James Drogan

From Slashdot

'Hugh Pickens writes

"Andrew Revkin writes in the NY Times that since 1553, when Sir Hugh Willoughby led an expedition north in search of a sea passage over Russia to the Far East, mariners have dreamed of a Northern Sea Route through Russia's Arctic ocean that could cut thousands of miles compared with alternate routes. A voyage between Hamburg and Yokohama is only 6,600 nm. via the Northern Sea Route — less than 60% of the 11,400 nm. Suez route. Now in part because of warming and the retreat and thinning of Arctic sea ice in summer, this northern sea route is becoming a reality with the 12,700-ton 'Beluga Fraternity,' designed for a mix of ice and open seas, poised to make what appears to be the first such trip. The German ship picked up equipment in Ulsan, South Korea, on July 23 and arrived in Vladivostok on the 25th with a final destination at the docks in Novyy Port, a Siberian outpost. After that, if conditions permit, it will head to Antwerp or Rotterdam, marking what company officials say would be the first time a vessel has crossed from Asia to Europe through the Arctic on a commercial passage."'

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/29/0052242/Northern-Sea-Route-Through-Arctic-Becomes-a-Reality?from=rss

It seems to me the environmental, geopolitical, and commercial implications of this are significant. What writings has anyone seen that explore these matters?

I generally eschew political commentary on this blog (although I have a friend how would likely say all commentary contains some politics), but I want to draw your attention to Palestinians in kite record bid.  Scroll down and play the BBC video.

While watching this I was reminded of the Beatles song, "Let It Be."

At an age when many would be tending their tomato plants and taking afternoon naps, I’m drawn to enrolling in a formal education program. Not just any program, mind you, but a program that will assist me in delivering additional value to the students I teach and the institution I serve.

I have been thinking about this for some time. Self‑analysis leads me to the conclusion that, despite my best informal efforts at staying abreast of developments in my areas of expertise, I ought to undertake a more formal, structured program for developing relevant knowledge, skills, and expertise. I’ve looked at universities and colleges in the vicinity of Lower Fairfield County Connecticut, but found no program that seemed to align with my interests.

Then, a small advertisement for the Masters of Arts in Diplomacy at Norwich University appeared on one of the blogs I follow. Diplomacy suggests international affairs which, in turn, constitute a portion of the context that affects global business and transportation, the area in which I teach and have had considerable commercial experience. The core curriculum coupled with the concentration in International Commerce aligns well with my responsibilities within the Global Business and Transportation department at SUNY Maritime College.

I am also involved in Maritime in the area of online or distance learning. I am the Director of Online Programs. I understand that Norwich University is one of the leaders in the online education community. Hence, I expect involvement in the program to provide me with additional expertise in distance learning which should allow me to provide additional value to my institution.

Earlier this evening I was advised that I have been accepted into the program.  The start date is September 7 and the expected degree date is June 2011.  The curriculum for this program will be found here.

From the Harvard Business Review, July-August 2009, pp 62-69.

"The current economic crisis is not just another rough spell. Today’s mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty will continue even after the recession ends. The immediate crisis—which we will get through with policy makers’ expert technical adjustments—sets the stage for a sustained, or even permanent, crisis, a relentless series of challenges no one has encountered before.

Instead of hunkering down and relying on their familiar expertise to deal with the sustained crisis, people in positions of authority—whether they are CEOs or managers heading up a company initiative—must practice what the authors call adaptive leadership. They must, of course, tackle the underlying causes of the crisis, but they must also simultaneously make the changes that will allow their organizations to thrive in turbulent environments.

Adaptive leadership is an improvisational and experimental art, requiring some new practices. Like Julie Gilbert, who overcame internal resistance to reorient Best Buy toward female purchasers, adaptive leaders get things done to meet today’s challenges and then modify those things to thrive in tomorrow’s world. They also embrace disequilibrium, using turbulence as an opportunity to build crucial new capacities, as Paul Levy did to rescue Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from a profound financial crisis. Finally, adaptive leaders, such as Egon Zehnder, the founder of an executive search firm, draw out the leadership skills that reside deep in the organization, recognizing the interdependence of all employees and mobilizing everyone to generate solutions."

From John Mauldin's "Outside the Box" Volume 5 Special Edition July 23, 2009 comes this nugget.

"I've mentioned a couple of schools of thought before: those who look at the big picture and those who pore over the details. Often, the major product is the result of its minor pieces. If you use good meat, good buns, and good vegetables- you're going to turn out a pretty good hamburger. The same goes for cars, businesses and portfolios.

One industry in which this methodology really doesn't seem to work is information. Mainstream sources of information almost always fail to connect the world's events. They do a great job telling you that former Iranian president Rafsanjani addressed his supporters, that anti-Ahmadinejad protestors outside chanted "Death to Russia", and that Israel sent a submarine through the Suez Canal. But they don't show how the incidents fit together in the geopolitical landscape, nor what they mean for the relationships between global powers. They give you the meat, the buns and the vegetables, but there's no hamburger."

For those of you interested in this sort of thing, and especially for those of you who attend the courses I teach, I want to refer you to a very nice, short (5' 24") video by Michael McDermott by way of Inside Business Architecture.

In Michael's words, "This is an introductory exploration into the interactions between organizational structure and (market) dynamics."

See it here.

A June 3 story in BusinessWeek "The Failed Promise of Innovation in the U.S." apparently triggered a post, "Run For Daylight: Innovation, Innovation, Innovation (Adds)," on bizzXceleration: Performance, Value and Profit.  Both of these, in my view, provide a very one-sided and negative view of innovation.  This is understandable in the case of BusinessWeek (which I understand is up for sale), but less understandable in the case of bizzX, known for its far-reaching and more-or-less balanced perspective across a number of subjects.

The views expressed in these two items are also at variance with my experience.

Hence, I intend in this post, to express an alternative point of view.

Let me start by pointing you towards "A Tabletop Device for DIY Manufacturing" brought to my attention this morning by FastCompany as an example of innovation.

More to follow and I will publish it as a document inasmuch as it is likely to be a bit long for a blog post.

As mentioned in Work in Process, I am working on a note on Data Management.  I recently came across three podcasts from IT Conversations (available through iTunes) that bear on this subject and to which I would like to draw your attention.

Keith Ackerman; Eric Christiansen - Sure, Data, Data Everywhere, But Is Any of It Any Good?

"In the current web-based data explosion, buyers and sellers of financial data are struggling to stay relevant and ahead of the competition. What data matters any more? What doesn't? How do you know? Where do you look? Keith Ackerman and Eric Christiansen answer these questions during this talk from the O'Reilly Money:Tech Conference."

Eric Rodenbeck - Data Visualization

"Stamen Design's data visualization projects bring a Tuftean sensibility to the realm of fast-moving realtime online information. In this conversation with host Jon Udell, founder Eric Rodenbeck talks about how his studio creates interactive experiences that enable people to ask, and answer, unforeseen questions."

PatientsLikeMe.com

"At PatientsLikeMe.com, people share data about their illnesses, the drugs they're taking, and the effects (and side effects) of their treatments. In this conversation, co-founder Jamie Heywood tells host Jon Udell that selling this data to drug companies is more than a good business. It aims to put patients into more direct contact with those companies, and help ensure that drug discovery and development meets their needs."

Some Suggestions

These podcasts are about a context (financial data, crime statistics, and patient information).  The value is in looking beyond the context, discovering the fundamental issues raised in these podcasts, and thinking about how these apply to the world you are part of.

This brings me to the notion that oft times solutions to problems in one subject area can be found in another subject area.  I encourage you to develop a healthy curiosity for that which may seem beyond your immediate grasp and therefore interest.

Podcasts (pick your favorite player; I use an iPhone) are great ways to use time (e.g., the morning commute) to keep up-to-date on current developments.

I'm in the pool as "jmsdrgn."

I've a great deal of respect for the gang at the Schwartz Communication Institute and they have been prevailing on me,

even flattering me, regarding Twitter.

I've resisted, in the best curmudgeonly tradition, but, as I heard the other day, "if you haven't done it, maybe you shouldn't talk about it."

So here I am.  A lot to learn, to discover, to think about, and to, perhaps, ultimately apply.

I've a pair of  black-capped chickadees that have built a nest in rotten hollow of a tree outside my home office window.  One of these days I expect to see their offspring, perched at the edge of the hollow, wondering whether and how to step into the unknown.  I share their feeling.

And I'm also reminded of the Drogan's Eighth Law; "Old dogs that don't learn new tricks end up dead dogs."

I've taken the summer off from teaching, but that doesn't mean that my students are not on my mind.  I'm preparing for three fall courses and writing a number of short papers.

These short papers are intended to provide additional detail on subjects I consider important to the students.  The papers and  brief abstracts are:

Some Comments on Teams in Graduate Courses

I have always used teams for projects in my graduate courses whether the mode of delivery is in the classroom or online.

Of late, my satisfaction with how the teams work (i.e., the process) to produce the project report (i.e., the product) has declined. It’s time for some introspection to find the root causes and identify actions to raise the performance of the teams.

This paper draws upon Hackman, J. Richard. Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

The Value of Introspection

One definition of introspection is that it is “contemplation of one's own thoughts, feelings, and sensations; self-examination.”

Introspection comes into play in “Know what you know, know what you don't know, and know who knows what you don't know” and “When things are going really well you've probably missed something.”

Introspection is valuable, important, and perhaps even critical to successful business operations. A prominent case dealing with this that my students and discuss is “What went wrong at Cisco Systems?” More recently, we have difficulties in the global financial industry and the American automobile industry that also suggest the lack of introspection.

This note takes up this characteristic – introspection – in more detail with some comments on its value, how it can be developed and applied.

The Need to Know About Technology

The breadth and depth of data and information regarding technology is, for all practical purposes, fathomless. It is probably impossible, and at least impractical, to know all there is to know.

There is, however, a set of data and information about technology that is highly relevant to one’s role and responsibilities in an organization in an industry.

This note suggests ways to discover that set.

Data Management

“It ain't what we don't know that hurts us, it's what we know that ain't so."

“We also study Cisco. What comes through from our class discussion is that Cisco thought they knew it all and had no need for corroboration. The conflicting data was available; they chose not to look at it.”

”I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Here we have three of several issues associated with data management.

1. Data that does not represent truth.
2. Hubris of thinking we know all we need to know.
3. Succumbing to the temptation to make a decision before the relevant data is in.

This note takes up a general set of considerations regarding data management.

The Context of Interest

Virtually all my classes use the Context of Interest as a unifying theme.

This note describes the origins and meaning of the context and how it can be used as a basis for thinking about business.

Learning Diagnosis and Design

Business people are confronted with issues requiring resolution. This requires diagnosis of the issue and design of a solution.

The knowledge and skills of diagnosis and design are particular to the issue, the structure of the organization, and the nature of the industry.

This note takes these matters up.

Business Dynamics, SCOR and UML

TMGT 8510 System Design and Control is an elective in the Masters of Science in International Transportation program, and a “required” elective is one is taking the Supply Chain Management Certificate.

The catalog description for this course is:

“This course examines the consequences of global markets, meaning that successful competition in an uneven cultural, economic, political, and social playing field requires deriving cost efficiencies from constantly re-engineered, extended supply chains. The best of the re-engineering takes a total cost analysis approach, viewing all parts of the supply chain as an integrated whole and leaving nothing in isolation. Students are introduced to the design and control techniques that derive from a systems approach.”

This course exposes the students to business dynamics and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) model with the intention of linking the two concepts in a useful and usable manner. Inasmuch as one would then like to translate the result into a technical specification, the notion of describing the results in UML (Unified Modeling Language) seems natural.

This note sketches a broad approach for doing this.

An Introduction to Logistics and the Supply Chain

Oft times I have found that students come into a course that assumes they have knowledge of logistics and the supply chain, but, in fact, lack that knowledge.

This note helps to provide a bridge to those students and improve their chances of successfully completing the course.

Risk Management

The general approach to risk management as related to me by my students is that one simply needs to buy insurance. This seems to me to be a narrow interpretation of risk management that focuses on recovery of loss.

We should, I think, focus on prevention of loss. This requires the identification of events that could cause loss, some estimate of the probability and impact of the event, some estimate the costs associated with prevention, and subsequent decisions as to whether and how one should fund recovery of loss.

My thoughts on this are developed further in this note.

The Gap Between Now and The Future Grows Smaller 

‘Our mission is to use our knowledge of supply chain management and information technology to help companies achieve their business goals. In these past few months, we find that the definitions of short, medium and long term now mean something completely different:

Short term used to mean within the next six months. It now means "next Monday."

Medium term used to mean six months to a year. It now means "after next Monday."

Long term used to mean two to five years out. It now means "over the next six months."’

This quote would seem to support the assertion of the title of this note. Time does not seem to be what it once was. Smaller decision windows. More data and information arriving more frequently. The appearance of “black swans.”

How should we think about this phenomenon? How should this thinking inform the design, implementation, and operation of business systems? Are new sets of knowledge, skills, and experiences required? How are these developed and maintained?

This note takes into consideration these and other questions, draws conclusions regarding the impact of the shrinking gap, and offers suggestion for actions to deal with his trend.

The Intersection of Global Awareness and Technology Literacy

I have from time to time become involved in the assessment of undergraduate and graduate courses of instruction. Recently I was asked to assess two graduate courses for the students’ grasp of issues related to global awareness and technology literacy. While these were at the same institution and at the graduate level, they were two independent efforts.

However, I am left wondering about the relationship between these two issues.

Audience

“Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.”

Audience was the theme for 2009 annual symposium of the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute.  It seems to me that the conference called for assuming a point of view that is often ignored, even when one may be the audience.

The conference prompted this preparatory note which, I regret to saqy, has not yet been finished.

I have at various times noted the following Principles of Communications.

1. The grammar and syntax of the messages being exchanged are understood.

2. The information communicated in the messages is relevant.

3. The medium of communication is acceptable.

4. There is a desire to communicate.

5. There is confirmation of understanding.

These principles are part of the lens through which the communicator and the audience set expectations and filter information.

This note examines the relationship between the communicator and audience.