Matthew Lang

With Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin?

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me give you a run down. It’s become common place in the last few years for agencies and companies doing the hiring to describe the type of people they are looking for as a “rockstar” or “ninja”. Yeah, I know. It’s stupid. Here’s why.

Describing the type of person you are looking for as a crowd-surfing, alcohol loving musician or as a specialist warrior for hire is just ridiculous.When you describe the person you want as a rockstar, I think of an out going person with the kind of personality that you just can’t ignore. The kind of person that announces their god-like skills with a megaphone before entering the office, before biting the head of a bat and then downing a bottle of vodka. Okay, maybe not those last two things, but you did ask for a rockstar.What I think you are actually looking for is a person that has a passion for what they do. If that’s the case, they why not just say so in the job description? There’s plenty of people out there who are passionate about what they do, but they don’t call themselves rockstars, they go by the job title that fits them and describes what they do best.

So you want a ninja instead then? When you describe the person you are looking for as a ninja, I imagine a person entering the office in a puff of smoke and taking out half your development with a single throw of multiple shuriken. Okay bad example, but isn’t that sort of what a ninja does?What I think you are actually looking for is someone who works effectively and productively. Someone who knows how to make decisions on the best tools for the job and uses these tools effectively.

So why not just say what you want? Let’s stop using these ridiculous terms to describe the type of person you want for a position. Unless you’re advertising for a clown or a stand-up comic then I think you need to take the job description a bit more seriously.Oh yeah, and you can’t use guru for the job description either.

… at night without having to drive miles to get away from the light pollution.

Awesome colour by the way.

via Pedal Consumption

Digital technology. The great invention of the late 20th century and now integrated into our daily lives on such a scale that many of us take it for granted. It’s a very present in our home. We have the usual things like a laptop, a tablet, a games console, a reading tablet, smartphones and a number of other devices like televisions, digital picture frames and various MP3 players.

We also have two sons, our oldest is six years old and extremely well versed in the various digital devices around the house. While I applaud his ability to use all these devices un-supervised, for a while there I was worried about the frequency and time that he was using these devices. Every day started with a request to play this device or that device. I felt he was becoming too dependent on the devices for entertainment.I’ve read a number of articles in the past about the current generation of youngsters that have been brought up in an on-demand environment. If they want it, they can have it. And that is very true when it comes to digital devices. Very few things are out of reach with laptop or a tablet. I don’t want this way of thinking for my kids. Technology is great, but it also has it’s place.

Technology plays an important part in education and in the workplace. I’m not suggesting that technology is bad, but rather it’s best used in moderation. While I like him playing Minecraft, I also like to see him play with his Lego. Drawing on the iPad is another activity he does, but I like to see what he can create with his own hands using crayons, pencils and paper.

Kid activities such as playing with toys, drawing, reading and getting him outside are things my wife and I are going to encourage this year with our oldest son. This isn’t about restricting access to technology, instead it’s about teaching him that technology has it’s place and he shouldn’t be too dependent on it.

Learning to appreciate technology and when to use it is an important subject to teach children. We shouldn’t forget that there’s a world for our kids to see with their own eyes rather than seeing it through a browser.

My attempt to blog every weekday on my blog hit a snag today. I didn’t have anything scheduled for today. No worries though. I’ll simply start again from tomorrow and ensure that I always have a couple of articles in reserve for days where I just can’t think of anything to write about.

Journalong is up and running and I’m happy with it, but there’s another itch building. Another itch to build something else and DecisionMail is it’s name. The product bug has bitten me, but this time around it’s slightly different. I’m not building a product as a revenue stream, I’m more interested in how the product is used and people’s perceptions of using software in the decision making process.

So what is the new idea?

DecisionMail is simply a way of getting feedback on a decision through the use of email. You write the question that you want your colleagues to give you feedback on, list those people who you want feedback on the decision from, and then DecisionMail will email that question along with a link, to each of the people you want feedback from on the question.

Your colleagues receive the email and simply click their response to the question. From your select group of people you should then have a clear idea what the group’s decision is.

One of my key concerns is that the email from DecisionMail to someone who has been asked for feedback on a decision will either be automatically dropped in a spam folder or will be completely missed in the inbox. I’m aware that the inbox is becoming a horrible place for people. Some people get hundreds of new email every day. I don’t know how they manage it, but if this person was involved in a decision, then how can you be sure that that person will respond?

I’m not building this product to solve a particular problem, but I’m instead building this to delve more into using software as a decision making tool. I’ve already built a number of decision support systems for clients, but I wanted to build something simpler that involved the minimum number of steps to get feedback on a decision. Email is too complicated already for gathering feedback, which is why the email from a DecisionMail account holder, will only require the respondent to click the answer to the question that they agree with the most.

I initially perceived this as a product for virtual teams who have members across different countries, but the anyone could use it to make decisions.

The next few weeks are about getting the basics up and running. Watch this space!

Amazing photograph.

via Mme Scherzo

… with some teaser posters from the fans. Really like this one.

via DBSW