11/15/05 10:58:44 pm, Excellent column from Albert J. Bernstein
by Graham 
Link: http://www.albernstein.com/id19.htm
Albert J. Bernstein is one of my favorite authors. I first found out about him when I picked up a copy of his seminal book "Dinosaur Brains" (co-written with Sydney Craft Rozen) at my local Barnes and Noble back in 1995. Since then I have purchased a number of this books.
One of the things that continues to fascinate me in modern corporate life is the almost perpetual tension that appears to exist in most corporations between team members (or, as they are quaintly called over here in the USA, "individual contributors") and management-level folks. These tensions are often hidden, but are almost always present, and usually emerge into the open in times of stress or crisis. It is my personal belief that the cause of corporate governance would be served if both sides put aside many of their preconceptions and beliefs about each other, and learned to be more open and accepting of the different imperatives that drive individuals at different levels in a corporation.
Having said that....here is an interesting collection of pithy thoughts by Bernstein about the science of management. An interesting phrase, since when I was at college in Manchester in the mid-70's the prevailing sentiment in management schools was that management was amenable to being taught using elements of the scientific method. The biggest class intake in UMIST at the time was for Management Science as a major.
By the way, the best part of the article is the one about how to stop new ideas from emerging in your corporation...here I regret to say that the deja vu floods over me...
Article on Leadership Integrity
by Graham
Link: http://www.leadertoleader.org/leaderbooks/l2l/spring2003/sherman.html
...which gives some core principles for high-integrity leadership.
RIP Peter Drucker
by Graham
One of the giants of modern management consulting and writing passed away yesterday (Friday).
A key enabler for the appearance of wireless ISPs...
by Graham
Link: http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?NewsID=4722&inkc=0
...is a transmission technology that can create and disseminate an omnidirectional signal for a significant distance (15-30 miles) at a useful bit rate (at least 5 Mb/second). The existing 802.11x protocols and their associated transmission hardware do not meet this requirement. It is possible to transmit over 30 miles in a straight line with 802.11 protocols, but that requires a unidirectional antenna and receiver.
Now, this article shows that we may approaching the point of off-the-shelf availability of technology that will support the creation of local wireless ISPs and neighborhood wireless nets.
Note the word "may" in the above paragraph. There are still issues associated with making this technology work. The demo to which journalists were invited recently showed successful transmission over 18 miles from a transmission tower in Florida. The tower is 850 feet (!) in height, which is not a condition many local would-be wireless ISP providers are likely to encounter very often. Additionally, the signal was being thrown across a sparsely-populated area of the Everglades i.e. flat land with few buildings.
This is a promising technology improvement, but it may be more than a few months before it is ready for "prime time".
This article strikes a nerve...
by Graham
Link: http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/11/01/45OPrecord_1.html
We are all wearily familiar with work situations that match almost exactly the comedic situations sketched in the "Dilbert" cartoon series by Scott Adams. Adams has built an entire career by adapting to corporate governance and project management the mantra once popularized by Will Rogers, who famously noted "I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts".
I subscribe to the "Off The Record" newsletter from InfoWorld. Today's newsletter is a masterpiece, because it documents a form of institutionalized dysfunctionality that I have actually seen happen in I.T. solution delivery in front of my very eyes.
Interesting perspective on naming
by Graham
Link: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/10/the_new_rules_o.html
...in which Seth Godin explains how the rules of naming yourself on the internet have changed in the last couple of years, driven to a fair extent by the influence of search engines.
US East Coast vs. West Coast - translation
by Graham
What happens if a New Yorker has to work with Californians, and vice versa? I have been given a translation table that may help those two differing groups to understand each other:
West Coast New York ---------- ---------- maybe absolutely not subcontractor bozo design review brawl facilitator dictator he's not signed on to our plan he's a jerk he's a team player he's a subordinate I'm bringing him up to speed ignore him, he's new he's consulting he's unemployed consider me your resource I'll cover your ass I understand your feelings you gotta problem widdat? what's your vision? where's the spec? is there a spec? follow the spec what's the game plan? where's the schedule? let me share my feelings your plan stinks on schedule over budget behind schedule under budget cost overruns we finished early how do you feel about that? we're done thank you for your input shut the hell up let me share this with you shut up a minute let me build on that point that's totally incompetent let's get consensus on this one get out of my office let's take that discussion offline meet me in the parking lot can you sign up for this program? do it and do it now I'm confident you'll get it done do it or you're fired thanks for bringing that to my attention beat it