Thoughts on Election Night

As I sit here tonight listening to the same comments being repeated over and over in the media I think about what this election means to me.   It is true that the outcome of the election will affect this country for many more than the next 4 years.    Regardless of who wins  he can not by himself correct the issues we face.  It will take every one of us pushing our elected officials to correct issues, balance the budget (heck, even just pass a budget)  and move us forward with innovation in energy, manufacturing and other areas.  

JFK said it best on Sept. 12, 1962 at Rice University when he laid out his plan for the space program: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."   That speech galvanized a nation to achieve what many thought impossible and to do it in the next 8 short years.    We need that again, not only in our quest in space but here on earth too.  

I have heard from some people that they will leave the country of Obama wins, others say they will leave if Romney wins.   Folks, this is OUR country.   We need to all stay and work to make it a better place.  

I am reminded of one of the first things I learned at The Citadel, right after the 3 standard answers....the Cadet Prayer, written by Bishop Albert S. Thomas, Ret, Class of 1892:

Almighty God, the source of light and strength, we implore Thy blessing on this our beloved institution, that it may continue true to its high purposes.

Guide and strengthen those upon whom rests the authority of government; enlighten with wisdom those who teach and those who learn; and grant to all of us that through sound learning and firm leadership, we may prove ourselves worthy citizens of our country, devoted to truth, given to unselfish service, loyal to every obligation of life and above all to Thee.

Preserve us faithful to the ideals of The Citadel, sincere in fellowship, unswerving in duty, finding joy in purity, and confidence through a steadfast faith.
Grant to each one of us, in his (her) own life, a humble heart, a steadfast purpose, and a joyful hope, with a readiness to endure hardship and suffer if need be, that truth may prevail among us and that Thy will may be done on earth. *Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Improving this country is a  challenge is one that we must be willing to accept, one we can not  postpone and one which we intend to win.

Leadership Lessons from Knob Year at The Citadel

Reading the various Facebook posts today about the recognition of the Class of 2015 brought together some thoughts I've been having about early influences on my leadership style.  The first influences were 18 years of examples by my parents of how to be a good person and treat people correctly.

In late August of 1977 the 2nd step of leadership training began.  That first day was sensory overload where we began learning how to be good followers. The biggest leadership lesson of that day was the 3 answers: "Sir Yes Sir", "Sir No Sir", "Sir No Excuse Sir".  Particularly that last answer is one that is key to being a good leader:  Not giving excuses but rather taking responsibility for issues and mistakes.    34 years later it still gets used even when  in some cases it should be used by someone else.  Responsibility is a big thing that is missing in so many companies today.

Looking back over that year there were examples of bad leadership, those we won't mention.  There were also examples of good, even great leadership.   Our cadet company commander lead by example.  He was firm but fair. When we had PT runs or other activities he participated.  There was one particular time where the famous Mr. Rampey would not allow a flat top haircut due to "regulations that didn't allow blocked hair cuts".   The CO stood up for the knob who wanted it and even wrote a memo to the tac officer and Mr. Rampey regarding the issue.  He didn't have to do that and it didn't change Mr. Rampey's decision but it taught that knob an important lesson:   Support your people.      This company commander is now a Lt. General and is the Commanding General of the NATO Training Command in Afghanistan.  I have heard from people with first hand knowledge that he leads in the same way today: up front, with his people and pulling his own weight.

Others of the cadre that year taught  us that being firm doesn't mean not being sadistic (though some of my classmates might disagree).    "Racking" (running in place, push-ups and other things) was the method of discipline when there were minor infractions.  Normally this was done by the cadet sargents and corporals.  They were lead by the 1st Sgt, Asst 1Sgt and cadre platoon leader.  ALL 3 of these gentlemen took this activity seriously and as a result most of the others did also. (as I mentioned at the top, there were a few exceptions).  After breakfast there were usually a collection of us out on the 3rd division getting in some "rack" time.  The cadre who were overseeing the activity were physically present.  They didn't just start us up and then go in their room to get ready for class.   Lesson Learned:   discipline when needed should be in person.

My advice for the Class of 2015 as you end your recognition activity this weekend:   Take time to congratulate yourself on persevering though what more than likely has been the toughest year of your life.  Be  proud of that. For sure, those of us who came before you are proud of you.  Tomorrow take some time to reflect back on  the good leadership you have experienced and how that will help you.  Also think about the bad examples and   resolve NOT to do those things.  

Congratulations, Class of 2015

Shadow IT

There is an interesting article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/22/shadow_it/ about how people in the business departments are doing functions that really should be services provided by IT. 
 

Many years ago the same discussion/problem existed when departments  started using the new technology like the Wang mini computers and PC’s and discovered that they could solve problems using spreadsheets  and access databases.  Geeky engineers liked the ability to program the Wangs.    Part of that solution was to declare the mainframe systems that were tailor programmed to be obsolete relics of the past and to move to client-server systems that were smaller, lower cost and ran  off-the-shelf software that would “solve all problems".

Well, they weren't exactly the silver bullet that many had hoped for.   The software produced by the leading providers is for sure flexible but it is very difficult for anyone to really know how to configure all the possible functions.  Now we are back into the same situation but now with that very same “savior” client server software  and a new era of portable computing devices where we carry massive power on our belts.   The software is run on huge server farms (ie: mega-MIPS systems) with huge main memory capacity and almost unlimited (and low cost) disk storage.  (the “mainframe” of today)  All of this is accessed by a GUI program running on a PC.  This is not unlike the 3270 or 5250 green screens of before, just looks a little better.

Have we really improved or in order to solve the problems of today do we need to go back to having highly customized applications to meet the business needs?   Can the big software companies and the legions of consultants/analysts move fast enough to stay up with the fast changing world of social media and tablet/palm computing devices.    Is this causing companies to not be able to innovate their internal processes fast enough to stay world class leaders in their industry?    

I think that we are being held back by these restrictions.  In an attempt to compensate there are now, yet once again, huge spreadsheets, uploads/downloads being done in the business in order to support reporting.   We have to get back to having the IT support the business and the business to support IT to do that.  

More in a later blog about HOW to accomplish this. 

Robert

Reducing the eMail Firehose

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

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

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

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