Research, Technology, and Teamwork blog by Susie Wee : teamwork

Top ten tips for doing business in Asia

susie.wee — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:22:00 GMT

The NY Times published an article about President Bill Clinton’s visit to North Korea to meet with Kim Jong-il about releasing the two imprisoned American reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. The result was simple and surprising- they were released...(read more)

From Work-Life Balance to Work-Life Bursts and Work-Life Teams

susie.wee — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:20:00 GMT

From Work-Life Balance to Work-Life Bursts and Work-Life Teams I was reading a colleague’s post on work-life balance , where she was referencing Jack Welch’s statement that there is no such thing . Those who know me would certainly laugh if...(read more)

Teamwork: Recovering from mistakes

susie.wee — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:23:00 GMT

I just played in two women's ice hockey tournaments in the last two weekends. We competed at a Women's C level in the first tournament (MLK tournament in San Jose) and at a B level in the second tournament (in Las Vegas!). Perhaps you can guess the result- we won the first tournament and we lost the second tournament.

Needless to say, two back-to-back weekends of hockey tournaments creates lots of good teamwork blog material. I'll just start with one for now: Teamwork is about recovering from mistakes.

Let's face it- everybody makes mistakes. In every second of every shift of a hockey game, you can do something brilliant, do something catastrophic, or do something somewhere in between. You will make mistakes. In fact, if you don't make mistakes then you may not be taking enough risks or working to the peak of your ability.

So, the question is what happens when you do make a mistake? Of course, you should get back into things and try to recover (it doesn't help to get down on yourself in the moment!). In addition, this is where teamwork comes in. When you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world. Rather, it's an opportunity for your teammates to shine! If your teammate makes a mistake, then you have an opportunity to shine!

Here's an example: I was playing center. One of my defenders went into the offensive zone to make a play, so I covered back for her. Then there was a turnover. The other team got the puck and their forwards started skating towards our goal. Since I was covering for the defender, I started backing up to cover the play, while thinking hard about being in the right position to cover them. I was feeling pretty good and I was ready for the challenge of breaking up the play on this odd man rush. Then, out of the blue, my skate caught an edge and I fell backwards on the ice. My heart sunk. I thought "Oh $@#%%! They might score!". I turned over and saw the other team skating hard towards the net. Then, all of sudden, I saw a streak of my teammate's jersey. She was backchecking hard at full speed... she caught up to the player with the puck... took the puck away from her... and broke up the play! Yay- they didn't score! Meanwhile I got up and jumped back into the play and the game continued on.

I was really proud of my teammate who totally rocked and saved the team from my mistake! Also, I think that even if my teammate didn't break up the play, there was a really good chance that my goalie would have saved the day since she was also playing a great game! Of course, I'll try to make fewer mistakes and stay on my skates next time :), but it's great to know that I can count on my teammates in times of trouble.

This is just one split-second example of a teammate covering for another teammate's mistake. In a fast-paced sports game, mistakes and recoveries happen all the time- even every few seconds. Sometimes it's blatant and sometimes it's subtle. The main thing is that it's all about teamwork- you work to the very best of your ability for your team, and if you or a teammate happen to make a mistake, you get out there to help recover from it and drive forward to create the next great play.

An added bonus is that by knowing that I have great teammates who can recover from mistakes, I know that I can take bigger chances on high-risk, high-reward plays. And, I hope my teammates know that they can do the same since I'll be covering for them.

Another added bonus is that every time the team makes and recovers from a mistake, the team grows stronger! It makes teammates appreciative of each other, trust each other, rely on each other, and gain confidence that they can get through even tougher situations together.

The example that I gave was a very blatant and visible mistake and recovery that happened on the ice. Note that mistakes and recoveries happen off the ice as well- in between shifts, in between games, and in between tournaments. In addition, mistakes and recoveries happen in work and in life, and teamwork can help with the recovery. Do you have any great mistake and recovery stories in sports or at work or in life?

Feel free to leave a URL with your comments.

Bully friends

susie.wee — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:38:00 GMT

In a prior post I wrote about the deceitful group that was tricking me into running up hills for long distances. The status of that is that I continue to fall for their trickery and deceit every Saturday morning (which doesn't bode well for me). I guess you could call them trickster friends. But, this post is not about them. Rather, this post is about another personality type I call the bully friend. A bully friend is someone who bullies you into doing things you would not normally do, and makes you grow as a result. For example, a bully friend of mine somehow bullied me into running my first running race last weekend- the US Half marathon in San Francisco.

Warning: This post will meander a bit between a work post and a personal post.

My college freshman roommate, Julie Ask, registered me for the US Half marathon for my birthday. (Hint for identifying bullies: Is that really a birthday gift?!?) She's always been a bully that way, roping me into all sorts of things, so it's hard to tell if she's really a friend. Yet, we've remained "friends" for 21 years. Fortunately, she got me ready for the race. She sent me to the running store to get properly fitted for shoes, and I learned that my shoes were two sizes too small- ouch! She bought me some Gu to keep me energized throughout the race. She bought me some Glide to protect my skin. She got me some hair bands to tie up my hair. She bought me a race belt to hold my number. And, she had a carbo-loading pasta party the evening before the race so that I would eat properly and at the right time. Basically, she exhausted any excuse I could think of to get out of the half marathon. I guess that's what bully friends are for.

Julie wisely said that our goal was not to finish, but to finish healthy. Like the deceitful Saturday morning trail runners, I think she's trying to trick me into running another race some day. So, she set us a modest goal of finishing in 2:15-2:30. We ran with Julie's brother and another friend, and the four of us decided to stay together for the race.

On race day, she picked me up in a cab from my sister's apartment in SF. We got to the starting line early and stretched out. We had our first Gu 15 minutes before the race started. At 7:00, bang, we were off. Out of the gate, lots of people ran past us. Julie wisely said that our strategy was to let people pass us at the beginning, but then to pass them at the end. So, we were patient and kept a comfortable pace.

The sun was shining when the race started. The view of the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, and all of SF was beautiful in the morning sunlight and throughout the race. We started at Aquatic park and had the excitement of the race crowd. We ran across Chrissy field and had a beautiful view of Alcatraz and the Bay. We did a couple loopty loops in Golden Gate park. We ran across the Golden Gate bridge and had beautiful views all around. On the far end of the bridge, we ran down to the ocean and climbed back up the hill to get to the other side of the bridge. We ran back over the Golden Gate bridge and saw boats and their wakes in the water below. Thanks to Julie's experience of knowing where the camera men would be, we struck a hang-loose group pose for the camera man as we passed him on the bridge. We ran back along Chrissy field where Julie's brother's wife met us at mile 10 and handed us the most delicious Twizzlers you ever tasted! Then, we went over the baby hill at Fort Mason and crossed the finish line in Aquatic park. We finished comfortably at 2:19 according to plan. Since this is my first race, I was told I get to call this a personal record.

We walked every water station and we Gu'ed every 45 minutes, i.e., we did whatever Julie told us to. For some reason I kept floating forward and thank goodness Julie kept reeling me back. As a result, we were all pretty comfortable for all 13.1 miles. I usually get sore around mile 9. But, thanks to Julie's pacing, the trail running, and my new shoes, I was pretty comfortable until the last baby hill at Fort Mason. Julie's strategy worked… people passed us at the start but we mostly passed others in the 2nd half of the race. Our loved ones met us at the finish line. We achieved Julie's goal of finishing healthy.

Let me show off about my bully friend a bit more. By day, Julie is a vice president and research director at JupiterResearch. She is their analyst in charge of wireless and mobility and she has a great blog. In addition, she is a Toyota sponsored endurance athlete as part of their viral marketing campaign to push Toyota hybrids, think renewable energy -- environmental-friendly cars -- endurance athletes. She does all sorts of crazy events, like triathalons, half marathons, soccer, ice hockey, and swimming (I'm getting tired typing them!). When she does her races, she wears her Toyota sportswear to represent the brand and she posts a little story about the race. Her bullying certainly pre-dates the Toyota sponsorship, but as you can tell she's a great representative for them. I'm just lucky to have her as a bully friend.

So, why did I write this story on my work blog? Because it shows another example of how teamwork can be used to help individuals stretch and grow to achieve things that they never thought they could. Julie had a plan and I grew as a result. She pushed me hard enough to take me beyond where I would have gone on my own, but she pushed gently enough to make sure I finished healthy so that I'd do it again. Julie achieved her goal of delivering me back to my loved ones in a healthy state. I achieved her goal of completing my first half marathon with a healthy finish. At the end of the race, she gave me permission to run faster next time (actually, she said she would give me a longer leash).

Are you lucky enough to have a bully friend?
Are you a bully friend to someone else?
Have you used the bully method to help someone grow at work? (I also call it the tough love method.)

Please feel free to leave a URL with your comments.

Little surprises

susie.wee — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:28:00 GMT

As you may know from a previous post, my newest hobby is trail running with a group of great people. We go every Saturday morning at 7am. It's earlier than I like to wake up, but once I get a little coffee in me and start driving over, I start looking forward seeing my new buddies and catching up. Well, this Saturday morning I was running a little late. I drove over to the trailhead and got there at 7:10. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, but I pulled up and noone was there. Darn, I missed them! Unfortunately, the trail splits in many different directions at this particular trail head, so I had no idea which way they went. I was disappointed, but then started running up one of the trails alone.

Well, I think trail running with a group is really fun, but I have to admit that pounding my way up a hill by myself is not nearly as fun. So there I was, running up the hill, step by step, slowly making my way to the top. I was hoping to bump into them, but it was quiet and they were nowhere to be seen. I continued uphill for a few more miles and still didn't see them. I took my best guess and went along a route where I thought we might intersect, but I made my way around and I was still alone. I got to a point where I realized we should have passed by now. So, I finally gave up and accepted that I missed them. Oh well!

Since I was at the top of the hill, I decided to make the most of it and run over to another vista point so that I could at least get a great view of the bay. I turned up the trail and pounded along step by step. All of a sudden there were a few runners coming towards me on the trail. We started to gasp hello at each other (as trail runners do when they pass each other) and... SURPRISE... it was them! I was surprised! They were surprised! It was such a spontaneous surprise that we had big smiles and high-fived each other. What a treat! After our happy reunion, we ran the second half of our trail run together and made our way back. (Actually, we had a nice little adventure on our way back, but that would qualify for a personal post).

Well, as you can guess, I'm writing this in my work blog because it got me thinking about analogies to work. Can you think of situations where you are heads down into your work, pounding away on something for hours, days, or weeks. You're working hard, engrossed in a problem or project, just working away. You get so immersed and focused that you start to lose track of what's going on around you. You might even be stuck in a rut and not realize it. Think about the impact of a nice little surprise! Maybe someone brings you a cookie. Maybe someone takes you out for a cup of coffee. Maybe someone simply takes a minute to stop by and and ask how you're doing. Maybe someone finds an excuse to have a little celebration for you. All of a sudden you have a little surprise that pulls you out of a rut and brings a smile to your face. Then, you can get back to what you were doing with a renewed energy and perspective. Wow- the impact of a little surprise!

In my little story, the surprise was serendipitous. But, a little surprise can be just as impactful when someone plans it, especially when it has a personal touch.

I've been the lucky receiver of a few little surprises from friends and colleagues in the last couple weeks. Thank you! I've been the giver of a couple little surprises, too.

Have you had an experience where you had a little surprise- serendipitous or planned- that pulled you out of a rut?
Have you ever given someone a little surprise to help pull them out of a rut?

Here's a little homework assignment for this week: Find someone who might be stuck in a rut, and give them a nice little surprise! Then, come back and tell me about it.

Feel free to leave a URL with your comments.

Clashing leadership styles

susie.wee — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:48:00 GMT

I went to Leadership Boot Camp (my own name for an intensive HP Leadership Development program) earlier in the summer with a number of senior leaders from across the company. The class was mostly VPs with a few directors. As part of the program, they have assessments to help you understand yourself better so you can be more effective. In one exercise we answered questions and then were assessed according to four styles of leadership. We were each characterized as having some percentage mixture of the four styles. People ended up with one or two dominant leadership styles. Here are the four leadership styles:

Directive: Leadership style is driven by taking charge and getting things done. Directives are known for moving things forward competently and quickly.
Principled: Leadership style is driven by principles and perfection. They strive to develop thoughtful solutions based on principles.
Accommodating: Leadership style is driven by considering other people's needs and feelings. They are caretakers who work hard to make sure everyone feels good all the time.
Analytical: Leadership style is driven by data, facts, and analysis. They control their emotions and use numbers, data, and logic to make their decisions.

This is how our class did: Over 90% of the people were "directive". A couple people were "principled". Nobody was classified as primarily "accommodating", though many people had this as a secondary leadership style. A few people were "analytical".

The class was mostly VPs, so having so many "directive" people made sense. As you can guess, our classmates from finance, accounting, and IT were "analytical". It turned out that I was one of the two people assessed as "principled".

The assessment was followed by a discussion about what happens when people with different styles work together. Let me know if this situation sounds familiar to you... It certainly resonated with me!

Basically, the directive people are focussed on getting the task done, and they make decisions quickly to reach that goal. The principled people are focussed on creating the best solution, even if it takes a little extra thinking to come up with it. When working together, the directive people keep charging forward and making quick decisions while the principled people keep raising questions to make sure the solution matches the principles and reaches perfection. Tensions can arise when the project is under tight deadlines and the quick decisions don't match the principles. Basically, the principled people start getting frustrated at the "rash decisions" and the directive people start rolling their eyes at the "redundant discussions", thinking "why are we discussing this again?" Meanwhile, the analytical people roll their eyes saying "it's simple, we just need to follow the data. What's the problem?" And, the accommodating people are stressing out trying to find ways for everyone to get along. Uh-oh! The tight deadlines are causing a clash of leadership styles!

Does this situation sound familiar to you? Do you have any examples to add? How do you get out of this situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let's have some fun with this one!

Please feel free to add a URL with your comments.

Deceit, trickery, encouragement, and teamwork

susie.wee — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:11:00 GMT

I somehow got mixed up with a bad crowd- a very bad crowd- a trail running crowd. These people are crazy. They see a hill and they want to run up it. They like running half-marathons and marathons. They run at a moderate pace, sauntering along and stopping to regroup every so often, but they just keep on going up and up and they seem to be able to run forever. They think a 6-mile run is short, and they say things like "only 6 miles". They hate running on flats because "flats are boring". What can I say, they're crazy.

I got mixed up with them about a month ago by mistake. Now I just follow them wherever they take me. Before meeting them my longest run was 6 miles on flats during small time windows in my life of peak fitness. Last weekend they tricked me into running 8.5 miles, which was easily my longest run ever. Yesterday they tricked me into running 13.5 miles to 2000 feet elevation. Yes, we stopped to regroup every so often. Yes, I was practically crawling at the end. But it was longer and higher than I ever planned to run during my entire lifetime.

Afterwards I was sore... very sore... and I told my friend how far we ran and how sore I was. He said, "You didn't know that you were going to do that beforehand?" I said "No!" In fact, I didn't know how far or how high until we got to the top, actually, I didn't know until we got to the bottom and finished and they started clicking away on their little GPS gadgets. But my friend's question made me think... Often times if you are going to do a big ambitious challenging thing, you would know about it in advance and get yourself prepared and psyched up. You would train for it (perhaps for months), you would eat right beforehand, you would probably spend a good number of brain cycles fretting, and you might lie awake in bed a little nervous the night before. Well, since I didn't know what we were going to do, I didn't have to go through any of that. From my perspective, I was going out for a little jog on a trail, and it accidentally lasted longer and went higher. I didn't have to plan and worry about it beforehand. I just had to do it.

Okay, why am I writing about this in my work blog? Well, it's because it didn't actually happen purely by accident. I'll exagerrate a little bit, but basically, the team has a few schemers who tricked me into it. I think I was duped.

Barb turned back early because she only planned to do a "short run" (think "only six miles") since she was recovering from the first part of laser eye surgery and couldn't see depth. After we were just a couple miles into the run, Barb's parting words to me were "This hill goes up just a little more and then it's all rolling hills... You're gonna do great at this trail!" and then she turned off. So, I happily jogged along thinking it was "just a little more" uphill and the peak was just around the next corner. In reality, that "goes up just a little more" was about 4.5 more miles and 1500 more feet. She tricked me.

Dennis is another tricky one. He uses that "a little more" phrase quite a lot as well. When we're at the juncture where we're about to do a really steep and hairy section, he just smiles kindly giving no hint that something really bad is about to happen. When I first met the group, he sent me an extra email with directions to let me know where they will meet, and during runs he gives all sorts of compliments and encouragement. During a run he changes his pace to help out and encourage anyone who is having a hard time. As you can see, Dennis is another one of those people full of tricks and deceit.

Tim, Scott, Mary, Gerald, Cathy, Ruth... They're all guilty. And, they each do their trickery in different ways about different things... For example, one will tell a joke or talk about good food during a hairy part of the climb, again, just trying to trick you into lasting longer. As you can see, it's just a bad crowd.

Or, I guess I could take another perspective. The group is full of mentors, coaches, and great team players. In fact, they're almost a perfect team. What makes this group into such a great team?

They strive for ambitious goals together.
They encourage, motivate, and support each other.
They push ahead and then wait for each other.
They welcome and develop new people.
They develop each other.
They help each other through the challenging times and are sensitive to each others' needs.
They figure out and say what each other needs to hear during times of challenge to get to that next level, whether it's the truth or a little white lie.
They mentor each other without wanting any acknowledgement or credit.
They turn their individual strengths into their group strength.
They like each other, have fun together, and celebrate each others' accomplishments.

Again, they don't seek credit or acknowledgement when helping each other out. But, since I figured out their trickery and deceit, I'm calling them on it here!

As you can guess, I'm writing this here because I think this applies to work and your career. It doesn't matter what job, experience, or skill level you or the person you are talking to have. You can always give a little encouragement and coaching. Don't worry about being noticed in the short run... you absolutely will be noticed and appreciated in the long run!

Have you motivated someone today?
Have you encouraged someone today?
Have you mentored someone today?
Have you helped someone with their development today?
Have you helped someone be better than they ever thought they could or would?
Have you ever been tricked, deceived, motivated, and encouraged into doing something you didn't think you could?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Please feel free to leave a URL in your comments.

Friendship skills at work

susie.wee — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:27:00 GMT

David Maister has an interesting post on using friendship skills as a strategy at work. David's target audience is people in professional service firms where clients are your key customers. He suggests that skills that make a person a good friend will also make a person a good consultant for your clients. I think it's a very interesting perspective and I agree with it. In fact, I think it's brilliant! And, I think it's good advice for anyone who is trying to have a successful and impactful career.

We hear about the importance of leadership, teamwork, collaboration, building networks, and personal effectiveness. But to explicitly call out friendship skills takes this to a new level.

True friends:

believe in each other
have a good time together
are honest with each other
are proud of each other's success
go to extremes to help each other without hesitation, even if it means making a personal sacrifice
have reciprocal relationships that result in a win-win for everyone
give each other the benefit of the doubt
tolerate mistakes and are ready to forgive
go out of their way to make up for mistakes to regain lost trust

When I think about it, my most effective work relationships have many of these friendship properties. And, when I think about, the biggest accomplishments I have seen come from teams with many of these friendship properties.

I'm not saying that all your coworkers should be your closest friends. But I am agreeing with David that friendship skills can be important factor for career success.

What do you think about using friendship skills at work?
What do you think about developing friendship skills for your career?
Which friendship properties are most useful for work?
Are there other properties of friendships that are useful for work and your career?

Tags: friendship skills, teamwork, career advice, David Maister, HP

Please feel free to leave a URL in your comments.

Top 10 things you can do to make a meeting successful

susie.wee — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:25:00 GMT

I've been in a number of fun and productive brainstorming meetings at work this past week. The people in the meetings are from different parts of the organization, so some people know each other well and some are meeting for the first time. There has been a lot of energy in the room and people are openly contributing their ideas. At the end of each meeting, I discuss our next steps and ask people if we should have another meeting. The answer keeps being "Yes!". A few people have even said "This is fun!".

This makes me think about what is making these meetings so productive and fun. My mind keeps going back to one explanation- it's the people. People are coming to the meetings with open minds, and they are also coming to the meetings "ready to have a good time". Since these are brainstorming meetings, the success of these meetings really depends on the people, their attitudes, and their ideas.

I put together a list of the top 10 things you can do to make a meeting successful. These tips apply to brainstorming meetings, but to meetings in general. These are extracted from the behaviors I'm seeing from my colleagues. Thank you, team!

Be ready to talk. Be ready to listen.
Be ready to contribute, both during and between meetings.
Be ready to create a great result.
Be ready to collaborate.
Be ready to meet team objectives and goals. Be ready to go with team decisions.
Be ready to share your best ideas. Be ready to accept and build on other people's ideas.
Be ready to have your ideas supported. Be ready to have your ideas shut down.
Be ready to argue politely. Be ready to concede.
Be ready to be positive. Be ready to have a good time.
Be ready to energize yourself. Be ready to energize others.

Note that the last two tips are perhaps the most important. When you come to a meeting with a positive attitude and ready to have a good time, you not only bring your own positive energy to the group, but you also have the effect of energizing others. This energy builds and helps create the dynamic collaborative environment needed for new ideas to flow and for the meeting to be successful.

Have you been in dynamic, creative meetings?
What were the key factors for success?
What do you think of the items on my top 10 list?
Which ones do you agree or disagree with?
Which ones are the most meaningful to you?
Do you have any to add?

Tags: career tips, successful meetings, brainstorming, creativity, collaborative dynamic environment, energizing others, HP

Please feel free to leave a URL in your comments.

It's a multilingual world- I feel so left out!

susie.wee — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:26:00 GMT

I am very fortunate that the nature of my job lets me meet and work with fantastic people from all over the world. One thing that many of these people have in common is that English is not their first language, though they speak and understand it perfectly. Actually, that's not my point. My point is that "some other language" is their first language, and that "other language" is one that I don't understand, and this stops me from being able to share their primary world.

These friends and colleagues use web sites in their first language for their first source of news, blogs, and social networking services. Some of them join in the english-language social networking sites as a secondary site just to see what's going on with their english-speaking friends. But the primary sites where they post most of their own content is in their home language which I can't understand and can't access. I feel left out!

Here's an interesting little tidbit from last year: According to a Technorati study from 2006, 37% of their tracked blog posts were written in japanese, and 36% were written in english. Unfortunately, 64% of the Technorati-tracked blogosphere is in a language that I can't read... And it's probably larger if you take the blogosphere as a whole. I feel so left out!

I wonder what percentage of the world's web content is written in languages that I don't understand. I'm not sure how to measure it, but I'm sure it's huge. I wish I had a way to read or understand some of it. But how?

I am trying to learn a few other languages. But, I'm not particularly talented at it and I'm not hopeful that I'll be able to get to a stage where I have good comprehension skills any time soon.

What percentage of the world's web content is written in a language you don't understand?
Do you feel left out like I do?
What should or can we do about this?

Tags: communication experience, multiple languages, multi-lingual, web technology, social networking, blogging, feel left out, HP

Please feel free to leave a URL in your comments.

Are you here or there?

susie.wee — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 06:57:00 GMT

You know the person... the person who is always looking at their cell phone or PDA, checking for new messages, stepping out for phone calls, busily pounding on their laptops responding to their emails, even when they're in small meetings. The person is very busy, always moving, and always has so much to do, actually, too much to do. The person is very important and juggling many things. I'm sure you know the person I'm talking about. Maybe it's a colleague. Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's you. I know that often times it's me.

We spend so much time being connected and building close relationships with people who are far away. Then, we go to the effort of reserving time to be with them and traveling to see them. And when we finally get there, instead of focusing on them, we dive into our connected mobile devices and start communicating with the other people who are now far away from us, those who we're virtually connected to.

In other words, instead of focusing on the people who are HERE, we focus on the people who are THERE. And, when we get THERE, that becomes our new HERE, and instead of focusing on the people who are in our new HERE, we focus on the people in our new THERE. It's a vicious cycle!

Perhaps you have figured out that I'm a big fan of being connected. I love the new communication experiences that technology has enabled. I love creating the technologies that enable them. I love the fact that I can communicate with people by email, phone, video conferencing, blogging, social networking, and instant messaging. I think the experiences and technologies are immensely valuable and that we should keep developing them as fast as we can.

But, as people, we have to learn how to manage ourselves in a world where these technologies exist.

Do you know someone who is stuck in the HERE-THERE cycle? Are you?
Where do you live? HERE or THERE?
How do we manage ourselves in a world of communication technologies?

Tags: communication experience, communication technology, multitasking, work-life balance, overload, focus on people, build relationships, HP

Please feel free to leave a URL in your comments.

Are we communicating if we bypass our senses?

susie.wee — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:32:00 GMT

Communication is a person-to-person interaction. Communication involves one person conveying a message and another person interpreting the message. This can be done by talking/listening, gesturing/seeing, and writing/reading. Technology makes it possible for people to communicate even when they are far apart.

Sqchen raised some interesting points in his comment on my post on today's communication experience. He observed that communication uses the senses of sight and sound and asked what senses will be used next. He raised the possibility of having a communication chip implanted in you brain that allows you to automatically communicate with other people through their communication chips "without bothering our eyes", or more generally, without bothering our senses.

This makes me think about a few questions are:

Are we communicating if we bypass our senses?
Is communication about the information or about the experience?
What do you gain or lose if you communicate with communication chips instead of natural human senses?

Take a minute to think about your answers to the questions..........

OK, here's my take on the three questions- in reverse order:

What do you gain or lose if you communicate with communication chips instead of natural human senses?
If we communicated through communication chips instead of human senses:

We would be able to convey factual information more quickly and accurately.
We would be able to convey visual thoughts more easily and accurately. I'm specifically calling out visual information because pictures can be hard to describe in words, so this would be a great advantage.
We would not be able to convey or interpret feelings. Could a communication chip convey feelings and experiences? (I don't know how human senses relate to human feelings.)
We would lose the deep understanding that occurs when you think through and discuss a topic for a long time. Could a communication chip provide deep understanding?
We wouldn't have to work at formulating words around our thoughts. My thoughts could be zapped over to the other person, including the visual imagery that I have in my head. In fact, this would be very helpful for me right now since I'm in the design stage of a kitchen remodeling project-- this involves a lot of visualization and communication.
We would lose the learnings we get from going through the thought process of figuring out how to effectively communicate an idea. Thinking about how to communicate an idea, for example, when giving a presentation, leads to deeper thought and understanding. Could a communication chip instill deeper thought and understanding?
We would lose the person-to-person experiences that we get when spending time together. The person-to-person experience allows you to get to know each other, to get to know how well you get along with each other, how well you can brainstorm together, and how well you can work together.

Is communication about the information or about the experience?
I think conveying information is just one aspect of communication. I think a bigger part of communication lies in what you gain from the experience, such as gaining a deeper understanding from discussing different aspects of the topic and in getting to know the other person. I think human senses and intuition are a big part of communication.

Are we communicating if we bypass the senses?
In conclusion, at this point I'd say No. If we bypass our senses and use a communication chip to to communicate, we would be able to convey information, but we would not be able to communicate.

Well, that was my first take. I'd love to hear your thoughts on these questions!

Tags: communication experience, conveying information, deep thought and understanding, HP

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Don't forget to breathe

susie.wee — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:50:00 GMT

Sounds kind of silly out of context, but those of you who work out know exactly what this means. When you're doing something tough at the gym like lifting weights, doing pushups, or striking a strange yoga pose, then it's kind of natural to hold your breath and stop breathing. If you're lucky, you have someone nearby who will remind you to breathe. And, if you do breathe, then the oxygen will flow through your body, your muscles, and your mind and you'll be able to perform better, think more clearly, and last longer.

It's funny how something so natural (actually, required!), such as breathing, gets completely forgotten when you're doing something hard!

This makes me think about what other otherwise-second-nature things we forget to do when things get tough at work and in our careers.

Let's make a list together- I'll start!

Don't forget to breathe: This applies when you work out, but this applies to work too. If you're in a situation where you're getting nervous or emotional inside about something, then take a deep breath, regain your composure, and then find a way to approach it constructively.
Be polite: When things get tough and you are working towards a tight deadline, the first thing to go might be your politeness. You don't intend to be mean, but others might perceive your actions that way. So, even when things get tough, remember the basics: Say Hello. Ask nicely. Say Please. Say Thank You. Smile. Share.
Tell people where you're going: When you start getting on a roll or getting busy, your tendency might be to concentrate on the tasks at hand and forget to tell people where you are going, both physically and in your mind (your co-workers are not mind-readers!). At home, you probably tell people when you're going to the store, going on a trip, or going to work. Do this at work too! Tell people when you're going somewhere physically, and tell them what you did when you get back. And, tell people where you are going in your mind, for example, what you have planned for the meeting objectives and what you're shooting for in your career! (I forget this one all the time.)
Express yourself: Say what you want. Say what you think. Say what you're worried about. Now, don't be the ultimate complainer and don't be such a doubting Tom that you bring everyone else down. Life's too short for living life that way, at work and at home! But you can be professional and let people know what your concerns are and find constructive ways to solve them.
Call for help when you're hurt: When you physically get hurt, you probably yelp or make a face and you probably ask one or more trusted people what you should do about your injury. If you injury is serious enough, you probably even go to the hospital or see a doctor. This applies to work too. If you get hurt at work, find a trustworthy co-worker or boss, let them know what your injury is, and ask them for advice on what you should do.
Tell people what you're thinking: Ask questions when you don't understand something. Speak up when you have an opinion. You probably do this with your friends and family. Do this at work too.
Ask for directions when you're lost: Okay, maybe this is not second nature for everyone. But it does help to talk to people about your career and your goals, and to ask for directions. If you feel lost in your career, don't worry. I have a secret to share- everyone feels this way at times, even the most seemingly successful people you know, including your VPs and CEOs! It helps to talk to people because 1) it will actually make you think about what your career direction and goals are, 2) it will encourage the other person to share their insights with you from their perspective (maybe they will even share their own career direction and goals with you!), and 3) you won't be going through all this alone!
Take trips: Every so often you get to the point where you need to take a break and you go on an outing or a trip. Maybe you go on a long vacation, maybe a weekend trip, maybe a day trip, or maybe just a couple hours out. You might be visiting somewhere new, trying out new foods, relaxing, or being adventurous. Afterwards, you're probably glad you took the time to take the trip. When you're at work, you should do the same. Take a trip and visit somewhere new, e.g., visit a different business unit, a different company, or talk to someone in a different job function. Just try to learn something new. This will be refreshing, and may give you new ideas and insights on how to do your own job better.
Celebrate! In real life, you celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and you probably toast the little things. Do this at work, too. Celebrate your and your co-workers' accomplishments, however big or little. [Contributed by Brent Vallat.]

Let's flesh out this list together!

Do you find any of these tips helpful?
Do you agree or disagree with any of them?
Do you have suggestions for other tips?
What other otherwise-second-nature-things do we forget to do at work and in our careers?

I'd love to hear your ideas!

Tags: career advice, work tips, breathe, HP

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Erik Mazzone's Top 10 Tips for Meeting Etiquette

susie.wee — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:40:00 GMT

One of the best things about blogging is virtually meeting people who you never would have met otherwise. Erik Mazzone is one of the interesting people I've been very glad to meet along the way. He has an interesting blog that I really enjoy reading. It's a funny connection because of our different backgrounds. I'm a research lab director, and grew up in the research and engineering ranks. Erik is a career consultant for lawyers, and was a practicing lawyer.

Erik works daily with lawyers. I work daily with technologists and business people. We resonate with each other on many of our posts, but a funny thing happened. I posted my "Top 10 tips for how to talk in groups" and invited people to make comments and add their own tips to the list. Erik came in with a very different set of tips!

My tips were geared for the quiet people who have great ideas but have not yet mastered how to insert themselves into a group discussion. This reflects the state of many researchers (and people in general) who I know, so I was basically encouraging them to speak up more. Erik's tips (you can see them in the blog post comments) were more geared for talkative people who tend to speak up a lot, and perhaps even too much. They were geared for a very different audience and work environment. We started talking, and I thought it would be good (and fun) for him to make a top 10 tips list, too. He came up with a great list which I call "Erik Mazzone's Top 10 Tips for Meeting Etiquette"! Enjoy!

Quiet people- Go to my tips!
Talkative people- Go to Erik's tips!
Everybody- Take a peek at the other tips!
Let's have more productive meetings together! :)

And, if you are yet another type of person- then help us understand your type and maybe we can turn it into another set of tips!

So, here are a few questions:

Which type of person are you? What do you think of your tips?
What do you think of the tips for the other type of people? Any tips to add?
What are you your experiences of being in meetings with people of the other type? Be honest (and funny, if you like)!

Feel free to comment on Erik's blog or here... We will stay linked.

Tags: top 10 tips, meeting etiquette, how to talk, group discussions, talking tips, quiet, talkative, career advice, Erik Mazzone, HP

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VooDoo acquires HP!

susie.wee — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:56:00 GMT

I've worked at HP for over 10 years, and I love HP and its core values and its culture. HP continues to evolve organically and through mergers and acquisitions, some big (Compaq) and some small (VooDoo). Amazingly, HP's core values strongly live on... and its culture grows with each acquisition.

It's been amazing to have VooDoo join HP and watch our combined company grow. It's no secret that VooDoo co-founder Rahul Sood loves HP Labs. I'm the lucky lab director who cares for much of the cool research that Rahul loves!

We started to put HP Labs and VooDoo together before we (HP Labs) knew about the acquisition. We had some technology that we were developing for the HP Halo business. Then our then-secret HP gaming guys led by Phil McKinney came by and asked us to apply our technology to gaming. My researchers pounced on the opportunity, working day and night to modify the technology for gaming and create a working prototype. They flew the prototype to NYC for a mystery event. At the event, they found out that it was to announce the HP acquisition of VooDoo! Our technology was demonstrated as part of the announcement. My researchers were pumped!

Immediately following the announcement, Phil brought Rahul to HP Labs. HP Labs instantly became Rahul's sand box. I had a lab offsite the following week, and I invited Rahul and the HP gaming folks to attend. Rahul gave one of his killer talks which instantly show what Rahul and VooDoo are all about. It was such a perfect match. Rahul believes in passion, technology, and innovation. HP Labs researchers believe in passion, technology, and innovation. As Rahul said, "it's like we were separated at birth".

The one thing that is different is that Rahul pursued passion, technology, and innovation as a gaming entrepreneur while the HP Labs folks pursued them as researchers. Put the two together, and you have quite a combination!

Rahul's energy is infectious and the HP Labs researchers are energized. Rahul and HP Labs truly want to get HP Labs technologies into VooDoo products and customer hands. VooDoo provides us with a whole new avenue for technology transfer, and this excites us! On top of that, we have a large underground gaming community that now gets to pursue gaming for their day jobs. Yes, our gaming community is ecstatic... and growing! Managing research is about aligning passions, and I can safely say, we're aligned!

HP Labs and VooDoo are working together on a number of projects. HP and HP Labs have embraced so much of VooDoo's culture that we can say "VooDoo acquires HP!"

Tags: VooDoo, HP Labs, gaming, culture, passion, acquisition, Rahul Sood, HP

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