mikey3982 bits and pieces http://mikey3982.posterous.com These are random ideas pictures. If you find a connection great posterous.com Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:04:08 -0800 Saturday morning blog: The utility of fitbit - whether I should buy http://mikey3982.posterous.com/saturday-morning-blog-the-utility-of-fitbit-w http://mikey3982.posterous.com/saturday-morning-blog-the-utility-of-fitbit-w
@georgejulian said that she was enjoying her fitbit and then like crazy other people bought them - wow marketeers the world over must look at this story and weep - oh the joy of social media and it enters word of mouth 2.0.  

My decision problem is how to increase my fitness levels.  I am at an age now where I only need to look at food and my weight increases.  I'm can't even type the words "I don't have the time" because I know that this is a question of priorities.  I also am fully aware of all the literature and unfortnately I am not in one of those subgroups that is going to live for ever with no exercise.  So getting out and doing something is the answer.

So what parameters do I need to  monitor to know my  fitness levels and further when I have this feedback does it help me do more and keep exercise sustained?. Easily measured are weight, number of runs, time etc. The other question is will I use my fit bit or is the utility of having a fit bit the ability to be part of the conversation with @psweetman @amcunningham @ermintrude2?

Naturally with such a strong recommendation from George I have hovered over the one click button on Amazon a number of times but at £80 I have also thought about the dreaded opportunity cost.  What is my expected utility from the fitbit, will it actually address my fitness challenge or is £80 the entry price for conversations?  So the purchase becomes economic!

I know that I will get utility in knowing many parameters of my levels of activity - the knowing has utility! Already George has told us that she has been sedentary for 14hrs yesterday!  But will the knowing actually make me do anything?
I know that sharing information will gain me utility and my thought here is that this will be self sustaining especially with the tribe of people mentioned.

So whats the comparator - having no fitbit.  So with no randomisation (and not spending £80) I'm going to put myself in the "no fitbit" part of this experiment.  (OK I know this is worse than bad science but please see the joke)

So can I get fit - and have conversations without fit bit or should I say knowing about the various parameters?

Oh and by the way I am considering entering the Torbay 1/2 marathon 

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:57:00 -0800 Short Blog on why I need to update photo skills http://mikey3982.posterous.com/short-blog-on-why-i-need-to-update-photo-skil http://mikey3982.posterous.com/short-blog-on-why-i-need-to-update-photo-skil

There have been a combination of small weak signals over the last few weeks that have made me realise that  I need to update my photo skills.  It's as if I am not seeing the right shots and whilst some snaps may be meaningful (my children growing up) my mainstream photos are definitely not.

 
The small weak signals of influence have included
1. Holiday at Christmas. I decided not to take my trusty Nikon on holiday but to rely on a cheap camera.  The rationale being that many of the photos were of family.  I've got to say that whilst being theme parks I did have deep camera envy although was slightly relieved that peering over peoples shoulders in the various queues that many of the pictures were snap like.
 
2. A lovely post by George Julian summarising her pictures over 2011 in her Flickr group.  There were some poignant images (very much up the scale from snaps). The post inspired me looks through my 2011 photos of the ones that get above snap status.  Only five photos and I was deeply disappointed in my effort.
 
3. One of the trends on twitter some days ago was the Nikon D4 which was getting a whole new bit of attention.  Whilst I definitely not in the market for a professional camera like this (I'd have to clear at least 50 >snaps a year) it did make me wonder whether there would be some incremental benefit on having new hardware or what further investment I should make.
 
4. I saw a tweet from @Paul_clarke talking about camera training that he offers.  Within the hour I had phoned Paul and agreed that we will do something and are currently finding an evening to spend coaching my technique. I have given Paul the permission for some no nonsense coaching about my technique (say it as it is).  What I really like about Paul's Flickr feed is his ability to tell a story in his pictures, this is not just through his technical expertise but a canny knack of encapsulating in an image form something of the spirit of an event.  

 

So I'm in to developing a creative part of me and really looking forward to it.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:14:24 -0800 My blog review of "Organisations don't tweet" by @euan #yam http://mikey3982.posterous.com/my-blog-review-of-organisations-dont-tweet-by http://mikey3982.posterous.com/my-blog-review-of-organisations-dont-tweet-by I first bumped into @euan virtually (still haven’t met face to face) over a year ago and various people that I respect reference him for his work.  His voice for me on the social web gives a practical no nonsense approach to management and leadership.  His social media identity to me shows that Euan is passionate about change and I see him pacing people gently and respectfully in his revolutionary approach - a sort of comfortable and safe revolutionary and highly effective as this post is hoping to show.

Once Euan tweeted that his book was available electronically I immediately downloaded and added it to my holiday reading.  The first thing I noticed was that the chapters are in easily digestible chunks as a bonus though there is an interweaving narrative guiding the reader through his argument.

So many blogs and discussion is around the use of social media to help “push” products to people from organisations.  The social web is awash with advice on how to get more followers, have conversations with customers but alas there is little about conversations within organisations.

I include myself in the number of managers that dabble in the social web as a person outside work and within my profession (acknowledging what I do is part of my identity) However within paid work my approach is typically traditional -  face to face meetings, VC’s, TC’s email and document repositories.  So the book was a great guide for someone like me trying to lead my own little corner of use of social media within an organisation.

The book is written in a lovely style, It really seems like Euan is side by side with you.  He starts with the concept that people within organisations need to take responsibility about what they say.  I totally agree with this and like what Euan says about the fact that anything written on a computer is these days traceable and hence quotable.  Secondly he clearly squares the book not as a book discussing technological change but cultural change and hence his first posit that IT models for information management need to adapt to understanding social tools.  In this first introduction again Euan challenges the usual heirachical thinking.  I love the way that Euan throws in the fact that the military have given up on this and are now looking at automous self directing teams.  He goes further to discuss how intrapreneurship needs to increase and again linking this back to people changing themselves to take more responsibility.

What I really like is that Euan takes on the discussion of safety, security, privacy in a no nonesense way.  I’ve got to say that his persuasive style by this stage in the book you build up a trust where you end up nodding things through acknowledging that Euan knows his stuff.  I know for me that this is because of the many references to his work at BBC and the introduction of social tools there.  In fact this is a great thread throughout the book.

The most helpful section for me was the discussion about the management of being innovative within organisations and the need to gain support (followers) of other people within the org.

There were a couple of areas that I would like to discuss further with Euan.  The first was around how “choosing” the right people to follow and maintaining relationships with.  I’d like to check in with Euan to make sure what level of active management is going on here and/or how much serendipity and investment in relationships needs to be done.  I have found (and online is no different) that the decision to carry on investing in a relationship can be very difficult and often when you think there is no use in carrying the relationship on some wonderful insight arrives on your plate.  I was also concerned that Euan didn’t discuss at any great length the level of diversity of styles of both leadership and management in different cultures.  There seems to a great deal of literature in this area but less on how this is done in social media within organisation - there you go Euan you’re next book!

There is much more in this book that is worth making a remark about and I really recommend the investment of time to read.  (This may seem strange but it reminds me of AA (Automobile Association) Guidebooks that were distributed years ago)  Writing this blog post is testament to the change Euan would like to see happen.  I hope 2012 sees a growth in conversations both within and without organisations.

Thank you Euan for curating this knowledge in such a great form.

Link to the book http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006N7RLSS

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:37:44 -0800 Are organisations congruent - my guest post on #rgservice cc @georgejulian http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-organisations-congruent-my-guest-post-on http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-organisations-congruent-my-guest-post-on
 
 

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:23:37 -0700 Brief review of Seth's new book "we are all weird" #weirddomino http://mikey3982.posterous.com/brief-review-of-seths-new-book-we-are-all-wei http://mikey3982.posterous.com/brief-review-of-seths-new-book-we-are-all-wei
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Perhaps I haven’t told you about the time I was made redundant from a job.  Well I was new into using social media and part of Seth Godin’s tribe trying to learn more about leadership in these new environments.  I described my journey on that forum about being “made” redundant and the subsequent choices I had.  Amazingly Seth wrote to me in a remarkable demonstration of empathy.  It was the fillip I needed and clearly went beyond my wildest dreams.  What it showed me then is the power of connection.  I got another job quickly and since then owe a huge debt of gratitude to that group of people who demonstrated to me the power of connection and support during that time.

 

So when Seth was speaking earlier in the week and announced his new book “We are all weird”it was only natural that I would download it.   It is classic Seth, and further its bang up to date.  There is a common narrative and sits along side  the other books I’ve been reading over the summer from Tim Harford, Lynda Gratton and Umair Haque.  We need to consume less, we’re measuring the wrong things, we need to think about resilience, we need to focus on our niche areas and practice our “art”

 

The summary of Seth’s book is that there are no longer “mass” markets but rather we need high level personalisation, talking with people rather than at them.  Having true empathy of what is needed.   Again Seth reflects on the leadership needed and talks a lot about the ability to truly “make something happen”.  The thoughts that Seth had in Tribes is further developed and I see more and more the distinction blurring between online life and real world life.

 

The book was timely, as it seems as many social networks are moving into the main stream we are seeing “norms” of behaviour appearing.  I was also witness to seeing very unpleasant playground antics and media reporting involving someone who again is leading and making a real difference in the field of medical education and patient care, so was getting generally switched off to the whole notion of being social and did question whether we are collectively getting anywhere or whether we should leave social media to push “more average stuff to the average consumer”.  Again I’m glad to say that Seth has done it again for me and given me some brain food to rekindle my fire in developing tribes that will make a difference.

 

The book is available on kindle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-All-Weird-ebook/dp/B005G5DSLW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316810892&sr=8-2

 

 

Here are some classic quotes from Seth from the book.

 

“Human beings have always been creators.  We express outselves connect with people and make home in the world through the culture we participate in”

 

“As a result the mass marketer keeps missing the point.  He’s busy looking for giant clumps instead of organising to service and work with smaller tribes”

 

“But consumption is not why we’re here, consumption is not the point.  The very same dynamic that is changing the world of marketing is changing the way we govern ourselves, raise our families and take care of our health”

 

“The key lesson: humanity and connection are trumping the desire for corporate scale”

 

“Average is for marketers who don’t have enough information to be accurate”

 

“I’ve started using the work “factory” to define any organisational effort that’s built around repeated interactions and mass”

 

“We encourage kids and parents and teachers and coaches to help us enforce this normal middle. The bullies – the ones who torment the outliers, the gay kids, the dreamers, the math nerds, the visual artists they’re just being kids; lighten up”

 

“the freedom to make choices and he ability to be heard are the factors most highly correlated with happiness  around the world – Ingleheart” <sorry I know its habitual but I needed to look up the refrence for that quote> http://www.twq.com/Winter00/231Inglehart.Pdf

 

“The fact is, some days I don’t care about marketing.  I don’t care so much about whether or not Nike sells another sneaker or Marlboro sells another cigarette.  What I care a great deal about, though is each human’s ability to express her art, to develop into the person she is able become”….. “and I care about freedom, the ability to express yourself until it impinges on someone else’s happiness.”

 

“there is no us, No mass. No center. Our culture is now a collection of tribes, and each tribe is a community of interests, many of whom get along, some that don’t.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:55:18 -0700 dragons harp in Dunloran Park http://mikey3982.posterous.com/dragons-harp-in-dunloran-park http://mikey3982.posterous.com/dragons-harp-in-dunloran-park
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dragons harp in Dunloran Park (mp3)

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:03:00 -0700 Short blog post: end of holiday and ready to go -now with words! (how can you mess up posterous! -I did) http://mikey3982.posterous.com/short-blog-post-end-of-holiday-and-ready-to-g http://mikey3982.posterous.com/short-blog-post-end-of-holiday-and-ready-to-g
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I've got to say I've had a cracking two weeks off.  After a manic time learning lots on a business trip before holiday. My time off was a chance to reflect, defrag and engage with my family. The chance to switch off in this busy connected world seems increasingly to be a luxury.  Both my wife and I had to do attend to some things during the holiday. But what did I learn? I seem to be always able to find things to do, think about create. My daughter beat me a chess for the first time Being able to focus on one aspect at a time has great benefits for me. My focus was on relaxing. Now my focus will be on getting the right balance and attending to the right things. Time is the economic resource we all have relatively fixed.  I do want to maximise the usefulness of this and not waste or fritter it away, it's too precious. I'm ready to go.  I've got some great projects and some meaningful outcomes to achieve. Blackberry are you ready, well here goes.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:58:51 -0700 Are we really collaborating / talking in an echo chamber or just having a mighty fine chat #leadership http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-we-really-collaborating-talking-in-an-ech http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-we-really-collaborating-talking-in-an-ech SInce G+ arrived I've been questioning new platforms.  For me twitter (mainly) and facebook seem to function OK.  However it seems to be deeper than that in what are we collabrating on.  Also I tweeted recently to @alihandscomb that after a few twitter chats we should collaborate on something.

I totally get the aspect that twitter is a serendipitous space and that conducting yourself in the "open" space can be potentially problematic.  I've met some truly great people on this media who I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet or discuss with before.  But to be honest that is all I've done. 

So lets first put aside this "pushing more stuff" to people.  I'm sorry without engagement you don't get me buying straight from a tweet and neither do I want to do that.  Neither do I constantly want headhunters or conference organisers bombarding me with their standard letters.  I see charities trying to "engage" and have a conversation and after a few tweets slying request that I raise money for them.  I realise that many people consider this "another channel".  I see for-profit organisations trying to get as many insights from people, how they live, how they interact with each other to create more 2X2 matrices to target people.  I'm sorry like many other people I am a little more complex than that and actually seek out and find authentic relationships.

Having said all that there is learning going on and these media do help in sharing insights and learning.  

All in all there are many people who are simply using these tools because they can do things at less expense than they did before and this greater efficiency can lead to say more profits.  My concern here is once this efficiency surplus is over then we are all back to square one?

What I want to do is move things forward - or lead WITH other people.  No not the flag waving,  I'm in charge sort of leadership, but the leadership that is truly collaborative BUT STUFF GETS DONE.

So lets stop talking about whether this platform can do this.  Yes there are issues that need to be sorted out say for instance how we manage our identities on line, how as professionals people keep boundaried.  How well we can do collaborative working when there are competing interests at stake.

So whilst I derive a lot of knowledge from everyone surely its about  time to get moving innit? or is it just me?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:36:54 -0700 New blog: Trust at what price http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-blog-trust-at-what-price http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-blog-trust-at-what-price
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I guess the easiest thing would be to trust no one and live a solitary non attached existence then the concern that one day you will be hurt or suffer loss would never be present.  But we all know that is ridiculous although with so much news that seems to relate to trust this does seem like an option.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been challenged to think about trust and the different dimensions there are.  I'm also thinking that this has a leadership quality to it in that most followers have to trust their leaders and vice versa.  However in this day and age we need to trust built in to many of our systems and relationships.  

Last night I watched one of those aircraft crash reconstruction programmes -actually the one about the 777 at Heathrow.  In the complicated world or airplane engineering it looked like a very complex problem to solve.  OK the drama was a bit over acted but I was strangely attracted to their detective methods  to uncover exactly what happened (in the end it was a simple design fault but it must have cost Boeing a small fortune to find)

But everything we do and the relationships we have involve some level of trust.  Again last weekend our family visited Cadbury World Apart from being appalled at the amount of chocolate being produced it again was clear that we have a high degree of trust in say the brands that we use/ eat.  

So if I say I trust you, does it mean I really think what you are going to do will fit into a set of values that we both share.  For instance I do not trust the Murdoch family in leading a culture that enabled behaviours like we've seen over the last few weeks to carry on.   At an organisational level is this about having systems and checks in place to make sure that whilst I may not agree with your values I do know (and trust) that you will deliver the product/service that is needed and hence trust that it has been developed in a working system.

Systems and checks need designing though if they are to be both efficient and effective.  They need paying for as well.  Paul Clarke reminded me this week in a blog just how attention to detail again marks out whether care has been taken around a product or service.  Hopefully this attention to detail and design is baked into organisations, but if your organisations context is survival this is the very thing that may be overlooked or seen as a luxury to then see a decrease in trust in the product/service. 

So is this again more of the same of "you get what you pay for"?  Are we overengineering the amount of costs of regulation /checking /QC to make sure that say safety is maintained?  I wonder how much checking is now being asked of hospitals after the events of the past weeks.  As a leader would you be wanting to be safe at all costs or able to evaluate the risks and make a judgement.

So is there such a thing as implicit trust that doesn't cost a lot (both in time and financial resources) or are there  events or processes that you would be willing to pay vast amounts to make sure there is trust in the system so that it can be trusted to be risk free?  Is this again another race to the bottom and should we always trust the expensive option?  Do you trust brands rather than the individual people that work on them?  Lots of questions and open to answers.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:05:53 -0700 Telesales from @nationaltrust and why I don't like it - its lazy and not innovative. Is #charity different? http://mikey3982.posterous.com/telesales-from-nationaltrust-and-why-i-dont-l http://mikey3982.posterous.com/telesales-from-nationaltrust-and-why-i-dont-l

Ok its nearly 20:00hrs at night, I’ve had a long day working, my wife is working late and the children are getting ready for bed.  Maybe 10 more minutes and I’ll sit down and put my feet up.  Well NO a phone call and with that familiar  telesales patter.

Interruption marketing rather than permission marketing really bugs me.  For me it characterises the business model that a certain popular TV business guru advocates, in that we should be pushing as much stuff to people as we can and the fact that people in business should be pushy aggressive and do everything to “get the sale”

Well if the telesales call had been for double glazing or whatever well thats one thing, but on this occasion it was @nationaltrust.  I couldn’t believe it.  My first reaction was – is the national trust so desperate for money?

I was really pleased that the national trust replied to my tweets and there was some sort of apology there.  However the episode has moved me into writing this post and those people who know me know that writing demands quite a bit of inertia.

The charity field does seem to get populated by a breed of people who come in and say that they will bring “commercial” principles to the business.  They apply simple rules like drive the top line.  Maybe some of them are frustrated at the often chaotic nature of charities in terms of organisation.  Maybe some charities haven’t got a clear raison d’etre and could do with this level of help rather than a simple drive of sales.  Above all many charities need to be social and be able to engage with people at a level where they can accept what they are trying to do – or at least wish them well.

There are so many causes to support and you can see the marketisation of sob or hard luck stories.  There is almost a perfect storm of emotional levers that can be drawn on to gain attention.  But surely the engagement is not just can you give us money but other resources – time, effort, ideas etc.

When I think of the National Trust I have an overwhelming sense of the smell of moth balls.  For me its about reliving a bygone age of heirachy, wealth and power with big houses.  However, to be fair the National Trust is doing more, they are clearly looking at sustainability, they do promote a story of our culture and with that are part of our economic fabric.

I am happy to engage with the National Trust however I need to move past the just donating money stage.  Their business model needs to start to engage people and maybe using the engagement create value together.

My local NT house is Batemans and it is lovely.  I’d love to know what Rudyard Kipling would have made of all of these new media.  Why aren’t the NT inviting people to tweet /fb what they think of a house what ideas they have had.  Are NT staff curating audioboos of visitors asking some simple questions about the houses.  Are NT staff asking questions with their community on stories from the houses.  Are NT staff offering NCT groups free access or twitter groups free access to use the houses for a tweetup?

There again its probably easier spamming everyone. 

=====

I am a member of the NT and my Mum and Dad are absorbed in volunteering for the NT at a property in the Northwest

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:00 -0700 Great seat on this German train http://mikey3982.posterous.com/great-seat-on-this-german-train http://mikey3982.posterous.com/great-seat-on-this-german-train

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Sat, 21 May 2011 13:42:44 -0700 Are some people too far in front in their thinking - hey wait for us #leadership http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-some-people-too-far-in-front-in-their-thi http://mikey3982.posterous.com/are-some-people-too-far-in-front-in-their-thi There must be thousands of books /article about leadership in its different guises and I feel reluctant to even discuss this area, but rather to add whether sometimes as a leader you are too far in front and what methodology is best to get the crowd following.

For some time there are a number of people that I follow and interact with who are truly leading in this space.  Each of them have specific domain knowledge and ideas.  Common themes for me that are “out there” are the rise and sustainability of the social enterprise, the aspect of branding and how this applies to a personal brand or an object or experience, the area of reputation and how all these translate into new currency or different ways of valuing areas of our lives.  

Can I say for the outset I really admire these people for leading the way but wonder whether whilst these people are so high up on the mountain whilst there are many others that haven’t even reached base camp.  The worry is that some of these ideas may be truly world changing but have reached us too early.  Likewise the leader that is too far in front may be ostracised unable to develop the original innovation into a tangible benefit in today's construct or even lead today's construct to new ways. It often seems that evolution leaders seem to fare better than revolutionary leaders.  

I embrace change and know that it will exist over the next few years, however the new leadership surely is on making sure we can get to these new ideas in a moderated  efficient way rather than a messy conflictual battle of wills?  Or is the fight necessary?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 17 May 2011 16:42:18 -0700 Preordered Adapt by @timharford following extracts thank you @umairh @HeleneFinidori http://mikey3982.posterous.com/preordered-adapt-by-timharford-following-extr http://mikey3982.posterous.com/preordered-adapt-by-timharford-following-extr  http://t.co/c7CPQHJ

http://goo.gl/ulnsC

I'm particularly liking the aspect of loss  and how that affects decision making.  As a society we have a major loss to content with in that as @umairh says in his book buying and producing more stuff is not going to be more meaningful.  This piece from Tim Harford shows to me that we will need to manage this loss rather than going into further adaptive behaviours to avoid it and produce sustainable progress.  Looking forward to the book.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 17 May 2011 03:52:34 -0700 New blog post: Where do your boundaries lie in these media? http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-blog-post-where-do-your-boundaries-lie-in http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-blog-post-where-do-your-boundaries-lie-in
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I really want this post to mark a line in the sand of where we are today about the whole work/life balance and how it relates what people are doing on these media.  Also to start a conversation with other professionals any  organisation  who question the role and impact and contribution they can have on using these media to help change things and where it could go in the future.

There seems to be a recurrent theme especially for people new to these media about what to share and a fear of what to share in social networks. In the health care professional field  @amcunningham leads the way with a number of blog posts sharing a value that people need to be open about who they are, and professional in this space and I agree that it does no profession or organisation any good if they have anonymous people denigrating their brand or message who later turn out to be part of that community.  Yes we've all emoted about how a certain event/ person has made us feel but to share that openly especially in a media that doesn't degrade is not a laudable quality in my book.   However I understand this and when I started online with  mikey3982 I wanted to be able to comment on and have discussions with the reader not knowing or indeed applying a bias that the way that I derive an income was working with a large Pharma co, which I will say and really happy working with.  I wanted my world to exist as a bubble detached from other aspects of my life and anonymous.   What I have learned that taking responsibility for who you are online and what you stand for means that your voice is more readily accepted, further the biases (positive or negative) that people may have will be done will be negated by how you behave on line  for instance are you sociable? – do you acknowledge people or are you an aloof figure of mystery? 

I have many roles in my life.  I exist as a family man, a belief that i am part of a village community, a desire for a future for young people to grow to us these new tools to great effect and also a professional working on new medicines to help people and help them achieve their meaning in their lives. (i'm still working on a health related meaningfulness scale!).  It’s this professional role and the interconnectedness of this to other roles that interests me. There is so much written about the professional healthcare doctor-patient relationship and I agree that this may be a special type of boundaries relationship.  It would certainly alter the relationship if I knew that my HCP (and by the way the next bit is made up) had had a great time in Chamonix or had recently tweeted what camera to buy. Further the HCP may have emoted views about changes in the health service!  We also have to recognise that many HCP in their work place signify their values in the way they decorate their working environment,  what photos they put up,  how many certificates are on the wall, and ubiquitous Marathon medal.  Surely like the postings online these further show that we are human and at it's base being a health care professional is about being human.  But I do wonder whether it's the same reaction that you give when people say "oh that picture on your desk looks like you had a nice time on holiday" to oh I was looking at your pictures on flickr and you do take a great photo.  The latter statement does seem like stalking but believe me I do have friends who have looked at the HCP's profile on linkedin to help inform their decision about what HCP to engage with. Like all professional we all have strategies and insight as to whether this engagement is genuine or could be another misuse of power in the
relationship.  This may be particular to HCPs but it is a good example of how all professional exist in a wider context.

Hence the work/life paradigm is breaking down.  Investing time commenting and posting is about learning.  Our societal values are changing on what is acceptable to share and comment on.  We are all learning that serendipity and getting outside your own echo chamber of “like minded” people can challenge your thinking and promote greater understanding of self and your own values.

Anyone who questions what to comment on online should really take some time to consider what elements they will and will not discuss.  There is guidance abound.

For me the healthcare professional construct provide a good basis of what for me to say on line.  I have clear boundaries on what I will discuss and won’t.  In highly regulated business like health care the work I do for an employer stays private.  Its challenging, consider work that you publish into the public domain and even talk about at a conference, my stance is clear this is my employers work and they take responsibility of talking about it.  This may seem very conservative and no doubt this will be subject to a working style that may change over the coming years, but before this can happen regulation needs to change and the role of the individual within the context of an employer also needs to change? 


There are pioneers in this space whose boundaries are well defined but explore professional and personal life in new creative ways showing various aspects of their life.   I really admire the postings that @markhawker has been making recently.  Mark  explores and shares his spiritual awakening as well as his exploration of data. What I love is his desire for people to share in this.  I love the banter that @kevfrost gives him with that sort of male banter that comes across to me as a source of online intimacy. @GeorgeJulian also reminds me regularly how patient centric system design is key but includes this in a ongoing narrative of impending loss and again the love that she has for her family.  Likewise people like @daren140 tweets about being a modern dad and often shares his proud moments.  My colleague @amberstang regularly posts about her mission to raise money for breast cancer in NYC.  I love all this and the openness and connection that we all feel.  All have clear boundaries about what they talk about and the trust builds up online.

I repeat that the boundaries of our work/life balance are now blurred – we act in a complex environment.  Being social isn’t just about getting along, the way we can do things with these media really are transforming the way we do things and indeed new ways and patterns of behavior.  We need to all check in with these values and sense whether they are right.  Will there be a day when all GP consultations are streamed straight to the patients notes with software that automatically scans for themes and prompts the doctor about decision support?  Will the patient have the permission to share the video with his friends / family like a photo share so they can fully understand their condition?  Can we change our value set to realise that not every tweet is a promotional message from the sponsor but a genuine reaching out to help and grow understanding in an area. 

There are so many issues that we face, so much research and insights that we need to do. As humans we need a place where we can connect where we can emote.  These emotions often contain the energy to move us forward .  These emotions are the life blood of our future stories. Collaboration to create something better is a strategy for the future.  We need to lead here and make sure our value set is constantly updated and ready for the future and its consequences.  By knowing our boundaries now we can realise how much we can push them.

 

Photo from Flickr thank you to Alkuin

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Wed, 04 May 2011 09:07:34 -0700 Nice visualisation of my tweets HT @markhawker http://mikey3982.posterous.com/nice-visualisation-of-my-tweets-ht-markhawker http://mikey3982.posterous.com/nice-visualisation-of-my-tweets-ht-markhawker
View on screencast.com »

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 03 May 2011 10:14:17 -0700 No battenburg from @tesco or why do I complain http://mikey3982.posterous.com/no-battenburg-from-tesco-or-why-do-i-complain http://mikey3982.posterous.com/no-battenburg-from-tesco-or-why-do-i-complain I really thought that organisations had got the whole complaining thing.

When I complain about an organisation its usually in the context of trying to help by giving some ideas.

My complaint with Tesco was centred around an idea for them for alerting people about the fact that your shopping order - completed some days before, may have some out of stock items and a polite email stating say when the order is "picked" that the following items were out of stock and that they may need to be sourced elsewhere - god forbid actually helping me and stating that their competitors may be able to help.  With eight items out of stock and with no substitutions (battenburg included) I was slightly irritated.  I spoke to the complaints team who like clockwork said that they would issue money off vouchers by email.  As yet the email has not arrived.

I was still anxious in having my views heard and to discuss the idea  and travelled to the nearby Tescos (Crowborough) to both fill the out of stock items (there's irony there) and complain face to face.  Believe it or not you can't complain at a shop about Tesco on line service and everything has to be handled separately.

This is a classic service design issue to me.  Level of training to accept a complaint - not much, system to register complaints - not much.  Loss of respect of Tesco - well our business with Tesco is worth around £6,000 a year (£500 per month).  

Well I guess every little helps who?

Off now to email tesco to see if they can make a comment.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:57:14 -0700 Making some remarks about #iip11 - a good day http://mikey3982.posterous.com/making-some-remarks-about-iip11-a-good-day http://mikey3982.posterous.com/making-some-remarks-about-iip11-a-good-day

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:12:11 -0700 First impressions of #iip11 http://mikey3982.posterous.com/first-impressions-of-iip11 http://mikey3982.posterous.com/first-impressions-of-iip11
Media_httpaudioboofmb_aeqsz

Listen!

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:43:24 -0800 New post: shipping some reflections on Seth Godin new book http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-post-shipping-some-reflections-on-seth-go http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-post-shipping-some-reflections-on-seth-go Well Seths done it again, he's written a book just about me!  I mean it can't be for anyone else, 

Lets state from the start I like Seth Godin.  No not in that Facebook superficial way, no I really like him, I value his thoughts and ideas and it MEANS something to me.  

You see the thing is over 4 years ago and whilst doing further academic studies I would read these business books furthering my own beliefs / narrative.  My thinking being that I was really good with ideas and thats what's needed in future business, lets all be creative and innovative.  I was waiting for the not so invisible hand and come and pick me, anoint me and recognise my great ideas.  Well OK Seth clearly states in this book that that is not the case and it doesn't work like that.  

So what is this book about, it is about making a difference and getting out there and start shipping.  I learnt this some years ago and this book is a great timely reminder of the distance I still need to go.  As Seth puts it "The difference is that the creative person is satisfied once he sees how it's done.  The initiator won't rest until he does it"

I am passionate about people having the optimal information for health care decision making at all levels.  The opportunities that are there, we are only just scratching the surface of how these new technologies can connect fantastic people to make a real difference to peoples lives.  The key for me is to keep shipping?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982 Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:36:46 -0800 New ways of raising local council revenue - I think we need less clutter http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-ways-of-raising-local-council-revenue-i-t http://mikey3982.posterous.com/new-ways-of-raising-local-council-revenue-i-t With school closures last week life was really nice but difficult trying to juggle many things.  I've got to say that one thing that did help was the East Sussex School closure web site that gave accurate school closure notices.  The system operated efficiently with headteachers letting county know and then this being posted to the website almost immediately.  Good job and one less worry.

However one thing that slightly disturbed me was the location of advertising on this website.  I realise that for many advertisers the web is one big place where they can engage with potential buyers and keep their message "alive" but please try and engage me in a better way?

But wait, what about East Sussex County Council maybe this is a way to the future, maybe if there is a coordinated clicking on certain adverts the council will raise enough money to reduce council tax bills.  Hey what about that council services delivered through advertising.  But I'm sure the creative thinkers amongst you can do better.  Can we sponsor a council worker? or what about a popular clothing store kitting out teachers clothes or maybe Boden could sponsor a whole school?  Better still how about Tesco exchanging clubcard points for enhanced council services?

I have asked East Sussex through twitter what the revenue for advertising is from the website and am waiting a reply.

I have also done a preliminary check and it does seem that the adverts do not grab any user information about you (but would like that confirmed by anyone who is good at coding)

My other concern is the type of advertising.  Over the last three days there have been adverts for Boden, Sky+ and P&O the last one offering free drink for crossing.  I'm also interested in how the adverts are selected against I guess the values of East Sussex County council and whether this could ever place them in a compromising position.

In summary I am really supportive of good local leadership and quality services to maintain a good sustainable community.  I realise that creative ways will be needed to provide these quality services in the future.  However I want these sites to be clutter free.

What do you think?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/15VHnbhru49 mikey3982 mikey3982