Viaspire - Define.Innovate.Maximize.

iMediaConnection: The art of self defense against brand-jacking

As a follow up to our earlier post today, we came across another good article further emphasizing the need to actively monitor and protect your brand.

Tim Lynch, senior experience design specialist at Molecular, explores the concept of brand-jacking. "If your brand is online, it's susceptible to consumer influence -- both benign and malicious. See what steps your company can take to mitigate the risks."

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Timeless Perspective & Wisdom on Web Development & Information Technology

We find there is a continuous challenge in the workplace as Organization 2.0 continues to impact, morph and mashup disciplines that were without question very clearly defined. Take the evolution of the I.T. department, for example. I just came across Steve Smith's 2006 post, Web Development and Information Technology that posed the question: Should Web development be housed under I.T.? I recognize tremors can be felt along much of the organizational fault lines by even posing such a question in many structured organizations, but it's interesting to consider, particularly as new lines are drawn and cross-functional teams are formed in today's Web 2.0 organizational structure.

The essence of Smith's post notes that each discipline within the Web development lifecycle contributes to the process and that contributors must work "hand in hand" to fully create a successful online experience. The post breaks down the territorial stance of where "Web development" lies within the organization. It also clarifies, which is refreshing, the difference between "Web development" and "Information Technology," which seems to be a common identity crisis in many evolving IT organizations.

So, in 2008, is this question, "What does Web Development have to do with Information Technology?" still relevant, important, even controversial? Are organizations shifting and changing to create more cross-functional "interaction" teams or standing firm as independent skill-based silos?

What I love most in this post is Smith's take up front about Web development:

"IT is a necessary part of keeping the web alive, but one that is so separate from the creation of a website that it makes me laugh every time I think about it. Information Technology is, and always should be, concerned with the reliability, stability, and effectiveness of serving a website. Those creating websites should focus their complete attention on the effectiveness of the message, the design, the interface and the content."

What's your thought? How do you define today's Web Team? Does it reside in one camp or another other? Is the modern enterprise ready for dynamic, non-traditional organizational structure that is collaborative and multi-disciplinary lead by specialists and championed by "customer evangelists?" How far have we come?

FLF 10.05.07: "Life & Business Are About Human Connections"

Nothing like experiencing a thematic week. Wednesday it was "People before Profits" and last night while watching NBC Must See TV, The Office resoundingly emphasized this point and threw in the added question -- where does "technology" fit into the mix in business relationships?

 

For Michael, Regional Branch Manager of Dunder Miffllin (Scranton), his belief is in the integrity of his relationships with people -- not technology.

"Life and business are about human connections. Technology makes you drive into a lake."

As a self-proclaimed "tech geek" Michael's scenes mimicking his boss on the Crackberry and failing to use reason, but instead relying on his GPS guide to drive right into Scranton Lake was brilliant. Cursing technology, yet acquiescing to the importance of the cell phone as a necessary communications device, Michael struggles with the introduction of a new B2B website and more so resists the idea that this will replace the human connection.

The fact that Michael knew his customer's daughter is allergic to nuts was poignant and telling that no CRM could truly ever replace that.

Last night's episode of The Office was smart and spot on -- examining how business and business culture is in a constant state of evolution, particularly where technology is concerned.

It was an eye-brow raising episode and a little like "Dilbert" -- all too familiar from one office to the next!

PS -- Not quite sure what NBC is doing here -- "community building" perhaps, but check out Dunder Mifflin's new Website -- DundlerMifflinInfinity. Apparently, they didn't work with any user experience consultants on this one. :(  Ryan (Regional Manager) -- Call me! ;)

ChangeThis Manifesto Helps You Make the Most of Your Time

This week, ChangeThis posted a five-star manifesto on "Making the Most of Your Time: Going Beyond the To-Do Lists, by Rajesh Setty.  It's an excellent brief outlining suggestions for optimizing your abilities within the confines of the "24-hour" day and making every minute count.

Setty notes -- "Time management is hard, and it's a flawed concept. You really can't manage time. It is finite. What we all know and talk about really is how we can manage ourselves better. So, really, if you want to manage you time better, you have no choice but to manage yourself better."

Setty outlines his manifesto with these nine things to consider:

1. Execute your current projects flawlessly
2. Strengthen your personal brand
3. Build long-term relationships
4. Increase your capacity to deliver
5. Make a difference in the world
6. Increase other's capacity to make a difference
7. Spend time with friends and family
8. Increase your contributions to multiple networks
9. Learning and learning to unlearn

Make the most of your time and read this manifesto. You'll be happy you did.

Getting Things Done Roadmap

We are big fans of David Allen's methods for "Getting Things Done." We are attending his Roadmap seminar tomorrow in hopes to fine tune our approach, optimize our "collection devices," and learn more black-belt techniques for gaining control of the day-to-day. We appreciate David Allen's no-nonsense approach to getting things done.

While driving in lunch hour traffic between meetings not too long ago, we had the perfect vision for David Allen's Roadmap and many of our project mantra's that we use jokingly!

Quick Tips on Getting High Performance from High Potentials

I followed a fascinating blog trail of three blog posts, starting with Just Do It at Logic + Emotion. I believe a good business blog trail provides a multi-dimensional take on some poignant and fundamental ideas that are often current and pressing in business today. A presentation given in April this year by Keoki Andrus, Head of Operations at Intuit was offered in a Lecture Series at BYU's Marriott School of Business and then more recently this Summer at Friends of O'Reilly (FOO) Camp. The presentation entitled, Secrets for Getting High Performance from High Potential Leaders is an excellent take on a fundamental question:

If you had to choose, would you rather assemble a project team with a group of high performers or run an average team with awesome processes and tools?

The answer is simple and straight forward. Choose high performers with high potential first. No process or tool can maximize performance without the know-how, motivation, and committment to use them effectively.

The presentation has several key take-aways that we think emphasize this idea and sheds light on how to be successful as a high performance leader as well as how to identify and steer clear of sabboteurs on a "high performance" team.

Ten Ways to Build Passion

1. See greatness in those around you and share your vision
2. Express constructive feedback in terms of "the vision"
3. Believe that things can be different and approach the improbable with optimism
4. Set high standards for performance and hold EVERYONE accountable
5. Demonstrate courage, judgement, risk-taking and continuous improvement in your own performance
6. Recognize and celebrate success
7. Design growth experiences that stretch but don't break people
8. Invest in trust and even love
9. Respond maturely to failures and setbacks
10. Push power and decision making down

Seven Deadly Deficiencies (I call these the "saboteurs")

1. Contempt for others - the inability to care or relate, "feelings are unimportant"
2. Obsession with self - "Is it good for me?"
3. Commitment dysfunction
4. Inflexible mindset
5. No productive focus - "Won't do the work."
6. Unrelenting pessimism
7. Embraces Dilbertian views of leaders

Key Point: Success depends more on the strengths you emphasize than the weaknesses you minimize.

Eight Things to Avoid "Wiping Out" High Performers

1. Work overload
2. Lack autonomy (micromanagement)
3. Skimpy rewards
4. Loss of connection
5. Unfairness
6. Value conflicts
7. Let low-performers ride
8. Create an environment of fear, uncertainty and doubt

"Smart Quotes"

Andrus includes some great quotes on what it is to manage and be a high performance leader:

"High performers drive you nuts sometimes. You need to enjoy that. Steer them, frame their objectives, but don't repress them." --Terry Leclair, Senior PD Director at Intuit

"High performers are like 'thoroughbreds'. They require lots of care and feeding - but boy can they run." -- Tobey Corey, Founder US Web

A quote we think worth printing out for reminder and reflection is the idea that you must be clearly directional on the "what" as a leader, but not [dictate] the "how." Pankaj Shukla of Intuit gets Viaspire's "great thought leadership quote of the day."

 

Special thanks to Keiko Andrus for an excellent presentation and Logic + Emotion, Creative Generalist, and Caterina who shared and extended these thoughts with us.

By Heather D