Job Hacking

Do you know any Ethical Marketers?

Seth's got a great post up today about the Sunscreen industry.

Within it, the great line "...ethical marketers".

In the context of technology firms, and technology startups, there aren't too many who haven't shaved off something here or there to the detriment of the Customer and to the benefit of the business. For example, how many computers or devices do you own which are secure from data theft? Or, how much time has everyone in the world spent trying to fix a PC which has done the BSOD one too many times? Or, why is it that we have to throw away our iPhones & Smart Phones when they brick, sending all those rare-earth metals, lead and other heavy metals to landfill where they leach into our drinking water?

I would love to be recruiting for a role where a Product Manager or Marcomm Leader said they quit a job because the firm they were working for asked them to lie. And for the story to be true.

re: The workforce should be segregated. Maybe.

Penelope posted a thought-provoking, and what will be a very controversial article about work, lifestyle, and men & women.

It's a great read.

I don't know the science behind all she has written about. What I like about her article is that it directly attacks some of the conventional wisdom regarding work that developed during the heyday of the feminist movement, and in making this attack, she gets under those concepts and helps you hold up the magnifying glass to your own work behaviors, and career choices - choices which may ultimately be holding you back.

It's not that I don't like what the feminist movement has achieved for our country, creating a shining example to other societies to enable EVERYONE. But, like unions, feminism is an old, tired concept that has outlived its usefulness. It's high time to move on to the next topic. 

Which, I think, is going to be more and more about you, the individual. As we get better at understanding the details of our makeup (DNA, brain scans, etc), I predict that we'll come to a moment where we'll know much more about ourselves. My guess is that if we look closely at our performance at various things, and then layer over that a study about our DNA, or brain makeup or whatever else comes up, we may have a much better understanding about our poor performance regarding we've been attempting to delude ourselves about. 

For example, you might have been really bad at running in PE while in school. Or maybe, you really liked solving math problems. Or, you were always the center of social attention. In looking closely at these tendencies, you'll likely see a path forward which is more in alignment with your talents, and finds you with a better fit in the marketplace.

I'm betting on Collaboration

I'm a news junkie, and a history junkie, too. I also like doing a little forecasting here and there from time to time, and this is one of those times.

For all you startup people out there, Collaboration is the word.

There are several trends shaping up right now which will play out over the next several years in the U.S. which will alter how we work. They are:

• Much increased oil prices, thanks largely to the Arab uprising (tightening supply) and massive economic growth in China and India (increasing demand).
• Outstripped demand for Software Engineers. 
• Data Security. Acutally, the desire by the Chinese Government to steal every piece of amazing technology out there.

As much as I think that everyone on a Dev team ought to be in the same room together working on their software, these trends will tend to push against this optimal solution. It's time to think hard about how to achieve those milestones, and drive the revenue those venture investors want, while not having your team all cramped into a small, cheap office. 

What is the difference between a start-up and a new business?

What is a start-up? How is it different from any other new business?

The best way to think about it is that when a business is formed, it's new, and funding can take shape in almost any way. A start-up is a sub-type of new business, and when it happens, the type of investment is fairly narrowly defined, and the expectations for success and failure are much more dramatic.

There's a great post over at I, Cringely about, oh, Innovation (yes, with a capital 'I'), I guess. Within it is a very clear description of the difference between a standard-issue new business, and a startup. 

Knowing which one you are in, or about to get into, and how to describe it to different audiences may well be the fulcrum on which your future success rests.

Specialist vs Generalist

Had an interesting conversation with my COO Friday regarding a statement made in a recruiting book which argued that you should hire a specialist, not a generalist for a startup. He said the book had it backwards. At a startup, you should hire a generalist.

I think he's right.

It's like when you go backpacking, and you're selecting your gear. You want the lightest load possible, so if any given piece of gear can do more than one thing, there are obvious weight savings. Thus, you can go further with less fatigue, making the most of your available daylight. 

Under different circumstances, and where you aren't bearing the load, but a boat, 4-wheeler, or car is, this approach is far less necessary. In fact, it might even be detrimental if something which does multiple tasks is lost or destroyed while in the field. Which is why a larger business, which has more funding, more cash, can and maybe should hire specialists. 

But for startups, go for generalists. They'll get you farther, faster for the amount cash burned.

re: Spanking HR

Going through my RSS feeds today, and noted a comment by Matt about The Role of HR in Hiring, which referenced a thought-provoking post by "Ask the Headhunter", Nick Corcodilos, with the titillating title Spanking HR.

It's a worthwhile read - if you are either working in a big company, or are trying to get hired by a big company.

But, if you are in a startup, or looking to join a startup, it's even more important because you are likely on the pointy-end of a very sharp spear of corporate organizational change, What to do about HR & Recruiting? This is important to you, and it's going to lead to shifts in how we conduct business in the U.S. as these small firms grow up and establish new business practices.

My recent experiences show that many startups simply run without a dedicated HR Pro (to a point), so this whole line of discussion is moot. And, it's a sign of things to come in the years ahead, because if you can run a company without dedicated HR at 20 FTEs, can you do the same at 40, 80, 160? How will you know unless you try? Oh sure, the responsibility still exists within the company, but it's part of someone's or several someone's responsibilities. The thing is, when you remove the HR Pro from the organization, you start to ask yourself, "Now why do we need dedicated resources doing this job?"

The comments in Nick's post argues both sides of the point of having dedicated HR folks in your company and where Recruiting should reside, but noticeably, he does not argue against killing these processes, and is a strong advocate of change. Good for him, but again, the change is not likely to come out of the HR function of any firm in the Fortune 500!

For startups, there are surprises in store for those which do not run with good HR and Recruiting processes. One is the Dept. Leader who cannot recruit, or who has a leadership style which turns people away from his organization. I would say that if you are a CTO or VP of Dev, and cannot both attract a great, take-no-prisoners team, and keep them on board through at least 2 major successful releases of your company's product, you have no business doing that job. And how many startups have time to check their overall turnover rate, let alone the turnover rate of their departments? Then there are other important metrics like time to fill roles, etc.

Think about it this way, you have your KPIs in place to track the financial performance of your startup because cash is sorta important, but do you have KPIs in place to track your HR health as well?

Are your people that important to your success?

HR, Unvarnished

The best blog posts are those that rip the facade off the wall and expose the truth behind. Laurie, of Punk Rock HR has one of those posts with, The Future of Work & The Matrix. If you ever wanted to know what your HR Pro is thinking about when they say, "Here's how we can accomplish that, and there are a few things to take into consideration...", in response to your insane Zombie-Manager request, go back and read Laurie's post.

Why does the name Hearst suddenly appear in my head?

Robert X has a thought-provoking post today about Google News.

Many of you may not read Google News, at least not right now. But, as more and more on-line news sites go to some sort of payment model, this will shift. 

Sorta makes you want to say, "Rosebud", doesn't it?

re: The 5 Biggest Lies in HR

I've been following a series of posts over at HR Capitalist, and they need to be read by everyone who works in the U.S, for Kris speaks the truth. 

It's a good Friday read, and it will give you an ah-ha moment or two. Very worthwhile in that sense. One slight problem, he's not yet posted the last one, so I'll add that link when its time comes. Until then, plenty to read for today! 

They biggest HR Lies are:

5. We're responsible for Work/Life Balance...

4. It's our Parental Desire to Provide Great Benefits...

3. We're into Pay for Performance...

2. All A Players is a Possible Outcome...

1. TBD

Global Warming is...

There are a few conversational hand grenades out there that really get people heated up:

• Abortion v. Right-to-Life
• Taxes
• The best Religion is...
• Global Warming

Now, think about your gut.  How's it feeling? A little knotted up? See...

On this last point, Global Warming, David Brin has several nice observations today, regardless of whether you think it's like the Boogie Man and doesn't exist, or it's happening now and you sold your car yesterday and are riding a bike everywhere. It will open your eyes to a possible future altogether different. 

I guess that's what Science Fiction Writers do for a living...