Five for Friday – 6/23/2023

June 23, 2023
Five for Friday

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. The Quad City Air Show happens this weekend in Davenport, IA. The headline act is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. I can't count the number of times I've seen either the Thunderbirds or the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. I've been to 20+ airshows in at least 8 states and hope to add to that list this year. I like technology. I can “talk tech” for hours, but nothing lights my afterburner like the sound of the “Sneak Pass” from the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels. Last week, I mentioned the mentorship program at my company. I talked with a great guy at work, looking at him as a potential mentor. We talked about how he got to where he is, and where I'd like to go. As we talked, I revealed what “lights my fire”. In his role, he's part people leader, part technical visionary. It's the future-looking “technical visionary” part that's the most intriguing to me. I'm most interested in the “next big thing” that will solve all our problems. What lights your fire?

I like to read actual books that you can hold in your hands, but I also have an Audible subscription. Between the books that I read and the books that I listen to while driving to/from work, or while mowing the yard, etc., I find myself getting through a lot more books. I just finished listening to the audiobook version of “Turn the Ship Around!”, written and narrated by L. David Marquet. I saw a video based on his book that someone shared on LinkedIn, which is what interested me in his book. Watch the video, then read or listen to the book.
No one likes meetings, but they are a necessary evil in many ways. However, they're not always structured for the right audience to arrive at a decision to achieve the desired outcome. Meetings should be for making decisions, not for status reports (put it in an email). I've always been a fan of creating an agenda for a meeting, but based on the latest post from Alan Page, maybe the right word is “outcome”. If you don't know what outcome is expected from the meeting before you attend, neither does anyone else so don't be afraid to ask in advance and share it with others.
“Eighty-nine percent of board directors say that digital business is now embedded in all business growth strategies,” and yet, Harvard Business Review reports an average failure rate of 87.5% for organizations with digital transformation goals. Is your organization going through a “digital transformation”? What part does cultural change play in that effort? Peter Chodakowski shares the “Importance of Cultural Change in Digital Transformation” in this short video. You can also read more about it in this blog post.
I've interviewed at a LOT of different places over the years. I can learn a lot about how to position myself better from the hiring research conducted by Chris Kenst from his new hires over the last few years. Check out his original findings and his follow-up post to see the data he collected. It could help you land your next job.
Is your team or organization overloaded? Are there so many dependencies between teams that no one can work effectively, always blocked by someone else? Are you constantly firefighting the same issues because there isn't time to fix anything? Check out these “Three Tips to Be More Effective” from Johanna Rothman.