Social Networking sites and Web 2.0 technologies

I was a kind of guy who thinks that social networking
sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Ning are sites where
teens waste time, all but not for working adults. I was
even skeptic about more straight laced LinkedIn site.

However, I became a convert. I found that LinkedIn
is not only useful as an online address book, but it is
equally useful for catching up with college, graduate
school buddies, ex-colleagues as well as source of job
tips from recruiters.

At first, I used Facebook for some big brother's acts,
I used it to learn more about my kid brother who is
in late teens, who has been pursuing BSEE in a public
university in the United States.

I learned that people like to share own information a lot.
They want to express inner feelings. Later I found out
fan groups those act as Yahoo groups which I find it
useful to find data. Now I use it for browsing technical
news, Facebook become another technical sites.

What is more in it for me? I will use those sites to poll,
survey, collect data for MBA thesis.

Unfairness and Acid Tests

That was in 2001, I completed 3 months long formal schooling
part of field engineer training in one of the corporate training
centers in North Eastern Africa (there are training centers
everywhere), but I was lucky to be there where Queen Cleopatra
reigned thousands of years ago. So the last weeks two training
cohorts overlap, us who are going to be graduated and those who
are new engineer recruits who will go through coming 3 months.

On one evening, one American engineer who was assigned in
Beijing (read as good hardship allowance on top of good pay
without going through real hardship) was bragging his exotic
life there in the middle kingdom, while another Scottish chap
who had to started his pre-school training somewhere less
pleasant was complaining - I started my field engineer training
in a small oil town in small oil rich West African nation. While
listening their youthful and colorful (dating girls, food, wine,
hard liquor, pay, bonuses, hardship allowance, staff house),
while changing the sweaty socks those were killing my toes
(for field engineer job is a high paying blue color job so it trains
you not only to manage crew but to work like crew whom you
will manage), I realized one thing. When you are in the right
side of the unfairness you better be silent, but when you
are on the unfair (still better than those who do not get such
highly paid, demanding but rewarding job with a career) side,
do not complain either.

Being born in wrong side of the planet, in the poorest and least
developed part of the globe. I had to pace my steps faster just
to be on par with my more fortunate colleagues in the position.
However, the positive side is you have gone through that and
you survived and that is the acid test.

Technie or Politician? Where will you be in the spectrum?

Once I was asked where will I fit in in the spectrum,
Technophile Manager at one extreme end and the
Master Politician (can be Techophobic) in other end.

I think I will be close to the imaginary center line
but I may be comfortable in the Technophile half.
It is hard to forget the first love, and I still am an
engineer at heart.

Working holidays before college

I was an adventurous boy, working holidays in overseas in
late teen. Lonely journeys shaped my character. Then and
there I passed "Self Reliance, Calculated Risks Taking 101".

Barely 18, after high school graduation, before university,
I went abroad alone for working holidays in overseas that
lasted 2 years. For those years, I worked to support myself
to live alone in the capital cities in the region and cities far
and away. I even spent a year on board offshore towing
vessels in offshore oilfields, serving offshore platforms, etc..

I saw floating anti ship mines, worked on the deck in rough
high sea, floated in seas full of sharks and fished some, drifted
with sea currents. Those were wonderful character shaping
experience for a boy to become an independent young man.

Dilbert, the technophile

Dilbert is transforming into pointy haired manager.
But he still is a technophile who loves gadgets, who
does not want to go far away from technology yet.

Your Dilbert is thinking of adding the following gadget
into his personal sets of engineering tools.

FYI, GESBC-9G20 Embedded Single Board Computer
that runs Embedded Linux Kernel 2.6.27 on ARM9
cored Atmel SoC. Cool? Ain't it?

http://www.glomationinc.com/product_9G20.html

Learning from a book cannot make you a manager but hey it is education

I am trying to move into management from being in experienced
professional, specialist or individual contributor role for 11 years.

I have led men, managed projects, supervised professionals and
teams, coordinated activities, resolved conflicts, communicated
up and down, championed the causes, facilitated resources,
evaluated and apprised team and project personnel, scheduled
tasks, assigned resources and assert controls to deliver results.
I have been in project leader, technical leader, project engineer,
team supervisor roles for more than 5 years in several firms,
countries and in teams made up of international professionals.

However, I never have had any formal managerial title yet.
So in the process of transition from professional to manager
- for not having a mentor - I have no choice but to resort books.

May I recommend you a book from which you can learn a lot
about transformations stories into first line managers (from
individual contributors)

Reading a book cannot make you a manager. But learning
from other people's costly mistakes is called education.

FYI, below

Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity
by Linda A. Hill
published by HBS

Servant leader must learn Mafia manager

Your Dilbert strives to be a benevolent caring servant leader .
However, he believes there is no harm learning moves of Don
Dogberto or Don Catberto who wants to conquer all cubicles.

Knowing tricks of the enemy can help protect one's own people.

Dear reader FYI below

The Mafia Manager : A Guide to the Corporate Machiavelli by V.

Occam's razor

I received trainings in product development and for being
a product guy (software, IT, network, firmware, electronics)
made me understand "KISS or keep it simple and stupid".
However, I learned this beautiful word"Occam's razor"
from a colleague. I think the word aline is worth blogging.

Should it be translate "Less is more","Made it simple"?

Occam's razor - a beautiful catchy word for designers!!

Occam's razor - a reminder for strategists and managers.

Personal attributes, assets and capabilties as basis of career building

This weekend, I was reading about Strategy and practice in
operations to create better financial standings for the firms.

For a firm to survive and thrive in the market place, or for an
employee to get hired and promoted in work place, individuals
and institutions formulate theories those will work for them
explicitly or unconsciously. Those are called strategies.

However, a person cannot act or pretend forever in a role he
is not, without having real character or competencies in him.
Likewise, companies cannot transform into their role model
entities without having or building up real core competencies.

Core competencies made firms or employees unique, valuable
(in the eyes of customers or employers). Based on the unique
and strong competencies or strategic capabilities businesses
build their sustainable competitiveness in the market place.

Along that line, I compiled what are my core competencies,
what are my "strategic", "complementary" and other assets.
Strategic thinking for competitive advantage has to have
environmental analysis (know the terrain), market based view
(know the enemies, allies and opportunists), resource based
view (know your own force, morale, strength, and combat
readiness). Self reflection of one's own strengths, assets and
capabilities will be resource based view.

I believe high level of energy, drive, ethics of honesty, hard
work in combination with unique international experience,
ability to communicate at all levels, cultural awareness, skills
in advanced technology and product development are core
competencies. I must build up my career based on on those.

Complementary assets are academic qualifications: college
degree in engineering and post graduate advanced degree
in software technology product design, industry certifications
: recognition certification from an industrialized Western
European nation and engineer certification from a leading
technology company in US. Learning from MBA studies and
an array of 20 plus hands on professional training courses.
I guess those assets complement above core competencies.

Valid work permits, permanent residencies at hand, or under
progress will make me more eligible in the eyes of employers.
The readiness to relocate, loyalty to employer and boss, ability
to present and presentable personality, sincere care of well
being of juniors will constitute as make-or-buy assets.

Diversity, seniority consciousness

Throughout assignments in 3 continents, I work with colleagues
from all races and cultures: Anglo Saxon, Scandinavian/Nordic,
North African and Black African, South East Asians, East Asians
and South Asians. I have learned that the concept of leadership
(a servant leader who cares his men, who serves his men for
a purpose in a task force) and respect of seniority differs from
culture to culture - in some cultures it is anticipated for a boss
to fetch coffee for his men while the reverse may be true in other
cultures. Although it is not wise to stereotype an individual with
his country of origin, or region, continent, or sub culture. It may
not be a bad idea to understand how things work in his context.

After all, it will be boring if you are forced to spend 40 to 50 hours
a week with people who are born and brought up in the same place
or way as you are, who went to same school where you graduated,
who started in the same job as you did. I think it will be enjoyable
and stimulating to work with colleagues who can be different from
you in all but equal only in integrity, merit, talent and competence.

Business cards and Personal branding

I used to be my employers' company man - I used to hand
out the business card that is printed by my employer that
has company name and logo, my name, job title, the project
and department I belong to together with corporate email,
direct line and mobile. Some companies allow you to print
the name of academic degree you earned and sometimes
the specialization or major you have pursued.

I still am loyal man to my employer who wants to develop
career within one firm. However, I think it is wiser to have
a personal brand. Last week I ordered my first business
cards those are not tied to the employer. However they do
tie to another business brand, the business school I have
been pursuing MBA degree by part time.

So what does my card say

Mr. Dilbert The Manager
Firmware/Software Product Design/Development
M.Sc (Computer and Software Engineering)
Current participant on the XXXX MBA

(+44) XXXXXXXX
dilbertrealname@mybusinessschool.ac.uk

Those business cards will help establish my personal brand.
We will see.

Monetary value of citizenship or residency

Today I had a conversation with a friend about varying degrees
of difference between remuneration packages of expatriate vs.
local employees in rich and poor countries.

I started my career as a local (technical) professional in one of
the least developed nations on earth. So my first monthly pay
was pathetic sum of less than 50 US Dollars per month.
After several months of internship there, I moved to an oil
exploration project of an American corporation as a local staff
(contracted or seconded from a local firm to the foreign firm)
I made about 300 US Dollars (absolute dollars) and that was
the princely sum in a country where average wage of labor
per day was less than 1 US Dollar. However, I do realized that
what I made for a month was less than a day rate of average
expatriate contractors in the oil industry.

Next I went abroad, moved up the food chain to become
a locally hired expatriate staff in a neighboring country which
is relatively more prosperous than my native country. There
and then I made about a thousand bucks a month.

Then I earned my engineering degree, hired and expatriated
to poor places (peer to my native land) and my pay per month
become 6 to 8 times of my remuneration I earned previously.

I moved on and now working as a local employee in one of the
richest nations on earth. Here a local employee may make more
than an expatriate of same rank.

While it is not an unknown secret that where you were born and
educated is important, when you are still holding a passport that
does not favor your wallet, I think it is time to think emigration.
It is time for economists to measure the monetary value of the
passports and permanent residencies of rich and affluent nations.

Who will relocate for the job? At what price?

I have been a nomad living in different cities around the globe
for study and work. I noticed that it has become popular and
so I created a short survey made up of 10 questions.

Thanks in advance if you bother to take sample survey below.

Click Here to take survey

Electronics, Firmware and Software Intensive Product Design and Development

I have led, contributed the design and development
of electronics, firmware and software driven products.

What made them so special and what made me love
the job? I think technologies, processes and people
are different either from software products those
run on Wintel PC desktops, UNIX boxes or Macs.

When you develop Web, Games, Database applications,
product team : project manager, architect, designers
and developers do not need to know intrinsic details of
underlying hardware unless they design device drivers.
However, for firmware intensive products, engineers
have to know micro processor and/or micro controller
powering the product, persistent (permanent) memory
storage devices, run time memory, interface and buses,
file systems, operating systems and even clock crystal
that drives the CPU, by giving clock ticks or the heart
beats of the system. One has to know what is ROHS
compliance and how to achieve that. What is BOM, how
to keep BOM organized, how to run environment tests
such as hot and cold weather cycles, shocks, wear and
tear of mechanical parts and mechanical parts will not
be sharp and edgy to cut someone's hands.

Devices must not electrocute people and animals
come into contact with devices - it is possible for
people to abuse such outdoor/field devices.

How to make batteries live long enough or sleep
where there is nothing to do to consume less power,
to conserve battery power, etc..

How to test Alpha, Beta tests and how to make sure
changes (if major hardware changes are inevitable)
can be accommodated?

The manager has to understand patents laws, how
to protect own innovations while bypassing other's
if necessary.

And so on....

I will love to write more about best practices I have
learned myself. Are you interested in?

MBA will not make Dilbrt to Dogbert, the manager!

Today I saw an inquiry from an fresh MBA graduate how to
get a management job in a social networking site LinkedIn.
No wonder Professor Henry Mintzberg claimed that MBA
degree programs are educating wrong folks, misleading them
breeding wrong expectations in his "Managers not MBAs".

I am a MBA participant (by distance learning) myself. Even
though I have 11 years of professional experience - 5 years
leading people, supervising international teams and managing
projects - I considered myself a light weight. Although I think
I am ready for an entry level manager role, I dont think I am
ready for a general management role yet. Education is not
a substitute for experience.

No wonder there are MBA haters, they are not wrong at all!

A believer of lifelong learning? Here is what I learn these days in addition to my full time work...

List of what I learn in parallel to full time work commitment

What I learn in Part B of MBA part time studies

o Corporate Finance
o Human Resource Management
o Strategic Advantage
o Modeling and Analysis for Management
o Project and Dissertation

In Part A of MBA part time studies, I learned

o Accounting and Financial Management
o Organizational Behavior
o Market Analysis
o Operations Management
o Economics of the Business Environment

I believe MBA studies will value add my professional career
as a product guy, a system designer, a solution developer, etc..
After all, lifelong learning is something you have to believe in.
Are you a believer too?