“Is that a rabbit in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

We’ve come a long way, baby, since the days of boring old cell phones and television. It’s amazing how in just a few short decades, today’s technology has become so advanced that we are able to connect with LIVE video streaming anytime we need to. Right now, we literally have everything we need to run and operate a business in the palm of our hands. Since the first video phone in 2003, there are currently over 1.1 million users of video phones. Essentially, who needs paper anymore? The age of digital marketing is upon us.

As a matter of fact, I have everything in my pocket…all the time. The use of Web 2.0 and use of video on phones are prime examples of how technology has transformed lives, impacted all types of organizations and businesses, and is continuing to be one of the fastest growing marketing platforms in history.

It occurs to me that the written word doesn’t quite cover today’s topic, so here’s my take:

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5

Within the sound and fury of business communication, there’s a particular sort of mystification caused by the use and abuse of buzzwords. Whether you’re selling technical solutions, or something seemingly mundane, it’s easy to get caught up in the buzzwords that catch our ears at any given moment. There is a certain “buzzwords cycle” that occurs.

I’m labeling this the Cycle of Buzzword Oblivion:

• A new concept, business model, creation, notion, etc. takes form.
• Someone, maybe you, labels it with a snazzy phrase.
• If it’s catchy and timely, others begin to use it and it generates ‘Buzz’.
• As other players in your space claim their product or service has “It”, the meaning of “It” begins to morph.
• If enough different sorts or players claim to have “It”, the original meaning can be obfuscated to the point of oblivion. 

The question I pose to you is does your use of buzzwords actually hurt your message and leave your prospects in a fog? For example, “Cloud Computing”. I’m beginning to hate this nebulous phrase, because it obscures some very important details. If you’re speaking to a salesman and they’re touting Cloud Computing, there’s a good chance they’re blowing sunshine up your bum. It’s no longer USEFUL information. The term Cloud Computing has been bastardized to the point that some folks even use it to sell internal systems. (Keeping in mind the Cloud was presumed to be somewhere on the Internet physically separate from your business.)

How often do your marketing materials and proposals describe the effects of your product or service on the prospects business, rather than use buzzwords to fill up space or pass a litmus test. When buzzwords are abused in business, it causes prospect confusion and tempts the decision maker to play “Buzzword Bingo” instead of measuring each option against a list of goals.

For example, why might you need a “Cloud Computing” solution?

• Are you looking for global access from any browser? Then say so.
• Would you like to avoid an up-front investment in server hardware? Cloud Computing isn’t the only way to go, but in most CC solutions someone else owns the hardware.
• Do you need Virtualization of your servers?

The last option is a trick question and here’s why: If you’re outsourcing server management, virtualization may come into play. However, your evaluation should be focused on items that impact your business, such as cost and level of service. Virtualization is gee whiz cool, but in most cases it should only be considered based on how it affects the real criteria.

Ultimately, your conversations with either vendors or clients must communicate needs, cost, and value. Make sure you’re using words that explain rather than confuse. Otherwise, you’ve allowed yourself and your prospect and clients to play in the “Cycle of Buzzword Oblivion,” and no one has been done any favors.

To speak to software developers who speak business instead of buzzwords, give us a call.

I know it’s not just me. I know there are plenty of folks out there who are easily distracted. One moment you’re focused on a task, then all of the sudden, “SQUIRREL!” If you’ve seen the Disney film, Up, you know exactly what I’m referring to.  There are many great lessons in this movie, however seeing squirrel is one aspect of the film that rings true with me on a daily basis.  The dog in the film is able to talk due to a device on his collar that a mad genius invented and placed on him. No matter what the dog is doing, no matter how important the task, anytime a he sees a squirrel, he hollers “SQUIRREL!” and his focus shifts completely.  Now, this is funny, but the point here, is that he is easily distracted. 

How many of us have daily ’squirrels’ or daily distractions that keep us from any given task at hand? I mean, a squirrel could be an email, a text, an employee, a woman, ANYTHING that we see out of the corner of our eye that easily gets to us…good or bad.  I’m not saying that all squirrels are bad.  Some squirrels give us inspiration. We need the squirrels in our life, but we have to keep them in check. Ultimately, we don’t want the squirrels to cause dis-coordination, because dis-coordination can wreak havoc on the goals we set out to accomplish.

So, what if squirrels are not the issue? What if you deal with folks who thrive on tunnel vision, the extreme opposite? The place where they are so entirely closed off, almost too focused on the task at hand to really hear any outside input. People who are prone to this end of the spectrum can easily miss out on an opportunity to learn and grow that could actually help IMPROVE the task. I know I have dealt with people like this. They can be very frustrating to talk to. Perhaps they even ignore you altogether. Are there people like this in your life?

What I have found over the years, even in dealing with all my distractions, is there is a fine line to draw between chasing squirrels and developing tunnel vision. Seeing squirrels can create value. Recognition of the right squirrel at the right time is the key.

What do you value?

Are you part of the Social Media phenomenon that is Twitter? If you are, then you’re sure to have others ‘following’ you. Hanging on you every word. And of course the more followers you have, the more important you must be. Size matters and all that. Read the rest of this entry »

Vacation homes let us escape for a bit,
But the Grinch is so jealous, he just has a fit.

So while Willy was working and his back was turned,
The Grinch took some things that he hadn’t earned.
Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t fear change, as long as everything stays the same. – Neil Richmund

Fear

Neil was kidding when he said that, but it’s surprising how many business-people and employees really do fear change. For some, “we’ve always done it this way” is an automatic defense against new thinking. It shields them from the horror of having to learn new tricks and *gasp* potentially fail. At least they’ll have someone to blame, because you can be sure they didn’t author or support any attempt at innovation. Of course if something bad happens to the company, they didn’t do that either.

Change

In the situation I just described, innovation is new, scary, and infrequent. But what if you could work in a place where innovation is part of the daily routine, and everyone took responsibility for making improvements? Yes I know Utopia is a fictional place, but if you can embrace changes that make you and others more effective at work, how much more will you enjoy coming to the office?

I’m not claiming that every change is for the better, but you really won’t know until you measure, change, and measure again. Don’t blindly make a change without deciding how you’ll know if it succeeded. And just a little encouragement: If none of your innovations has failed, you aren’t trying hard enough.

Why Now?

Some say that a down economy is the wrong time to be experimenting. Bullshit. As Lorraine Ball says, pull your head out of the sand. This is the best opportunity in a generation to find out what really works. If you can create a culture of innovation today, you’ll profit from it for years to come. While others shoot themselves in the foot by pulling back from Growth Activities, you can change the playing field and blow by them.

Now don’t just stand there. DO something!

Our business relies primarily on word-of-mouth marketing via networking. When you’re seeking strategic partners instead of selling, it’s easy to answer the ubiquitous question “What do you do?” We’re a business technology company. We help staff spend less time shuffling data. We write custom software for Innovators. Pick a ‘Phrase du Jour.’

But when one of those connections leads to a referral to a company who may benefit from our services, I’m often asked “How should I introduce you?” It’s a hard question to answer, because I seek out companies who have problems we can solve. And who wants to be told they have problems?

My best answer so far is this: Our clients typically recover 10% or more of staff time that was wasted on juggling spreadsheets, chasing paperwork, or fighting with software that doesn’t really fit their business. I’d like my contact to suggest that Agile Reasoning may be able to do the same for them.

That’s very specific to us though, so let’s hear some more examples. How do you gently tell a business connection that their web site stinks, their marketing isn’t doing the job, their HR policies leave them exposed to a lawsuit, or make any other outsourcing recommendation where the ‘prospect’ may take offense?

Although I call myself a software architect, it seems I spent most of my time talking to other business people. I guess that could be because I gave myself the sales role in my company, but I digress.

About a month ago I connected two business contacts of mine. One had complained frequently about the lack of contact management software (CRM light) in her company, and the other (you guessed it) owns an entry level contact management web service. I felt good about making that introduction.

This morning I asked my software challenged friend how it was going with the new service. Not so good apparently, as she abandoned it after a brief trial. Her problems revolved around the initial import of her contacts, which surprised me because I’ve heard good thing about this service from others.

Here’s the bigger surprise. Her ‘import’ consisted of the contacts her predecessor created in Outlook. She personally never bothered to add to that list, and tracks newer contacts on paper. She isn’t alone in her situation, but I can’t wrap my head around wishing for a CRM system when you’ve rejected Outlook as a stepping stone. I’m not a fan, but it’s better than nothing.

This is one of the little things that makes my job ‘interesting’. If you can’t embrace a small change, a larger one is that much harder to digest. And the person defending the status quo doesn’t perceive the reward for their temporary discomfort.

As for ‘How many software architects does it take to change a company?’ Well, first the company has to want to change.

Sometimes dealing with a large corporation is dehumanizing. Other times it’s just stupid. This is an example of how bad processes waste everyone’s time.

My wife and I sold a house a little over two months ago. We paid the final bill from the power company through our bank’s epay system like every other time. So we’re good, right?

The following month we received a notice claiming the balance was unpaid. Something’s gone wrong, but it should be easy enough to resolve by phone right? Not so much. On calling customer service we was forced to leave voice mail. That seems a bit odd, but still no real cause for concern.

Until this month. We didn’t realize they never called us back until we received a notice from a collection agency. We called Duke, and again we were forced to leave a voice mail instead of talking to a person. The next call was to the bank, to see if they could shed any light. In reviewing the details of the ‘missing’ payment, here’s what we realized.

Duke Energy changed out account number on the final bill. CHANGED OUR ACCOUNT NUMBER! Of course the payment wasn’t applied correctly.

I haven’t had a chance yet to ask why a new account number was issued, but I suspect if I get an answer it will be some variation of “We’ve always done it that way.” As far as the unanswered voice mails? To paraphrase Ernestine the Operator, “We’re the power company, we don’t have to care.”

Your business processes are only good enough for today. As soon as you stop improving them, someone will eat your lunch.

Speed Kills?

We’re conditioned from an early age to believe that Speed Kills. Depending on your age, the phrases ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ or ‘55 Saves Lives’ may be deeply ingrained. While that may be smart thinking on the highway, here’s how slowing down affects your business:

• Slow processes = more staff, less capacity, or both
• Slow processes = having to call your customer back
• Slow processes = losing business to better-managed competition

It’s time to learn a new Mantra.

Speed Wins!

What do you measure in your business? Now how much of that is based on a unit of time? You can analyze those metrics to the point of paralysis. Or take action and pursue this simple goal. Make every part of your business faster.

• Faster processes = more revenue from the same staff
• Faster processes = more responsive to your customers
• Faster processes = beating the competition

How many ways can make your business better, faster, and cheaper to operate? Better software may be part of the solution, but only if it enables you to optimize your processes. Embedding a crappy process in an automated system only makes the software part of the problem.

Keep It Simple Silly

Don’t overthink this. Whether the first thing you need is software, equipment, training or something else, the plan is still the same:

1. Find the bottleneck.
2. Make it faster until something else is the bottleneck.
3. Repeat.

What are you waiting for?