Friday, March 21, 2008

Layers of security or storming the castle The current thinking on cybersecurity is layers of protection. Jim Cahill over at the Emerson Process Experts blog has a great summary of the topic. Even if he is a marketing guy for Emerson, the commercial is only at the end. Worth a look. 1:32:26 PM    comment []

Write a good business plan Here are some thoughts about business plans from Found/Read and Sequoia Venture Capital. If you're pitching them, they like an entire business plan in as few words as possible. 15-20 slides. The entire list is here, but to whet your appetite (I think this is good for review for all of us--especially me): Company Purpose: Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence. Problem: Describe the pain of the customer (or the customerâo[dot accent]s customer). Outline how the customer addresses the issue today. Solution Demonstrate your companyâo[dot accent]s value proposition to make the customerâo[dot accent]s life better. Show where your product physically sits. Provide use cases. 1:29:26 PM    comment []

Mobile life The iPhone now supports Microsoft Exchange server. Time to ditch the Blackberry? On a related note, I've been a loyal Palm user for over 11 years. I'm up to a Treo 755p. Wish I'd have kept all my old ones. Could start a museum. Anyway, since becoming an editor 10 years ago, I've used it much like a tablet PC. But Palm just hasn't kept up. The handwriting recognition doesn't seem as fast as it did on previous models. The whole thing seems slow. If I set the email up for push the battery doesn't last an entire working day--let alone a whole day. I'm starting to feel separation anxiety. Should I go Blackberry and then <gasp> paper and pen for notes when I can't use the laptop? Maybe it's time for an iPhone? I love the iPod Touch. What are you using? How many will switch to iPhone? 1:24:26 PM    comment []

Interesting automation Web site I was looking at the list of Website referrers to Automation World and discovered a new Web site and blog that's pretty interesting. Tim Young's PLC Development. Some good engineer jokes, too. He teaches PLC programming among other things. 1:05:40 PM    comment []

Emotional intelligence It's Good Friday. For those of us who are Christian, that means it's a good day for reflecting on how we're living our daily lives. At the risk of being called sacreligious, here's a post from Zen Habits that I think is something we all need to consider. It concerns emotional intelligence. I was once a manager for a company with an ambitious HR department. It had a team that reviewed research (and conducted research) on management and traveled to various plants giving seminars. One such seminar has stuck with me for over 25 years. They put a 2x2 matrix up with the axes labeled "feel for people" and "intellectual control over emotions." So you had good/bad with good/good at the upper right quad, of course. But what research showed was that the "feel for people" didn't really impact what people thought of their supervisors. The determining factor was control over emotions regardless of whether the supervisor was a people person or not. I have not read the article having seen only reviews, but the current (or recent) Wired magazine has an article about how some leaders are admired even though their people skills suck. Think Steve Jobs. So, go back to control over emotions--and perhaps vision. Which is 1, 2 and 4 below. Think about which of these you need to work to improve this year. From Zen Habits: Awareness. Recognising individual emotions as they occur, understanding why they occur, and understanding the effects (both good and bad) they have on you. Control. Resisting impulses and urges (delaying gratification), remaining calm even as chaos ensues, and always thinking clearly when those around you canâo[dot accent]t. Assessment. Knowing strengths and weaknesses, learning from mistakes, and constantly striving to build on what you have in an attempt to make yourself better. Vision. Creating a sense of direction in your life, having the foresight to anticipate problems/needs before they arise, and paying attention to the details. Creativity. Thinking outside the box, developing a tolerance for ambiguity, and maintaining an openness to change. Innovation. Seeking out unconventional solutions to problems, keeping an open mind to novelty in the world, and applying creativity in practical ways. Ambition. Setting tough but attainable goals, constantly raising the bar in pursuit of excellence, and feeding the need for achievement whenever you can. Initiative. Taking the first step when opportunity arises, never sitting back because itâo[dot accent]s not in your âo[ogonek]job descriptionâo[caron], and bending the rules (occasionally) when it comes to making progress. Conscientiousness. Accepting responsibility for personal performance, adopting a focused approach in your work, and understanding that nobody else is to blame for your shortcomings. Adaptability. Admitting when youâo[dot accent]ve failed, remaining flexible in the face of obstacles, and never being too stubborn to change. Independence. Living with an unshakable sense of who you are, making your own decisions in the face of peer pressure, and acting despite tremendous risk and doubt. Optimism. Understanding we all make mistakes, choosing to persist no matter how many times youâo[dot accent]ve failed, and always remaining hopeful that success is just around the corner. 12:27:21 PM    comment []