Tag: Criticism

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News You Can Use: 1/22/2020


Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

  • ‘Culture of venting’: How agencies manage gossip in the workplace

    This culture of venting is also driven by another, more difficult to pin down, force: the very ways people are working today. People are spending more time at work. For individuals who are just entering the workforce, the lines between “work” and “not work” are blurred. Work friends are also regular friends. That means that work-life discussions are also discussions between friends. This can be good for workplace bonding but potentially problematic if it leads to the rapid spread of misinformation.

    Agencies have been doing more to detect and respond to problematic “gossip.” TBWA/Chiat/Day has purchased IBM’s Social Pulse software so as to monitor public channels and posts for potential red flags or specific sentiments. The Martin Agency uses a feedback survey tool called TinyPoll to ask employees quick anonymous questions to identify what exactly workers are concerned about. At another agency, its communications and PR teams peruse the app Fishbowl, as part of the morning routine.

    https://digiday.com/marketing/culture-venting-agencies-manage-gossip-workplace/

  • ‘Techlash’ Hits College Campuses

    At this year’s Golden Globes, Sacha Baron Cohen compared Mark Zuckerberg to the main character in “JoJo Rabbit”: a “naïve, misguided child who spreads Nazi propaganda and only has imaginary friends.”

    That these attitudes are shared by undergraduates and graduate students — who are supposed to be imbued with high-minded idealism — is no surprise. In August, the reporter April Glaser wrote about campus techlash for Slate. She found that at Stanford, known for its competitive computer science program, some students said they had no interest in working for a major tech company, while others sought “to push for change from within.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/style/college-tech-recruiting.html

  • How to criticize, from a critic
  • The Humble Office ID Badge Is About to Be Unrecognizable

    Researchers are developing a technology called gait recognition, which uses cameras to identify people based on their body shape and how they move, and say it could one day be implemented in U.S. offices. In places with especially tight security, such as workplaces that handle hazardous materials or heavy machinery, several different ID technologies could be linked to repeatedly identify workers as they move around, says Vir Phoha, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University. Video cameras might recognize people’s faces as they enter a building, and later analyze how they walk to identify them again. Software could assess an employee’s typing to verify whether it’s the same person identified earlier in the day.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-humble-office-id-badge-is-about-to-be-unrecognizable-11578333651

  • Sloped Toilet Aims to Curb Employee Bathroom Time

    In a recent Wired article (via BBC News), Mahabir Gill, the founder of the England-based company, StandardToilet, said that his company has created a toilet with a seat that slopes at a 13-degree angle, making it just uncomfortable enough to encourage sitters to vacate after about five minutes of use. Gill told Wired that there are many reasons a time-limiting toilet could be beneficial for people, but ultimately made no bones about it: The reason he and his team made this toilet is to cut down on the amount of time employees spend in the bathroom, and therefore improve a given company’s bottom line. (Insert “bottom line” pun here for all of you who can’t resist the urge.)

    The sloping toilet works exactly as one would expect it to, essentially forcing its occupant into a mild crouch position, which puts a low-level strain on a series of their muscles, including those in their thighs, hips, and calves. As time moves on, the position becomes less and less comfortable, thusly compelling a user to finish their business and stand. Gill told Wired that the mildly uncomfortable position encourages workers “to get off the seat quickly,” although he also said that it’s not steep enough “to cause health issues.” He did note, however, that any seat sloped more than 13 degrees “would cause wider problems.”

    https://nerdist.com/article/sloped-toilet-curb-bathroom-time/

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News You Can Use: 11/11/2015

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  • Could Detroit become the next Silicon Valley?
    I have actually talked about this before… I actually think the urban setting and rock bottom real estate costs could lure young technical people who have been passed over to make something new.  It has the right mix of social cause and opportunity.  The city just needs to get out of its own way. 

    Amazon announced plans at the end of September to help continue this growth by creating a center of technology in downtown Detroit. The tech giant plans to build a corporate office to bring more full-time technology jobs to Michigan. And as a friendly introduction to the city, Amazon donated 30 Amazon Fire tablets to the Carver STEM academy program in the Detroit Public Schools, as well as $10,000.

    http://www.cio.com/article/3001690/startups/could-detroit-become-the-next-silicon-valley.html#tk.rss_all

  • Federal IT outsourcing spend alarmingly poorly managed

    Leading companies approach IT outsourcing strategically, taking an aggregate approach to managing IT services spending rather than making such purchases on a piecemeal basis. By doing so, they achieve four to 15 percent savings on these services annually, according to the GAO. While this report noted that efforts by these federal departments to better manage their IT outsourcing has improved in recent years, with each agency designating officials and creating offices to identify and implement strategic sourcing opportunities, it found that most of these agencies’ IT spending “continues to be obligated through hundreds of potentially duplicative contracts that diminish the government’s buying power.”

    http://www.cio.com/article/2999467/outsourcing/federal-it-outsourcing-spend-alarmingly-poorly-managed.html#tk.rss_all

  • IT Vendor Risk Management: Improving but Still Inadequate

    1. Nearly half of critical infrastructure organizations DO NOT conduct IT vendor security audits on a regular basis. These are the very firms that provide us with electricity, financial services, health care, telecommunications, etc. Very scary.

    2. Critical infrastructure organizations are especially lax around the security of third-party distributors. This is especially troubling since distributors not only source IT products as a proxy for customers but also provide value-added services (i.e. configuration, customization, installation, etc.). This gives distributors absolute carte blanche to corrupt otherwise clean hardware and software.

    http://www.networkworld.com/article/3002069/security/it-vendor-risk-management-improving-but-still-inadequate.html

  • 3 Plays Great Coaches Use to Deliver Criticism
    I don’t know if feedback has to be all sunshine and puppy dogs, but I do think it should be focused and not stated in generalizations. Critiques should be made with specific examples and then provide suggestions to avoid them (especially for younger workers).

    Good coaches don’t let an error overshadow what the player has done right all game. They complement the athlete on something they did well that half or an aspect of their game that they are improving. This shows the athlete that the coach isn’t just looking at them when they mess up, but that they recognize and appreciate the athlete’s strengths as well. The same is true in the workplace. Support your teammate and let them know where they have been excelling. The rule of thumb is five positive comments for every negative one. Interestingly, research on relationships both in and out of the business world has found that a similar ratio works for delivering criticism. Psychologist John Gottman analyzed married couples and found  the single biggest determinant  of divorce is the ratio of positive to negative comments the partners make to one another. The happiest couples demonstrated a ratio of about five positive comments for every negative one they delivered.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251416

  • Box CEO: ‘I’m the biggest anti-shadow IT person’

    CIOs didn’t get it, or chose not to, so Box initially circumvented CIOs, taking the product to departmental line of business managers. And when the software went viral, seeping its way into other parts of the business, Levie and his sales team would call the CIO and tell them. That angered CIOs, who often blocked Box. So Box ceased calling IT departments, quietly building up its technology features and bolstering security to make the software more palatable for enterprises. Now a mature, public company itself, Box counts General Electric, AstraZeneca, Proctor & Gamble and others among its customers. “I feel your pain now, I understand why you blocked us for so long,” Levie told the audience.

    http://www.cio.com/article/2999876/cio-role/box-ceo-i-m-the-biggest-anti-shadow-it-person.html#tk.rss_all

  • Is Your Team Starting to Look Like ‘The Walking Dead’? 3 Ways to Resurrect Team Morale.

    Innovate, disrupt, re-think. These are all key phrases in leadership buzzword bingo these days. Yet, all too often, companies don’t create a culture that really empowers people to take the healthy risks needed to bring about this kind of change. Speaking from personal experience, I was once fired for speaking my mind and challenging the status quo at one of my previous employers.

    You never know where the next great idea in your company might come from. So, it’s critical that leaders create a culture where employees know they will be heard and, more importantly, supported in seeing their ideas through to fruition.

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252311

Photo: Jordan McQueen