No Sh*t Shirlock

Don't you just love it when you see a report on the news or read an article in the paper that states something that is already completely obvious? I remember hearing a report on CNN a few years ago that espoused the benefits of exercising. In fact, I think the report said that exercising will likely increase your lifespan. When I heard that definitive line from the anchor's mouth, my mouth dropped down to floor. Of course exercising increases your lifespan. I don't think that people exercise with the intent that they keel over after. Although, every morning after I run I feel like keeling over.

Now that I'm thinking about it... I also remember hearing a story that said something like eating healthy and exercising has been PROVEN to reduce stress. Well DUH (I would like to use another phrase but I might get in trouble for naughty language). As if I and the rest of frickin humanity didn't know that. I now have the expert opinion of CNN's medical correspondents to make me sleep better at night knowing that my exercising is actually helping me instead of killing me. When I read the article "Working Together...When Apart," I had a similar reaction.

Generally, I enjoy reading top-ten lists. I find them interesting and insightful when they relate to something that I care about. I work for a fairly large (4,000+ employees) international corporation spread over four continents so I really do appreciate the convenience of virtual teams. And since I'm working remotely, I can really appreciate the value of instant communications tools. And this article did a good job at summing up some useful tips when creating virtual teams but there was one thing that should not have been put on that list.

Before I go into more detail the bad tip, I did find the overall article interesting and well thought-out. I thought that tips seven and ten were the most important in their impact on me. I agree completely with the idea that you should not force virtual teams to meet together mainly since it is not a practical endeavour most of the time. I also think that using volunteers is a great way to motivate people to work on projects that they are interested.

BUT, the one thing that made my mouth drop open this time was tip nine. Tip nine states that "ensur[ing] that the task is meaningful to the team and the company" is essential. I would imagine that most people reading a publication from MIT would be smart enough to realize that corporate teams should already be working on meaningful projects for the company. I detect a little CNN here people.

Actually -- I am grateful that MIT told me about tip nine. Finally, I can sleep at night knowing that the market research work I did for VeriSign was actually BENEFICIAL to the organization. Man I'm glad I decided to work on that instead of with the group whose job is to decide what tile colors go best in the bathrooms. MY GOD!!! Next thing you know, they're going to start proving that employees who are happy are more productive! Or that higher sales and lower COGS will result in higher NI!!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!!

Thanking the Man (kinda) and Mobs for Morons

Hey everyone! I hope you are all having a great Labor Day weekend. I just finished reading the Harvard Business Review article on informal network. I thought it was fascinating to read about all the different people that make up these "underground" networks. It was actually fun to read about the different people and then figure out who in my organization is like that. I work for an Internet security company (I think I mentioned it in class last Wednesday) and there was one person that really exemplifies one of the positions within the network.

The article stated that there is a central connector within the org that everyone gossips to. There is a guy in my group who fits that description perfectly. Everyone (including myself) always goes and chats with him. He and I would always talk and joke about whatever came to our minds (it helped that I used to sit directly across from him). He is a very charismatic and likable guy. He and I really developed a rapport which was helped -- I think -- buy the fact that we were the two youngest guys in our group (and row). Everyone would talk to him and he would go out of his way to events that happened in their lives. In fact, he seemed to remember everyone's name who worked in our building which is no small accomplishment since there were at least 300 people in our building and probably half of their names were difficult to pronounce.

I also read the Mobs book but I made absolutely no sense to me. I think it said that the more complicated networks get the more they fragment but that could just be my toddler-like interpretation of what seems like a very complex issue. I think it is very fascinating but I think that the book is written in a way that makes it very difficult for me to understand it. I don't know about any one else but I for one am happy that we have multiple reading options open to us...