24 December 2009

2010 - Back to basics or out of the comfort zone?

At about the same time last year (Dec 2008) I ventured into predicting a few things that could happen during 2009. Out of luck or just good intuition, some of them bore similarities to what happened in this year (my friend Cesar Lopez now must be officially impressed!). The reader can see a previous post and get also (un)impressed. In general terms I said recession was going to hit hard to those who were more vulnerable. But in the midst of it we could see some good things happening (like Brazil emerging as a protagonist in the international arena...).

Anyway, now that there is some time to think and reflect, I will do just that. First of all, it has been a very rewarding year in professional terms. Two books published, a good conference organised, progress in making education more related to the realities of companies and the workplace. Some of my students have impressed me by stretching their skills and achieving their goals (Msc and PhD ones, you really keep surprising me!). Others have shown resilience in continuing their learning and making their living while they do so, again nice surprises and now we share our lives as friends. Well done us all! Second of all and on the not pleasant side, some health issues (stress, anxiety) that now are being taken care of by slowing the pace to achieve things. Friends and family (old friends that we cannot forget) have been there to support.

Yes, support is important, and now it seems that many people talk about going back to basics. Jumping now to another area, that of companies and organisations. They are now reducing their 'tentacles', by focusing on what they know best, their core businesses. They are being selling 'other' businesses (their luxury product lines). Governments and big corporations are now and virtually abandoning ventures (expensive IT systems investments). Others are keeping investments because of previous commitments (i.e. the London Olympics), as if they are also considering basic goals (regeneration), and as someone said recently, 'at the time of making such commitments they seemed to be a good idea'.

In a previous post I mentioned that there could be possibilities for jobs and investments in 'common' assets (IT for your company, your leased car). People making decisions to go back to basics might be considering that their 'core' business is not to own very expensive IT infrastructures let alone expensive cars. OK. No serious or long-term investments here, but we are all assuming that there is another party supporting our decisions. Yes, there is someone with capital to buy IT or to buy cars in our names and then charging us a periodical fee and with sophisticated financial models. Financial, that sounds like what banks does it not? And kind of unsustainable (irresponsible) support brought us to where we are. Can those dealing with IT learn something from this? It seems that support can be offered but not indefinitely. At some point, support (if we can still call it that way), will become so expensive to offer and to charge, that it could become unsustainable. Those looking at technologies like "The cloud" with a critical eye are not taking note of this. I know that one of my current students might see this post and will be thinking: So you are sceptical again! Possibly...or maybe suggesting some kind of sustainable support for sustainable action.

Or maybe what I am suggesting is that support is a systemic problem, because action and support need each other. Going back to basics presupposes that someone, somewhere, is going to pick up the pieces we leave when we reduce the size of our 'tentacles'. Downsizing could be part of an economic cycle where the next innovation is going to generate new economic and technological opportunities; but this means someone will have to take the lead in innovation. That is why we also see that now we're expecting some individuals to become entrepreneurs and venture into new opportunities.; we're also expecting some companies to continue investing in research and development (R&D) At a more personal level, going back to basics, like I am thinking for myself in terms of not doing as many things as I did this year of 2009, would presuppose that someone is (not) going to push in the same direction as I have been pushing (why should they?). Or maybe that I can use technology to help me go back to basics, like improving my time keeping, helping me disseminate things on emails and websites, and letting others do their job. But...even with technology, we're still mere mortals. In a good way, going back to basics should put that as a priority. Because we live in a complex environment where support might not be available for everything we require support.

OK, so maybe the reader is now thinking that I am suggesting some kind of (un)morally driven 'invisible hand' intervention, which could also be interpreted as a 'real hand' one. Hands, not tentacles. Are we now witnessing a swing of the pendulum from 'go global' to 'just play your part in the landscape of things'? Maybe. Or maybe we still have to suffer some kind of dramatic shakes in our landscapes. For some of us, this could also mean going out of the comfort zone (like my friend Meera said to me after we had a ride in a rollercoaster today, we had such good fun and the fears from the beginning are just history, we needed an adrenaline boost). To 'move on' or to be 'moved on', said someone in the magazine PM today after several career changes. Maybe I am preferring today both, but swiftly. Only if we knew what change was going to give us the maximum benefit...What we only know is that what happens is for the best, as my friend Benjamin Osorio used to say.

So going back to basics might mean finding the right wave to let ourselves be moved by, something familiar that without noticing it, move us on! That is why I am loving zumba...once you warm up without realising it, you keep doing exercise for the fun of it!

Ok, if Cesar asks me again: Do you have any prediction? I will play it safer this time and will tell him that each of us will find a good way to live 2010... We just have to swiftly try some new things, and keep an open mind on what will come (in systemic terms this might mean understanding the waves we come across, our context, and our bigger systems, so that we become active parts of those). If I can aim to do some of this, I will personally try to flow swiftly, slowly but surely, that might also work when it comes to a big change. Often, we think we do not change neither personally or in our environment, only when others acknowledge it we then start believing that change really happened.

Support, belief, finding the right way. And trust...have I missed any other 'basic' thing?

5 December 2009

(IT) Asset management: Fighting recession?

In the last month I have listened to several people whose expertise and ideas seem to be currently converging to one interesting idea...

The current economic crises has taught us that there is no capital to invest. In both IT and the property sectors and worldwide, lack of capital has meant that invesment has been reduced considerably. Consequences in the supply of manufacturing and construction materials have been seen. Many companies are fighting to keep orders from customers whilst the latter are more reluctant. Those with some capital (i.e. banks) are also reluctant to let it go. Governments are spending capital trying to keep people in jobs and with benefits. Those wanting to buy properties are being held back, because it is not certain that their capital is going to be productive in the long run.

So those with capital or assets are seizing an opportunity. To 'lease' products and goods. In the IT sector, I heard that some companies are lending capital to their customers so they can buy IT goods and services; and pay a lease premium. In the automotive sector, this way of 'owning' cars has been around for several years. One does not own a car, only until it is fully paid. The property rental market seems also to be growing in certain countries or has positively influenced the lack of deep problems (debt). In this case one should not have to own a property. As long as there is a good agreement between parties, one could stay in a property as a tenant for several years...

If this is the case, and as long as the financial aspect of 'leasing' keeps customers happy with the arrangement (so that we feel that we are getting a good deal and that possibly we are 'buying' what we pay for, then the desire to own things could become secondary, and with it the need to invest capital in owning and paying to maintain such ownership. Some customers who already own 'old' assets could be supported so that they could maintain these assets and possibly upgrade them gradually. As Jay Forrester once suggested when talking about regeneration of town centres, he was saying that those who owned listed building could be allowed to lease them at a premium, part of which could be dedicated to fund renewal and maintenance of the building.

IT companies could then need a new type of professional: an asset manager, capable of ensuring good service and upgrade, and serving customers in a long term relationship. Such a manager could also attract capital from those that have it, so that new assets could be bought and administered. Those individuals wanting to set up an IT business could think of setting up collective assets (e.g. portals, websites, shared data processing centres), bring several customers and investors under one 'hub', and run it efficiently and effectively. Or perhaps they can also work on enabling better recycling of IT goods.

Will this happen...? maybe, but it depends on what we think about 'ownership' and what we want to do about it. Personally, I think t can take an act of faith in many respects and a re-setting of our priorities in life. Collectively, this means we really need to start caring for relationships.

2 November 2009

Russell Ackoff 1919 -2009

Just heard the news that Russell Ackoff passed away on the 29/10/2009...

My first thoughts went back to Hull, where I had the pleasure and honour to meet him. He was very friendly, straight and challenging. You could not stop questioning yourself after listening to him...

When I first met him and told him about my PhD, he asked me straight away: "So why do you think your planning exercise became difficult to implement?" I said, well, people think in different ways to being systemic. He said "maybe you have not considered the wider environment in which your organisation is in".

I finally understood what he meant when he brought the case of a multinational farmaceutic company which was focused on growth rather than on development. In this case he told us how he suggested to this company to think of the local communities where they were operating (environment), with a view of promoting their development. For Ackoff, focus on growth was the wrong way to improve. An organisation that does not consider the society in which it is in, is operating in a way unethically.

After one of his talks, I managed to convince him and Vince Barabba to follow me on an 'unofficial' visit to the university, and I took them to the students' canteen and the library. Ackoff did not understand why the staff members had a different canteen. He brought that up in his next talk. For him, a university could be more of a community, although he also said that it was in the university where security was first established to protect the 'foreign' scholars from the locals.

Ackoff also spoke about courage, and how we need it to promote more systemic thinking and change (specially when we dissolve rather than when we solve problems). We know there are many ways to design changes, some which are systemic, some which are not, but whatever approach we choose to use, we need courage to make things happen, belief in ourselves, and determination. Just today I was talking to my students about courage, to bring technology into place, to add value to their organisational processes.

Thanks for all your ideas Russell...for interactive planning (IP), and for your courage...we will miss you greatly!

7 October 2009

Systems Practice in the Information Society


Finally, my single authored book has seen the light of publication.
I thought I should write something about it for anyone who might be interested in systems thinking and information systems.

It is the result of thinking about my own practice in the last few years as a project manager, PhD student and researcher. The book aims to give audiences a general idea of systems thinking and how it can be applied through different methodologies in situations (not only problems) which we can encounter in our efforts to improve society with information.

The book defines three types of patterns to inform our practice. I have found these patterns present in the thinking of different people when it comes to implement information technology in various ways, ranging from transactional systems to customer databases and electronic government systems.

I have been searching for ways to make systems thinking more accessible to people without having to refer necessarily to philosophy and debates over the true nature of systems. The book provides examples and conceptions to help us understand what to do with the main ideas of systems, and how methodologies already developed in this area can be put to the service of collaborative work between individuals who share similar thinking patterns.

Currently I am using the book as a complementary text in my courses, and refer to some of the material that I have used. I would like to continue sharing ideas outside the systems thinking community with people working on public policy, information systems, electronic government and corporate social responsibility.

Somebody told me when I started writing the book (January 2008) that it was going to be difficult to reach different audiences, in particular those of academia and industry. I was lucky to get the book endorsed by individuals from tboth of these communities who see new ways to inform systems practice and projects. The concepts and patterns in the book could inform our thinking or our practice. My guess is that some people will give me their views after reading the book on how useful they find it.

On the issue of patterns, I have used them to write about how e-government is conceived of and implemented. Kevin Orr and I have written a paper in the International Journal of Public Sector Management on the use of these patterns to understand e-government development in a country like Colombia. We found these patterns very interesting to inform future design and action, and in particular to help audiences see the limitations and possibilities of current plans and projects in this area.

Where to from here?

Well, I am enjoying the moment, but it feels like I have closed a cycle which began possibly in 1997 when I listened to policy makers in Colombia talking about the information society and I felt that we could improve our thinking about it. I found systems thinking to be a good vehicle to do it. On the way I have found e-government and others as key areas where I can also make a contribution with ideas and practice based on systems. My guess is that I will still be using systems thinking in some way or another. In my current rol I find it useful to help me balance management and IT-based perspectives about situations. From here, perhaps a more critical research agenda can follow. My friend Foucault seems to be calling me again to help me re-think my role as a researcher and citizen in the global information society. Will tell you later how this invitation unfolds...

Details of the book can be seen at:

http://www.ewidgetsonline.com/dxreader/Reader.aspx?token=beMupvWMTeeOQpuXR5uDwg%3d%3d&rand=1409328941&buyNowLink=

16 September 2009

In the balance - Where are we going with social networks?

I have recently seen discussions on the use of social networks for marketing purposes. This not only involves companies advertising on sites like facebook, but also many organisations putting themselves to be followed via twitter and the like. Newspaper websites (we could consider them for a while social networking) all have adverts (on the side of a page or appearing when you click on things). The social interaction is mixing up with advertising.

Advertising of course is a form of social interaction, but with some science behind (hopefully, without aiming to have a go at advertisers). There is always a continuous battle of spaces between advertising and social networking. We have heard this week that in the UK the ban for TV programmes to use adverts in their content (for instance a soap opera character drinking a coca-cola and showing it) has been lifted. A colleague who is expert in marketing suggests this is a positive move, given that the advertising industry is in need of new channels, and that audiences are mature enough not to be totally driven by what adverts suggest (you drinking coca-cola because your favorite TV character does it).

Things are still in the balance. Whilst advertising tries to catch up with audiences, audiences always devise new ways of socialising without the intromision of advertising. It would be better if we understood a bit more the complexities of both. Just learned that advertising on the internet has different revenue models if you are hosting a website. You can charge advertisers for the space, for the number of clicks on their ads, or for the redirection that you give to potential customers to the advertisers own sites.

Also learned today that sites like facebook are finally breaking even (if you do not count capital investment), and could be making money soon. How? self advertising (advertising to those fitting the profile); selling advertising space to direct users; virtual gifts (linked to the real ones); micropayments (small transactions if you buy real gifts).

mmm, it sounds to me similar to what I heard in a conference last week about the credit crunch structure: you have a portfolio of income sources, some of them riskier than others. That is all fine up to the point where there is a big external change. In the case of the credit crunch, there was a drop in property prices (big external change), so even if you had the best portfolio of mortgages (in terms of risk), your losses came from all products. The customer does not see a good value in what you offer. What could this mean for sites like facebook? It needs to be careful not to lose its appeal as a social networking site, not as a commercial site, that is to people like me a good value. Or maybe this means that any big change can come at any moment, and in a couple of years time we will not be thinking of facebook, maybe something else. If this is the case....things are still in the balance, hopefully for good.

30 August 2009

Systemic connections, and health







It is official, a picture of a molecule (carbon nanotube) shows connections with atoms (hydrogens) and the like. The guys from IBM research have done a fantastic job showing us this!

Connections might be temporary or permanent, in this case I guess they have to be created continuously, that is the life of the molecule.

Life at this microlevel tells us about things. For me it tells me that once certain connections are established, they might last for a life time, and that other connections are to be kept.

Today I was reading some information about asthma, and how it can be prevented. Habits of prevention and treatment are to be acquired and followed. This creates connections between certain stimuli (weather, pets, dust) and reactions (narrowing of airways in the lungs). Treatment and both prevention also requires people to create connections within their life style: treatment inhalers, cleanness, and prudent exercise. These could be considered connections for life.

Ah, and forgot the role of stress. This can also generate symptoms of asthma, and it is important to work on the causes of it.

Our current economic climate could be the trigger of these stimuly and symptoms. Uncertainty of what is to happen, anxiety to keep a job, the need to know about but also put up with news, and even things that become too bureaucratic can put us at bay and in a kind of 'vigilant' mood. Experts like Al Siebert in his book "The resilience advantage" tell us that too much strain due to things like this without proper recovery can lead us to weaken our whole system of resistance to eventualities, or inhibit what he calls fighting back adversities.

So it is important to strengthen healthier connections in a good lifestyle. Good food, good excercise, good conversation, good working timetabling, good rest, and good state of mind can help.

Interestingly also, I found articles talking about successful project managers in the IT sector, talking about resilience. This could prompt us to relate good project skills to those of good lifestyle connections.

My job now is to look for my own balancing connections, and to infuse a good balance in the life of the IT and management students I encounter.

See ya!

21 July 2009

Where is home?

The whole thing about buying a property brought me to think about where home is...

Lots of TV programmes in the UK are on the subject of buying your home, refurbishing your home, relocating your home, doing gardening in your home, finding cash in the attic of your home, and so on.

As far I understand, this way of conceiving of home is also about making sure your home has some value, and keeping the value of the home. In other countries things are different.

Those of us who have settled down here in the UK from abroad continuously compare our ideas with other people's. We think there is an element of 'passion' or 'feeling' which should be there, even at the expense of the financial value. Maybe we are all the same feeling, we live it differently (or we like to think that way).

Just now watched a programme on someone thinking of relocating home from Spain to the UK. It was a British couple with family ties and cravings here. After visiting both locations, thinking about what was best in terms of jobs, social relations, and general satisfaction, they decided to...Stay in Spain.

It was going to be a big sacrifice, it seemed, even in financial terms. After being away for a long time, they felt their prospects looked better there in Spain. When they communicated their decision to a crowd of about 30 relatives and friends in Sheffield (UK), they were booed. But some of them understood.

We grow as people in other places from where we were born. We become someone else, and become focused in certain things and relationships. These things and relationships are meaningful to us and probably to no one else. And this does not seem to depend on nationality.

We all seem to develop a passion for where home is and should be. But life is not easy in this regard. Home could be different homes.

And I bet there is something very deep in ourselves that keeps us more in one place than another.

"You are mistaken," the little girl replied, "I do have a home I just don't have a house to put it into." (http://www.aish.com/f/rf/48925647.html, accessed today).

3 July 2009

A new way to deal with things?

Today it has been confirmed in the UK that the Swine Flu pandemic cannot be controlled. In Argentina, reported cases have soared from 1957 to more than 100.000, after results of elections suggested that apparently the government was witholding information. I did a search on contingency plans being put in place in the UK, and to my ignorance, there were lots of policies, concepts and strategies already defined. It could be that some of these plans are now in place, and we see now a face of 'treatment' rather than containment. Then I checked the following map on swineflu spread, and still it looks 'containable' within geographical boundaries:

http://www.swinefluworldmap.com/

However, let is imagine we cannot control the virus spread. This would change the panorama of things. But more importantly it would change the ways we deal with things. Perhaps with a more positive attitude? Perhaps with less panic and more humility?

We would need then to stop thinking about our ability to master nature, the environment or diseases as if they were in a lower ladder in the hierarchy of creation. It could be that nature is fighting its way out of our desire to contain it. Or it would be that we need to stop going over our own ability to live in the planet.

We would also need to reconsider our one-sided mentality about globalisation, if it has brought us some benefits but also the main vehicle for spread of things, good or bad. We need to accept the unintended of globalisation.

What about science, is it not coming too late to rescue...? Ok, we know a first vaccine is on the way, how will it be distributed...? To whom, where? I have heard someone on TV talking about how contingencies for flu treatment include having a 24 hour line to attend queries and prompt people to flu treatment drug distribution centres. Sounds great, the only thing is that there has to be a planned demand and supply...

In practice, we are a long way from that. This week I had a virus (not the swine flu though!) and I can say that although I have panicked, my treatment has been that of 'wait until it goes away', with some medicines. I went to see a doctor and then phoned another one. Their prescribed medicines which I did not have to buy via the normal prescription system, just turned up in the pharmacy and asked for them. Maybe doctors were advising me to relax, maybe not. I was not prepared to accept that I needed special treatment, but some bad nights have taught me otherwise. Now I am more cautious and in a way more humble, accepting that I cannot just contain my state of health to some days. Some of the flu recommendations have helped me, and I have been lucky to be able to take some days off work. I have been waiting for the virus to go away...for my benefit, and that of other people around. No point in denying it...

UK reports of casualties always highlight that there were previous health problems in all of them. Contingencies speak about controlling or acting rationally in the face of outbreaks. I just wonder if there could be a shift towards becoming more positive. Like my wife said in relation to the heatwave of this week: Why do we not take it as a good thing...? Whilst countries try to show they have everything under control, that does not seem to be the case. What to do if we get infected...? Will we accept it, will we be able to convince people to have their treatment and wait?

If we do that, maybe our way of dealing with it could change.

There is another dimension to the way we deal with things. Recently met someone from Mexico who alerted me to what someone told her about swine flu:It is better to be infected, so you get treated and hopefully you will develop defenses against it. Mexicans had to endure a slow down of their economic activity, given that this virus attacks young people. Some though actions had to be put in place, all led by central government and acting on national security level, to protect the economy, in other words to protect the young people. Interesting...positive? Maybe.

What we are coming to acknowledge is that our own systems of dealing with things (personal, local or national) might not be able to control everything, but in the attempt, we create anxiety, a feeling of frustration and ultimately of failure to 'master' what we should have mastered. But there could be an alternative of accepting and moving on with life as it comes every day. I just wish we could live our lives without worrying by the day on the new things that we do not know, but without having to become paranoid.

Shall we do nothing, or shall we do the minimal, or the humanly possible...?

30 June 2009

India: What I have seen


Many students, with lots of plans, goals, worries...
Many other people with a smile in their face...
others who are looking for a smile, or somewhere to sleep...
people who still want something from life...
they are willing to give me even a smile.




I saw old friends,
carrying on with their plans,
making the best of what life gives them,
with a smile in their face,
with a smile to share about past times.












Something tells me life will never be the same,
change will not be born out of guilt or not denial,
it is about about enjoying what I have set out to do,
back home smiles remind me that
God wants us to become who we really are, and no one else.

Today, at home life makes me think again...I have lots of friends, lots of things to go for,
to be happy, to enjoy and give thanks, and to be...myself.

16 May 2009

Expense claims and project management

This week in the UK, members of parliament (MPs) have been in the public eye more often than not.

The reason is that now the 'public' can see how MPs have spent taxpayers money. We hear stories of claiming money to pay for pools, manure, furniture, and even the cleaning of a 'moat' (in ancient times, castles defences included a moat which is a deep hole surrounding the castle and filled with water).

Fantastic stories I would say, and the public seem to be outraged if not dissapointed, calling for MPs resignation and even to a radical restructuring of administrative and autiding systems. But this contrasts with what I hear normally when we talk about public projects.

When we look at examples of projects like the millenium dome (now the O2 arena), Wembley stadium, Heathrow terminal 5 and the London Olympics village, they are being regarded as a kind of 'inevitable loss', in which money has been overspent. Public interest here takes a different form: it is not outrage, it is some sadness that complements a kind of pride being taken that these projects (will) provide something else: A good feeling, a sense that the public, country and nation are being served. That also happens in projects being undertaken by local councils (e.g. regenerations).

In the case of MPs expenses, we talk about thousands of pounds, maybe a few millions. But in the case of many projects, we are talking about many millions.

I really hope that this feeling of 'outrage' will be transferred in a positive way to project management. Not to say that we need to look after every penny spent in projects, but to be able to set the alarms and think of transforming the 'systems' in which we operate.

It may be the case that we need to think of other ways of enabling people to look after their invested money in projects.

Or maybe we also need to make project managers political figures, so that the public has an eye on them. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. I may have said something politically incorrect now. Not sure if bodies like the project management institute, or methodologies like Prince 2 would allow room for this. Project managers are supposed to be 'neutral', objective and cold blooded when it comes to deliver projects. But wait a minute. They are also supposed to exert their leadership skills and manage stakeholders. Mmmm. Is the public a stakeholder group? Or just a curious group that gets fed news...?

There is more to say about 'outrage' that meets the eye!

24 April 2009

Job Crisis? Keep Going!

Those of you who might think that life is better in other countries and that there is no struggle for living by the day, you should watch this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8015182.stm

After watching it, I have mixed feelings now. There is this pressure to do better in our careers, and to keep going (like the girl in the video). This pressure is different for everyone of us.

Career options are often not what we expect, and if we want to move we need qualifications. But more importantly we need stamina!

It is admirable from the girl in the video to still have stamina after weekly paying £46 out of £50 pounds in bills.

And yes, we have to keep going to pursue what we want to pursue in life. Even if this means giving up on jobs we could have. As long as we keep that in mind, there is always something to do, a job, including that of looking for a job.

Myself I am enjoying now working in academia and being in touch with people in industry. In this two worlds I can only say that what I see: Good people will eventually keep their jobs or get ones. These are people with stamina, desire, courage.

Often I wish I could have only half of the stamina that people like the girl in the video have...

23 April 2009

Free riders and plants: The apprentice


I have not followed much the current series of "The apprentice" (from the BBC), but in the few things I have come across (of course "The apprentice" is everywhere these days even if you are watching the morning news), there is a striking situation.


There are free riders. Those who do not put themselves forward too much, and criticise those who do so. One of them has been already 'fired'. He said that he did not feel he needed to give much to his group in a task, as he was not asked or encouraged to do so. As if you do not swim when your ship is sinking because the captain of the ship did not tell you loud enough "swim!"


But there is another profile who is not getting the right recognition. It is the people with ideas. Those who venture to suggest things (and it is only a few of them). Project managers have to take whatever ideas are on offer from these people. And it could go either well or bad. Yesterday it went bad for one of the groups, but there was only one idea on the table. And the project manager was 'fired'.


I call these people the 'plants' (according to Belbin's classification of team profiles). They grow ideas, they provide 'oxygen' for other people to breathe, and they provide the life in the room. But they need to be cultivated, nurtured and looked after (by a group), and their ideas shaped so that they can be implemented. That does not happen in the 'apprentice'. Plants' ideas are taken almost literally, without discussion, without effort from the free riders. It is a 'everyman for himself' game.


The other sad thing is that free riders will be discovered and if they think they are doing well now by hiding, soon they will be found out.


Anyway, plants, these are brave characters which should be identified, nurtured. And project managers can learn their lesson of having free riders and plants. Good plans help, free riders will definitely not!!

22 April 2009

The graduates in the city: How are they doing?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet some of the graduates of my current university in the city of London. And it was in the heart of the 'city', which means the financial district. A nice bar close to the Lloyds Building which is close to the Gurkin Building in London. Very nice atmosphere and we built up a good environment for conversation. Some of them shared their views on how the job market is doing, and it was nice to see people that work in different parts of London as well as outside the city.
I was positively struck by knowing that the graduates to whom I talked seem to be very flexible. Their degrees gives them possibilities to work in different areas. It could be that they do geography, biology, European studies or languages, physics or mathematics, but that does not stop them from working in areas like television, information technology management, financial analysis, business process improvement and even research funding.
What is also striking is to know that even despite what we see as a job crisis, some of them are thinking of changing careers. Either they want to travel, or they want to go back to university to enhance their qualifications. This is not the case of everyone, as some graduates are also cautious and would like to keep the job. But the motivation to change is there. Either because there is a perceived imminent 'redundancy' to be made soon (and we also met graduates who are actively looking for jobs, so the event was a good opportunity), or because they see themselves having a break to think and go to where they want to go. Two graduates I met want to work in areas in which they can pursue their interests in development, social responsibility and environmental management. One of the other graduates I met already moved from working in the financial sector to become a civil servant working with children and schools.
Our graduates remember a friendly university environment, a good place to study, meet people, party (of course!), fall in love maybe for the first time and then try to get the job they wanted to do in the first place. These things to me are still there. I feel we are a friendly place, we give our students options, and we also allow them to think about their interests. What I also learn is that our graduates still keep alive their passions, even if this means changing careers.
Maybe there is a lot that we can still do to help them to make sure they pursue their passions.









15 April 2009

Green IT or Green Behaviour?

I attended recently a conference of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC), it was very interesting and eye-opening experience. Interesting because I could see how sustainability is being practised in campuses, and how also systems thinking is making a contribution in education and in the design of sustainability assessment tools. An example is the project on sustainable IT in tertiary education (http://www.susteit.org.uk/). Its outputs suggest that sustainable forms of IT (thin clients, virtualisation of data, adequate and consciencious storage and energy management) could help in reducing the carbon footprint of institutions.

The experience was also eye-opening for me as an academic, because although action is being taken and action is suggested in the management of universities and colleges as institutions, there are two missing elements that could also contribute. I am referring to students and academics, and our behaviour towards sustainability.

Students are for the most part the inhabitants of campuses. We (I am also a student of French courses) come and go, we live in campus, we prepare consume campus products (not only lectures, parties, or meetings). We think our life in campus is temporary but we spend on average a good number of hours. We should do something about sustainability. Unfortunately this issue seems to be out of our life in campus. There are very interesting projects and ideas already happening in relation to recycling and cycling. Still there is a long way to go if we talk about shaping our behaviour in daily life. And there is a longer way if we talk about IT. So far campuses aim to provide many facilities and action is focused on energy. Behaviour is, as Andy Hix (our sustainability officer) and other colleague point out, the difficult bit to change.

A similar concern with sustainability surrounds academics. Some of us research in sustainability, but it can also be directed to what happens in campus. There is a growing area in relation to students behavior to sustainability. If we can link this up with how students use IT in relation to sustainability, I would have made my wish possible: To do research on IT and sustainability in an area which I have close to my interests. How about 'green' behaviour being shaped by IT and also in relation to IT?

Green behaviour is an area that we can research to see if those goals of sustainability can be better met. IT is now on the way, not only because IT consumes energy (and therefore becomes an area in which our carbon footprint needs to be managed), but also because it is something we all use in university campuses. Greener interfaces (friendlier, holistic, simpler), with greener hardware, and with tools that allow us to reflect on our greener behavior in a greener way...my God I need another coffee to keep dreaming.

Hopefully a good project will come out of this.

26 March 2009

Values diluted? Electronic mediation and transparency

Credit crunch is on the move. We hear about it, and just last week I came to realise how it is affecting real people. I say 'real' because the media hype does not help much to see the reality.

The UK property market (the little I know after searching for flats to let in one area and flats to buy in another) seems saturated. Lots of properties to let and to sell. Two main websites can be used to locate properties: rightmove and findaproperty. Both show more or less the same properties. Both offer maps and now street views. One of them can tell you about crime statistics and council tax rates, together with property sales in the area.

Other websites offer advice. Banks offer you guidance on mortgages. Others allow you to compare mortgage products. Even the UK government has its own website (financial services authority) to tell you more about mortgages, rates, and the whole process of buying a property.

Sophisticated websites, mapping technologies, even chatting facilities with advisors, with simulators about how much you can borrow, how much you will pay for your mortgage. That is all fine and well in a market that might not be saturated.

What websites do not show you (or do it in a very polite way with messages like "on behalf or the mortgagees we have received an offer of...") is the desperation of people. I went round two properties last week end which happened to be repossesed. It was disheartening. Seals around the fridge, freezer, evidence that furniture had been thrown away, and a feeling that once there was a home in there. Now I can understand why a prize awarded to a best photo taken in the US in 2008 showed how some owners left in a rush their property, as if they had been a bomb raid.

Electronic mediation would aim to be transparent, but at the moment is showing little of this side of the situation. Websites cannot show desperation and one wonders if they will ever do so. Of course we still need intermediaries (banks, property agencies and the like), because that is how we have built modern society. But we also need perhaps another type of intermediary which can show us the reality of those who have been negatively affected, we might be able to do something about their situation.

What can technology do? We can reflect the reality, and try to connect minds with hearts, problems with solutions. In my view, a more ethically driven intermediation for reality.

I know that this might sound idealistic, and that there are already questions to my suggestion. Some IT savvy people might say: Tell us more concretely what you expect us to do (for instance a website to share stories or to look for possible buyers, but this is what we already have in place). Well, the current situation is a cold call for everyone of us! All I can say is that there is an immense number of possibilities. I am not a prophet, only someone who has been looking at properties recently. We could build communities to share knowledge about how to beat the crises, to match needs with solutions. I have checked some electronic forums about the credit crunch. There are some which offer advice, others that have campaigns to reduce the price of property.

There could be a response to my request: Welcome to the market, this is how it works. People are driven by their own goals. My reply would be: Is this not what has contributed greatly to the situation we have at the moment? Can we not all think of not having the cake and eating it?

A more systemic response could be devised to the credit crunch: We all have a foot print in society, and perhaps it is time to review it. How we live, and how our single mindedness towards achieving certain goals might not be in tune with our wider environment.

20 March 2009

Patience

A quick note on research: Demands to publish and get money, the credit crunch, facebook, google, blogs, twitter, mobile computing and all these things we need to have are to be taken with patience. I was at an event yesterday in London, the topic did not have anything to do with all these 'inventions'. However, having had the chance to talk to a few people, it made me remember that it is not technology or very sophisticated knowledge what could save the day in research and make our lives meaningful. It is the human component.


We were talking about social research. There was not much difference in a group of around 20 people in relation to how we gather data. Not much difference either in our research questions (I am sure there are differences, but we had to show some degree of unique thinking when formulating them). Not even great difference in problems related to the use of technology in organisations. What made the difference for me...? I mean what is it that we do but we do not accept...? We all manage research in very similar ways when it comes to people.

We do research because we are patient, and because we develop long term relationships with individuals: with students (who could get us access to organisations or give us a research contract); with friends (who will also give us their views about relevant problems in their organisations when having a beer); with colleagues (from other universities within our country or elsewhere, and with whom we might feel a linguistic common ground). Some researchers would find it difficult to accept that relationships include those more intimate (e.g. the wife) in order to flesh out ideas, get access to data or even co-author research papers. Wives also get on board in trips to attend conferences or put up with mourning when things do not go according to plan.

We all try to influence others to get research done or published, some more actively than others. No need to claim objectivity so loudly.


So my learning has been that we can know more but we need to cultivate our garden as Voltaire would say. Using existing contacts, making new contacts we meet in events, and the odd adventure to engage into something new, exciting and risky, they are all part of a patient strategy. That is why research impact might take time to be cristalised in a project or assessed accurately.

Patience...? Need to think of those research questions harder now so I can see how valuable my own efforts before getting others involved.

Voltaire also realised that life puts us in situations we never expected to be. So it is better to make the best of them, but with patience.

2 February 2009

The unexpected: Are we prepared?

Recently I was delivering a course on complex project management, and I was asked the question: Should we embrace or manage the unexpected...?

Interesting question. I was trying to convey the idea that the unexpected happens and in your projects we consider some contingencies, but never the unexpected. Why? Because we plan based on experience. Traditional project management techniques deal with risks by identifying them, prioritising them and then designing control responses.

That is fine and well, only if we identify risks. And we are told that we should talk to those 'experienced' people in order to do so.

The problem is, the unexpected happens with no previous experience. Complexity theory seems to point out that we live in a complex world where small events trigger much bigger ones.

This would work well if we are aware of the small things, and we are able to foresee connections with potentially bigger events.

I can only say that we need to embrace rather than anticipate the unexpected. In projects, this would mean that we need to make cushion for exiting the project or taking it to a different level. We need to keep communication channels open, be able to raise alarms (as cyberneticians would suggest), and have some time and room for maneuvre.


Thinking back again of the unexpected this morning (snow in England, we thought the worst of the winter season was over), it also seems reasonable to ask continuously the question: How heavy do we become that we cannot embrace new things...? Perhaps our luggage is heavy and does not allow us to carry other things. We have heard of the importance of emptying our minds so as to allow new thoughts to be nurtured. Maybe this is why some systems thinkers are now into meditation and spirituality. Francisco Varela wrote about that in his latest book "The Embodied Mind". It is about how we become part of something in the world (what we observe), and perhaps the message for the unexpected is about how we can become part of something else.

My project management students must be wondering why I say these things, and if I have some recommendations to give. Well, researching into tools for modeling and remembering what my good friend Nick Davey said about projects, it is important to prepare the mind to map certain connections between aspects we perceive as important in projects. This is done in projects, but my suggestion is then to map connections and see if they have become too heavy that the unexpected does not have any room. We love to make things complicated, maybe we need to start letting it go abit so that we can respond to new situations.

So the suggestion is: Download freemind mapping software (freemind.sourceforge.net), choose a project or a situation that is in your mind, draw connections between aspects, and see if you have become overprepared, overconcerned or over knowledgeable about it. It might be time to forget it all and draw on a blank canvas!!









To see the diagram, double click on it. I am learning to use free mind! In this project example of off-shoring operations (something that many companies are doing now), I leave room for the unexpected, which could lead us to review what we do in relation to the expected! It might be we need to offload some things we are doing, whilst enhancing the 'informal' (communication, self-organisation) and the learning about the future. Hopefully these things could help us to deal with the unexpected. If not, well, we might need to accept things as they come: "What happens is usually the best", as a good friend used to say.

1 January 2009

Good 2009 starts with the present

The year has already started. We (me, Mauricio and Cecilia) are watching TV whilst each of us begins to make sense of this year.

Yesterday we were in Guildford and enjoyed the final countdown of 2008:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KZaObHa8Mq4


For many people 2009 will be great, for others not so much so. I have listened to the end of year's speeches by prime ministers, presidents and the like. It is going to be tough, they say. This makes me feel excited but also thinking of this new year as a very fast and furious ride. Some of my predictions are:

  • The year could be good for certain countries. My bet is on Brazil. LatinAmerica is not yet there in the crunch (is it?). Or maybe we live in permanent crunch. Making some adjustments is part of the day to day.
  • Those people with a credit-based lifestyle will suffer. My bank still wants to sell me a credit card and keep asking me why I do not have one. Why should I have it if it is not my money I am spending? (I learned this from a good Colombian entrepreneur).
  • The clothes, the laptop, the gadgets, they can still last for another year or at least a few more months. The car, you can get a used one. Unless you go to a war zone with your car, it is likely to last too. I found a good mechanic near where I live, it helps to keep the car in good shape.
  • Another prediction: Education could become an opportunity to look for new horizons. Formal and informal education will be on the rise, but also in the form of alliances. Imagine being employed by a company that employs you and / or pays you bit less but part of the salary is a training course. So this year could be a year of transition. For both employers and employees.
  • An academic prediction: Management research funding could take unexpected routes for development. Projects with research outputs to be taken back to Uni; mediation between projects and solutions; and use of technology to facilitate communication between remote locations, these could help. Now that research assessment is over, we know where we can improve, and what the reality of good research is. Time to look for better and possibly inexpensive ways of producing good research.
  • Community groups and organisations will play a more prominent role in society. They can become employers, places of encounter, or creators of new forms of working and helping each other. I am not sure if we can include things like co-operative banking here, but this one will also help people to beat the credit crunch once we realise money does not grow on trees neither by doing nothing. If only we could think of money differently, this year could be better.

  • Technology will continue surprising us. But it is now people who will make the difference. Companies could turn the crises to their advantage. But so far I have only heard use of technology to cut costs and make efficiencies. Mmmm...is that the only story...? What about re-using, re-combining, centralising, de-centralising...? Or just making it last a bit more...? Some investments are not expensive and could help. This can include for instance technology recycling...We seem to have forgotten about the green planet.
  • People will find ways to acquire and use technology. I just found an ACER netbook for less than £300. OK, it does not have the latest OS but it looks much better than a new brand, smaller& more expensive one. Mind you, now we are talking about netbooks and notebooks, and the latter still are useful. We could make better designs with the technology that we have without having to change technology for the sake of it.
The future is the result of our present. So let us see what kind of present we want to live. Good luck to all of us!