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The 21st annual CIO 100 list has just been delivered. The article leading up to the list of the CIO 100 is quite interesting..I’m reading things like “think like the business”, “doing more with less”, “insourcing“, “transforming the business”, “agility”, “back to basics” and “simplicity”.  Rather than a bunch of buzzwords (OK…except for ‘transforming’), the CIO’s and IT leaders described in the article are talking about getting back to being flexible, agile and using simpler processes and technology to accomplish the business objectives.

One negative thing…there’s an awful lot of talk of ‘doing more with less’….we all know what that means.  Budget cutting and hiring freezes (and possible layoffs?).  IT folks will be asked to add even more tasks to their already over-tasked schedules and responsibilities.

That being said, it looks like an interesting list with some interesting projects. Check out the entire list of CIO 100 honorees for yourself.

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OK…I probably don’t have to review the The Fifth Discipline.  It’s a classic…everyone has read it.  Bas de Baar had an excellent review of this book recently…mine won’t begin to approach his in length or quality but I wanted to share a few thoughts.

I read the original edition quite a while ago (in college actually) and didn’t get much out of it…but this time around I did.  I knew I was going to enjoy the book when, in the Introduction to the Revised Edition, I found this gem:

…the prevailing system of of management, is at its core, dedicated to mediocrity. It forces people to work harder and harder to compensate for failing to tap the spirit and collective intelligence that characterizes working together at their best.

The book outlines Five Disciplines that must be adopted in order to become a learning organization. These Five Disciplines are:

Systems Thinking - a conceptual framework that has been developed over the last fifty years to make patterns clear

Personal Mastery - the discipline of continually clarifying and deepining our personal vision, focusing our energies, developing patience and seeing reality objectively.

Mental Models - deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations that influence our picture of the world

Building Shared Vision -involves the skills to create and/or unearthing the shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment

Team Learning - when teams are learning, they (and the members of the team) are able to produce tremendous results.

The book can be summed up in a few sentences…but they don’t do the book justice.  Peter Senge states that in order to become a learning organization, the Five Disciplines must be adopted with the Systems Thinking discipline being the most important.  He argues that Systems Thinking allows people and organizations to see the deeper issues of problems.

I’m not going to dive any deeper into the book or the five disciplines here (go read Bas’ post for some interesting commentary) and there are plenty of other detailed discussions of this book around the web (see here, here and here for starters).

In addition, I want to share some excellent quotes from the book that I thought highlight the underlying purpose/meaning of the book.

The first passage is:

It is vital that the five disciplines develop as an ensemble. This is challenging because it is much harder to integrate new tools than simply apply them separately. But the payoffs are immense.

This is why systems thinking is the fifth discipline. It is the discipline that integrates the disciplines, fusing them into a coherent body of theory and practice. It keeps them from being separate gimmicks or the latest organization change fads. Without a systemic orientation, there is no motivation to look at how the disciplines interrelate. By enhancing each of the other disciplines, it continually reminds us that the whole can exceed the sum of its parts.

The second passage is:

A learning organization is a place where people are continually discovering how they create their reality.

And this wonderful nugget from Edwards Deming in the introduction:

Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people.  People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning.  The forces of destruction begin  with toddlers - a prize for the best Halloween Customer, grades in school, gold stars - and on up through the university.  On the job, people, teams, and divisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom.

These are but a few of the great passages from this book.   There is a great deal of information in this book that will probably require several readings to fully take in….i may put it back on the book shelf to read again later in the year.

I really enjoyed the book a great deal.  A friend of mine pointed me to the The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook as a more implementable version of the book…I’ll be taking a look at it over the next few weeks.

I think I found it….and it happened to me.

Warning…small rant.

Imagine you are a hiring manager trying to find someone to lead a group of IT professionals.  What are the things that you would look for in a candidate?  For me, it would be someone that has the following profile:

• Strong leadership skills
• Intelligence
• Initiative
• Technical knowledge (not necessarily a techie…someone that understands technology)
• An understanding of basic business skills and terminology
• Customer Service skills
• Good Communication Skills (written and verbal)

Now, imagine you find a candidate that seems to meet all of the above requirements.  You talk to them and enjoy the conversation…so much so that you want to bring them in for a face to face interview.

By chance (or by planning?), you find that your candidate is giving a talk at a local conference so you attend (or send someone).  You (or your proxy) attend and think that the candidate wasn’t very “dynamic” in their presentation.

Based on this, you cancel the interview and tell the recruiter that its because the candidate isn’t a “dynamic speaker”.

One question: WTF?

I’m fine with not being a dynamic speaker….heck…I’d be the first to tell you that I am far from dynamic when speaking…but I do think I’m an engaging speaker.  Perhaps next time I talk, I’ll put on a fake smile, wave my hands and make bold movements around the room.  Is that dynamic enough? :)    My presentation at UTD wasn’t my best…I wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked, but that wouldn’t have changed my presentation style much.

On a positive note, I do prefer to receive feedback on everything I do….it does help….but if you don’t think I’m a dynamic public speaker, have the courtesy to tell me in person rather in the manner in which these people did.

To completely discount a person based on one presentation that you attend (or hear feedback from someone who attended) is ludicrous IMO.  If they make their hiring decisions based on the public speaking abilities of candidates, then they’ll be looking long and hard.  I just hope they require all the other candidates to prepare a paper and then present it at a conference

I guess this type of judgment would be similar to comparing a company’s ability and skill in implementing Cisco systems to the professionalism and look/feel of their website.   If I were to do that, I’d never hire this particular company as their website appears to have been created in Frontpage 97 and hasn’t been updated since

BTW - Anyone know of a good Toastmasters group around Dallas (preferably around Richardson, Plano, Allen, McKinney)?

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As mentioned here and here, I presented a paper titled “Project Management and the Stockholm Syndrome” at the 2nd Annual University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Project Management Symposium yesterday (Monday August 18).

The presentation was well attended and it looked like people were actually interested…at least they didn’t leave :)  If I had the presentation to do over again, I may change a few things but overall it was well received.

I’m hoping to have a link to the presentation and/or paper available for you to download soon and I plan on providing a webcast (slides and voice) version of the presentation for those that want to hear me be jabber on about the topic :)  Check back soon for these.

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Just a reminder…the 2nd Annual University of Texas Project Management Symposium is today and tomorrow (August 18 & 19).

Yours truly will be presenting at 4:40 today….the topic will be “Project Management and the Stockholm Syndrome”.

I hope to be able to link to my paper and presentation after the symposium.

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Charles Green is giving a live webinar on How to Build Trust in Sales Conversations on Thursday August 21.  The webinar looks like a good one…as is most of Charles’ stuff.

A quick summary of the topic:

Understanding how to create trust in a sales conversation is a great source of freedom; trust doesn’t take time, it isn’t a business process, it doesn’t come about from following metrics, and it isn’t a business process. It is something each of us can do, personally, far better than we think.

I’d highly recommend that you check it out.  You can sign up for the webinar here.

CIO.com has an interview with Linus Torvalds that I’d just had to share…very interesting commentary from Linus on managing software projects.

In the article, Linus provides five ‘tips’ for managing projects…they are:

Find people you can trust.

Be trustworthy yourself.

Be honest—sometimes painfully honest.

You also have to let the others get their say in.

A combination of bluntness and honesty leads to the best code ending up in Linux.

Interesting thoughts…what I found refreshing is that Linus never talks about ‘process’…he talks about getting results…something I believe a great deal in myself.

If you click over and read the interview, you’ll see Linus talking about being painfully honest…even to the point of calling people ‘incompetent idiots’.  I’m not a fan of this approach…you can be honest and still be civil.  I expect that one reason Linus is able to get away with calling people incompetent idiots is because of his fame in the Linux world…but I’d suggest that his approach would fall under the ‘asshole boss’ syndrome

That being said, I’d like to create my own ‘tips’ for managing software projects that are closely aligned with Linus’.  They are:

• Hire the right people. Look for people that are trustworthy, knowledgeable and driven.
• Create an environment of trust
• Value open, honest two-way communication
• Be willing to admit when wrong
• Deliver Results

Focus on the above five things with your team (whether its a project team or not) and you’ll find yourself closer to success.

Instead of a book review like the last two Fridays, I wanted to throw my current reading list up and get any comments and/or recommendations for other books.

Currently reading:

• The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge.  I read this a long time ago…just picked up the revised edition.
• The Fifth Displince Fieldbook by Peter Senge,  Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Rick Ross and Bryan Smith.  Recommended as a more applicable version than the original book.
• Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law by Peter Woit. This is one of those books that I read to try to keep up with the world of physics.

Currently listening to (iPod):

• Resonant Leadership by Richard E. Boyatzis and Annie McKee. I’ve seen this on a few bookshelves and thought it might be worth reading.

My “to read” List:

• Website Optimization by Andrew King.  Andy King sent me a copy to read…I skimmed through the book quickly and it looks top-notch.
• The Mythical Man Month (2nd Edition) by Frederick Brooks. I read the first edition…picked up the 2nd edition recently.
• Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister. Recommended by a friend.
• Good to Great by Jim Collins.  I’ve not read this one…but I’m forcing myself to do so to see what’s so ’special’.
• On Writing Well - 30th Anniversay Edition by William Zinsser.  Picked this one up on a whim…I need all the writing help I can get

As you can see, this is a pretty diverse set of books and quite a few books…I’m an avid reader and love to devour new and interesting titles.

What books are on your reading list?    Any recommendations for me?

Perhaps you’ve read my rant on Blu Domain…maybe you haven’t.  If not, feel free to click over and read it here.

Well…today I’m going to praise PortfolioSitez, a Blu Domain competitor.    In our search for a web host for my wife’s photography business, a moment to keep photography, we ran across quite a few services.  Blu Domain was of course one of the worst customer service experiences ever…..and Portfoliositez has been the best!

Prior to signing up with Portfoliositez, we asked for access to a demo site to check out there service…we were provide a demo login and got a play around with the front end and back end system.  Its a great administration system and very very simple to use.

We decided to go ahead and sign up with Portfoliositez and within a day we had our system setup and ready to go.  My wife spent a few days getting the site setup and laid out the way she wanted it while I setup the blog (wordpress of course!) and client proofing system (PhotoCart).

We turned the new system live and we were running wonderfully…for about 3 weeks.  The day that she posted a new set of pictures from a recent wedding, the site went down hard.  I took a look at the system and could see that the webserver wasn’t responding…so I had to contact Portfoliositez customer service.

I submitted a trouble ticket at 8:45AM on Monday and called the helpdesk phone number and left a voicemail (their office hours are 9AM to 5PM M-F).

I received a phone call at 9:01 and was told that it appeared that the webserver was having issues (Apache was down…which is something that doesn’t happen much).  Over the next hour, I received three emails from Portfoliositez and within 45 minutes the site was back up and running perfectly.

Now….in situations like this, you really get a chance to test an organization/person.  Portfoliositez came through with flying colors.  With some organizations, we may have been offline for a few hours or days…with this wonderful bunch of folks, we were offline for less than an hour.

If you or someone you know are looking for a portfolio site for your photography work I’d strongly recommend Portfoliositez.