Work, in Plain English

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring life beyond competition. I’m not exploring life without competition (for now)… just beyond it.

Among the many reasons I am suspicious of competition is its pervasive presence in Western world view. Biologists see it among cells; astronomers see it in celestial interactions. Starts to feel a little like that cave Plato is famous for describing (yes, yes—among other things).

In my preliminary research, I was reminded of John C. Maxwell’s The 360° Leader. I found some interesting discussion about it at the Black Belt Productivity blog, where Jason Echols examines “Competing vs. Completing”. His mention of how competition is at odds with building trust struck a chord.

Trust is something that the best leaders in my life have built with their teams. Over time, I realized I was more proactive, and more creative, around leaders who expressed trust in me. My greatest team victories happened when there was a high level of openness and trust, not only from leadership, but also among team members. Until I saw that bit in Echols’ post, though, I never considered the connection—or is it the conflict—between trust and competition.

Many web features I download end up sitting somewhere in my browser, taking up space. Over time, however, del.icio.us has proven to be very, very useful!

If you haven’t used del.icio.us, it bills itself as a social bookmarking website that allows you to save favorites/bookmarks online. This way, you can access them from any computer, and you can share them with others. Because you use tags, rather than categories or folders

• it’s much easier to bookmark
• you can cross-reference to your heart’s content
• you can change your mind!

Using del.icio.us as an online “notepad”, you can easily approach your system differently each time you set up a new project. Sometimes I begin tagging (a.k.a. bookmarking) sites as I first start researching ideas. Other times, I don’t touch del.icio.us until I am much further along, say at the first set of presentations. Then, I quickly go around and tag the online presentation, any references, and the del.icio.us project page itself.

Here’s an example project page I created for demonstration. Check “related tags” (at the top of the tags list, right side of the page) to see other uses, and to get a sense of how things can fit together and overlap, within and across projects. Jon Udell also has a nice “screencast” you can watch of del.icio.us features in use (he displays his tags as a list, rather than a cloud).

If you’re using Firefox, you can add Favorite Tags to your toolbar. Why is that nice? If you’re handling multiple projects, you can load the current project into your toolbar, then switch to the next project—with its most relevant links at your fingertips—as soon as you need it.

If you want to look in on a project from a different location, such as from a conference room laptop, just load up the toolbar (the del.icio.us plugin would need to be installed, so do that in advance). Any meeting participant can then click on a toolbar link to pop to the web page they want with zero poking around and minimal interruption.

You can also:

• Create a shared project account to which team members can add research, resources and work in progress
• Use it as a contact management system: Link to a contact’s site and add contact info in the description field. Click on “do not share” to keep your info private (thanks to digg user nthdegx)
• Share links in a variety of other ways (including RSS)
• Use “unofficial” third-party tools, and be sure to tell me how you improved your productivity…

I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. If this is a system that clicks for you, no doubt you’ll find more ways to bend del.icio.us to your will. Whether you’re balancing numerous projects or one unwieldy one, this is a remarkably flexible tool that easily adapts to unique work styles, and could truly lighten your load.

Jeff Han is doing some great work at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. I’m thrilled and excited that people like Jeff are steadily building bridges to the day that computers spill off our desktops and more deeply into our lives (freeing our butts from those “ergonomic” chairs).

Dear BP,

That’s a cool gas station you’ve built over on Robertson and Olympic.

I would be delighted to see more vibrant, plant-lined and clean structures here in Los Angeles, although I personally wouldn’t want to be overrun with metallic buildings. And I appreciated how clean it is. Pretty bathrooms, an overall restful (rather than neglected or unsafe) feeling about the place.

My absolute favorite bit is the drains. Let me re-phrase that: My absolute favorite bit is what you have done for the California coastline. Because you’ve inserted filters, there will be that much less sludgy gas station run-off washing out to the ocean. If I weren’t such an anarchist, I’d say that ought to be a law.

Incidentally, is there a way to make the green roof visible from the road? We had to climb the stairs of the neighboring office building to get a look. How about building your own stairs, and a fence, and letting us walk around up there?

Also, I know I’m joining a large and loud chorus when I ask, “Where’s the alternative-fuel pump?” I understand that this isn’t quite the time to stop selling gas, but I parked my car under your rain-barrel canopy to see the future infrastructure that’s going to supply a range of clean, renewable fuels. Imagine the buzz you’d create if passersby regularly saw the creme of this city’s alternative-fuel cars (in addition to hybrids) parked by your meta-pumps.

And finally, your website and the nice fellow at the station kept talking about consumer feedback, and this whole thing being a conversation. But the nice fellow didn’t seem to be taking note of any feedback, and the section of your website devoted to the Helios House provides no contact form. What’s up with that?

I really like the Helios House, but I am respectfully requesting that you do something crazy. Nuts. Outrageous. (That would be in addition to investing in a contact form and the accompanying communicators/tabulators.)

How about halving the footprint of that office building behind the station? Make it taller and narrower, and put a gardened play area in the remaining space. I realize you’ve already spent $6 million on the station, but you can consider it an additional real estate investment, a deeper marketing plunge, or even a bolder exploration into the future of green business.

How about a plant- and earth-paved pedestrian bridge over the Olympic-Robertson intersection? It could be the first non-billboard billboard.

BP, I do appreciate the energy, resources and heart you put into this project. It would be so great for this to truly be a seed—the beginning of a new way of doing business. I’ve heard the promise before, and I’ve so often been disappointed… but I still want to believe!

Insightful coverage of the Helios House can also be found at treehugger and the LA Times, and cool construction photos are here, at Curbed LA.

It wasn’t purely a dream. I was napping one afternoon, and as I sank into the in-between, I was thinking about the French word, ‘revenant’ (not sure why). Then I thought of my son, and having to explain about French, and all those letters you don’t pronounce.

The next thing I knew, he was filling a sack with all the useless letters that he was going to take away from the French.

I saw a host of angry French folk, outraged and shouting at this impertinent, disruptive child. And I saw my son, with the knee-high sack at his feet, shouting back, “But you’re not even using them!”

Well, that woke me with a start. He really is just like that.

Policies foster laziness.

With polices, you don’t have to think—you don’t have to consider, dialog or listen. You don’t have to take responsibility for your choice. You can just refer to the Policy: You can say, “Sorry, that’s just our Policy”.

Having said that, we’ve been discussing just such a thing for a creative department where I contract. It started out as a letter to an irksome PM, and was never sent because we met face to face instead. But the points were good; They spelled out specific tips for optimizing productivity within the department. Also, presented as a policy, it is highly unlikely that it will be taken personally or as a criticism.

These are good and useful things.

This quandary brings to mind the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and the Pirates’ Code. Remember? “They’re more like guidelines.”

I did a search on the string, “more like guidelines”, and wow! In addition to kajillions of references to the quote within a vast range of topics (including a request to translate it into Latin), I banged right into the current debate about the proposed Bloggers’ Code of Conduct (visit the Blogging Wikia if you want to join the discussion). In fact, someone responded to the hoopla by registering the URL, morelikeguidelines.com, but the site is neglected and even a little abused.

Maybe it’s a Human Evolution thing. We don’t need Ten Commandments anymore (if we ever did). What I look for these days is more like Ten Clues to My New Client’s Corporate Culture, or Ten Tips for Working with Our Department. Of course, there’s also Ten Things to be Aware of When You Babysit My Kid.

Policies, even codes, can help web users identify their preferred content, professionals navigate new business relationships, and many other intricate situations. However, we need to leave room for creativity and innovation of all sorts, like the inexperienced PM who is overflowing with ideas (but telling you how to do your job) or the enthusiastic blogger who peppers brilliant insights with unnecessary expletives.

In the end, it will depend on the individuals living those codes or tips or policies. Are they using them to control, or even eliminate dialog? or to cultivate it?

Take a slow, thoughtful look at Joseph Phillips’ down-to-earth article, “Real World Project Management: Estimating Your Project Costs”. I’m enjoying it immensely, because it spells out a few things I’ve taken for granted.

At the moment, I’m thinking about his list of three approaches to creating estimates. They are:

1. The ballpark estimate, also known as the rough order of magnitude (ROM): I’m guessing this one is self-explanatory, but Joseph states the range of variance is from –25% to +75%.
2. The budget estimate (or top-down estimate): Usually based on previous experience with a similar set of tasks; Range of variance, –10 percent to +25.
3. The definitive estimate (or bottom-up estimate): When it’s time to develop a work breakdown structure (WBS). Your reward for sweating it out with this approach is a –5% to +10% range of variance.

First, consider providing a cost range, rather than a range of variance. It puts the numbers right out there where everyone can see them, and still leaves you the space/grace for errors.

Second, many experienced project managers have probably developed their own personal strategies for avoiding the ballpark estimate. When it comes to projects that require at least moderate personal interaction, there are few good (or honest) reasons to give in to a client’s pleas for a “number off the top of your head”.

What really got me thinking, however, was items 2 and 3… Well, actually, somewhere in between. There are times that call for a “2b”, when parts of a budget can be drawn from previous experience (did you know that was called analogous estimating ?), and certain sections demand a long, searing look, deliverable by deliverable.

When do you use the definitive estimate (if ever)? Does yours evolve at defined phases? or in fits of inspiration, as you recognize that enough information has now been gathered? And, have you ever done it “off the record”, when a client was unwilling to wait for (or foot the bill for) a lengthy work breakdown process so early in the game?