Time for a networking cut!

concerning pro-social networking to management and project management audiences.  My networked ballooned from a rather healthy 750 to over 3,000.

While generally innocuous, I soon found out that not having a “fake” email address or inexhaustible supply of time to address impromptu email spams was a bad mix.  I deleted 75 of the more annoying contacts.  Yet as LinkedIn slowly adopted Facebook and Twitter status updates I noticed that those original 750, plus about 150 of natural market growth additions, were lost in the update shuffle.  While I think it’s great that someone is helping search for chefs or nurses in Miami, there’s not a lot I can contribute.

So I began to “mute” those conversations.  Yet I found that trying to keep up with the muting was an extra hassle as well.

Now, am really wishing that LinkedIn could incorporate a quick unfriend feature like Facebook, I’m in the midst of the painstaking effort to reduce my network back into that natural market place size.  I know this may sound like crazy talk to LIONS but I’ve never figured
out what value is added by having 30k direct connections (where maybe you sort of know 400).  Oh and LinkedIn it’s time to let people remove contacts from the primary contact search – ya there?

Image via CrunchBase

I joined LinkedIn as an early adopter in 2004 – primarily to keep in touch with people I met growing an online education business and by delivering at seminars throughout North America.   I remember the core value from LinkedIn in its Q&A section prompted by colleagues, initial group success and engaging in meaningful networking.   That was stunted with my experiment in 2009 of adding 2,000 contacts in 10 days.  It also coincided with a much more rigorous use of Facebook and Twitter.  I’ve found myself checking Facebook and Twitter daily and LinkedIn once or twice a week since then.

So I’m going back to the roots of LinkedIn.  A larger network is fine.  I just need some context and an opportunity to do something meaningful with it.  For example, I like helping out with an introduction and engaging in some dialog. I did that yesterday with a top-notch professional I met teaching an IT Project Management class in 2004.  It took all of 1 minute to forward an introduction and I was glad to do it.

What’s your opinion?  How do you use LinkedIn?  If you’ve used LinkedIn for more than 3 years, has that use changed (and how)?

Back to trimming!

Related articles

• Creating Links on LinkedIn (community.constantcontact.com)
• LinkedIn profile: How to make most out of it? (shoutmeloud.com)
• 8 Etiquette Tips for LinkedIn (socialtimes.com)
• Facts About LinkedIn That May Surprise You (community.constantcontact.com)

David Bowie - early changing requirement and dress code agent

1. Something that is required; a necessity.
2. Something obligatory; a prerequisite.¹

Among the twelve principles of Agile, that one that evokes a good amount of debate is changing requirements, even late in development.  This contrasts from plan driven approaches to development that “freeze requirements” and lock those in through development and deployment.   The execution of this principle requires expert management of the Agile approach (Feature Driven Development, Paired Program or the immensely popular SCRUM).  Managed well changing requirements, even late in development can ensure competitive delivery and customer focus.

A key trade-off decision is the impact of that change on delivery.  In our social networking example, if the developers at LinkedIn were heads down working on a Twitter widget and are nearly complete, do they stop that widget’s roll-out to include a Four Square widget?  Or is it better to release that Twitter widget and then tackle the Four Square one?  There’s no cut and dry answer.  Criteria for evaluating that question include:

• readiness of the Twitter release,
• impact of adding Four Square (is it  simple feed or major change to underlying LAMP architecture) and
• market demand for Four Square.

I put release in bold to emphasis one important aspect for changing requirements – mature release management.  I have seen three organizations jump head first into Agile/SCRUM, gain some wonderful cycle time improvement, then stall after the fourth or fifth SCRUM (iteration) as the software releases begin crashing into each other.  The changing requirements out-paced the release and operational teams ability to sustain the change.  With some careful and methodical rework of those organizations release management, those issues were resolved.

Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change for
the customer’s competitive advantage.

Related articles

• Authors of The Agile Manifesto discuss its Tenth Anniversary (pragprog.com)
• A Decade of Agile Programming – Has It Delivered? (it.slashdot.org)
• Demystifying agile, top 7 myths. (makinggoodsoftware.com)
• What Makes Agile Agile? (java.sys-con.com)
• December 13, 2010 – SDN Event. From lightweight agile to enterprise agile (sanderhoogendoorn.com)

That's your customer looking back at you - do you see and understand them?

The four values of the Agile Manifesto (Individuals, Customer, Working Software and Change) are further elaborated in twelve principles. The first principle is

“Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software. “

The first line provides the goal – satisfy the customer. That customer focus brings Agile in line with many other of the TAPUniversity’s “Nexus” disciplines: Business Analysis, Kanban, Lean Six Sigma and Project Management.  The second and third line reveal a little more about the method or how: early and continuous delivery of valuable software.   It’s a commonplace expectation in 2011, but ten to fifteen years ago, waiting 2-4 years between a major software release and 1 year between a version release was the norm.

Consider Facebook - new features roll out on a daily basis.  One of the challenges for the fast growing LinkedIn, is the pace of Facebook’s feature rollout.  LinkedIn has a remarkable customer focus – professionals throughout their career.  Facebook’s origin in college life quickly leaped beyond to anyone 13 years or older.  The numbers speak volumes about the perceived value. (Add in Twitter and you have the three social network utilities that every global enterprise feels compelled to “share” they’re on!) LinkedIn has over 90 million users and Facebook over 500 million.  The method for LinkedIn, seems to involve a little slower innovation cycle than Facebook – still lightening fast by 2001 standards (when the manifesto was published).  The two professional and social networking companies are indeed competitors.

Today, think about how customer focused your business is and how quickly they move to deliver.  The results may surprise you!

Related articles

• Is Your Service Agile? (conversationagent.com)
• Good Programming Practices vs. Rugged Development (securosis.com)
• Agile Manifesto, made more agile (zdnet.com)
• Authors of The Agile Manifesto discuss its Tenth Anniversary (pragprog.com)
• My Stab at the Lean (Agile) Marketing Manifesto (customerthink.com)

The honor roll includes:

Ken Bratch, Quad Cities
Karen Miller, Quad Cities
Melissa Olson, Minneapolis
B Howard Penix, Quad Cities
Peggy Pangersis, Denver
Mary Regan, Nashville,
Bobbi Stark, Minneapolis
Max West, Boston

Best success all on a healthy, prosperous new year and on all your virtual team interactions!

This is the seventh longer term contracting assignment I’ve had since going solo in 2002/03.  The first few assignments were challenging in that I was unlearning the “successful full time employee” habits and needed to learn and get smart about “successful contractor”.  Now there are different stripes and kinds of contractors from, an ala Big 6, 4 (OK how ever many there are now) consultant, to a true time and material laborer.  I tend to fall in between the two.  Success characteristics tend to be similar.

I’ve found that success in growing TAPUniversity and delivering training is slightly different than success in being a “roaming Jedi, hired hand”.  While there’s a lot in common there are some differences.

So here’s some tips – a top 10 list if you will that may help you if you’ve found yourself joining the ranks of “contractor”.  These tips are not all areas I’m perfect in — in fact I’ve stumbled on each of these at some point over the last seven years. Please feel free to add, comment and respond!

• 10 arrive early for bridge calls – nothing raises the ire of the full time, permanent crowd than that late arriving conference call “beeps” and drive by call participants.
• 9  understand you’re expendable and can be bounced in a day… so mute or tone down your personality.  This is tough for me to do and is different from my training delivery and small business growth.  In those I let my natural self show.  Yet I need to mute the “Dave show”.
• 8  don’t use the client’s computer to surf the net.  Even where permissible for permanent employees, understand that it’s a privilege that may not be conveyed to contractors
• 7 save your drama for your mama and away from work.  I’ve overhead some rather bizarre Dr. Phil conversations over the last six years and, while strange for managers of full time, permanent employees to deal with, are a real liability for contractors.  Take personal calls at lunch and away from the limelight.
• 6  pitch into the local corporate goodwill.  Though you’re a passerby and stranger in a strange land, you can still help with community food-banks, santa cops, etc.
• 5  do pitch in outside your role (this is not a contradiction to #2).  If a team member needs a hand, help them.  You are on a team, whether for 4 weeks or 2 years.  Help out.  Just don’t call a lot of attention to it.
• 4  offer your collective wisdom in private conversations — especially with your direct report “boss”.  Yours is a temporary life and you really don’t need to “grease the execs”.  Help the one signing your timesheet / approving your bill rate and life will be good.
• 3  Stay positive, at all times.  You may be frustrated and feel XYZ organization is inept.  But unless you’re a Merger and Acquisition Tsar it’s not your job to inform them of their ineptness.  A bit like Patrick Swayze portraying a tough yet smart bouncer in the movie “Roadhouse” — be nice, then be nice, then be nice outside (meaning don’t take the fight inside the bar or office).
  
• 2  Don’t gather unnecessary attention — fulfill your role (explicit and implicit) and only your role.  It’s unlikely you’ll earn a promotion by ranging far and wide.  You might be given additional assignments as you carefully network.  Grandstanding typically leads to short assignments
  
• 1  Don’t engage in the internal politics.  you’re there for 4 weeks, 6 months or maximum of 2 years (US Federal Code due to Microsoft class action suit).  Nothing is gained by engaging in turf wars.

Please do let me know of your tips as well!

David