Disconnected Thoughts

The difference between a dreamer and a person of great success is that the latter actually does something to achieve his / her dreams.

Focus is slowly shifting from efficiency and order to extreme motivation, adaptability and innovation. Since we need to invent new ways to serve our customers, we need to find those people who are desperately motivated to do it (and keep them motivated :p).

The effectiveness of a research report is inversely proportional to the thickness of its binding - Todd Wilkens (Adaptive Path). I'd extend that to that the effectiveness of any kind of report or document is inversely proportional to the thickness of its binding :D

We are not our target audience! When we build a product, we need to understand the needs, the emotions and the ways our customers are doing things. We are not developing products for ourselves but for a wide range of people, with a diverse range of feelings and backgrounds and we need to see who they are and honestly empathize with them as persons, not as consumers.

Innovation - Random Thoughts

You tell me that you are waiting for inspiration? Stop waiting and do something! Grab a pen and a piece of paper to scratch ideas all day long. Think of your current problem with all your mind, heart and soul. Ask someone. Prototype with all available tools. At work, at home, in the shower, in the car. Take a break and then restart the process. Be unsatisfied until you have all the answers.

True innovation lies outside the boundaries set by rules. But we need rules to organize all the rest.

There are at least two prerequisites for innovation: a clear set of constraints to deal with and an unsatisfied, extremely curious, always looking for improvement and tenacious set of mind.

Innovation needs constraints, know-how and will. But, above all, it needs a well defined problem and people who are desperately motivated to solve it.

Arguments

As a manager, I'm not taking arguments personally. I try to focus on facts and on behaviors, not on individuals. This way, I can have an argument with a guy whom I actually like as a person but I can still sanction him for something he did wrong (I try to be light in sanctions, though). It allows me to preserve a state of mind in which I could congratulate someone for one thing, attention him for something else and even grab a beer with him later, the same day. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work perfectly but, most of the times, we get back in good terms pretty soon. I have to pay very much attention, however, because every hour that passes without having the conflict resolved will transform itself in gossip, inflated opinions, other people getting demotivated, loss in prestige, frustration from the guy's friends, and, ultimately, loss in productivity.

Book Summary: First, Break All The Rules:

The following ideas are not mine but they come from a great management book: First, Break All The Rules (a book based on a Gallup study on what great managers do to be so great)


Key Ideas:
1. The best managers reject conventional wisdom.
2. The best managers treat every employee as an individual.
3. The best managers never try to fix weaknesses; instead they focus on strengths
1. and talent.
4. The best managers know they are on stage everyday. They know their people are
2. watching every move they make.
5. Measuring employee satisfaction is vital information for your investors.
6. People leave their immediate managers, not the companies they work for.
7. The best managers are those that build a work environment where the employees
3. answer positively to these 12 Questions:

* Do I know what is expected of me at work?
* Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
* At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?
* In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
* Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
* Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
* At work, do my opinions seem to count?
* Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
* Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
* Do I have a best friend at work?
* In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
* This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?

Procedure

Procedure: a tool not a purpose!

As a manager, I try to encourage people to solve problems and think outside procedures. If a procedure doesn't help solving a problem, maybe the procedure is too rigid and maybe we should think more carefully about that. Maybe it needs an update.

Management Creed

One of my main priorities as a manager is to develop people. I'm striving to create development opportunities for my team, to help them become better professionals, better as humans, better in communication, more organized and more effective. I wish all feel that our project is in line with their personal development aspirations. Only then I can obtain the 110% we need to finish within impossible constraints. I wish I never disappoint my colleagues, to be honest and fair no matter what the consequences, not to make compromises, care deeply for them as humans beings, with feelings, needs, hopes and dreams. Many times I fail to get that 110%, but then I know I've made a mistake somewhere - not in my creed but in my deeds.

Silent Hunter 5 Announced!

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=1152450#post1152450

http://www.silenthunter5.com/

Great one! :D