October 6, 2008

"PRIDE"-ISEM PHASE 1 - SYSTEM STUDY & EVALUATION (SPECIAL)

This is Part X in our series on the "PRIDE" Methodologies for IRM. In this edition we provide a description of the concepts and philosophies used in the "PRIDE"-Information Systems Engineering Methodology (ISEM).

The full text for this section can be obtained by clicking: HERE.

NEXT UP: Phase 2 of the "PRIDE"-Information Systems Engineering Methodology (ISEM), System Design.

If you would like to discuss this with me in more depth, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.

Keep the faith!

OUR BRYCE'S LAW OF THE WEEK therefore is...

"If an information requirement is stated incorrectly at the beginning, then everything that follows will be incorrect."

"MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD"

Friends, be sure to check out our book entitled, "MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD - A Handbook for Entering the Work Force" which is a survival guide for young people as they transition into adult life.

Bonnie Wooding, the President of the Toronto Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) said, "Many of our members are just starting their careers and I will be recommending that they read this book, especially Chapter 3, Professional Development - a primer for business skills and filled with basic common sense advice that is simple, easy to follow and extraordinarily practical; and Chapter 5, Do’s and Don’ts of the Workplace, an excellent resource for those questions you are too embarrassed to ask for fear of looking foolish."

The Miami Hurricane recently reviewed it (10/22/2007) and said,

"the abundance of information the book provides is a good start for anyone about to take the first step into the real world. Though the concept of adulthood may seem intimidating, it's comforting to know that someone has at least written a guidebook for it."

Reviewer Bill Petrey praised it by saying, "Every young person entering the workplace for the first time should be given a copy of this book."

The book includes chapters to describe how a young person should organize themselves, how to adapt to the corporate culture, develop their career, and improve themselves professionally and socially. Basically, its 208 pages of good sound advice to jump start the young person into the work force. Corporate Human Resource departments will also find this book useful for setting new hires on the right track in their career. It not only reinforces the many formal rules as contained in corporate policy manuals, but also includes the subtle unwritten rules we must all observe while working with others. The book lists for $25 and can be ordered online through MBA or your local book store. Complementing the book is a one day seminar of the same name which can be purchased separately for $4,000.00 (U.S.) plus instructor travel expenses. For more information on both the book and the seminar, visit our corporate web site at: http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/morph.htm
ISBN: 978-0-9786182-5-4

MY "PET PEEVE OF THE WEEK" IS "THE ATTRIBUTES OF A TOUGH TASK MASTER"

I think the expression "Task Master" has become passé in today's workplace but I'm not too sure what has replaced it, perhaps "Micromanager" or simply a "Pain in the Ass." Basically, it's referring to someone charged with performing a task through to completion and moves heaven and earth to get the job done. I've met a lot of tough Task Masters over the years, and I have found there are essentially two types: the megalomaniac, and the "poor slob" who has had an assignment dropped in his lap and realizes failure is not an option.

There are several attributes which the two types share: they are disciplined, results oriented, resourceful, and know how to communicate effectively. In terms of discipline they tend to be very organized and methodical in how an assignment is to be performed and will not tolerate any variance. They are resourceful in terms of not allowing obstacles to interfere with an assignment and know how to overcome any hiccup along the way. In fact, they show great creativity in this regards. They also understand the importance of communicating with all parties involved with the assignment. But the last attribute, which is perhaps the most critical, is they are both very determined to succeed, one because he has to and one because he simply wants to.

The key difference between the two types lies in their interpersonal relations with their subordinates. The megalomaniac relishes the job as it represents power and control. He demands blind obedience and is often fond of saying, "If I say jump, you say how high?" In other words, he sees workers more as machines as opposed to human beings, objects which he can manage by pushbutton, an approach which is loathed by his workers. Consequently, he doesn't command loyalty or respect and desertions are commonplace.

The poor slob, on the other hand, stresses the importance of the assignment to his people, he runs interference to expedite problems for them, and is concerned with his subordinate's welfare. This is the antithesis of the megalomaniac who maintains an almost adversarial relationship with his workers. His approach to management is simply to dominate through intimidation, thereby bullying people to complete the task. In contrast, the poor slob seeks cooperation through teamwork and builds a network of interdependencies whereby the members realize they will either sink or swim together.

To use a football metaphor, the Task Master is the quarterback on the field calling his own plays. Depending on what type he is though, the players will either respect and earnestly work for him or they'll go out of their way to allow him to fumble away the game. In the end, it all comes down to interpersonal relations.

Such is my Pet Peeve of the Week.

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

"BRYCE'S PET PEEVE OF THE WEEK"

Folks, a couple of years ago I started to include my "Pet Peeve of the Week" in these "Management Visions" podcasts. They have become so popular that I now syndicate them through the Internet and they are available for republication in other media. To this end, I have created a separate web page for my writings which you can find at phmainstreet.com Look for the section, "The Bryce is Right!" Hope you enjoy them.

Also, if you happen to be in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, be sure to stop by and check out our new Palm Harbor Business OASIS, a new business venue offering local business people a place to meet, work, network, and relax. Why pay a lot for leasing office space when you can become a member of the OASIS for as little as $100/month? For more information, visit our web site at: http://www.phboasis.com/

AND FINALLY...

I received the following e-mail regarding my Pet Peeve on "Lawyers":

A B.D. in Scottsdale, Arizona wrote...

"Well said, sir. At one point, I was in life insurance sales. Visiting the elderly and attempting to sell them on why a Medicare supplement from my company was better than what they already had, I left an appointment one morning with the realization that I was halfway between a lawyer and a car salesman. I left the company soon after. It's a shame that the ambulance chasers and divorce lawyers do so much damage to the profession. Attorneys can and do serve the public good every day. Perhaps the "good" lawyers should file a class action suit against any lawyers engaging in Green and Fazio-esque shenanigans."

I received the following e-mails from my "Pet Peeve" entitled, "Going it Alone?":

A K.N. in Sunny. California wrote...

"My husband and I would go on completely different paths on this one and we have. He doesn't have the stomach for risk so he's gone with the large company. Dependable, you're pretty sure they'll be there tomorrow. Where as I am the risk taking free spirit. Of course my husband's dependability affords me this luxury. But the two have given us a good life...one we're both happy with and success we may not otherwise have enjoyed."

A C.N. in Dallas, Texas wrote...

"I have the best of both worlds. I work at a small company who is a branch of a huge company."

Again, thanks for your comments. For these and other comments, please visit my "Bryce is Right!" web site.

Keep those cards and letters coming.

MBA is an international management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management. We offer training, consulting, and writing services in the areas of Enterprise Engineering, Systems Engineering, Data Base Engineering, Project Management, Methodologies and Repositories. For information, call us at 727/786-4567.

Our corporate web page is at:

http://phmainstreet.com/mba/

Management Visions is a presentation of M. Bryce & Associates, a division of M&JB Investment Company of Palm Harbor, Florida, USA. The program is produced on a weekly basis and updated on Sundays. It is available in versions for RealPlayer, Microsoft Media Player, and MP3 suitable for Podcasting. See our web site for details. You'll find our broadcast listed in several Podcast and Internet Search engines, as well as Apples' iTunes.

If you have any questions or would like to be placed on our e-mailing list to receive notification of future broadcasts, please e-mail it to timb001@phmainstreet.com

For a copy of past broadcasts, please contact me directly.

We accept MP3 files with your voice for possible inclusion in the broadcast.

There is no charge for adding a link to "Management Visions" on your web page, for details and HTML code, see the "Management Visions" web site.

Management Visions accepts advertising. For rates, please contact yours truly directly.

Copyright © 2008 by M&JB Investment Company of Palm Harbor, Florida, USA. All rights reserved. "PRIDE" is the registered trademark of M&JB Investment Company.

This is Tim Bryce reporting.

Since 1971: "Software for the finest computer - the Mind."

END

August 20, 2007

"CREATING A SENSE OF PROFESSIONALISM"

The following is an excerpt from my new book, "MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD - A Handbook for Entering the Work Force" which is a survival guide for young people as they transition into adult life. The book offers considerable advice regarding how to manage our personal and professional lives. As a part of this, I found it necessary to discuss why it is important to create a sense of professionalism as it applies to a young person's career.

Creating a Sense of Professionalism

Although you may want to excel in your chosen profession, it may be difficult if the corporate culture doesn't encourage you to do so. Employees are sometimes ridiculed for aspiring to rise above the status quo and take on a more professional attitude towards their work. Even worse, jealous employees may even undermine your efforts. These are people who have surrendered to the status quo and put forth little effort to rise above it. This is what I refer to as the "Misery loves company" phenomenon. It takes a strong willed person with considerable perseverance to rise above the status quo.

As an individual, you have to find your niche, your area of specialty, and then master it. To do so, become a student of your profession. In addition to mastering your subject area, develop a sense of history to understand how the profession has changed and where it should be heading. Further, resist the temptation to produce mediocre workmanship and strive for perfection.

In addition to your continued professional development, you have to cultivate a certain image or persona that allows people to know you take your work seriously. This can take many forms: your physical appearance, your demeanor, but more importantly your resourcefulness and job performance. Be careful though not to violate the social norms of the corporate culture. If your appearance or actions are radically different, the culture will begin to resist your efforts even if you have the best intentions. To overcome this problem, solicit support from like-minded individuals and work together towards improving the professional standards in your department. In fact, you have a better chance of raising the sense of professionalism when your manager truly supports teamwork. If you can embed professional conduct into a team, it will inevitably become a part of the overall corporate culture.

One last thing in this regards, if you are really trying to cultivate a professional image, you might want to reconsider any listings you might have in Facebook.com, Myspace.com or any other such Internet listings. This might have been fun as a kid, but is this something you want your boss and coworkers to see?

Career Planning

Like it or not, the era of twenty or thirty years of employment are over. Even in Japan, the custom of "lifetime employment" is quickly coming to an end. This is probably due to the fast-paced world economy we now live in. Regardless, there is no longer any trust between management and its workers, and corporate loyalty is a thing of the past. Instead of having a career path within a single company, employees now realize their career path will probably take them through several different companies. Because of this, do not be afraid to leave a company if you feel your career plans are being delayed or sidetracked. Also understand the difference between a true promotion and a lateral move to another area in the company. Sometimes a lateral move can be helpful in that it may offer you an opportunity to shine where you couldn't before, but on the other hand, it could also be a hint to you to move along to another company and job, particularly if your new area is a dead end.

Before you decide to resign, make sure you have a better job lined up first. This means an employee should always keep his resume and skills inventory up to date. Further, if you are going to leave your job, try to maintain amicable relations with your company and workers, you never know when this might come in handy. I realize this may be difficult to do, particularly if you and your employer have little regard for each other, but you should not get in the habit of burning your bridges. And understand this, in today's litigious society, company's rarely give references. Most will only confirm your job title and the length of your employment, and little else. It is not that they want to give a good or a bad reference on you, they simply fear the legal repercussions for doing so.

If you decide to go back to the job market, there are now many more ways to get your resume in front of others than just a few years ago, particularly through the many Internet job portals now available. There are also job recruiters you might want to work with to locate a job for you. In this event, realize the job recruiters do not work for free and, as such, someone has to pay for their service, either you or the company recruiting you. Either way, make sure this is clear before entering into a contract with a recruiter. Sometimes companies like working through recruiters, others have policies prohibiting the use of them.

If you would like to discuss this with me in more depth, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.

OUR BRYCE'S LAW OF THE WEEK therefore is... "It takes a strong willed person with considerable perseverance to rise above the status quo."

"MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD"

Friends, as mentioned, we have just published a new book entitled, "MORPHING INTO THE REAL WORLD - A Handbook for Entering the Work Force" which is a survival guide for young people as they transition into adult life. Reviewer Bill Petrey praised it by saying, "Every young person entering the workplace for the first time should be given a copy of this book." The book includes chapters to describe how a young person should organize themselves, how to adapt to the corporate culture, develop their career, and improve themselves professionally and socially. Basically, its 208 pages of good sound advice to jump start the young person into the work force. Corporate Human Resource departments will also find this book useful for setting new hires on the right track in their career. It not only reinforces the many formal rules as contained in corporate policy manuals, but also includes the subtle unwritten rules we must all observe while working with others. The book lists for $25 and can be ordered online through MBA or your local book store. Complementing the book is a one day seminar of the same name which can be purchased separately for $4,000.00 (U.S.) plus instructor travel expenses. For more information on both the book and the seminar, visit our corporate web site at: http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/morph.htm
ISBN: 978-0-9786182-5-4

MY "PET PEEVE OF THE WEEK" IS "EVERYBODY'S GOT ONE"

In talking to my network of friends and business associates, I've discovered that everybody seems to have a family skeleton in their closet, a "Black Sheep," meaning there is some relative who you can count on to disrupt the harmony of the family. This could be a nutty aunt or uncle, a brother or sister, son or daughter, you get the idea. Time and again they seem to go out of their way to embarrass the family. Consequently, we like to keep them locked up at major family functions such as at weddings or get-togethers. We keep them at arm's length as we do not want their screwy life to disrupt our own and pray they do not drain the family emotionally or financially.

I always found it interesting that American presidents have had to keep a lid on certain relatives. For example, Jimmy Carter was always worried about the antics of his brother Billy who was best known for his beer and registering as a foreign agent on behalf of the Libyan Government. Ronald Reagan worried about what his offspring might say in public. I think Patti's pictorial in Playboy probably pushed him over the edge.

But the presidents are not alone in this regard. I think everyone has some relative, either distant or close, that has caused heartbreak for the family either because of money, substance abuse, something said out of turn, committing a crime, or just their whacky personality. I remember my father-in-law had an estranged brother living in Florida whom he hadn't spoken to in years over a fallout they had regarding the care of their elderly parents. Once a year though he would call his brother on the phone; if the brother answered, my father-in-law would promptly hang up on him before saying a word. He just wanted to know "If that bastard was still alive."

It seems strange we all have some dysfunctional person in the family we have to deal with. It is very awkward for all involved and is something we don't like to openly discuss with others but I think it's a fact of life. I think the old adage sums it up nicely, "You can pick your friends, but you cannot pick your family."

Maybe this is why we liked such shows in the 1950's like "Leave it to Beaver," "Father knows Best," or "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" ("Adventures"?) Critics claimed their squeaky clean personas were unrealistic but it was a lifestyle we all yearned for. Today, shows like "The Simpsons" and "Married with Children" reflect life as we know it, complete with embarrassing relatives and situations which many claim are more realistic.

Frankly, I think if we honestly had a choice, we would rather live more like Ozzie and Harriet than Homer and Marge Simpson. But such is not to be.

Such is my Pet Peeve of the Week.

"BRYCE'S PET PEEVE OF THE WEEK"

Folks, a couple of years ago I started to include my "Pet Peeve of the Week" in these "Management Visions" podcasts. They have become so popular that I now syndicate them through the Internet and they are available for republication in other media. To this end, I have created a separate web page for my writings which you can find at phmainstreet.com Look for the section, "The Bryce is Right!" Hope you enjoy them.

AND FINALLY...

I received quite a few responses from my "Pet Peeve" regarding "The Age of Specialists":

A P.S. in Montreal wrote:

"I'm in total agreement on this one. I often joke that I will die with perfect teeth, as a sign of specialization gone wrong. I believe the problem is compounded by the 'me-and-myself' selfish attitude so frequently seen nowadays. People rarely consider other people's interests and needs."

A D.O. in Illinois wrote:

"That desire to know everything about everything related to computers is an affliction that I suffer from. The problem is that I can't know everything about programming (even a few languages) and networking, security, sysadmin, hardware repair, etc. Curse you limited time!"

And finally, an A.L. in Turkey wrote:

"I totally agree with you and am proud of being a Jack of all trades."

Thanks for your comments.

Keep those cards and letters coming.

MBA is an international management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management. We offer training, consulting, and writing services in the areas of Enterprise Engineering, Systems Engineering, Data Base Engineering, Project Management, Methodologies and Repositories. For information, call us at 727/786-4567. For a complete listing of my essays, see the "PRIDE" Special Subject Bulletins section of our corporate web site.

Our corporate web page is at:

http://phmainstreet.com/mba/

Management Visions is a presentation of M. Bryce & Associates, a division of M&JB Investment Company of Palm Harbor, Florida, USA. The program is produced on a weekly basis and updated on Sundays. It is available in versions for RealPlayer, Microsoft Media Player, and MP3 suitable for Podcasting. See our web site for details. You'll find our broadcast listed in several Podcast and Internet Search engines, as well as Apples' iTunes.

If you have any questions or would like to be placed on our e-mailing list to receive notification of future broadcasts, please e-mail it to timb001@phmainstreet.com

For a copy of past broadcasts, please contact me directly.

We accept MP3 files with your voice for possible inclusion in the broadcast.

There is no charge for adding a link to "Management Visions" on your web page, for details and HTML code, see the "Management Visions" web site.

Management Visions accepts advertising. For rates, please contact yours truly directly.

Copyright © 2007 by M&JB Investment Company of Palm Harbor, Florida, USA. All rights reserved. "PRIDE" is the registered trademark of M&JB Investment Company.

This is Tim Bryce reporting.

Since 1971: "Software for the finest computer - the Mind."

END