Random Thoughts from a CTO: Blogging

I'm back, well sort of...

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:04:31 GMT

As you can tell, I haven't contributed to this blog since early October. If you are visiting this blog for the first time, or getting this post through your favorite RSS reader, I have some great news.

Though I don't have immediately plans to continue with this blog (though I won't say never), I have started a new blog called Leaning towards agility. Take a look at the introduction and it should give you the information you need. I hope you find the new blog interesting and can't wait to start the conversation!

Taking a break

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:11:10 GMT

To my readers,

Thanks for these last 20 months as you have listened to my Random Thoughts every week. You have helped me confirm that my thoughts aren't alone in the universe, and for that I am grateful. I hope that in some way I have made a difference in your lives, at least make you think about things in a new light. For me, that is reward enough.

Over the last few months, I haven't been able to put the quality time that I needed to with this blog because of other priorities in my life that needed my attention. In addition, I feel that I have covered most areas that I believe would be an interest in others. Therefore, I have decided to take a "sabbatical" from blogging for an indefinitely amount of time. I am not sure if I will come back to this blog later on, stop blogging completely, redesign the site, or start something entirely different. What I do know is that I need to take a break from this and figure it all out.

I have made many friends along the way because I started this blog. To each of you, I will treasure those relationships and by no means will this be the last you hear from me. To everybody else, the number of quality blogs to read in the areas of management, leadership, self-improvement, organizational development and technology have multiplied over this time. I am sure there will be plenty of excellent posts to keep you busy and thinking for some time to come. I know that I will continue to read them and may respond every now and then.

Til' we meet again,

Skip

Finding Your Voice

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:58:13 GMT

For me, there is a distinguishing factor that separates the blogs that I get real value for on a regular basis verses the rest of them. The blogs that I get the most value from are those that have original content and I can get to understand the blogger as a person.

As a blogger, it would be easy for me to go search over the web and provide links to everybody else. I would probably get a lot of people because it would appear that I am a great blogger. In that sense, I would be more of a news reporter. Yet, nobody would really get to know me, what I stand for, what my likes and dislikes are. Plus, I would be providing the same information that at least a half dozen other people have already talked about.

I will admit that at times I refer to other sites as well, but will try to point to things that I don't think others have noticed. I also try to focus on those things that mean value to me, and translate it to others using my own voice. It's MUCH harder to write about things from a personal perspective, from your experiences based on your opinions. You have to dig down deep to come up with something of value. It takes several revisions to get it right. You end up throwing some things away because you can't put your thoughts into writing. In that sense, I would be more of a book writer.

News reporter or book writer, both have their places in the blogosphere I guess. However, it seems we have many more news reporters and not enough book writers. Regardless of which type of blog you promote, one thing is for sure -- "You need to find your voice" and stay true to it. Find your niche and stick with it. In the book The Leadership Challenge, one of the chapters is called Find Your Voice. Following are some exerpts from that chapter. Though they are directed towards the topic of Leadership, they seem to work well in this scenario as a blogger. After all, aren't you as a blogger LEADING your readers?

Finding your voice is absolutely critical to becoming an authentic leader. If you can't find your voice, you'll end up with a vocabulary that belongs to someone else, mouthing words that were written by some speechwriter, or mimicking the language of some other leader who's nothing like you at all.

To become a credible leader, first you have to comprehend fully the values, beliefs, and assumptions that drive you. You have to freely and honestly choose the principles you will use to guide your actions. Before you can clearly communicate your message, you must be clear about the message you want to deliver. And before you do what you say, you must be sure that you mean what you say.

You can't believe in the messenger if you don't know what the messenger believes.

If you are a blogger, go back and review your old posts. Can people learn about you along the way? Have you been consistent in your message? Have you found your brand or your niche? Can you distinguish your blog well enough from other blogs that you know your readers are reading? Try to find your voice if you haven't already. Your readers will thank you for it!

My Credentials

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:03:15 GMT

I have provided a link to my cover letter and resume on the home page. Just to give my readers an idea of my overall work experience to date so you better understand my perspective on things.

This doesn't mean that I'm looking for another job. (However, if the right offer came along...)

Blogging: One Year Later!

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:31:08 GMT

I have made it to a significant milestone. On February 26, 2005, I started this blog as an experiment. That experiment turned into a part of my life. A part that is different from my personal life or my work life. I joined a different community on that day. Most of the people in this community I have not met in person, yet many of them I am closer than my co-workers. They provide me constant support through their encouragement to keep at this. They provide me SO much knowledge in my education of life. They are sounding board on wild "random thoughts" that I have along the way. They are mentors in helping me out with issues I have as a manager. They come from all types of professions, all types of cultures, all types of experiences.

It has not been easy to make it a year. I can understand how so many blogs disappear in a few weeks or months. You have to be in it for the right reasons. You can't be in it for fame or fortune, because it probably won't happen to most bloggers. You can't be in it and expect instantly to get an audience, because it takes time to build loyal readers. With millions of blogs out there already, and more being established than leaving, there is a LOT of competition. You can't be in it without being honest with yourself and your readers, try to fake it and you'll be in trouble. The more real you can be, the greater the response you will have. You have to find your niche and stick with it, to distinguish yourself from the rest. You have to post often (at least once or twice a week) but too much as you may suffer from burnout. There were plenty of times that I thought about ending this blog, but glad that I didn't.

Thanks to my readers that have stuck with me and have commented on my posts. Thanks also to the other bloggers that have supported me and sent people my way when you have enjoyed a post. I hope that I have done the same for you, and enjoy each of your blogs. It is great to be associated with each and every one of you. I would have never imagined my life being impacted this way a year ago, I can't imagine what it will bring me a year from now.

State of the Blogosphere

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 22:44:23 GMT

Technorati, the search engine, published another State of the Blogosphere.

The summary of their findings?

Technorati now tracks over 27.2 Million blogs
The blogosphere is doubling in size every 5 and a half months
It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
Spings (Spam Pings) can sometimes account for as much as 60% of the total daily pings Technorati receives
Sophisticated spam management tools eliminate the spings and find that about 9% of new blogs are spam or machine generated
Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day, about 50,000 per hour
Over 81 Million posts with tags since January 2005, increasing by 400,000 per day
Blog Finder has over 850,000 blogs, and over 2,500 popular categories have attracted a critical mass of topical bloggers

I found this funny...a parody of a Madonna classic

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 23:07:39 GMT

"BLOGUE"

Strike a post
Strike a post
Blogue, blogue, blogue
Blogue, blogue, blogue

Surf around, every page you load is tragic
Tripe everywhere that you go [surf around]
You try everything you can to escape
The mainstream media you know [media you know]

When all else fails and you long to read
Something better than your feeds today
I know a place where you can have your say
It's called the blogosphere, and here's what it's for, so

Chorus:

Come on, blogue
Let your fingers move to the music [move to the music]
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, blogue
Let your fingers go with the flow [go with the flow]
You know you can do it

You don't have to do real reporting
Link to it, that's what it's for [that's what it's for]
Stay inside, for your finest inspiration
No need to open the door [open up the door]

It makes no difference if you're black or white
If you're a boy or a girl
If the server's pumping it will give you new life
You're a microstar, yes, that's what you are, you know it

(chorus, substituting "groove" for "move")

Traffic's where you find it
Not just where the AdWords mine it
Hits are in the trivial
That's where I feel so pivotal
Whimsical, like Justin Hall
So get up on the blogosphere

(chorus)
Blogue, [Blogue]
PageRank's where you find it [move to the music]
Blogue, [Blogue]
PageRank's where you find it [go with the flow]

Mark Cuban, Malik, Om,
Nick Denton, Doctorow
Calacanis, Weblogs Inc.
Written up in Wired magazine

Daily Kos, Wonkette, Kaus
Fierce with a computer mouse
Metafilter, Dave Winer
Peter Rojas, gadget finder

They had style, they had grace
Kottke had the interface
Arianna, Ana too
Robert Scoble, Bill loves you

Ladies with an attitude
Fellows that were IMterviewed
Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a post, there's nothing to it

Blogue, blogue

Oooh, you've got to
Let your fingers move to the music
Oooh, you've got to just
Let your fingers go with the flow
Oooh, you've got to
Blogue

found via Boing Boing.

May the best ideas come forth!

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 20:16:48 GMT

Lisa, my good blogging friend over at Management Craft, has come up with an award. She promises to come up with some great prizes but plenty of recognition in the blogosphere. Here is what she is looking for in her own words:

I would like to hear the best management ideas, tips, suggestions, that you have recently tried (in the last 3 months). What's new and fresh? What new habit or management hack is making your day more manageable? What new habit has transformed your day from dark to light? Anyone in the world can participate. You can nominate an idea of yours OR you can nominate someone else's idea (note which is the case on your entry).

Oh, Lisa also asked me to be one of the judges. I just hope I do it justice! She will announce the other judges soon, unless they say something beforehand.

Let the contest begin! Read more in her post about the rules and how to submit your entry.

Never Work Alone got mentioned!

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:50:17 GMT

My other site, Never Work Alone, got mentioned in the latest Fast Company (page 100 of the December issue)! It was just a brief mention and buried within other information, but it's still great press!

If you haven't been over to Never Work Alone (or it's been awhile), we have picked up the pace somewhat. The holidays slowed us down but we are back and better than ever.

I encourage you to visit and join the Google Group and join directly into the conversations. Anybody signed up can respond to any topic. Even better, you can start your own topic that you want the group to tackle!

Each week, we will also continue to summarize the best of the Google group by posting to the Never Work Alone blog.

Come back and visit us! Tell your friends! If you have a management issue, or an issue with management, come talk with us! Hope to see you there!

Skip, Bren, and Dwayne

Tis' the season

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:49:41 GMT

Well, we are approaching the holidays and today is my last day of work for the year. You will probably see little or no activity on this blog until the new year, but I may surprise you with a post now and then.

Spend time with those that you love, reflect on this year, and plan great things for the coming year. I always think of the New Years Day as a new start -- a way to forget the problems of the past and a chance to make something better for the future. You do the same, and together we will make 2006 the best year ever!

Wishing each of you a great holiday and a very happy new year!

Skip

Random Thoughts from a CTO (also known as "Random Thoughts of a CTO" or and I think this is best reference I have seen -- Ramblings of a CTO!)

Blogging isn't what I thought it was going to be

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:55:15 GMT

When I started blogging, I thought that it would be much more interactive. I would create a post, people would make comments either publicly on the blog or privately to my email address, and discussions would happen.

Unfortunately, spammers have hit blog sites and have caused many blog sites (including my own) to remove trackbacks to other sites as well as limit who can comment (through some kind of login/membership). Therefore, what comments come through have been minimal in my case.

Even if comments were wide open, I'm still finding something interesting. I am finding myself too busy to comment given the number of good blogs to review and my time blogging being somewhat limited. I think that the same is happening with other people. Also, I believe that many people would prefer to read blogs than participate in them, to truly read blogs as one would read a paper. Purely as a source of information.

Where at one time I was frustrated with the lack of participation, I am now very comfortable that the majority of people that see my blog are just readers. In most cases, they would prefer to remain anonymous. Plus, if something really hits a nerve (good or bad) that they need to respond, I am sure they will either through my email or directly on the blog.

But there's another thing going on that I hadn't seen coming when I started blogging. Bloggers communicating and many times collaborating with other bloggers. Whereas the general public may be a quiet community, the bloggers aren't. They share with each other, working and refining ideas, all to make the overall blogging community a better place. I feel that I have a community of around 10-15 blogs that seem to share things around with each other. We all have the same passion - to help others lead and manage people in a business environment. And this makes all of us better as people as well as bloggers. And the general reading public benefits as a result.

Where does this take us? Who knows? I think the world is continuing to get smaller with technology, and no doubt the same goes with blogging. We will continue to refine and sometimes redefine what blogging communities will be out there in multiple communication formats. And we haven't really seen the mainstream internet users yet in the blogging world, it's still in the "early adoptors" phase. As tools that people use to access the Internet embrace blogs, we will see the numbers of readers (and other bloggers) continue to rise. It's exciting to think of the possibilities, and I hope to be right in the middle of the journey!

Never Work Alone - come visit us!

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:16:30 GMT

This is just another reminder to visit "my other blog" -- Never Work Alone -- co-created with Slacker Manager and Genuine Curiosity. The blog is updated on a weekly or so basis highlighting one of the threads from the Google Group. Comments and trackbacks are always welcome.

If you want to participate more directly, please sign up with the Never Work Alone Google Group and feel free to either enter your own thread or contribute to one that is going.

Never Work Alone is there for you. Together, we can work on problems that you are having in your particular organization, whether you want a management perspective or are a manager that needs help.

I have found the group to be highly effective, and have submitted a couple of my own issues to the group. As you can tell from the blog, the results are quite comprehensive!

If you been before, take a look again. If you haven't, go give it try. When you are there, feel free to look around and participate where you can. Remember, Never Work Alone is only as successful as your contribution!

How much is this blog worth?

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:51:05 GMT

My blog is worth $41,775.96.
How much is your blog worth?

Other things that I am involved in

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 16:05:17 GMT

Here are some other sites that I am involved in if you are interested:

Carnival of the Capitalists - comes out every Monday, the latest one is here. This Carnival focuses on businesses - economics, management, trends, industry issues, etc.

Carnival of the Agilists - comes out mid week every week, the latest one is here. This Carnival focuses on agile software development processes.

Never Work Alone - A blog and a Google group talking about any management issues that YOU have. You are welcome to join the Google group and bring up or respond to topics that you care about. Currently, there are almost 150 people registered that can respond to your concerns. Periodically, we will post selected topics that we believe will serve the greater public on the Never Work Alone blog. Check it out!

Change This! Manifesto - I am currently in the running of submitting a manifesto called Strategy YOU! Please vote for me if you haven't already so that I can write and publish this work. Tell others that you think would benefit from it. You can find out more about it here as well as vote.

Please vote for me!

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:01:52 GMT

I have decided to take a first shot at writing my own white paper, well actually a manifesto. If you haven't visited ChangeThis!, you are truly missing out. Each year, several authors (or in my case, hopeful authors) submit proposals. People visiting the site vote on proposals that they would like to see produced as a manifesto. Several times a year, the ones that produce the highest votes get their manifesto published!

My proposal is called Strategy YOU! In this manifesto, I will provide you and others the tools to produce your Personal Strategic Plan that can be used as a roadmap in planning your future. You can read more at this link. If you like what you read, you can vote on it by clicking the "Yes, Write this Manifesto". Please pass this along to others that might be interested in this.

Also, while you are at this site, check out the existing manifestos. There is a lot of great material out there, and I would be honored to have my place among these authors.

I am excited about the possibility of writing and publishing this, so I hope I get your votes!

Your Virtual Management Consulting Team!

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 17:52:16 GMT

OK, I'm a little late to the party. I was attending the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference all day yesterday here in Portland.

Bren over at Slacker Manager approached Dwayne at Genuine Curiosity and I about a possible collaboration project. What is we provided people an email address for them to send business issues that they are having? Then out of those issues, we would select from the best and promote it to a group of managers from around the world to tackle the issue and provide advice from their perspectives. Then, we would post the results for all to see and respond to. Of course, we thought the idea was excellent.

We decided to call this effort Never Work Alone. People would have access to this management braintrust FREE OF CHARGE and could reference past decisions through tools that they are familiar with - search engines, email and news readers.

Given that I am coming from a technical perspective, I am fascinated with the merging of technology for this project. Is it a discussion forum? Well yes, using Google Groups. Is it a email subscription service? Well yes, the Google group provides the ability to receive feedback through email. You can also send the group requests through email. Is it a weblog? Well yes, the results of each discussion will be posted on a blog and can be subscribed to through your favorite news reader. You will also be able to comment on the blog posts, providing yet another level of collaboration between the management team and the world!

I'm proud to be able to be a part of this effort. If you want to send an issue to the group, send email to this address: neverworkalone@gmail.com. You can also check out the Never Work Alone Google Group and the Never Work Alone Blog. Hey, maybe we should have t-shirts made! Oh, Bren and Dwayne??

Carnival of the Carnivals

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 22:26:34 GMT

If you are a blogger or a regular reader of blogs, you will see a reference in several blogs to a particular Carnival. What are those you might say? They are consider the "best of" by bloggers for a given period of time, usually weekly divided into particular categories. A couple of the oldest ones out there are the Carnival of the Vanities and the Carnival of the Capitalists (the latter one that I read and post regularly to). However, in my blogging travels looking for things to read or talk about, I have discovered that there are many more Carnivals out there.

In this post, I was planning on listing all of them with their links, but in my searching came across Blog Carnival. If you are looking for the various carnivals, this is the place to start. They have a nice search/filter and will tell you when the next post will be. If you are hosting a carnival but don't see yours on the list, you have a link to add yours. According to them, there are 106 Carnivals that they track and the number of Carnivals are always increasing.

If you are interesting in posting to any of these carnivals, a good place is submit is here. This universal form will send appropriate information to the carnival of your choosing.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Benefits from Blogging

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 22:19:59 GMT

In my original post, I had been blogging for 110 days. My blog at that time had 82 posts and around 12,000 total hits with an average of 200 hits a day.

I have now been blogging for 270 days (started Feb 26). I have 136 posts and have averaged 350 hits a day with a total number of hits over 38,000.

Following are the list of benefits that I had achieved at that time. I have updated the list and comments to reflect where those benefits are currently:

Expands my network - If you want to maximize the success of any career, you must have a solid network of people to tap into for resources. Though over time I have worked on my network in the areas that I have worked in, in today's global economy that isn't enough. I have already made many connections through this that couldn't have been done otherwise and they live throughout the US and the world. UPDATE: My network has grown significantly, the world is much smaller and I have confirmed that how my organization operates isn't much difference than any other organization. I have also developed real friendships with other bloggers. It's hard to imagine working without this network now.
Provides mentors - As I moved into management, there were less peers to talk with in my organization so I have to look to the outside. Most of my mentoring prior to blogging (and reading others' blogs) was in the form of books or articles. Now I get a lot of good advice from reading blogs as well as people responding to my posts. Also through the connections I have talked with others that have had similar issues that I have and they have given me some great advice. UPDATE: I continue to learn from other blogs, and my list of blogs that I read on a regular basis continues to grow. The content from these blogs match any knowledge that I have gained from books and formal education. What separates these blogs from those sources of education is the learning is from application and not just theory. I also continue to get help from others on fine tuning my ideas and providing new things to talk about on my blog.
Making a difference - Though I feel I have done much for the company I am currently working at, I'm always looking for more ways to use my skills and knowledge to help people. This has given me another outlet and it is very fulfilling to see how positive the responses have been to my postings and how helpful they have been. I want to make people think about a better way so that they can also make a difference. It is exciting to think about how some of my posts have probably been passed on time and time again and it is having an impact. UPDATE: I have had feedback via email from individuals that I know I have made a difference. My posts have also ended up on other blogs to continue the discussion.
Forcing self-discipline - Managing a blog isn't easy work. Especially in our busy lives with our real jobs, family and other activities wanting part of our time. When I started this, I made a commitment that I would post at least five times a week (usually one a day during the week with weekends off). I knew that if I didn't make this commitment that I would give up. Some weeks I have lots of ideas, other times I really struggle to figure out what to post. But, I have kept up for 110 days and counting. This has helped me work on self discipline in other areas of my life - my health, spending time with family, keeping organized, etc. UPDATE: It has been good for me to prove to myself and others that I can find time to blog (and read blogs) while still fulfilling my job and home duties. It's all about priorities and managing your time. You would be surprised of how much time I found wasted while making time for these activities.
Creative outlet - This has been a great place to throw out some ideas and see if they stick before I try them out in my real job. If I get a good response, I know I am on to something. If I get a negative response, I know I have some work on refining my ideas. Either way, by "testing" them first using my blog I know that when I am ready to use them they will be much more effective. UPDATE: Most of my posts have confirmed that my thoughts are accurate and I am moving in the right direction. The other posts have helped me better shape my thoughts and determine that my thinking is wrong and needs correction.
Improving communication skills - I have never been much of a writer, though I do spend much of my job communicating through writing either by email or reports. As a look back at my first posts compared to recent ones, I can see how my writing has improved. I still feel I have a long ways to go compared to some other blogs I read, but it's getting there. I can also see how it has helped in my other forms of communication -- get to the point, highlight key points, make it memorable, use stories to visualize, etc. UPDATE: I think that my overall writing and communication skills have been greatly improved as a result of blogging. Not only do I need to be transparent, but I only have one shot at getting it right. I have to make sure that the message is clear and that people will under the context and the importance.
Archiving my brain - I am over 40. I have a lot in my brain over the years. As I get older, I am afraid that some things will leak out and be gone forever. Not only has blogging been a good pressure release to get things out of my head, but it's now a permanent archive for me to reference things. UPDATE: Interesting enough, after blogging for some time I don't have as much in my brain anymore. Not that I won't in the future, but the blog has been a great place to store my ideas. When I first started my blog, I could have written several posts a day but decided to pace myself at 4-5 posts a week. Now, I'm glad I did that because I am finding that it is a struggle to keep at that pace and coming up with new ideas.
More Validation - I think each of us wants to be validated. Are we saying the right words? Are we doing the right actions? Are we really making an impact? a contribution? a difference? Validation for most of us comes through work in the form of praise, recognition, more responsibilities, more pay, titles, certificates, awards. But what if that isn't enough or you aren't getting the feedback you need frequent enough? As mentioned above, I believe that I have received much validation through this blog. As I read comments as well as others blogs (and especially other blog postings that expand of mine), I get confirmation that I am saying the right words and doing the right actions. UPDATE: As you can tell from my other updates....I have received MUCH validation through blogging. So much so, that it has opened other possibilities for me in the future such as writing books, teaching or consulting. I have also been asked to write and/or contribute to other blogs in various topics.

Thanks to everybody that continue to read this blog and interact with me on a regular basis. Continue to challenge my thinking through your feedback. I hope to continue to provide you with many more of my "random thoughts"!

Guest Hosting about Lifelong Learning

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:48:26 GMT

Today, I am providing the guest post over at Talking Story with Say Leadership. I was asked a couple of weeks ago by the blogger of that site, Rosa Say, to join their Ho'ohana Online Community. What is that you ask? Here is Rosa's definition, read more at this post:

"I invite people to be part of the Ho‘ohana Online Community after I have developed my own relationship with them, and I have been witness to their willingness to engage in positive conversations with their own readership (and positive doesn’t mean you necessarily agree about everything). They celebrate the spirit of aloha in their interactions with their guests and customers — the people who read their blogs. They strive to be Mea Ho‘okipa, the epitome of the gracious host: Their blog is a home they invite others into, and once guests arrive, they do all they can to make them feel comfortable and welcomed.
The readers of Talking Story, those whom I call the Ho‘ohana Community, are very important to me, and I believe they trust me to make good recommendations. I am not willing to compromise their trust and disappoint them. I can only recommend another blogger when I am very confident he or she is very responsive, and willing to engage in conversation with them."

Each month, Rosa provides a topic for Ho'ohana to talk about. This month is about Lifelong Learning. My post is called "Learning Trigger Points" where I share with you how I got on the road of lifelong learning. Unfortunately, I see too many people that stop learning for one reason or another. It is my hope that this post will inspire them to keep going.

Please go take a look at my post and let me know what you think! While you are there, take a look around Rosa's site and I am sure that you will find a lot of good learning material. Also, on the right column of her site are links to each of the members of the Ho'ohana Online Community. I am proud to be associated with this group, as each of them contain thoughtful and high quality content geared towards business management and leadership. If you don't already know and read some of these blogs, give them a try!

Finding Your Blogging Voice

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:55:07 GMT

As a blogger, it would be easy for me to go search over the web and provide links to everybody else. I would probably get a lot of people because it would appear that I am a great blogger. In that sense, I would be more of a news reporter. Yet, nobody would really get to know me, what I stand for, what my likes and dislikes are. Plus, I would be providing the same information that at least a half dozen other people have already talked about. I would say that at least HALF of the blogs that I subscribe to in my newsreader "recycle" information from other sites - for some, just part of the time..for others, it's the norm.

News reporter or book writer, both have their places in the blogosphere I guess. However, it seems we have many more news reporters and not enough book writers. Believe me, by the time I have read your post pointing to something you think is very newsworthy, I have probably seen the same posting several times over.

Regardless of which type of blog you promote, one thing is for sure -- "You need to find your voice" and stay true to it. Find your niche and stick with it. In the book The Leadership Challenge, one of the chapters is called Find Your Voice. Following are some exerpts from that chapter. Though they are directed towards the topic of Leadership, they seem to work well in this scenario as a blogger. After all, aren't you as a blogger LEADING your readers?

Finding your voice is absolutely critical to becoming an authentic leader. If you can't find your voice, you'll end up with a vocabulary that belongs to someone else, mouthing words that were written by some speechwriter, or mimicking the language of some other leader who's nothing like you at all.

To become a credible leader, first you have to comprehend fully the values, beliefs, and assumptions that drive you. You have to freely and honestly choose the principles you will use to guide your actions. Before you can clearly communicate your message, you must be clear about the message you want to deliver. And before you do what you say, you must be sure that you mean what you say.

You can't believe in the messenger if you don't know what the messenger believes.

If you are a blogger, go back and review your old posts. Can people learn about you along the way? Have you been consistent in your message? Have you fond your brand or your niche? Can you distinguish your blog well enough from other blogs that you know your readers are reading? Try to find your voice if you haven't already. Your readers will thank you for it!

Opinions on Blogs by a Blogging Executive

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 19:36:26 GMT

Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Vice President of Technical Strategy and Innovation for IBM, is yet another example of an executive that produces their own blog. Like many people (including myself), he saw blogging coming a long time before it took off but was skeptical on its purpose and potential of longevity. Here some of exerpt on his recent post called Blogging, the Web and the Emergence of Collaborative Knowledge (click the link to read more):

"I was honestly taken by surprise by the rise of blogging. My friend John Patrick, with whom I worked very closely at IBM in organizing our Internet initiative, had been telling me for years that blogging was one of the major next big directions for the Internet, right up there with ubiquitous wireless access. I honestly thought that John had lost it, but I now realize I was looking at blogging all wrong and asking all the wrong questions. I thought: "Who wants to read what I have to write when there are so many professional writers, experts in their subjects, publishing countless articles in newspapers, magazines, academic journals and books, let alone all the other stuff appearing every minute on the Web itself?" To me this all felt like an exercise in narcissism, with people writing on whatever subject they chose just to see their name in (electronic) print and get their 15 minutes (or hopefully longer) of fame.

What I had totally missed is that blogging should be viewed as one of the major natural next steps of the Web. The Web's appeal, as we were recently reminded in a very good article by Kevin Kelly in Wired Magazine is bigger, much bigger, than any one web site or web page. It is all about the content. The more content there is on the Web, and the more people access and interact with the content, the more valuable the Web is for everyone. In the early days of the Web, content was expensive to store, hard to find, and relatively difficult to produce, so web sites were put up primarily by businesses and other institutions. But, as computer storage has gotten ridiculously inexpensive, as search capabilities -- enabled by equally inexpensive computing technology -- make it easy to find whatever is out there, and as good tools for creating content become available to everyone, more and more of the content is now being contributed by individuals."

Blog Consolidation: Too Much Noise!

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 21:08:07 GMT

Fast Company Now this week is sponsoring an event called BlogJam 2005. I had never heard of this event before this week. I found out about it through one of the blogs I read. Apparently, this isn't their first year of putting together this event. At first I felt wishing that I had known about it earlier and signed up to participate. But, now I am glad that I didn't.

Why? The bloggers that are participating are all top-notch, many of them I read their posts on a daily basis. Even the quality of their posts is right now the mark, and those posts could stand on their own in their particular blogs. So, what is it? I think it is the forum that is being conducted...

Too much noise.   In going to the site, I feel that I am thrown into this big room with many people all talking at one on various topics trying to get my attention.   I can't keep my focus. I can't follow the various streams of discussions. I feel dizzy, disoriented, wanting to get out.

I have felt this way with other forums such as the Carnival of the Capitalists.   I have contributed often to this forum.   It has provided exposure to my blog. It provides another outlet to share my posts. However, I struggle with reading the forum each week.   Seems too big, too disorganized, too cluttered. I can't blame the hosts each week, they do their best to try to put things in a format that is readable. It just isn't working.

One of the things that I appreciate about blogs is that each blogger is representing themselves - their voice, their ideas, their thoughts, their experiences.   The forum is one to many. I can read each blog separately because I understand the context of each posts because I understand the person behind it.   I can even subscribe to multiple forums through Bloglines and read each one separately at my own pace.   It provides me focus. It provides me organization.   I can therefore, get the most out of it.

Picture the large room again.   There is no reasonable way for me to keep track of the various conversations that are happening at once and give each person talking enough of my attention.   I am much better off meeting with smaller groups or even better individuals and spending a little time separately with each.

For me, I don't want blogs (or bloggers) to consolidate. I am just fine with each one of them having their own community that I can participate it.

Blog Review: Management Craft

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 21:25:08 GMT

Lisa Haneburg, the blogger for this site, runs her own management consulting firm called Haneberg Management based in Seattle.   It's great to see somebody who charges clients for her valuable time provide her knowledge pro bono to the rest of us via her blog. Lisa also written a book called H.I.M.M. - High Impact Middle Management. I have yet to read her book but have heard great things about it and plan on reading it soon. If it is anything like what she provides on her blog, I'm sure there's a lot I will get out of it.

Lisa focuses on management - in all forms, shapes and sizes. She provides sound and practical advice and you can tell that she comes from a wealth of experience based on the solid examples that she provides.   Lisa isn't afraid to shy away from sensitive or controversial topics. Take her recent five part! posts on Scraping Performance Appraisals. Here's something that it engrained in most business, and for most people isn't working based on the feedback she received. Funny thing was, as soon as I read her posts, I had to agree with her.   Something has to chance, and Lisa isn't afraid to start the revolution!

Lisa is also very approachable. If you provide a comment either from her blog or through her email, you will get a response from her. She genuinely cares about her readers.   She is also very passionate about management. The combination proves to be an excellent place to start if you are either thinking about management or have been doing it for many years.

Go visit -- Management Craft!

It's Been One of Those Weeks

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:05:39 GMT

Ever had one of those weeks that you would rather forget?   Well, here's mine...

Late last week, I caught the flu which included sore throat, cough, upset stomach, headache and plenty of congestion. Still getting over parts of it and now it's been a week. The highlight was when I woke up Tuesday morning with pink eye (in both eyes!!!!). Thank goodness at least that has gone away so I don't have to continue to freak people out with my evil red eyes and something that is highly contagious.

With all of this, I came into work with a blank screen...not a blue screen of death...but blank. I tried rebooting my machine and it couldn't find the operating system.   In other words, the hard drive was dead. Somehow, after a couple of reboots it magically started working again and I thought that it was some kind of fluke. Do I have a good and recent backup? Nope. Did I think about backing things up after that incident? Nope. (and here I'm a CTO and knows better).

So, a couple of hours later and I have somebody in my office and all of a sudden my machine is making VERY WEIRD noices, then nothing, then the blue screen of death....ARRGHHH!

After many hours with my friendly System Administrator person, I was able to back up my data from my hard drive but will be spending the first part of my week reloading and reconfiguring all of my applications. Yeah for me!

We have all had these weeks and they don't come around often (at least for me, if it does for you I'm sorry).   You can't prepare for it, and let's just say productivity for me hasn't been great this week.   As a manager, you need to be prepared for the unexpected and just learn to go with the flow. All of this was out of my control and was going to happen whether I liked it or not.

So, here's hoping that next week is MUCH better!

Update: I was able to recover critical data from my system crash, so it was just a matter of reloading my applications. Also, I'm much healthier after a weekend of rest.   It's nice to be back at 100%!

Blog Review: J-Walk Blog

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 23:32:57 GMT

The subtitle of this blog kinda says it all, "Stuff that may or may not interest you". John Walkenbach, or J-Walk as he is called on his blog, seems to find "stuff" on the web that I have never seen elsewhere. Similiar to Boing Boing, he doesn't focus on any particular area but when he finds things he gets them on his site quickly. He can easily post 10 - 20 entries a day. I don't know how he has the time, but I'm glad he does it.

Most of the things he posts aren't going to be life changers for you, they are basically trivial stuff. However, he has a tendency to engage you to a point that you want to learn more about what he posts. Unlike other blogs like his, he adds a personal touch by tending to provide just enough sarcasm to be funny without poking too much fun towards those he links to.

Sometimes you need to take a break from reality and the world being so serious, this blog gives me that much needed escape. It amazes me what he finds (not to mention what people put on the Internet!). I'm always curious on what he finds next, and he never disappoints me. Sure, there are some things that I ignore, but he always seems to have a post or two a day that either make me laugh or make me appreciate the freedom and diversity we have on the web.

Go visit -- J-Walk Blog!

Blog Review: Slacker Manager

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 18:33:46 GMT

Every week, I will highlight a particular blog that I read on a regular basis. This will not only give them exposure (especially some of the lesser known blogs I read) but will give you more of an idea of what interests me as a business person and a CTO. So, here we go...

I first found out about Brendon and his blog in my very early days of blogging. At that point (this was in March of this year), I only had a handful of blogs that I was reading and had decided a month earlier to create my own blog. I had only had a few posts when I discovered my traffic had jumped significantly due to this post. Here I was a nobody in my mind, and here was this popular site talking about little ol' me. I can't tell you how I felt to be "published" on another blog. What a rush it was to see somebody responding to my thoughts. Even more so, when it was a positive response!

I send an email to Bren thanking him for the post. I had never emailed to somebody that wasn't a friend, family member, software vendor, or a business contact - this was a new experience for me to email to a total stranger. Brendon was quick to respond, and through several emails I had felt that I knew Bren for a long time as a good friend. He was not only the person who got me noticed, but he provided a lot of help in knowing how to blog, tools to use and how to market my blog. We also discovered in the email exchange that we lived only about 10 miles from each other (talk about a SMALL world). Since then, we have had lunch a couple of times.

Though I now knew Bren, the name of his blog and his manifesto at Change This! threw me off. My first impression was that Bren was making fun of managers and maybe encouraging others to do the same. You might have had that impression as well. But, don't let that stop you! Bren's manifesto and blog are to provide insight to manager's on how to do our jobs more efficiently - with effective communication, delegation and relationships with co-workers and avoiding the need to have lots of processes and policies you could come across as being a slacker because you have enpowered everybody around you to be a success. I now get it Bren, and realize that being a "slacker manager" is not only ok but the right thing to do! It's a great blog and I know that you won't be disappointed.

Go visit -- Slacker Manager!

Another Blogging Experience

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 16:31:21 GMT

Stacy at Virtualosity has a very interesting post on her personal experience of reading others blogs. I found my own experiences to be very similar, including how she uses Bloglines to help in managing the reading of blogs.

Even more so, she talks about how she thought reading other blogs would hurt in writing her blog, because she might lose some of her voice by being influenced by others.

However, just the opposite happened as you will read. It's great to see how others are learning the potential of blogging and relating it to the success of their own lives. Enjoy!

Comments: Are we missing something (or someone)?

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:26:28 GMT

I've been keeping track of something ever since I started blogging several months ago and as time goes on it is really bugging me.

Who participates at any particular blog? How much of the reader base is represented? For those that comment, what is their experience using blogs?

I can tell from my site but also the many others that I read and participate in that the findings seem amazing to me (by the way, this is NOT a scientific survey just a rough guess):

Less than 5% (for some sites, probably much less) of the reader base provides at least one comment to the blog that they read
If people comment, most tend to be frequent commentors.
I would say that probably 90-95% of them also have their own blog and usually one that has been around for a few months.

Am I the only one out there bothered by this? Am I missing something? Why aren't the non-blog readers posting? Why does it seem that each blog seems to have a small number of regular contributors?

Is it that we are posting things that don't require a comment? I very much doubt it. There are times where I purposely ask for feedback, but don't receive much of it. Even some of the more well known bloggers out there have many of their posts unanswered and yet I know there are opinions out there.

As a blogger myself, I make it a point to contribute where I can elsewhere. If there is something out there that triggers a reaction, I let them know. I will also extend the conversation through trackbacks and other posts encouraging people to post conversations on either site. I think I am doing my part, but why aren't enough others???

It seems that the non-blogging community sees blogs much differently, as a "news" feed that they just read as one would read a newspaper. That's unfortunate, because they are missing something that could be much more than that.

Part of the appeal that I had in getting into a blog was to have conversations, to have people challenge what I have to say and for me to do the same with them. It's makes everybody stronger and provides for a "good show" to others to watch. I'm afraid with the low feedback plus the every present threat of spamming that the ability to post comments will eventually go away (it's already happening with trackbacks).

That will be a sad day when that happens. The blogosphere will become a bunch of one-sided conversations where everybody is talking and people are listening but nobody is responding. Who wants that? That's not what I signed up for!

Until next week...

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 19:43:01 GMT

Thanks to those that have offered feedback from either of my last two posts. Keep them coming. If you haven't responded, it's never too late!

If you are subscribed on Bloglines, chances are that there will be delays on when you read this and other posts from the last couple of days. Since early Wed morning, my feed hasn't been updating on Bloglines. Bloglines is on the problem, and it should be fixed soon (I hope!).

With that, and the long Independence day holiday weekend, I won't be posting until early next week in order to take a break from blogging and give others a chance to catch up and respond to those posts. This will give me a chance to re-energize my batteries.

I've already got some good ideas for topics next week, and will be back to providing you with great Random Thoughts in short order. Again, thanks for all your support and for reading my blog. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Again, keep those ideas and other blogs coming! I ALWAYS appreciate your feedback, positive or negative! It makes me a better person and provides better quality to my posts.

Know of other blogs I should look at?

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:04:15 GMT

If you are curious on which blogs I monitor, here are my current Bloglines subscriptions:

http://bloglines.com/public/skipangel

I'm always looking for more blogs, especially in the areas of business, management, leadership and technology.

If there are ones that I am missing that I should look at, please provide feedback through comments or email me here.

Need some ideas

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:37:36 GMT

I could use your help. There are other things that I have Random Thoughts about, but want to hear from you.

What would you like for me to talk about?

What prior posts do you want me to clarify and elaborate on?

What are some areas that you would like to hear my opinion on?

Please provide comments or you can send email here. Thanks in advance for your help. I want to make sure that I am talking about things that interest you and this will really help!

A blog about blogging

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 15:09:36 GMT

Keith at To-Done has a great post on Being a More Productive Blogger. Here are some of his tips in that post:

Tell a story. Storytelling is probably the best way to share information with a wide audience. It’s a fun way to write, helps you inject some personality into your writing and emulates a great conversational tone.
Break longer posts up into several smaller posts. This not only gives you the feel good illusion of getting more into your blog, it helps your readers take in what you have to say.
Lists, lists, lists. They’re easier to read and a bit easier to write, because they allow you to get to the point and cut our meaningless words and phrases. Not perfect for everything, but they come in pretty handy at times.
Make good use of your drafts. I carry at least a few drafts in each of my blog at all times. Sometimes these are simply the title, but these help give me ideas when my creative energy is low and provide a starting point when I’m bogged down with writers block.
Quote liberally and be sure to tip. This is definitely more of a trick than a tip, but I find there are times when I’m writing and I just can’t think of the right way to say something. Sometimes a little research can help and you’ll find someone else has made a similar point. It’s ok to quote and play off that, just make sure you linkback (as links are the currency of blogs) and give proper credit.
Respond to feedback on your blog. People love to talk and share their opinions. I’ve found that by engaging your readers and taking the time to listen to them, you’ll often find a good topic that you can respond to in a new post.
Don’t obsess over your stats. It’s easy to get into the habit of checking your stats all the time, this can destroy your focus and put a real damper not only on blogging, but everything else as well. I try and check them once a day and not think about them after that.

This post along with some past ones has encouraged Keith to create another blog called Successful Blog. I have seen a few other sites dedicated to blogging, but Keith focuses more on the art of blogging than the science.

If you are new to blogging, this is a great place to start so that you will be successful sooner and won't repeat mistakes that many bloggers make. If you have a blog, these tips by Keith are a good reminder that there is much more about blogging than finding the right tool and figuring out what to write about. Take a look, you won't be disappointed!

Geographical Blog Search Tool

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 16:21:28 GMT

Somebody told me about Feedmap. It's still in beta, but I like what I see. You can find other blogs plotted on a Google-like map for a geographical area (it's actually using Microsoft's Mappoint technology). Want to find fellow bloggers around you or around a location that you like? This is a good place to start.

I am not sure how they are figuring out where the blogs are located, it seems to have a bunch of them but it looks like you must submit your blog and put in your location. You can actually tie your blog to an address, but I decided to just use the city/state/zip to remain somewhat anonymous.

Here is what comes up in searching my local area. The red X's show the various blogs and you hover over then to get feed or link info (you can also see the list below the map):

The Benefits of Blogging (so far...)

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:18:42 GMT

I have been blogging now for 110 days since Feb 26. This has consisted of 82 posts, a total of over 12,000 hits so far, and am averaging around 200 hits a day. What had started as an experiment, then a hobby, is now an extension of my career. Though I have discussed some aspects of my personal blogging journey before (see A community of bloggers), I haven't really shared the benefits I have received through this activity.

So here's my list:

Expands my network - If you want to maximize the success of any career, you must have a solid network of people to tap into for resources. Though over time I have worked on my network in the areas that I have worked in, in today's global economy that isn't enough. I have already made many connections through this that couldn't have been done otherwise and they live throughout the US and the world.
Provides mentors - As I moved into management, there were less peers to talk with in my organization so I have to look to the outside. Most of my mentoring prior to blogging (and reading others' blogs) was in the form of books or articles. Now I get a lot of good advice from reading blogs as well as people responding to my posts. Also through the connections I have talked with others that have had similar issues that I have and they have given me some great advice.
Making a difference - Though I feel I have done much for the company I am currently working at, I'm always looking for more ways to use my skills and knowledge to help people. This has given me another outlet and it is very fulfilling to see how positive the responses have been to my postings and how helpful they have been. I want to make people think about a better way so that they can also make a difference. It is exciting to think about how some of my posts have probably been passed on time and time again and it is having an impact.
Forcing self-discipline - Managing a blog isn't easy work. Especially in our busy lives with our real jobs, family and other activities wanting part of our time. When I started this, I made a commitment that I would post at least five times a week (usually one a day during the week with weekends off). I knew that if I didn't make this commitment that I would give up. Some weeks I have lots of ideas, other times I really struggle to figure out what to post. But, I have kept up for 110 days and counting. This has helped me work on self discipline in other areas of my life - my health, spending time with family, keeping organized, etc.
Creative outlet - This has been a great place to throw out some ideas and see if they stick before I try them out in my real job. If I get a good response, I know I am on to something. If I get a negative response, I know I have some work on refining my ideas. Either way, by "testing" them first using my blog I know that when I am ready to use them they will be much more effective.
Improving communication skills - I have never been much of a writer, though I do spend much of my job communicating through writing either by email or reports. As a look back at my first posts compared to recent ones, I can see how my writing has improved. I still feel I have a long ways to go compared to some other blogs I read, but it's getting there. I can also see how it has helped in my other forms of communication -- get to the point, highlight key points, make it memorable, use stories to visualize, etc.
Archiving my brain - I am over 40. I have a lot in my brain over the years. As I get older, I am afraid that some things will leak out and be gone forever. Not only has blogging been a good pressure release to get things out of my head, but it's now a permanent archive for me to reference things.
More Validation - I think each of us wants to be validated. Are we saying the right words? Are we doing the right actions? Are we really making an impact? a contribution? a difference? Validation for most of us comes through work in the form of praise, recognition, more responsibilities, more pay, titles, certificates, awards. But what if that isn't enough or you aren't getting the feedback you need frequent enough? As mentioned above, I believe that I have received much validation through this blog. As I read comments as well as others blogs (and especially other blog postings that expand of mine), I get confirmation that I am saying the right words and doing the right actions.

I know that there are probably many other benefits, but these are the key ones at this time. I am proud to be a blogger and hope to continue it for some time to come. It makes me happy that you are reading this right now. I hope to continue to make you think and encourage you to make a difference through my experiences and "random thoughts".

A community of bloggers

Fri, 20 May 2005 21:08:20 GMT

Today I went to lunch with some business bloggers in the area (that being Portland, OR) including Bren from Slacker Manager and Dwayne from Genuine Curiousity. We talked about a lot of things, but much of our discussion was around our experiences with blogging.

Why do we blog? I think we agreed that it is a creative outlet, a place for us to try new ideas and see how people respond, also a place to compare notes with others in our positions.

How often do we blog? A least a few postings per week. Anything less than that, we were concerned that we wouldn't get back to it.

How do we get people to see our blog? We all agreed that there isn't a silver bullet and that we have experimented with various approaches - trackbacks, comments in others' blogs, Carnival of the Capitalist posting, Technorati or del.icio.us tags.

How often do we check our traffic? At least several times a week, many times following a particular posting to see how the response was.

How do we spend time blogging with our "normal" jobs? Just like any hobby, we find the time and have agreed that sometimes we can get too wrapped up in our hobby that can impact our real work and lives outside of work. Just like anything, you have to find a healthy balance.

Where are we going with our blogs? To be honest, we don't know. Bren is experimenting some with audioblogs at BusinessBlogCasting site that Rob from BusinessPundit established. We talked some about aggregration of individual bloggers into particular sites and agreed that it would be difficult because it could "water down" our personal branding of our individual blogs. We all know it going to change, and we are along for the ride for now!

Musicbloggers

Thu, 12 May 2005 18:19:45 GMT

From Lifehacker, I got a post that connected me to The Tofu Hut. This has introduced me to a whole new use of blogs that I didn't know existed. It's best just to provide the explanation from this site:

A musicblogger/audioblogger/MP3blogger is a person who offers interesting, out of print, rare or otherwise engaging music to people at no charge, out of love for the sound and to promote artists that they would like to see get more popular. I'm not prejudiced; I also include record label sites, artist's personal sites, people who aggregate the daily adventures of other musicbloggers into digests... I like em all.

What you WON'T find in here are file directories without commentary or sites offering a full album that is currently in print. Audioblogging is NOT about piracy; it's about selectively sharing sounds.

There are more musicbloggers out there than most people would believe; I've been keeping a close eye on the phenomena for about two years and have compiled what I think is the most comprehensive list of musicbloggers yet available.

Following this explanation is a bunch of links grouped by genre of music. Each link is in itself a blog, but when you click a link, you are actually clicking a MP3 file of music. Since most of the music isn't what you can get at your local music store or on a site such as I-Tunes, it opens up music that you probably cannot find anywhere else.

Where could this go? Well, what if podcasting combines with MP3 or Musicblogging to provide a whole new outlet for new artists. Through viral marketing based on word of mouth on the web, these people can get "discovered" using only simple recording tools that are currently available for podcasters. Very cool stuff!