Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Welcome To The Shark Pool, Part 1

Welcome and thank you for joining me!

First of all I have to make a confession: Yes, I'm a geek and I've been working within IT business as a pro for more than a decade now. (Sounds like introducing myself to the Net-addicts Anonymous: 'Hi, my name is Gunter and I'm a net-addicted geek.') Anyway, that's the way it is. Over all I've been involved with IT related stuff for about 25 years now. Let's say I've seen some things out here. And overall I have to say that I like it.

Still. But who knows. As Bob Dylan already stated: 'The Times They Are A-Changin''.

Looking back on the years as an IT pro I sure subscribe to that line. And I have to say that I don't like what I see today. No, not everything's been better these days, of course not. But am I the only one who's struck by shiverings while looking at the working enviroment of the current times? (Though I hope that I'm not - who knows?)

I think that there have been only few changes to job postings all over the years. If there's a vacancy to fill in IT, employers ever since have been looking for a kind of swiss army knife, some kind of jack of all trades - someone bringing quite a number of skills (including the ability to walk on water, even in summer time) drawing just a single salary. One of the skills that have always been on those wish lists is the capacity for teamwork. Am I mistaken?

No, of course I'm not! You sure agree with me that the ability to work in a team ever since has been not only a "plus" but a "must have" - for some good reasons. Looking back I'm pretty convinced that the start-up I joined in my early years in IT only did succeed because (almost) everybody was able to work in teams. It's never been just a job to do. It's been hard work, but it was fun solving the problems we were facing. We had our focus on solutions within the IT department itself as well as in in co-operation with all the other departments. That's been our passion, that was what we were real pros in. We didn't really care who might take the credit for something! We were so passionate about making things work for our colleagues and for the company, it has been pure pleasure. We just did it. That was then.

Strange things happened later on. Like dark clouds gathering in the sky, the culture of teamwork changed to its worse. It appears to me that it's no longer about solutions and what's best for the customers. You may call me thin-skinned and maybe you're right (kind of, at least) - but it feels quite cold outside in day-by-day IT business. I may have been in, well, let's call them "suboptimal" places for the last years. That may be. But talking to my former colleagues I can't fight the feeling that this isn't about individual luck but more about decreasing manners, demoralizing thousands of highly qualified and skilled people. (That's not to say that I have that manny former colleagues. Those can almost be counted on the fingers of both hands.)

Today it is more and more about individaul credit. Sure, still teams are formed because forces need to be merged and concentrated to get and deliver best results (whatever that means in the long run). But more and more the habits within teams and in between team members have changed. We started to stalk each other, waiting for moments of weakness to step to the center of the stage. We try to elbow or way through to be the one who's stepping into the light by the end of a project, to be the one who raises the cheer. Even though that is not the reality behind the scenes, success is considered to be the result of a single man's efforts. On the other hand, if it's a failure it's the team who failed. Quite simple - but fair?

Who cares about "fair"? Who cares about "working atmosphere"? Who cares about "quality" or "sustainability" of the implementation? It's about "hit and run"!

Welcome to the shark pool!


Depressed now? Believe me, I'm really sorry to hear that! But what am I supposed to do about it? Even though I tend to say that the glass is half full I can't play down the facts or at least what I'm facing nowadays. - And if I manage to make a series of postings out of it be assured: It will not be dedicated to complaining or whinig! If I can work it out you will find some neat small stories. Some of them may make you knowingly grin or nod, some of them may make you shake your head in incomprehension. After all even nowadays work can be entertaining, no? Well then, let's see what the future holds! Until then...

Welcome to the shark pool!

CU - GU!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 3

Welcome back again, sitting under the tree. Pleased to meet you (again), great to have you around! Especially nowadays when it appears to be hunting season on Twitter!

What? Wait a minute: hunting season? Good question - no, I didn't lose my mind! (Not yet, even though some may have noticed that I'm working on it.) Yes, hunting season!

Just a few days ago we could follow (did we?) the race between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN (@cnnbrk). Race? For what? A race for follower no. 1.000.000. I won't get into details here. I'd like to focus on that figure: 1.000.000. Maybe you can already imagine my face when @m140z suggested (were they serious?) a similar kind of celeb race for followers in Germany. Reading my own lines, this still makes me shake my head. Anyway.

Just a week or something before that happened, @AppleInvestor (aka @Twitlinker aka @JavaChief) brought my attention to a similar playground. There are a lot of people out there trying to sell nothing less than the ultimate way to gain thousands of followers. 10.000, 15.000, 25.000 - chosse a number, it's up to you! Just hand'em the cash and they will take care. Well, they may - or may not. To be honest, that doesn't take us anywhere here. Again it's in those numbers.

Wow. I can remember the day I started tweeting I was completely blown away as I saw that the counter for followers had changed from 0 to 1, went up to 2 some hours later. Imagine: There's someone out there who's kind of interested in what you've got to say! And it's even more flattering that the number of followers did rise even higher. It's amazing to me!

But why would I feel the need push it? That's the question that's going round in my mind! To me it is one thing if you stay in one place long enough and just find an audience (or real friends, that's left to your proper definition). That may be by chance, that may be because of recommendation (as you may find in tradition of #followfriday or something similar). At least that's my kind of naive approach. Well, I like it - and a couple of people out there appear to like it that way too.

@AppleInvestor brought the idea to me (not personally but by his tweets) that you can use techniques to improve the number of followers. I'm not quite sure if he's serious about it. But assuming he's taking his own medicine it sure works out for him and it's an impressing number of followers he gained, that's for sure. But while reading his re-appearing tweets on that topics a single question came to my mind: Why would I do that?

Sure, his ideas are still kind of a classic approach on it. And he's completely right when he asks again and again: Why would I believe in someone who's trying to sell me followers for money? Why would I believe it's a one-way road that ups my follower counter by a single kick-start? And why would I believe those people won't get back on me, asking for more, offering more?

There is one point in all that, that's for sure, and I think that's why those "salesmen" get a grip on quite a number of people: Many people are around on social networks to make a show of how popular they are, how well-known they are - and they just do believe in that! They don't care about a single follower. They don't care about what they're tweeting and how they interact with their so-called network. They need the biggest house with the biggest pool and the latest Ferrari (continue if you like). That's all.

My conclusion is that - as with most things, especially on the social networks - you're much better off when you just don't judge the book by ist cover. Talking about me, I just started to develop my network on Twitter. But I already found some very, very interesting people out there. Some tweets are just entertaining, some tweets deliver interesting news or great advices. And one starts to get involved: One sends a reply here, gets a direct message there and vice versa. One gets into contact, one gets part of it.

Talking about me, that's my understanding of a social media network. And that is what I learned to like within and about Twitter. There are just great people out there like @JustTooBusy, @markshaw, @ScottGiorgini, @NinaRoosen, @nencetti - just to mention a few of those I am pround of to be in touch with. (All of you, my dear followers, that I didn't mention: I beg your pardon! Space and time are quite limited, you know...) To me it's the old story about "give and take" - I will not get into details on that here. It's just my point I want to make here: It's the respect and the exchange between people that counts - not the numbers (neither of followers nor of tweets)!

In my humble opinion there's no need to be jealous of someone's follower network growing faster than the own one. It's just not about the numbers, it's about the people and the network! There sure is a reason, but who cares. Just share that co-tweeter's happiness about his touch, that he just found his domain and that so many people seem to like it.

On the other hand - and I'm serious about that - I think one can be pround and even more feel honored if there is just one single person out there who follows one's tweets: There must be just something about it! So that is great - and suddenly there are two people who care! (Maybe just the beginning.)

That said, I want to invite everybody who managed to read through this that far to leave a comment, just to let me (and others) know what your opinion is on that! And feel free to contact me via Twitter: It is all about communication and connection!

Now I will lean back again, calm down, and start listening again to the birds singing their songs right here, right now - with me sitting under the tree.

CU - GU!

("Hello friend, welcome home!")

Sunday, April 19, 2009

For Absent Friends

Don't know how it happend. But somehow I did it. No, I didn't: I didn't post a single word for more than a month now! Shame one me! - Hm. And even now I just got carried away, distracted now and again. Oh, well, why not: Even fun is no fun any more when taken too serious. Seriously!

To be honest I had some slight health issues that made me drift around more than take step after step right ahead. It's annoying, but your lacking any spiritedness and any drive so you just let it go. I apologize but that's exactly what I did - still it's nothing I am pround of.

Anyway, here we go again! I'm already working on updates on "The Runner" (not much here, as I told you aleady) and "Sitting Under The Tree" (well, here we've got some things that just hit me). In addition I'm currently collecting stuff for something that may work out as a series too. What do you think of a headline like "Welcome To The Shark Pool!"? (Doesn't that sound like the most lovely place you could think of to be in?)

Well, that said I have to pick up some loose ends, haven't I?

CU - GU!


For those who didn't notice: the headline is borrowed from Genesis' "Nursery Cryme", track #2.
Did I mention that I like those old records?