Notable

Time-management software — offline version. Photo by: dgray_xplane, Actual list by Bill Westerman.

A member of the back-to-paper movement, I love Bill Westerman´s “where the day went to crap” note on this illustration, as well as how this photo illustrates the power of analog lists. In my estimation PDA´s and, hm-hmm iPhones, take at least 10 seconds longer per interaction with one´s list. What´s  more, just looking at one´s iPhone tempts to check Twitter, and e-mail, and, and… Come on you know I am right, but the point is one can easily get distracted from the task at hand.

Another illustration I appreciate – “The Quality vs. Quantity Whiteboard UX “  manifesto, which includes these rules:

Email

• Check e-mail only @ 10:00AM, 1:00PM, 4:00PM.  Set e-mail check every 3 hours
• Send anytime
• No Email on Evenings
• No Email on Weekends
• Emergency? = Use phone

Focus

• Focus: 1-3 activities max/day
• Log: 1-3 succinct status bullets everyday on team Wiki

• Minimize chat
• Maximize Single Tasking

Out by 5:30PM – NO EXCUSES -

(Reality check: The author of this post notes this  just one day after skulking away from the office at 10PM on a Friday, because one fix sparked a slippery slope of obsessive compulsive css and functionality tweaking on the university´s leadership blog.)

Yesterday was the company julebord*.  An enjoyable evening to be sure, it made for a good end to a day that opened with a spirit-defeating meeting. Well into the ribbe* and Shiraz I couldn´t shake the feeling of disenchantment with the state of affairs.  Nagging were questions like: Are the strategic interests of the organization served by how and where I use my time?  Am I helping by participating in all these meetings and forums?  How can we do better?

These are the some of my ahah conclusions as 2009 winds down:

1. 6 is no good
   Representative committees are no good. Of late, truly useful interaction and progress has occurred only when there are 5 or fewer participants in the room.
2. Buck the futility of meetings and the tyranny of the email onslaught
   More gets accomplished through MSN and before/after meetings, than in meetings or through emails. One can save a lot of time by cutting out 90% of emails, and all meetings with more than 6 participants. Show up once in a while, bail on the rest?  (Additional inspiration: HBR – Manage your Time Like Jim Collins)
3. Lay low – Full stop on the meta-discussion
   Leaders across the organization are supposed to care about the how/who/why, but given their every-day they could really not care less. The results should be the focus, and I am sure that good results will win any argument. I should stop trying to get consensus/understanding on the “why” and “how”. Consensus has rarely been achieved, and when it has, it hasn´t gotten us anywhere really. ROI on time invested = .01.
4. A good model seems like a good goal – but it really just looks good on a slide
   What I bring to the table (and the same can be said of my most effective colleagues) probably doesn´t fit nicely into any role, in ANY organizational model that might solve what ails us.  The university is decentralized, and lets not kid ourselves, future centralization efforts won´t be plucking people from among the existing rank and file.  So you are outside of the box, far removed from the politics, you might want to take a second look around.And if one is already outside the box, why try and hop inside it? Maybe misguided craziness?
5. Geeks and nerds will always be a bit rogue
   It is often the uniqueness, the oddities and special talents of those in some of the best teams, not sameness that yields great results. Increasingly  the “odd-man-out ” in every single org model discussed lately, my gut feeling is that maybe I should just stick to participating in the virtual teams and ad-hoc collaborations.  It is even possible to further self-organize without getting anyone´s blessing.  This might also be more fun, in addition to being more effective.

   All we need now  is a secret handshake or a code word, maybe even a lair.
   

6. Fun shouldn´t be tabled for later
   Maslow was right.  Money is not what drives everyone. After my basic needs are met, I work because I want to achieve something more, and I like much of what I do.  We are not all characters in The Office, and it is possible to be too focused sometimes. One´s job can NOT be 150% about the organizations goals. (This can burn people out and that helps no one). Plan for a bit more fun, and few other bits from the top of old Maslow´s hierarchy.
7. If you build it, they won´t necessarily come, but maybe.
   Compelling is: finished products that can be demonstrated; processes that have achieved some results, and systems that are up and running. These are way more compelling that any plan or description.  Example: Installed WordPress and  Joomla, then people started using them. Propose adoption of WordPress MU and we got a institutional skepticism, budget concerns and a report. Propose a video and you get a long discussion. Make a video and you get a video. Develop an interaction yourself an you please your users; request a developer to develop it, and you get a place on their massive todo list.  Choose what is fastest.

It´s not worth blaming anyone, it´s not ideal. It´s not how we want things to be. It´s just how it is. (Unless you are lucky enough to work at Ben & Jerry´s or Google. Lucky, talented, ducks.)

* Translations:

julebord = corporate Christmas party in Norway
ribbe = traditional Norwegian Christmas pork ribs

RE: Contact component – Joomla

Seems like I looked forever for a simple recipe on changing the default sort order of a contact listing to alphabetical. Found only a post for an old version of Joomla. So simple when you find the variable (but I myself still find the Joomla “loop” a little confusing).

In the view.html.php file located in:

1. components/com_contacts/views/category/  (or)
2. templates/templatename/html/com_contact/category/(#2 is the alternative file location, if you have created an customized view for the extension in your template)

change the filter_order on line 40 from ‘cd.ordering’ to ‘cd.name’

// Selected Request vars

$filter_order = JRequest::getVar(‘filter_order’, ‘cd.name’, ”, ‘cmd’);
$filter_order_Dir = JRequest::getVar(‘filter_order_Dir’, ‘ASC‘, ”, ‘word’);