21st Century Business

Reducing the eMail Firehose

2011-12-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

In a recent discussion with a colleague he recommended that I read the book “The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before It Manages You”. This book has a humorous approach to explaining what we all know but are not able to do much about: eMail is wasting not hours but weeks of each of our productivity time per year. The techniques in this book seem logical so I am going to use them in 2012.

As such you will see the following changes in the email you receive from me:

the subject line will be formatted in this way:
ACTION: descriptive subject (-eom)

ACTION will be one of:
- ACTION
- INFO
- REQUEST
- CONFIRMED – I have completed the subject action
- DELIVERY – this email contains a response to a request you have made
The subject will be descriptive of the contents and never blank
If “-eom” is included then the complete intelligence of the email is in the subject and you don’t need to open the email. Just read the subject line.

The body will normally have 4 sections (this may take a while to work into):
- Brief greeting
- ACTION: context, specific action, purpose and response time
- BACKGROUND: clear, concise and relevant background.
- CLOSE: next steps, signature block

Additionally, I’ll reduce the number of “thank you” email. If sent it will more than likely be just a brief note with “-eom” in the subject line. If your email does not require a reply then it’s more likely that there won’t be a reply at all ... thereby reducing the amount of email you receive. Know that I appreciate each value-added email received.

This information will be revised as the new method develops. Check back here if you have any questions OR send me a “REQUEST:” email.

We would all benefit if each of us applied some simple email structure to this important communication tool.
I highly recommend that you read “The Hamster Revolution …” and consider it for your own email process.

AT&T's buyout of T-Mobile

2011-03-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

I have mixed feelings about the recent announcement AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile USA. On one hand it will consolidate the GSM network under one provider. The combined physical network will provide better coverage than either company has alone. That is a good thing.

However, the loss of competition in the USA GSM world will allow AT&T to have a monopoly in that space. GSM is unique in that the chip can be moved from phone to phone giving some flexibility in changing devices.

Back in the mid 60s it wasn't possible to own your own phone and connect it to the phone network but rather paid a monthly cost to Bell for them.. that over time changed to where the customers owned phones. That gave rise to many different types of low cost phones. In the early 70s the Bell System was split up into 7 Regional companies. Ironically, at least 4 of those are now part of AT&T!! Seems that the old Bell System is rebuilding itself.

IF the FCC and FTC allow this merger to go through then they should put some controls in place to ensure that the combined company acts in the best interest of the consumer. They have not proven that so far (recent example is the DSL to U-Verse conversion where at their discretion they will change the service and payment plans).

If the merger is NOT allowed to be completed then that opens the door for Google to then acquire T-Mobile USA and become a carrier. This could prove interesting as Google does operate in the interest of the consumer.

Only time will tell....

Quantum leaps

2010-08-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Technology at the hardware level is moving at amazing speeds.. 2 TB disks are now at the 100 USD price level. Smartphones have more power and capability than desktop PCs of only a few years ago. If only industry could make the same quantum improvements in our business processes then the financial/business crisis would be truly solved, not just declared as solved via Powerpoint. We look to pretty powerpoint charts and written standards to show that we are doing good things. That just gets us stuck in a false belief that we are good.

The big question is "why is this not possible". There are 2 reasons. First, hardware has no feelings (yet). The 1 TB disk that was 100 USD last year doesn't know that it is replaced by a 2 TB disk. The 500 Mhz mobile processor replaced by a 1 Ghz Snapdragon in new phones will continue to faithfully do its job in its phone for many years until the phone isn't used anymore. We humans on the other hand are very sensitive to being replaced. In general we are very insecure about change, doing new things, experimenting, and most of all failure.

"Failure is not an option" was the mantra of Apollo 13 but it should not be the mantra of people who are tasked with the success of businesses. Only by stepping beyond what we know today and by trying new methods and processes and sometimes experiencing failure will we know that we've truly will take us to make our businesses truly world class and industry leaders.

Fear of new things or the unknown is nothing new. http://bit.ly/9OTlFd is a YouTube video of portion of a 60 Minutes 1982 interview with RAdm Grace Hopper (then Capt.) regarding change. It's worth a few minutes to watch.

Don't forget about the past but look forward to what could be and don't look for reasons NOT to change but rather never stop looking for reasons and opportunities to improve.

Very few companies are innovating at the speed of hardware. The company that can do that will DEFINE "World Class" and be an industry leader. The others are followers and copiers.

True Teamwork - The best ROI this country has ever had

2010-05-10T21:33:00.001-04:00

On May 19th I will join approximately 100 other folks at NASA's Johnson Space Center for an educational day and behind the scenes view of Mission Control during the STS-132 mission. Since it's inception the Space Program has set the example of innovation, decision making, teamwork and leadership. One of my focuses (but not the only) during this day of opportunity will be to explore how NASA achieves such selfless teamwork where leaders and team members are so interchangeable.

Understanding and having these skills in the workforce will help companies become agile and able to respond to such issues as the economic crisis.

Follow this blog, http://www.twitter.com/rcopelan or links at http://www.copelan.com as I prepare and participate in the STS-132 JSC TweetUp

Alternative Planning

2010-04-17T13:04:00.003-04:00

The events of the past days in Iceland shows us how fragile our infrastructure really is and how powerful "Mother Nature" can be. We grow to depend on our technology but few ever think about a disaster from the point of view that the technology no longer works. Sure we have disaster plans for:
- IT systems failing: we get new hardware and restore the backup
- fire or natural disaster: move to a new building/location, get new equipment.
But what happens when the technology can no longer be used:
- a nuclear blast generates EMP and fries the electronics in our computers, cars, radios, hospital equipment, electrical grid
- the atmosphere is filled with particles and planes can no longer fly through it
- a LARGE asteroid impacts the Earth changes the dynamics of rotation.

Yes, at least some of these are improbably scenarios but at the beginning of last week the 10 Europeans sitting in meetings with me in Chicago weren't the least bit worried about going home on Thursday and coming back in 2 weeks for a SAP GoLive. As of Saturday only one that I know of got a flight to Rome, many hours by train from his original destination. The rest were wondering if they would be at their meetings on Monday or still here in the USA. Some of us are starting to think about an alternative GoLive support plan.

I am sure that companies that depend on air freight for keeping their production lines running are now scrambling to find alternative shipping methods to get material to open airports. This impacts costs in a very real way and may even push some companies into situations from which they can not recover.

How long will it last. We all hope that flights resume on Sunday/Monday but this is not something we can control, not something that Congress can pass laws to fix or have hearings to "Punish the guilty" (though I am sure that they will). Nature has reminded us that we need to be flexible and to never depend on anything so much that we can't do without it.

Robert Paterson has a good article on this topic at: http://smartpei.typepad.com/robert_patersons_weblog/2010/04/volcano-air-travel-a-black-swan-what-might-happen.html

Thoughts on iPad Day One

2010-04-03T22:15:00.003-04:00

Much has been said in various blogs about why to get an iPad or why to wait. There is no need to rehash that. There are good points for either decision. As a geek, today was tough to watch the unboxing of 2 iPads on the TWiT Network and not have one myself. I will wait a while. Clearly Apple has hit another "long drive" and scored multiple runs with the iPad just as they did with the iPod and iPhone.

These are paradigm changing devices and move us toward a future that we saw only in Star Trek and other SciFi movies not so many years ago. Some look at these devices and wonder "why do I need it". The real benefits become apparent only after obtaining one and discovering new ways of doing things. Books don't go away, they just become more accessible. Radio and TV becomes audio/video podcasts or streaming networks such as TWiT. Real time interactivity between show hosts and the audience, only a dream for the big networks, is already a reality for shows that are "connected". This is enhanced by these devices for those who embrace them.

There is a healthy competition between between the iDevices and Android devices. Apple has again set a high bar for tablets in both hardware and software. I expect that in the coming months we'll see other hardware for Android. There is room for both and having both will ensure that companies as well as developers continue to innovate and improve.

Thank you Apple and Steve Jobs for moving the bar up a notch or 2. The challenge will be met.

Google Wave Book - A new openness in publishing

2009-11-02T10:13:00.003-05:00

Gina Trapini announced yesterday on This Week in Google that she is working on a new book destined to be the definitive source of information on Google Wave. I find her total desire to put her knowledge into the public domain really refreshing. The book is being developed online using MediaWiki and is licensed under the Creative Commons License. While she does plan on publishing PDF and traditional paper versions, it is clear that Gina intends for this to be a dynamic reference guide that will be updated as Wave matures. Visit The Complete Wave Guide to experience this openness in information sharing.

What does all of this have to do with 21st Century Business? Several lessons can be learned from Gina by businesses who want to move forward.

Knowlege is meant to be shared, not hidden in some file share directory structure or locked behind passwords
Knowledge is ever changing. Just because the project is over or the documentation published the changes shouldn't stop. Documentation of a process or method that is not ever changing is outdated.

Too often businesses create new processes but then fail to stay in a mode of continuous improvement. Some companies implement the tools of the Internet like blogs, wikis, intranets but fail to realize the dynamic change that is the culture of the Internet. They ask "why aren't our tools successful". The answer is: "free them, free the knowledge and let your employees' creativity and innovation come to the surface."

Google Wave

2009-10-31T11:08:00.002-04:00

Google Wave is breaking new ground in the collaborative environment. I know that people are not happy about having to wait for invitations or the system isn't running perfectly. It is PREVIEW or pre-beta. Google has broken new ground by opening up development projects that would normally have never been used or even known for months later. They use the feedback from these experiences to further improve the software for the public release. By involving ourselves in this endeavor we, the community, have certain responsibilities:

Be patient and realize that Google has their schedule and that schedule may change at any time. We don't influence the schedule
Realize that any part of the system may or may not work at any time. By agreeing to participate we were not guaranteed a working system
Provide honest feedback about the functionality and suggest improvements

Other software providers who have been traditionally closed are slowly moving in this direction. We, the preview testers, can make this the way of the future by working with the providers and not against them.

For a good introduction to how to use Wave visit Gina Trapani's Wave 101 at: http://lifehacker.com/5376138/google-wave-101

TED Talk on Wisdom

2009-03-14T16:05:00.004-04:00

I just finished listening to Barry Schwartz's talk on the "Loss of Wisdom" given at TED in February 2009. This is an outstanding talk and really gets to the root of some of the issues that caused this current economic crisis and are also causing companies to be stuck in a crisis circle.

Barry makes very clear points with examples that rules and incentives are NOT the solution to our problems. The issues we face are, in his words, "often ambigous and ill defined". It isn't possible to write rules to solve these issues. Each situation is different. We must apply morals, wisdom (maybe collectively known as common sense) to each situation in order to solve it. Responding by developing guidelines or rules that "must be followed" are not the solution and in fact more often than not will cause even more problems in the long run.

Everyone should listen to this talk (see the link). There is something in it for everyone regardless of your position in a company or society.

The talk is available at http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html and also on iTunes.

Your Digital Reputation

2009-03-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/02/28/digital-reputation/

I thought this was a good article. Sometimes we don't realize that sites such
as Facebook, Linkedin, mySpace, Twitter, mailing lists and so on are cataloged
and available for searching. Even if we have turned up maximum privacy, our
comments or pictures may be found on other people's sites that have less privacy.

These days employers DO search these sites for information about prospective
employees. Speaking from my own experience, I google EVERYONE that is a business
partner. That "funny" picture at a party, slouching in a chair or comment that
might seem inappropriate when the background isn't known would be the one thing
that causes someone else to be chosen for a job.

That certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't use these new social media tools
but only that we should keep in mind how others would use them and how we want
others to view us. Yes, some things will get posted by others that we can't
control but we can control what we post and how we want the world to see us.

Properly used, these social media sites can be a very powerful force that will
open doors to opportunity that a simple old-fashioned resume never would.

2009 - The Rebirth of In-house Development

2009-01-01T21:31:00.003-05:00

The change in the dynamics of the world economic situation will change how companies consider capital investments. In particular, the high cost: initial license, implementation and ongoing warranty costs of software will receive a very high focus. As companies, even whole industries, realize that they need to make radical and fast changes to their business models there will be a mandate for the software systems to change at the same rate of speed. The current model of using Commercial Off-the-shelf software (COTS) and high cost implementation consultants will not be able to respond to this new situation.

In the 1970s and 80s there were large in-house IT development staffs that in the 90s were seen as resistant to COTS and client-server. This was true. However, now we have a new paradigm of agile, "open" development that really does connect the end customer of the software with the developers (eXtreme Programming and similar methodologies). Using these "new" methodologies we can reintroduce the in-house programming teams and couple them with the open source community to leverage an even bigger effort to develop and maintain software. The in-house staffs can keep the software current with business requirements and feed those changes back into the community.

For most companies, the support software isn't strategic to the company's success. It is only a tool. If they are using a system such as SAP R/3, Oracle's manufacturing system or others then they probably only use a fraction of the total capability, yet pay a license for much more. By leveraging the Open Source Community they will not be put at a competative disadvange, rather will be able to be at an advantage by reducing costs while increasing the speed at which they can change their internal processes.

In 2009 we will see that systems such as OpenBravo, Alfresco, Knowledgetree and Pentaho become more prevelant. Protocols such as XMPP/Jabber will be used to power scalable interfaces between modules of these systems as well as with companies, their customers and suppliers such as it has with the Evergreen Library system.

A New Paradigm?

2008-12-24T19:04:00.000-05:00

Back in the 80s it was said that no manager would be fired for selecting IBM (mainframe or software). Along came a paradigm shift from the big iron mainframes to smaller, client-server based systems. SAP was(and is) the leader in these systems. However, they have lost sight of why companies switched from the "big iron" and in-house supported COBOL/CICS systems. It was because the client-server gave flexibility. However, over the years it has grown into exactly like the software it replaced. Big, bulky, slow to change, difficult to implement. Expensive to support (both hardware and software). No longer with SAP and similar systems be a "given".

A new paradigm shift will be accelerated by our current economic downturn. Innovative companies will return to the roots of having a core staff of in-house Business Process/Programmer combination people that can leverage the power of various FLOSS ERP systems and their supporting communities. The result is that systems such as Compiere, OpenBravo and other systems will move toward a large scale Enterprise support. Utilizing technology such as Evergreen does with XMPP these systems will be scalable from the smallest implementation on one PC server to supporting Enterprises all over the world.

Finally, organizations will be able to innovate their support systems at the same speed as they need to innovate their business. Waiting for months (if not longer) for "the next release" will be a thing of the past. AND that folks is what we need in the 21st century.
(copy of a comment that I made on "The Register" this morning")

Saving 2.5 million jobs in the USA

2008-12-24T19:03:00.001-05:00

S(originally posted 11/23/2008)

President-elect Obama has announced "a bold initiative to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years". (source: www.change.gov) Hopefully he (and his staff) will examine the reasons why jobs in the USA are lost to other countries. One of the leading reasons is that costs are just too high in the USA. Contributing to that is not only the cost of labor but the total cost of the product which includes all costs of a business. Companies today spend a TREMENDOUS amount of money on software and other support process. By tackling those costs
and applying such modern techniques as Agile Programming, utilizing Open Source and the power of "community" a companies total cost can be reduced. This would lead not only to better processes since the software would exactly support the business but also a lower total cost.

Some might say that it is only a fraction of total cost since labor is a high percentage. The actual savings from having streamlined software tools (not big, bulky, hard to configure, expensive "off the shelf" software) and the impact on speeding up process improvements is unknown. My opinion is that it would be a positive exponential impact on the speed of innovation. That makes it worthwhile.

Whoever is selected as the USA's CTO should have an Open Source Summit. Properly executed it could become the USA's competitive advantage.

Automotive Bailout

2008-12-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

(Originally posted 11/22/2008)

Recent news stories have chronicled the push by the "Big 3" American automotive manufacturers for a "Bailout" by the U.S. Government. I won't go into their reasons and pleas.. those are better found elsewhere. Correctly, the US Congress has temporarily denied the request and sent the CEO's home to return with a "plan". What will this "plan" contain? That is the big question. There is some focus on having product that is environmentally friendly and less dependence on fossil fuels. While that is part of the answer it alone will not solve the issues.

We've had the same basic design in vehicles since the early days. 4 wheels, axles, drivetrain, an engine and steering. Around all of this fits a body. The OEMs release yearly "models" that appeal primarily to our visual senses. The basic "vehicle" doesn't really change. Our society today has changed. We want uniqueness in our life. We don't want to wait on anything. Our lives move at a very fast pace. We expect everything around us to move accordingly. Result of this is that the automotive industry must reinvent itself to support this uniqueness and fast paced lifestyle of it's customer.

MRP II/ERP, Production lines, firm zones, releases, schedules and other relics of the past no longer work. The successful company of the future will toss out all of these concepts of the last century. They will find new processes that will be the death of the "model " and "model year" as we know it. Every vehicle will be uniquely configured by the end customer and delivered in a fast timeframe. This so called "cookie-cooker" car where the customer can choose his own configuration will require a total rework of the production and supply chain processes.

Trying to have incremental changes won't make it. Usually what happens in that case is more layers are added to the processes, more reports are generated but totally new processes are not innovated. We need this innovation. It last happened in the 1960s when there was a strong focus on getting to the moon. We need to rediscover that level of innovation. Totally new processes and products need to happen in terms of months, not years. It can be done. Not without risk but it takes risk to really have innovation.

Two quotes attributed to Henry Ford are: " Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" and "Life is a series of experience, each of which makes us bigger even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which we endure help us in our marching onward."

Congress is right, a plan is needed. What is not needed is a bailout that finances business as usual.

Lets reinvent the industry and march onward.

Reducing Costs

2008-12-24T19:01:00.002-05:00

(Originally posted 10/17/2008)

Already with yesterday's rise in the world stock markets, some people were breathing a sigh of relief. But is the crisis really over? What does adding billions of currency (USD, Euro) to the world market really solve? The banks have cash but the people still have loans that are past due, mortgages that are close to foreclosure and jobs that are being eliminated. We are the ultimate customer of every company, even the one we work for.

What happens when we, the ultimate customer, can no longer purchase a new car, house, electronic appliance or just about anything else? Then the whole economic chain will collapse. Our jobs depend on our companies being profitable and that depends on us being able to buy products. BUT we are now "upside down" as some financial advisers would say. The downward spiral is starting to bounce a bit but it is still downward.

So what must we do to stop this? Stay tuned.

Is the crisis over?

2008-12-24T19:01:00.001-05:00

(originally posted 10/14/2008)

So what must we do to stop this? Stay tuned.

A New World

2008-12-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

(originally posted on 10/09/2008)
The current economic crisis is spreading around the world at an increasing pace. We all have to realize that the solution will require us to no longer have "business as usual". Organizations should take the opportunity now to innovate totally new methods and rules not only in their organizations but also with and in their business partners.