CIO New Year's Resolutions, 2007

According Gartner :

Growing demands for business growth and agility, rapid development of consumer technology, availability of new infrastructure tools and accelerating evolution of IT organizations will make 2007 a dynamic and challenging year in IT management. IT leaders should adopt these 10 actions in 2007.

Trust Your Instincts - But Rely On Thinking

Many methods exist for making decisions. We have tools like decision-making grids and root-cause analysis. We have trusted friends and advisory boards.
We also have gut instinct and rational thinking. At the personal level, some prefer instinct while others like rational thinking. But why not use both?

By itself, instinct can be incredible. It's what sparks our imagination, enables our creativity, and takes us to new heights.

An example of being tricked by gut intuition is making a hiring decision based on instinct alone. The new person seems like the perfect fit - for a while. But before long he falls off the pedestal and his true colors show through.

Instinct is not error-proof, and that's why we benefit by using rational thinking. An example of this might be a businessman who is presented with the perfect business deal.
If he relied on gut instinct alone he would jump on it in a heartbeat.
But, after researching the deal more thoroughly, he discovers that if he engages the deal at the present time he would exhaust all of his current resources.
His instinct was right on the money. But rational thinking showed that the timing was not right, and he averted a catastrophic decision.

Don't get me wrong. We need to trust our instincts. They're powerful and can open many opportunities for us. But for optimal decisions we should weigh our instinct against our rational thinking.

Use tools, techniques, and advisors to help. But if advisors aren't available and you have a tough choice to make, consider the following two simple steps to help you make sure you're doing the right thing:

1. Take some time and map out your reasons for action.
2. Then map out the ripple effects of NOT taking action.
   

Bottom line:
trust your gut instinct; but also think things through.
With that combination you're probably making some pretty good decisions.

Three Powerful Ways to Prevent Boss From Hell Experiences

They don't work all the time :-) , but they work often enough to make things a little more bearable if you're burdened with a Boss from Hell.

Here are three:

1. Make him look good
Pretty much all bosses, including Bosses from Hell, respond well when you do and say things that make them look good.
Let them take the credit for the good things you do. Even better - give them the credit for your successes.
Don't worry about people not recognizing who's really doing the work. They know ;-).

2. Make him feel important
Want to have some fun with your boss? Praise him. Make an offhand comment about how much you've learned from him, or how good he is at something.
Then sit back an watch how his attitude toward you changes!

3. Don't talk about problems without already having a solution
Bosses these days are under a lot of stress relative to a decade ago. And every time someone comes up and says, "Boss, we have a problem," the stress just increases.
As the stress increases, of course, so does the Boss from Hell behavior.
Next time there is a 'problem,' make sure you tell your boss about it, along with a possible solution. For example: "Boss, we have a problem. I was thinking maybe we should do ... to fix it."
Assuming your idea is a good one, your boss will appreciate the effort.

By the way - don't feel that you have to wait for a bad boss to come around to try these techniques out. Good bosses will appreciate them as well.

Have fun!

SIX WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR NONVERBAL COMMUNICATIONS

It is not only what you say that is important, but it's how you say it that can make the difference . Nonverbal messages are an essential component of communication in a conversation.

We should be aware of nonverbal behavior for three major reasons:

• An awareness of nonverbal behavior will allow you to become better receivers of your partners' messages.
• You will become a better sender of signals that reinforce learning.
• This mode of communication increases the degree of the perceived psychological closeness between speaker and listener.

Some major areas of nonverbal behaviors to explore are:

1. Eye contact
2. Facial expressions
3. Gestures
4. Posture and body orientation
5. Proximity
6. Paralinguistics
7. Humor

Eye contact:
Eye contact, an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of communication. And it signals interest in others. Furthermore, eye contact with audiences increases the speaker's credibility. Speakers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility.

Facial expressions:
Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:

• Happiness
• Friendliness
• Warmth
• Liking
• Affiliation

Thus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling is often contagious and the audience will react favorably and learn more.

Gestures:
If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. A lively and animated speaking style captures the audiences' attention, makes the material more interesting, facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment. Head nods, a form of gestures, communicate positive reinforcement and indicate that you are listening.

Posture and body orientation:
You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit. Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Furthermore, interpersonal closeness results when you and your audience face each other. Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided; it communicates disinterest to your class.

Proximity:
Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with audience. You should look for signals of discomfort . Some of these are:

• Rocking
• Leg swinging
• Tapping
• Gaze aversion

Typically, in large college classes space invasion is not a problem. In fact, there is usually too much distance. To counteract this, move around the room to increase interaction with your audience. Increasing proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for the audience to speak.

Paralinguistics:
This facet of nonverbal communication includes such vocal elements as:

• Tone
• Pitch
• Rhythm
• Timbre
• Loudness
• Inflection

For maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary these six elements of your voice. One of the major criticisms is of instructors who speak in a monotone. Listeners perceive these instructors as boring and dull. Students report that they learn less and lose interest more quickly when listening to teachers who have not learned to modulate their voices.

Humor:
Humor is often overlooked as a speaking tool, and it is too often not encouraged in. Laughter releases stress and tension for both speaker and audience. You should develop the ability to laugh at yourself and encourage the audience to do the same. It fosters a friendly room environment that facilitates learning. (I play soccer and if our team felt/is successful I always observe the presence of good humor in the locker room.)

Obviously, adequate knowledge of the subject matter is crucial to your success; however, it's not the only crucial element. Creating a climate that facilitates learning and retention demands good nonverbal and verbal skills. To improve your nonverbal skills, record your speaking on video tape. Then ask a colleague in communications to suggest refinements.

Getting to Know People - The Ed Principle

Instead of trying to be interestING (focusing on the ‘ing’) be interestED (focus on the ‘ed’) in the person you are talking with. You don’t have to worry about what you will say (except for your brief pitch which comes later). In fact, you can make it a goal to talk as little as possible, I promise you will be remembered as a marvelous conversationalist. Memorize this phrase: ‘Tell me more about...’ and use it! Just relax, be yourself and listen.

A way to think about priorities and focus

“It's not what's happening to you now or what has
happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather,
it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to
you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine
your ultimate destiny.”

GUBU

Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre, and Unprecedented.
GUBU is a sort of maxim of political and corporate infamy, effectively invented by Charles, J Haughey, Taoiseach of Ireland (Prime Minister) for three separate terms between 1979-92. Charles Haughey became embroiled in several outrageous scandals related to abuse of his position and financial affairs, and when questioned on one occasion prior to his eventual fall from grace he responded that the accusations were "...grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, and unprecedented..."

GUBU has since become a popular acronym in Ireland, and I just want to post it here because the underlying meaning and message is obviously transferable to all sorts of corporate and political so-called leaders, who abuse their power and insult the intelligence and tolerance of ordinary people, and then shamelessly deny their shortcomings and deceit with the GUBU defence. (Ack S Doherty)