HL Arledge

Intrapreneurs, Golden Children, Bobble-heads, and Ding Day

Someone recently said to me...

"HL, you'll never understand how stressful my job is. The boss treats you differently than he does me. You turned this company around. You are his Golden Child."

That last statement left me speechless—at least for a minute or two.

I never thought of myself as an Eddie Murphy type, but I have seen myself as sort of an intrapreneur. That is someone within an organization who behaves like an entrepreneur—someone who is always thinking beyond "that's the way we've always done it", pushing the envelope, trying and testing new processes until something is proven to work.

In a Scrum world, intrapreneurs are required, but in many offices, intrapreneurs are considered Satan's offspring and must be destroyed.

Said another way, some intrapreneurs are supported by management and some are not. It all depends on the culture within the organization.

This understanding and supportive culture was not always the dominant culture at Decade Software. There was a time when management was not trusted by the workers and vice-versa.

Most new ideas from employees were shot down before ever reaching the ears of upper management, and ideas from upper-management were seen as ridiculous, because employees were seldom told why something had to be a certain way.

In such an environment, employees had to leverage Kevin's open-door policy to discuss such ideas—and risk offending a more immediate manager or coworker—or the employee could be creative and send broadcast e-mails to all concerned.

That last option usually got you into trouble.

Possibly the greatest leadership quotes I've ever heard

Over 2500 years ago, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said...

"The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren’t there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him."

And...

"As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence… When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves!' "

And...

“A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worst of all when they despise him.”

I saved the best for last...

"To lead the people, walk behind them."

We need more Sonic Drive-ins on Skid Row

I saw a news headline Saturday that read, "Global Food Price Crisis Threatens Worldwide Starvation". Sunday, I ate lunch at the Sonic Drive-in.

My wife and I were sitting at one of those picnic tables between the drive-up areas—as were several other after-Church families—and the family next to us was arguing with their car-hop.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot split the order over two cards. You should have specified that when you ordered."

It was a couple with three kids. They had ordered five burgers, each with drinks and tater-tots.

"Well, if my wife and I can't split the cost, we're not paying." The father replied.

"Then, I will have to take your food back."

"Fine."

Without even opening the bags or putting straws into their drinks, the family got into their car and rode away—and the car-hop threw all five burgers, tater-tots, and drinks into the trash can next to our table.

A few minutes later, the same car-hop was talking to me.

She said, "Sir, there will be a 15 minute wait on your tater-tots. We are out and will have to make some more."

My wife kicked me before I could say...

"You wouldn't have to make more if you hadn't thrown five orders into the trash can!"

That's when I remembered the headline regarding starvation, and I thought about Ethiopia and those commercials networks show when you're eating dinner, and then I knew why other countries think all Americans are fat and spoiled.

The really good stuff is hidden in the articles

My team always—at least initially—thinks my instructions or suggestions for process improvement are a little hard to follow. This is likely because I am never afraid to say...

"My last idea could have been better. Let's try this instead."

Teams hate change!

Anyway, this is a real example of hard to follow instructions...

"I said 'Never name your classes after the pattern itself.' 

But then someone pointed out 'What about Factory classes?' 

'Oh, ok, ALWAYS name classes after the pattern.' Except for Singleton or Façade, and maybe a few others. 

Ok then, NEVER name after the pattern, except when you do, sometimes, and then ALWAYS name those, unless otherwise noted."

Actually, it is a good example of what can happen if you take something out of context.

Is Windows Vista another Windows ME or Microsoft Bob?

In February, I mentioned our concerns about running EnvisionConnect on Windows Vista. It seems that the makers of most enterprise-level applications are expressing the similar concerns, causing Microsoft to second-guess themselves.

Microsoft announced yesterday that they will reconsider their decision to stop selling Windows XP on June 30. At an event in Belgium, execs told reporters, "If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter," according to an Associated Press report.

In January, InfoWorld Magazine launched a campaign to convince Microsoft to keep Windows XP available to customers beyond June 30. Their Save XP petition today has nearly 200,000 signatures.

Windows Vista's new user interface, coupled with its new approach to security and the need for most users to get new hardware has caused many to avoid Vista in favor of Windows XP or other operating systems.

Previously, Microsoft decided to keep Windows XP available for cheap PCs and for PCs in developing nations, as Vista's hardware requirements were too high for such inexpensive PCs.

Is 'Cloud Computing' in Decade's future?

Since the advent of Web 2.0, all of the tech world has been buzzing about "cloud computing".

It seems every geek blogger I know has taken a stab a "clarifying the myths surrounding cloud computing"—so it seemed only fair that I should take my shot.

I am here to put a couple of myths to rest—here and now.

Cloud Computing was not—I repeat not—named for either Chief Red Cloud or Chief White Cloud. Shockingly, I discovered it was not named after any native American at all.

Cloud computing is a buzzword that attempts to simplify data centers by leveraging virtualization technologies to reduce complexity. This complexity is reduced by combining and reducing various environments.

Consumers of the "cloud" are more concerned with services it can perform than the underlying technologies used to achieve the requested function.

The tag tries to suggest that function comes from "the cloud"—an company intranet or the global Internet—rather than from a specific identifiable device.

Although related, cloud computing is not identical with the business model of software as a service or the usage model of utility computing. That is where most of the debate and confusion comes in.

Like other cutting-edge Microsoft partners, Decade Software will leverage the strengths of the cloud, but we'll wait until the storm settles first.

What you need is some Stack Overflow

Two of my favorite geeks have teamed up to produce a podcast.

I highly recommend that you checkout Stack Overflow, hosted by Jeff "Coding Horror" Atwood and Joel "On Software" Spolsky.

To be honest, I haven't listened yet, but considering the extensive knowledge and quirky personalities of these two computer gurus, there is no way this show won't be a winner!

Geeks Trapped in an Elevator on Earth Day

Bill Simser has challenged all "geek bloggers" to answer this question...

"If you had to be trapped in an elevator with two living geeks for 41 hours, who would you like those geeks to be—and why?"

In honor of Earth Day, I choose to be sealed in with our 21st Century Einstein, Professor Stephen Hawking and Nobel winner, Al Gore.

Gore is classified as a geek, not because of his fight against global warming, but because he was responsible for expanding the Internet into what it is today via the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991.

After Steve and Al work with in developing a strategy for saving the world, as my reward, Professor Hawking and I can iron out those last few kinks in Einstein's time travel theory, so that I can prevent the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy.

Afterwards, I'll retire to the Alamo and die fighting alongside Davy Crockett—and if all of that's not possible, I have another reward in mind. They can lock me in an elevator for 41 hours with Angelina Jolie and Jenna Jameson.

Either way, I die happy.

As a manager, are you a rock or a flake?

My friend, Lisa Haneberg, is discussing integrity among managers, asking the question: Do you do what you say you will do? It's a great question.

Check out what she has to say.

Back at Fresno State tonight

Tonight, I will be visiting California State University at Fresno again. This time, I'll be speaking to Professor George S. Vozikis' class on the pros and cons of running a business.

We'll cover..

• What prompted me to go into business.
• Why the business was successful and what market niche we filled.
• The history of Sherlock Software.
• Our successes.
• Our mistakes.
• The management lessons from those days that help me as Development Manager at Decade Software Company, LLC.

It should be a very interesting discussion indeed!