Jan 2, 2013

Seven years ago, we started talking about social media in HR.  I remember this at a conference and nobody got it.  In fact, pretty much all the HR people said that it was a bad idea, it was not for the workplace, and it would just get us into trouble.  The concerns may have been justified at the time, and it was worth taking a less risky stance. Five years...

Dec 12, 2012

As of about 2003, I don’t think I could live my life without my devices.  Back then it was the blackberry and laptop.  Now it’s my Android phone, iPad and laptop.  If I lose my phone, I’m basically dead in the water – no contact with the outside world… I’m totally cut off.  When I’m waiting for the train, I’m reading my daily dose of news. ...

Dec 10, 2012

Techniques being used to find and hire talent have changed significantly in the last few years and it’s quickly moving toward a social process. According to a survey from Jobvite, 92% of companies in the US used social platforms for recruiting in 2012. 73% successfully hired a candidate through social media – a drastic increase from 58% in 2010. Needless to...

Dec 5, 2012

Just a couple years ago, my parents came back to the US after years of being overseas missionaries.  They have been in Siberia, on a random island in the Pacific, etc… and they came back to a world where cell phones were ubiquitous and information was accessible everywhere.  My father is now over 70 years old, and he loves gadgets and toys of the electronic...

Oct 17, 2012

Testing is one of those things that I would not only be bad at, but I would rather loath to do it.  The infinite detail of what the task entails along with the endless permutations that are possible makes testing seem like an impossible task to me.  I really just can’t focus for as long as it takes.  Thankfully, I’ve always had people who could actually...

Sep 20, 2011

Lance Armstrong was a US National Champion and a World Champion long before he ever won seven (eight?) Tours de France.  The man was always known in cycling circles as the next big gun in US cycling.  In one race (San Diego I think), we were riding a horrifically fast pace, many of us in the pack heckling Lance often simply because he was a captive audience,...

Jun 23, 2011

Is it Gallup that has the “Do you have a best friend at work” question?  We’re so into doing employee surveys to measure employee engagement.  They provide us with a statistically validated measurement of our workforce once or twice a year.  We can look at the engagement studies, and if we have any luck at all, capture some high level data about the...

Mar 23, 2011

So, I used to write this blog for me.  Honestly, I could have cared less that anyone was reading it.  It has been a great exercise for almost 6 years – forcing me to continuously thing and read and research.  I’ve enjoyed writing over 1000 posts and think of it as a fairly significant achievement.  But I’m quite honestly tired of it.  I no longer do...

Jun 9, 2010

I’ll have to be honest – I’m having a really hard time with some of the new technology.  I’m supposed to be a technologist and be up on all the latest stuff.  But I find myself at odds with some of the theory and philosophy.  There seems to be an emerging sense of immediacy and generality emerging in communications that I don’t like, and this blog...

May 30, 2010

I’ve been away for a little while.  No, I have not been on vacation, or away from the country.  I’ve just not been writing.  I don’t know if other bloggers have this problem, but I don’t bother writing if I’m not “inspired.”  To be honest, I’ve faced this a few times in my career, and I’m not saying it’s a good...