: Interviewing For A Management Position

Describe Your Leadership Style: Beyond the basic competency questions above be prepared to discuss your best hires, worst hires, former directs you coached, and how you manage change with your team. In an internal interview be cautious to protect the identity and privacy of directs you use as examples in these questions. Also be prepared to discuss your leadership style and how it has evolved. There are no ‘right’ responses to several of these questions it is more important to demonstrate that you have some level of self-awareness and that you have invested time and energy into how to be a more effective leader. While there is no ‘right’ response it is useful to set expectations early on how you manage--particularly if your style differs considerably from the hiring manager.

Special Case 3: Interviewing For A Job You Don’t Want

Never Do This: High performers are frequently approached about open positions or referred by their co-workers. Never put yourself into the hiring process for a role you suspect is not a fit for your career goals or abilities. If you were recruited for a position and have concerns, first setup an informational meeting clearly stating you want to learn more about the role before you apply to participate in the interview process. Turning down an internal job offer after volunteering to participate in the interview process raises many uncomfortable questions for you and the hiring manager.

The biggest mistake you can make when interviewing for a position at your current company is not preparing for the process as if you were interviewing at a new firm. You should assume people know much less about you and your background than you think they do and be thoughtful about what you want them to know about you ahead of time.

Chinese social media use surpasses US

2009-04-17T06:43:23-07:00

And it's early...abstract for the Netpop report below, the full report available here:

Social media isn’t just taking flight in the U.S. In fact, 224 million broadband consumers in China regularly make contributions through a diverse number of social media channels – twice as many as in the U.S. Furthermore, 41 million of them are contributing content online through six or more activities (uploading photos, publishing blogs, posting ratings/reviews, etc.). These heavies are connecting with an average of 84 people in a typical week. As in the U.S., the news they choose to share can change the marketplace overnight with such scale that companies must tune in and be in a position to react quickly and decisively.

Netpop | Connect: Media Shifts to Social - China 2009 Preview

View more presentations from Netpop.

A Different Approach to the Month of the Military Child

2009-04-10T06:45:40-07:00

April is the Month of the Military Child, a very active time for MCEC as you can imagine. Our typical PR activities this time of year include reaching out to a media roster we keep in touch with to remind them of the importance of this month and activities MCEC pursues on behalf of military children. Sometimes this resulted in nice articles, sometimes not. But we do it anyway because we want to build awareness of the cause.

This year we did something different. We solicited art in the form of poems, stories and drawings representing the life of the military family. Who better to tell their story? We posted these submissions on our blog site, YouTube channel, Facebook group, and promoted with our Twitter feed.

Our goal during the Month of the Military Child has always been to share the joys, challenges and opportunities to support the children of our military families. Redirecting our efforts toward social media and less focus on traditional PR is helping us accomplish our mission more effectively.

I’m proud to be a military child because of everything it has taught me. I’ve gone through millions of goodbyes, welcomes, tears, laughs, and smiles. I’ve been a military child since the day I was born. It’s my first nature and a title I live by. My father is a Colonel in the United States Army and one can’t begin to understand the feelings I have towards that title and job my hero holds. My father has given up everything for my family and me to live in this free land. We have crossed oceans with him supporting his every decision. Every child knows in their heart that their loved ones would give up their world, life, and family just to know that your safety, freedom, and peace is in their hands.

Corporate Adoption of Social Media - The Creepy Factor

2009-04-09T14:56:33-07:00

Marshall Kirkpatrick explores some of the creepier side of corporate involvement in social media on this post. Admittedly there is a slightly odd feeling when you imagine marketers and other company resources scanning blogs and Twitter streams looking for mentions of their company and reaching out. I still recall the odd feeling when I saw my surprisingly accurate 'social profile' in one of these tools the first time.

Having worked at Dell as we adopted such a program, and now implementing one for Windows Azure I am convinced this involvement is a very good thing. Not only for the companies who learn from these interactions with their customers, but for the customers as well. In both programs I have been able to reach out to people having issues or with questions about the product and I cannot recall a single instance where someone asked never to help them again.

The keys to removing the potentially creepy factor:

Be open about representing a company or product. In some countries there are regulations on this area. My user name on Twitter includes @ MSFT and at times I respond from @WindowsAzure to remove any question. My former colleagues at Dell do something similar.
Offer to take the conversation offline where it's reasonable. Some topics are more appropriate handled via email or (shudder) a phone call. Make it easy for people to get in touch with the same human who reached out online.
Add value by offering information or help. Simply letting a customer know you saw them talking about your product can make people feel a little uncomfortable. If you have nothing to add, don't feel obligated to reach out.

Monitoring Online Conversations

2009-04-07T06:06:08-07:00

Improving your social media efforts starts with being able to measure. Radian6 offers a great service for not only measuring but managing the follow-ups necessary to build community. At a simpler level, the overview here on building an RSS dashboard is a great start.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/03/31/how-to-monitor-online-conversations/

An RSS-based monitoring dashboard is a great way to collect everything you’re monitoring into one place...For people new to RSS, I generally encourage them to use something like Netvibes, which has a visual layout with multiple tabs and columns where you can see several key conversations at a glance.

New Email Productivity Tool

2009-03-11T02:22:40-07:00

A few years ago I took a course that made a big impact on my time management. It's from The Effective Edge and is based on the David Allen book Getting Things Done. One of the keys of the course was setting aside time to process incoming mail and do it/delete/delege/defer it. The course had great hands on advice for using Tasks in Outlook to manage follow-ups.

When I worked at Dell I thought I recieved a lot of email. Since I moved to Microsoft I can confidently say no other organization on the planet generates more email. It's as if every day Softies get up determined to stress test Exchange. There are dozens of people on To: lines and multiple dozens on CC. We have thousands of distribution lists and most people are added (often without asking) to dozens of them. As a culture we are very inefficient at how we use email.

So how do you process your mail when it just keeps coming? I started using this Do Not Disturb feature which _stops mail from coming in_ while you process what is already there. Yes I know there are other workarounds, but when I click the Do Not Disturb button I feel free! The Prioritizer feature also looks for keywords and reporting relationships to flag the most important emails. It is actually quite effective, so much so I stopped using other complex rules I created to filter notes based on priority.

Download it free here from Office Labs.

See you at the TechCrunch Cloud Computing Roundtable on Friday

2009-02-26T09:03:08-08:00

Looking forward to attending the TechCrunch Cloud Computing Roundtable on Friday. Very good panel including our own Amitabh Srivastava from Windows Azure.

Good post from Steve Gillmor who will be running the show:

"On Friday, the dialogue will be about when, not if. When did cloud computing begin? How far are we into the cycle? Is cloud computing a baby or an old man in diapers, and are we going backwards or forwards so fast that we can’t tell the difference? Or are we and cloud computing meeting in middle age, each ready for the other?"

Can you explain your product in 140 characters?

2009-02-24T08:55:25-08:00

Marketers spend a lot of time working on descriptions of their product or service. Often these take the form of press releases, PowerPoint decks and formats that entice you to use a lot of words.

Why not try to describe your product in a Tweet? If you cannot distill the essence of your product or service into 140 characters or less you're making it too complicated.

John Mullinax from Microsoft does this for Windows Azure here and another from Pascal Bourque a user of the service.