Print this articleThe antipattern known as shifting the burden of proof is something that many of us are plagued with...
Person A: X is objectively better than Y
Person B: I am skeptical. I have not seen you present any evidence that X is better than Y.
Person A: In that case YOU prove that Y is better than or equal to X.
It is allegedly a misuse of burden rules for person A to turn the burden back on B. It is being compared to:
Person A: Santa exists.
Person B: I am skeptical that Santa exists. I have not seen you present any evidence that Santa exists.
Person A: In that case, you prove that Santa doesn't exist.
Person A: X is objectively better than Y
Person B: I am skeptical. I have not seen you present any evidence that X is better than Y.
Person A: In that case YOU prove that Y is better than or equal to X.
It is allegedly a misuse of burden rules for person A to turn the burden back on B. It is being compared to:
Person A: Santa exists.
Person B: I am skeptical that Santa exists. I have not seen you present any evidence that Santa exists.
Person A: In that case, you prove that Santa doesn't exist.
I figured I would write a skit and dedicate it to Rob Wilton, Pat Patterson, Ashish Jain, Doc Searls, Bob Blakely, Gerry Gebel, James Governor, Pamela Dingle, Kim Cameron, Nishant Kaushik and others who discuss federated identity...
- Enterprisey: Hey vendor, I just secured a large budget to make federated identity a reality within my industry vertical.
- Vendor: Hmmm, I think you would make a great sales lead. How can I
exploithelp you?
- Enterprisey: As I understand, federation is all about enabling others outside of my enterprise to use industry standard protocols to connect to my systems in an interoperable, scalable, security way?
- Vendor: For the most part you are correct?
- Enterprisey: As you can imagine, our enterprise has thousands if not tens of thousands of potential business partners that could find value in using federation technology.
- Vendor: I wonder what size Yacht I can buy with all the commissions that will be generated from making such a large sale.
- Enterprisey: I could of course send out a survey to find out which of my business partners has interest in this technology but this is problematic on many levels. It would require identifying the right individual in each of the partner companies. If I go through the business channel, the right IT person on the other end is at least several degrees removed and the time delay introduced via this method will surely not be sustainable.
- Vendor: I am not sure what this has to do with federation. Why is he even thinking about connecting with business partners when I want him to focus on me selling him stuff.
- Enterprisey: I wonder whether the vendors who sell federation technology would introduce me to my peers as a way to shorten the degrees of separation problem. It would allow me to quickly filter out those who are just interested in the technology vs those who can actually implement it.
- Vendor: Hmmm. I can't help you with your problem as I am under NDA.
- Enterprisey: Are you saying that enterprises who want to enable their business partners to participate in a federated identity ecosystem don't actually want others to know about it?
- Vendor: Well yes and no.
- Enterprisey: Could you explain deeper?
- Vendor: I am telling you that I am interested in leveraging you to bring me to other customers so that I can sell more product, but I am not interested in helping existing customers connect to each other.
- Enterprisey: I don't really care about knowing your entire customer list, Part of the strategy has to include connecting with others that have federation capability that are within my vertical and I figured you may be able to help.
- Vendor: It's not that I don't want to help, its just that I don't really have a clue as to who else is actually using our products and in what capacity
- Enterprisey: How difficult would it be for you to ask your peers?
- Vendor: Sometimes, they don't even have a clue. We may not even have a single customer in your vertical, but I will most certainly hunt and peck around.
- Enterprisey: OK, I guess I have to rely on Google to help shortcut the challenges of community formation.
- Vendor: Sorry I can't help, but once you have identified your peers, maybe you will introduce me to them so that I can perform my thinly veiled dog-and-pony show pitch. You are my golden ticket to more sales.
- Enterprisey: I find it fascinating that federation vendors aren't helping their customers federate with others so that they can sell more seats.
- Vendor: To get a federation up and running requires a long conversation and we have no interest in participating in things that elongate out the sales cycle. We focus on product only even if we only make a small sale it is better than nothing.
- Enterprisey: Well, I guess you want me to be impressed by your relationships with Gartner?
- Vendor: If that doesn't impress you then I have some nice shirts and shiny trinkets I can pass out to others within your organization!
- Enterprisey: For the record, I find Burton, Redmonk, Elemental Links and Entiva as analyst firms worthy of listening to. The value proposition of others is much less valuable.
- Vendor: Hmmm. I have always wondered why us vendors don't actually ask our own customers which analyst firms they respect and continue to take certain things for granted.
- Enterprisey: The analysts are pretty good when it comes to covering technology but haven't provided much insight when it comes to best practices around community formation. Sure, they can point to Project Liberty but provide no other alternatives.
- Vendor: Analysts are historians and you are stupid to think that they can provide guidance.
- Enterprisey: Vendor, there are other things you can offer up to speed up the cycle that would be quick wins.
- Vendor: Such as?
- Enterprisey: I know that the Liberty Alliance provides guidance on agreements but doesn't provide an actual document that enterprises can simply cut and paste from.
- Vendor: I see the value in this type of document being publicly available but why would I want to commission a lawyer to create this even if I can benefit by having a quicker sales cycle? I understand why Liberty doesn't provide but also understand why you desire this.
- Enterprisey: In parallel, I am working with our business counterparts and others within our industry vertical consortium. This also is something that has the challenge of many degrees of separation. I am pursuing all avenues of which you are just one. Let's see which proves most fruitful.
- Vendor: The best strategies always include working both top-down and bottoms-up but I am solely focused on selling you stuff. I am also worried that you may learn about the technology used by others and may not buy my product so I will keep conversations close to the vest...
Did you know that most American project managers don't know what a project manager is supposed to do...
There is a culture of "bringing the project home at all costs" here that turns the ill-equipped project manager into a taskmaster - another role they neither understand nor are typically experienced enough to handle. This is why we hear from PM's that they have "all the responsibility, but no authority" and it's also why the technical staff loathes the PM's (in general).
A PM's job is to plan the project, define parameter for monitoring, monitor those parameters, take corrective action, and then communicate to appropriate stakeholders when things are not on track. The CMMI does a decent job of laying these things out in a sensible way (although it leaves lots of room for improvement). Another central factor is management's inability to understand and react appropriately when the project is "off track." For the most part, they are asleep at the wheel - not paying attention unless there is a crisis.
There is a culture of "bringing the project home at all costs" here that turns the ill-equipped project manager into a taskmaster - another role they neither understand nor are typically experienced enough to handle. This is why we hear from PM's that they have "all the responsibility, but no authority" and it's also why the technical staff loathes the PM's (in general).
A PM's job is to plan the project, define parameter for monitoring, monitor those parameters, take corrective action, and then communicate to appropriate stakeholders when things are not on track. The CMMI does a decent job of laying these things out in a sensible way (although it leaves lots of room for improvement). Another central factor is management's inability to understand and react appropriately when the project is "off track." For the most part, they are asleep at the wheel - not paying attention unless there is a crisis.
Would love to meetup with other bloggers, members of OWASP, enterprise architects and IT security professionals in the area. I will be hanging out in the Times Square area. If you are interested in connecting, send an invite via LinkedIn....
There are lots of immigrants from India that now call the United States their home. It is incredibly rare for this demographic to show the ultimate dedication to their second home and their unwavering patriotism...
Today, marks five years when Uday Singh, specialist in the United States Army gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of his second home. He was killed in Habbaniyah Iraq when enemy forces attacked his patrol. Uday was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kansas.
His last letter to his father said: Dad, we do not know who is our enemy. Every day we are fired upon at least 20 to 30 times....
Uday was the first Indian in the US Army to have been killed in Iraq. He grew up in Punjab and Haryana. He was a top student and had many opportunities but his sense and love for America overcome other mental impediments. His constitution even caused him to do the right thing against his parent's wishes.
Uday was an American hero and an Indian son to whom all should take pause to understand the ultimate sacrifice he made for all of us...
Today, marks five years when Uday Singh, specialist in the United States Army gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of his second home. He was killed in Habbaniyah Iraq when enemy forces attacked his patrol. Uday was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kansas.
His last letter to his father said: Dad, we do not know who is our enemy. Every day we are fired upon at least 20 to 30 times....
Uday was the first Indian in the US Army to have been killed in Iraq. He grew up in Punjab and Haryana. He was a top student and had many opportunities but his sense and love for America overcome other mental impediments. His constitution even caused him to do the right thing against his parent's wishes.
Uday was an American hero and an Indian son to whom all should take pause to understand the ultimate sacrifice he made for all of us...
Criticism should be kept as narrow as possible. Point out the problems and only the problems. Don't expand them into wide judgments...
Example 1:
* Wrong: "You are a big fat idiot!"
* Right: "I disagree with your opinion about foo-oriented programming."
Example 2:
* Wrong: "You don't seem to understand any of this."
* Right: "I suggest we review your responses to items F, C, and K. Your answers puzzle me."
Example 3:
* Wrong: "You are lying. Dr. Gartner never said that."
* Right: "Your quote appears to be incorrect. Here's the correct passage according to page 742 of ..."
If the person wants your opinion about their general understanding or general competence, let them ask first. Otherwise, don't volunteer it. If a person is frustrating you for whatever reason, leave the discussion before you are tempted to express wider opinions about given person. When in doubt, say nothing.
Our primal cave-men urges to lash out in frustration or chest thumping is harmful to civilized discussion. Yes, it's hard to resist the urge, but something we must do if harmony is a goal. Lashing out will likely not change the other party to fit your desires anyhow. Harsh or blunt criticism rarely solves anything. The other party probably has some harsh opinions of you also that they are holding back. Unleashing yours will either alienate the other party, or result in them releasing counter criticism...
Example 1:
* Wrong: "You are a big fat idiot!"
* Right: "I disagree with your opinion about foo-oriented programming."
Example 2:
* Wrong: "You don't seem to understand any of this."
* Right: "I suggest we review your responses to items F, C, and K. Your answers puzzle me."
Example 3:
* Wrong: "You are lying. Dr. Gartner never said that."
* Right: "Your quote appears to be incorrect. Here's the correct passage according to page 742 of ..."
If the person wants your opinion about their general understanding or general competence, let them ask first. Otherwise, don't volunteer it. If a person is frustrating you for whatever reason, leave the discussion before you are tempted to express wider opinions about given person. When in doubt, say nothing.
Our primal cave-men urges to lash out in frustration or chest thumping is harmful to civilized discussion. Yes, it's hard to resist the urge, but something we must do if harmony is a goal. Lashing out will likely not change the other party to fit your desires anyhow. Harsh or blunt criticism rarely solves anything. The other party probably has some harsh opinions of you also that they are holding back. Unleashing yours will either alienate the other party, or result in them releasing counter criticism...
One can always find room for improvement, but I am looking to understand aspects of my blog that 100% suck. I know I am untimely in terms of responding to comments and hence I encourage folks to use trackbacks instead and many find my usage of photos in postings somewhat annoying.
Are there topics that you would like to see me post more on? Are there postings by other bloggers that I should respond to? If so, don't be afraid to call me out...
Are there topics that you would like to see me post more on? Are there postings by other bloggers that I should respond to? If so, don't be afraid to call me out...
I am periodically asked how I have managed to post thoughtful blog entries every single day without pause for the last several years and why I never run out of topics. The answer to this is relatively simple.
If I focused on technology, then the amount of things one can write about is constraining. However, I write about the human aspects of technology where the universe of coverage is order of magnitudes larger.
Whether I discuss, enterprise architecture, Smalltalk, Cardspace, Indian Outsourcing, why industry analysts continue to suck, XACML, whether Ruby is enterprise ready, why bloggers need to champion their favorite charities or any other topic that comes to mind, it is important that bloggers choose topics that are sustainable...
If I focused on technology, then the amount of things one can write about is constraining. However, I write about the human aspects of technology where the universe of coverage is order of magnitudes larger.
Whether I discuss, enterprise architecture, Smalltalk, Cardspace, Indian Outsourcing, why industry analysts continue to suck, XACML, whether Ruby is enterprise ready, why bloggers need to champion their favorite charities or any other topic that comes to mind, it is important that bloggers choose topics that are sustainable...
Today, is thanksgiving where lots of American's eat bird and watch football. Hopefully, a few of us will take time to reflect on how our creator has blessed us and to think about those who are less fortunate.
Click here to view my Kiva lender page where the concept of microfinance can help end poverty on other parts of the planet. Will you consider reaching into your wallet and participate in this noble cause...
Click here to view my Kiva lender page where the concept of microfinance can help end poverty on other parts of the planet. Will you consider reaching into your wallet and participate in this noble cause...
Enterprises need to raise the bar and believe that knowledge management is one method. Yet, we always somehow seem to lower the bar such that the masses dig a hole beneath it. What if we were to abandon our strategies around ECM and avoided talking about Documentum, Sharepoint or other proxy technology for a conversation? What if we acknolwedged that there is no such thing as human resources? There is nothing human about being called a resource.
The great but otherwise ignored truth is that communication is always between people. Creating intermediaries is inefficient and alienating. Speak to me as a person and I'll return the favor. Treat me as an object and I will ignore you...
The great but otherwise ignored truth is that communication is always between people. Creating intermediaries is inefficient and alienating. Speak to me as a person and I'll return the favor. Treat me as an object and I will ignore you...
Imagine if corporate America took responsibility for the development and the future of our great nation. Maybe it starts with us IT folks pushing back on those so-called user centered design types. I am disgusted with always having to access some help page that never has the answers or having to send an email to some faceless person where my communications gets assigned a number by Kana before immediately routed to the clueless.
I ran across a rules engine vendor who thinks that they are community-oriented simply because they setup a site where folks can talk to each other. Sadly, they have refused to consider the possibilities that their 1.0 approach to bulletin board brings. Do you think they considered actually encouraging their employees to participate? This reminds me of frequent posts by Laurence Hart where he is more useful than the vendor's own staff. Shouldn't the exact opposite be true?
Luckily, some companies are getting it right. Microsoft has always gotten it right. How refreshing and humbling are the new principles for self-reference, self-organization and self-governance. Maybe I should throw in the towel and go back to reading the plethora of suicidal mission statements I frequently run across...
I ran across a rules engine vendor who thinks that they are community-oriented simply because they setup a site where folks can talk to each other. Sadly, they have refused to consider the possibilities that their 1.0 approach to bulletin board brings. Do you think they considered actually encouraging their employees to participate? This reminds me of frequent posts by Laurence Hart where he is more useful than the vendor's own staff. Shouldn't the exact opposite be true?
Luckily, some companies are getting it right. Microsoft has always gotten it right. How refreshing and humbling are the new principles for self-reference, self-organization and self-governance. Maybe I should throw in the towel and go back to reading the plethora of suicidal mission statements I frequently run across...
We read on an almost daily basis how corporations are losing data. Regulators are struggling to do what is right for the public but are afraid to address the root cause. In many situations, clueless management has reduced the essence of the Internet to a beauty contest, and view visitors to their site as a grab bag of personal information to be snatched and misused.
Isn't the answer apparent that this cannot be solved by simply rolling out and measuring process? What if we had metrics to measure the humanity of a corporation, would things get better? Transparency is needed to gain control of lost data. Imagine if project managers who usually are at the root cause of bad software and their decisions to skip security and make it secondary in order to hit a date were now made publicly available...
Isn't the answer apparent that this cannot be solved by simply rolling out and measuring process? What if we had metrics to measure the humanity of a corporation, would things get better? Transparency is needed to gain control of lost data. Imagine if project managers who usually are at the root cause of bad software and their decisions to skip security and make it secondary in order to hit a date were now made publicly available...
Do industry analysts lose credibility if they aren't actively inventing acronyms to complicate otherwise simple concepts? Have we asked ourselves whether the government is becoming big brother or is this a simple misdirection technique for others to hide out?
It appears that corporate leaders, performance appraisals, mirrored-mission statements and policies for the pains-in-the-ass have created many disgruntled souls. In your daily life, it isn't the government reducing language to alienate thought but it might be your employer. How come we don't blame folks in public relations and human resources for creating so much clutter that any worthwhile thought and discovery is masked in the cynicism we've all developed from the quagmire known as brand.
There is hope that readers of my blog may take immediate, deliberate action to reemphasize the importance of 'people' over technology, share prices and animated graffiti...
It appears that corporate leaders, performance appraisals, mirrored-mission statements and policies for the pains-in-the-ass have created many disgruntled souls. In your daily life, it isn't the government reducing language to alienate thought but it might be your employer. How come we don't blame folks in public relations and human resources for creating so much clutter that any worthwhile thought and discovery is masked in the cynicism we've all developed from the quagmire known as brand.
There is hope that readers of my blog may take immediate, deliberate action to reemphasize the importance of 'people' over technology, share prices and animated graffiti...
My significant other has recently failed with her attempts to offshore work against my own better judgement. One of the more repeatable worst practices when it comes to outsourcing is that everyone figures that process is a substitute for competence. Many people spend time on defining the requirements, outlining test cases, etc but never have figured out that in most cases competence on the other end is lacking.
The image below contains an example of some XML she scribbled out as an example of what she desired. She asked for the folks on the other end to take the rough idea and to come up with a proper design. She also asked them to make sure that the XML is validatible via XML schema.
Anyway, now that failure is almost imminent, it means that I will have to surrender my remaining free time to jump in and help. I would be willing to pay for someone to help her out as I really have enough on my plate. If you are up to the challenge, let's see what you come up with?
The image below contains an example of some XML she scribbled out as an example of what she desired. She asked for the folks on the other end to take the rough idea and to come up with a proper design. She also asked them to make sure that the XML is validatible via XML schema.
Anyway, now that failure is almost imminent, it means that I will have to surrender my remaining free time to jump in and help. I would be willing to pay for someone to help her out as I really have enough on my plate. If you are up to the challenge, let's see what you come up with?
Wall Street didn't fail because of sub-prime! It did fail because of the inability of executives to pay attention...
The cancer within the financial system is here and is spreading and many companies still don't realize it. This is the time to fix the information deficit disorder that has plagued most markets so far - buyers cannot find the appropriate information about the companies they are buying products from, and companies clearly do not have a clue about what their buyers really want. Those that were purposely putting up this smokescreen will no longer be able to do so because the buyer is finally in charge!! Let's start that conversation...
The cancer within the financial system is here and is spreading and many companies still don't realize it. This is the time to fix the information deficit disorder that has plagued most markets so far - buyers cannot find the appropriate information about the companies they are buying products from, and companies clearly do not have a clue about what their buyers really want. Those that were purposely putting up this smokescreen will no longer be able to do so because the buyer is finally in charge!! Let's start that conversation...
Organizations increasingly require IT outsourcing and will throw their flawed logic over the wall to Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Accenture and others firms only to watch them achieve mediocrity. Why can't we acknowledge that IT consulting firms and their employees want to work in a friendly way with their clients and that CMMI does absolutely zero to enable this?
Isn't it long overdue for us to move towards relationships of reciprocity based on truth and knowledge rather than marketing and perception management? No wonder there is a knowledge crisis.
What if we were to allow folks in India to not only empower themselves, but to also empower us? Aren't we looking to do business with people who can anticipate our needs and problems, addressing them before we even notice? The best companies, organizations and partners already do this, but they're few and far between. We like the notion of maturity, but are we really measuring the wrong thing?
Isn't it long overdue for us to move towards relationships of reciprocity based on truth and knowledge rather than marketing and perception management? No wonder there is a knowledge crisis.
What if we were to allow folks in India to not only empower themselves, but to also empower us? Aren't we looking to do business with people who can anticipate our needs and problems, addressing them before we even notice? The best companies, organizations and partners already do this, but they're few and far between. We like the notion of maturity, but are we really measuring the wrong thing?
It is a sad day when the military is led by folks with MBAs and Blackberries instead of warriors...
A pirate ship, operating off the coast of Oman in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, was crewed by heavily armed men, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind it were a pair of speedboats — the sort pirates often use when they launch attacks on merchant ships in these violent seas.
A patrolling Indian navy frigate quickly identified the vessel as a "mother ship" — a mobile attack base used to take gangs of pirates and smaller speedboats into deep water — and ordered it to stop and be searched. "They responded on the offensive and said that they would blow up the Indian naval ship," Commander Nirad Sinha, a navy press officer, told reporters in New Delhi. Then the pirates opened fire.
The Indian's not being timid ass clowns like our American Navy fired back and sunk their ship. It is good to know that there are still real men on the planet who aren't afraid doing the right thing. In the past I would have joked about outsourcing the military to India but now actually would say that it is a good idea.
American's are too freakin paranoid about perception management and are allowing us to loose our security. Peace through superior firepower has always been the motto and sometimes you actually have to use force to maintain peace.
I guess though someone has figured out the best way to run a military is to ensure that every ship has a public relations officer who can instead present chock-a-block eye candy Powerpoint to maintain perception where India is still focused on reality.
Anyway, Nirad Sinha, this one American salutes your efforts to keep the planet safe...
Signed James McGovern
Former United States Coast Guard
Honorably Discharged 1985...
A pirate ship, operating off the coast of Oman in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, was crewed by heavily armed men, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind it were a pair of speedboats — the sort pirates often use when they launch attacks on merchant ships in these violent seas.
A patrolling Indian navy frigate quickly identified the vessel as a "mother ship" — a mobile attack base used to take gangs of pirates and smaller speedboats into deep water — and ordered it to stop and be searched. "They responded on the offensive and said that they would blow up the Indian naval ship," Commander Nirad Sinha, a navy press officer, told reporters in New Delhi. Then the pirates opened fire.
The Indian's not being timid ass clowns like our American Navy fired back and sunk their ship. It is good to know that there are still real men on the planet who aren't afraid doing the right thing. In the past I would have joked about outsourcing the military to India but now actually would say that it is a good idea.
American's are too freakin paranoid about perception management and are allowing us to loose our security. Peace through superior firepower has always been the motto and sometimes you actually have to use force to maintain peace.
I guess though someone has figured out the best way to run a military is to ensure that every ship has a public relations officer who can instead present chock-a-block eye candy Powerpoint to maintain perception where India is still focused on reality.
Anyway, Nirad Sinha, this one American salutes your efforts to keep the planet safe...
Signed James McGovern
Former United States Coast Guard
Honorably Discharged 1985...
Did you know that enterprise architecture can help bail out the economy? It will only succeed if we eliminate any form of perception management and focus on reality. Kidnap the rhetoric and focus on the strategic intent...
Earth to business: enveloping yourself in yourself doesn't immortalize, it suffocates. If you don't understand how people fundamentally impact your business -- both inside and outside your building -- then go ahead and mummify yourself. You'll be a museum exhibit for Business Ignorance and Failures. Back behind the Egyptian treasures display.
Companies need to focus on people over process and recognize the human, coming to the realization that the Network is the People, not the hardware, stupid, a crystal-sharp prescient vision of what all this means that rises above the jargon, the cover stories, the glowing 'billionaire of the moment' interviews and the fawning rip-n-read 'reviews' that make up so much of the conversation these days. All the emphasis so far has been on the 'technology' on the 'information' without ever standing back and realizing that all these things would be pretty freakin' boring if it wasn't for the people creating and operating and transmitting and communicating over the tech.
Enterprise architecture needs to enable our business to take one giant mondo step closer to the point where the technology finally disappears into the background where it belongs and focus on the content of the conversations. We are having a knowledge crisis and the only thing that matters now is conversations. We need to wake up others to realize that knowledge doesn't exist within computer databases, sharepoint sites or the latest fad in a Gartner hype cycle.
This distorted view of knowledge and the savage but otherwise idiotic practice of perception management ignores the fact that the repeat after me sterile humorous monotone of executive rhetoric is being replaced by networked micro-cultures that exist outside the analog of time and space. In a hyperlinked world, everyone is your next door neighbor.
Wake up calls have a tendency to be ignored, except by those with some sort of urgent agenda. Some people get a wake up call they didn't put in for....they get awakened. The idea, then, should be to spread the word and see what reaction comes in. And, as that reaction is the initial step in a conversation (it isn't a conversation until it goes past a statement), the dance begins...
Earth to business: enveloping yourself in yourself doesn't immortalize, it suffocates. If you don't understand how people fundamentally impact your business -- both inside and outside your building -- then go ahead and mummify yourself. You'll be a museum exhibit for Business Ignorance and Failures. Back behind the Egyptian treasures display.
Companies need to focus on people over process and recognize the human, coming to the realization that the Network is the People, not the hardware, stupid, a crystal-sharp prescient vision of what all this means that rises above the jargon, the cover stories, the glowing 'billionaire of the moment' interviews and the fawning rip-n-read 'reviews' that make up so much of the conversation these days. All the emphasis so far has been on the 'technology' on the 'information' without ever standing back and realizing that all these things would be pretty freakin' boring if it wasn't for the people creating and operating and transmitting and communicating over the tech.
Enterprise architecture needs to enable our business to take one giant mondo step closer to the point where the technology finally disappears into the background where it belongs and focus on the content of the conversations. We are having a knowledge crisis and the only thing that matters now is conversations. We need to wake up others to realize that knowledge doesn't exist within computer databases, sharepoint sites or the latest fad in a Gartner hype cycle.
This distorted view of knowledge and the savage but otherwise idiotic practice of perception management ignores the fact that the repeat after me sterile humorous monotone of executive rhetoric is being replaced by networked micro-cultures that exist outside the analog of time and space. In a hyperlinked world, everyone is your next door neighbor.
Wake up calls have a tendency to be ignored, except by those with some sort of urgent agenda. Some people get a wake up call they didn't put in for....they get awakened. The idea, then, should be to spread the word and see what reaction comes in. And, as that reaction is the initial step in a conversation (it isn't a conversation until it goes past a statement), the dance begins...
Subprime didn't bring down Wall Street, but bad programming by IT did...
Did you know that a significant portion of all trades executed by Wall Street don't have human intervention and are submitted by computers? Did you know that you can write your own trading algorithms and put computers directly in the NYSE data center to avoid the latency of network hops to make your bad programs execute even faster?
Would we have had a subprime crisis if Wall Street banned algorithmic trading? The notion of Quants has the ability to take a bad situation and make it even worse. More importantly, many used quant strategies as a way to hedge their other bets but never considered that the logic behind the programs might be flawed...
Did you know that a significant portion of all trades executed by Wall Street don't have human intervention and are submitted by computers? Did you know that you can write your own trading algorithms and put computers directly in the NYSE data center to avoid the latency of network hops to make your bad programs execute even faster?
Would we have had a subprime crisis if Wall Street banned algorithmic trading? The notion of Quants has the ability to take a bad situation and make it even worse. More importantly, many used quant strategies as a way to hedge their other bets but never considered that the logic behind the programs might be flawed...
What is enterprise architecture 2.0? Is it some sort of revolution discovered by the masses who realized that they could do meaningful work while working in their underpants? Is there more? Is the potential for the enterprise to be greater exist not just in terms of profit but its ability to allow its employees to be more human?
I wonder if Kim Cameron, Mike Jones or others within Microsoft are working to address Cardspace interoperability with instant messaging clients?
Within many corporate environments, the popularity of instant messaging is on the rise. Have you ever noticed that many instant messaging clients have a feature that monitors the desktop so as to detect the status of the user? Did you happen to know that this functionality can trip up an identity selector?
Shouldn't these two things coexist? I know that Microsoft is aware of the challenges in using Cardspace when you also have some of the IM clients but if Cardspace is going to become popular then they need to address this asap. Hopefully, MS can provide guidance in a public manner as to whom is more at fault and what needs to change in terms of how applications are developed...
Within many corporate environments, the popularity of instant messaging is on the rise. Have you ever noticed that many instant messaging clients have a feature that monitors the desktop so as to detect the status of the user? Did you happen to know that this functionality can trip up an identity selector?
Shouldn't these two things coexist? I know that Microsoft is aware of the challenges in using Cardspace when you also have some of the IM clients but if Cardspace is going to become popular then they need to address this asap. Hopefully, MS can provide guidance in a public manner as to whom is more at fault and what needs to change in terms of how applications are developed...
How many times did you need to attend a meeting in order to find out what you are quite capable of reading via email? Is getting approval for a $3,000 laptop the same amount of effort as getting approval for a $10 USB thumb drive? Do those who are accountable for coming up with cost savings acknowledge that the requisition process is far greater that the cost of requested items in the vast majority of scenarios but can't do anything about it?
Do you have a Chief Security Architect who has to amplify security policy even though he knows that the requirement to change your password every few weeks has been proven to decrease security? Your company is now pursuing CMMi to make things more efficient yet everything becomes more difficult? Every time you have a meeting with someone from another "organization", your boss feels the need to attend?
Does it take two weeks to plan for a one-hour task? How many people are involved in this planning? Can you count them on one hand or do you run out of fingers? It would be sad if you also ran out of toes as well. I bet you feel like you work in the Whitehouse with George Bush in that there is at least one very senior manager that is universally acknowledge to be completely incapable of doing his job, but purely political considerations keep him there. Another four year term...
Do you have a Chief Security Architect who has to amplify security policy even though he knows that the requirement to change your password every few weeks has been proven to decrease security? Your company is now pursuing CMMi to make things more efficient yet everything becomes more difficult? Every time you have a meeting with someone from another "organization", your boss feels the need to attend?
Does it take two weeks to plan for a one-hour task? How many people are involved in this planning? Can you count them on one hand or do you run out of fingers? It would be sad if you also ran out of toes as well. I bet you feel like you work in the Whitehouse with George Bush in that there is at least one very senior manager that is universally acknowledge to be completely incapable of doing his job, but purely political considerations keep him there. Another four year term...
Today, I was looking at the logs for my blog and noticed that folks from over 100 countries have read my rants, perspectives and insights over the last year and that traffic has been increasing at a rate of about 5% per month. The number of people on technorati that have bookmarked me has also increased yet the amount of trackbacks has declined drastically.
I am curious if there is something about the style of my blog and whether I am doing something that prevents conversations or has the blogosphere as a whole moved away from shared dialog to more article format. I am curious to know what others are seeing in terms of their own blog traffic...
I am curious if there is something about the style of my blog and whether I am doing something that prevents conversations or has the blogosphere as a whole moved away from shared dialog to more article format. I am curious to know what others are seeing in terms of their own blog traffic...
Perception management rules the enterprise, at least it did in 1.0. We like to define ourselves by pointing a finger somewhere and saying we are/aren't like that and however noble the intentions, human nature always wins. Negative advertising still wins elections and missiles are still thrown around to preserve the peace.
Activism has been replaced by political correctness and some enterprising soul may realize that as brand loyalty disappears that the ultimate strategy isn't about marketing but is all about the human aspects of technology. The issue isn't about better prices or selection. The deciding factor is where you have made a commitment to the discourse.
Consider why sites such as Amazon and eBay are successful. Is it because they provide a mechanism to allow for reviews where customers can interact with each other? The smart companies turn themselves inside out, revealing their insides to the public, and bringing their customers into the fold, making them an integral part of the company's sales, marketing and support organizations. Brand loyalty is replaced with a commitment to success. If they fail, then my contributions are gone forever, so would I ever let that happen...
Activism has been replaced by political correctness and some enterprising soul may realize that as brand loyalty disappears that the ultimate strategy isn't about marketing but is all about the human aspects of technology. The issue isn't about better prices or selection. The deciding factor is where you have made a commitment to the discourse.
Consider why sites such as Amazon and eBay are successful. Is it because they provide a mechanism to allow for reviews where customers can interact with each other? The smart companies turn themselves inside out, revealing their insides to the public, and bringing their customers into the fold, making them an integral part of the company's sales, marketing and support organizations. Brand loyalty is replaced with a commitment to success. If they fail, then my contributions are gone forever, so would I ever let that happen...
Many enterprise architects create roadmaps in hopes of communicating the strategic intent yet we have never studied if they provide any long term value...
Haven't we learned that multiple year projects tend to flame out? Why do we believe that success is solely based on financial decomposition where one big project now becomes a handful of smaller ones? Shouldn't we acknowledge that failure has more to do with our ability to see the future and that none of us has a crystal ball?
Have we also noticed that many large enterprise software vendors no longer do roadmaps for their products? Ever seen one for say salesforce.com? If large vendors that run our IT ecosystem are moving away from roadmaps, why aren't we? Are we hooked like crack on them?
Don't hold your breadth waiting for insight from Gartner on this emerging trend as the likes of Brenda Michelson of Elemental Links or James Governor will likely uncover the revolution first...
Haven't we learned that multiple year projects tend to flame out? Why do we believe that success is solely based on financial decomposition where one big project now becomes a handful of smaller ones? Shouldn't we acknowledge that failure has more to do with our ability to see the future and that none of us has a crystal ball?
Have we also noticed that many large enterprise software vendors no longer do roadmaps for their products? Ever seen one for say salesforce.com? If large vendors that run our IT ecosystem are moving away from roadmaps, why aren't we? Are we hooked like crack on them?
Don't hold your breadth waiting for insight from Gartner on this emerging trend as the likes of Brenda Michelson of Elemental Links or James Governor will likely uncover the revolution first...