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May 31, 2005
Scientific validity
*sighs* Once again, QUT is advertising courses in the extraordinarily fashionable management tool, the Enneagram.
There are thousands of sites online talking about the value of this tool and you hear people tell you what personality type they are all the time. Businesses use this "psychological testing" as a means of determining whether potential employees are going to become a problem in certain crises due to their personality type indicator according to this system.
There's only one problem. THE ENNEAGRAM IS A LOAD OF DINGO'S KIDNEYS.
It has no scientific validity. Stop arguing. It doesn't. One PhD from one loony student based on one other study of less than 300 people DOES NOT REPRESENT SCIENTIFIC VALIDITY.
Now I am the first person to say that there are scientists out there who radically get things wrong in the way they deal with alternative therapies and belief systems. The way some doctors belittle naturopathy by labelling it a "placebo effect" is evidence that they are incapable of opening their minds to alternative theories. But that argument just doesn't wash for the Enneagram, because the latter is being applied as a rationale to employ, promote and defer to the business "acumen" of people who have been identified with particular personality types under the Myers-Briggs and Enneagram personality systems. And they are all bunk. Further, anyone with half a capacity to understand testing systems can fake any personality type they choose. Much like an IQ test - which, in spite of the fact that your 2nd grade school teacher told you that you can't fake an IQ test, you can actually 'fake' by learning how to answer questions - the Enneagram is as scammable and as stupid a device as any other in the history of modern management techniques.
Perhaps one day someone important will work out that you might as well have your palm read or get your astrological star chart as get an Enneagram test. And perhaps then everyone else will listen.
But perhaps I'm also being rather naive.
Posted by jj at 7:51 PM | Comments (2)
May 30, 2005
Very, very quickly...
... because I'm about to head off to other things on the 'To Do' list...
* Star Wars Episode III Easter egg guide is worth reading if, AND ONLY IF, you have seen the film;
* Scott Berkun's essay, 'Why smart people defend dumb ideas', is a must-read; and
* Google now has a print search which goes through the titles and content of books.
Also thanks to Creepy and Clare for staying this weekend. All my very best to you Creepy, mate. Enjoy the California lifestyle!
Posted by jj at 7:40 PM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2005
Friday night live
What is this? Home??? On a Friday night? Wearing my 'black furry' (a soft, button-down men's jacket)? Watching DVDs for goodness sake?
Clearly something is desperately wrong.
After a long day at work trying to solve an unsolvable problem, I finally gave up and came home, heating up the remnants of a rather good Thai Chilli Beef & Vegetable noodle mixture and parked myself in front of my box and watched a DVD. It only now occurs to me how sad this is.
Me. Becoming domesticated.
I should be out there in one of my many haunts, hitting the dance floor and partying on. I suppose I could still go out but that would require effort, and it's cold. Plus I've only received one invitation to go out tonight. I'm used to getting at least 4 or 5 invitations every Friday night.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Let's call it the "Save Jo from Domesticity" campaign, and next Friday night I want to see some invitations to parties, I want to see some people I haven't been out with before, and I want to see some serious dance floor action. Most of all, I want to be prevented from finding myself on a Friday night checking my email at 8:30pm. Because let's face it, wearing my black furry at 8:30 on a Friday night is not where I thought I'd see myself at this time of my life.
Posted by jj at 9:34 PM | Comments (2)
May 26, 2005
WiFi headset
You remember that question I had about wireless headsets from yesterday or the day before? Well Engadget has just announced the first ever wifi headset with the release of the iMuff.
:-)
Posted by jj at 11:46 AM | Comments (1)
May 25, 2005
Public Notice
It is 7:27pm. It is Game 1 of the State of Origin series. Therefore, my home phone is off the hook, my mobile phone calls are all diverted and I won't be answering email. Deal with it.
GO QUEENSLAND!
HALF TIME EDIT....
13: NIL lead to QUEENSLAND! GO BOYS!
REMAINING EDITS IN THE EXTENDED ENTRY TO PROTECT THE VICTORIANS!
2ND EDIT....
19:4 score line. NSW actually scored, but they missed the conversion.
And in other news, the advertisers behind VB are some of the funniest blokes in creativity. To summarise.... "We'll put anything on the BBQ. Beef. Chicken. Even Kangaroo. [[STING!]] Yep. The world's ONLY legal national emblem on the BBQ. That alright Skip?"
FINAL EDIT...
WHAT A GAME!!! NSW ended up making a fine comeback, at one stage hitting the lead. A tie at the final siren, the game went in to extra time and after four agonising minutes, Queensland brought it home with a try to young Matty Bowen!
Final score 24:20 :-) Ah I love a good game!
Posted by jj at 8:25 PM | Comments (4)
*grumble about public transport today*
I left work at 5:20pm.
I got home at 6:40pm
The distance I travelled was less than 7km.
I reckon could have walked home faster.
Posted by jj at 7:44 PM | Comments (1)
Quick question re MP3 players
Anyone have any information about the existence/affordability of wireless/bluetooth MP3 players (where the earplugs are not connected to the base units through wires)? I'm finding the process of untangling my headset exceedingly tiresome.
Posted by jj at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
May 24, 2005
Quick roundup
There is so much that is bloggable at the moment it's just not fair... I'm not even close to keeping up with email at the moment, but I'm hoping the situation will improve after Origin night tomorrow.
First of all, the possum man has come to my place and not only do I have a family of rats in the roof, but they've been fighting with the pair of possums who also are living there. Apparently my roof cavity is the Noah's Ark of the rodent/marsupial* population of Brisbane. In the meantime, my sleep patterns are regularly punctuated by the screams and crashes of the Rodent Wars. I'm figuring I probably should be running a book on the outcome. Odds are 5:4 on for the possums belting the stuffing out of the rats. However if either species should actually get in to the apartment it's unbackable odds that I will beat every last breath out of intruder. I can be a mean so-and-so when uninvited rodent/marsupial* guests pop in for a bit of warmth and a forage around my pantry and/or potpourri.
In more important news, IT workers are being paid more (YAY!) and the new chief of Telstra wants to sell the rest of the telecommunications giant (BOO!).
Apparently the writers behind Star Trek were right, and wormholes aren't any use for time travel, but the jury is still out on whether you can use wormholes to travel through space.
I so want an RFID set of house keys so I don't have to drag mine around all the time, but I'd really need to have a sub-dermal implant to make it worthwhile.
The discussion between Steven Levy and Uses of Blogs chapter author, Mark Pesce, on the future of television is well worth a listen.
And finally, the Sith Sense (a variation on the game of 20 Questions to work out what you're thinking of) is a hoot.
* Edited for accuracy. Possums, as Stephen notes, are not rodents but marsupials. I just figure if they are in my roof and they are driving me nuts, they might as well be rodents. I can think of a few other choice descriptors, but this is a PG-rated blog.
Posted by jj at 8:15 PM | Comments (5)
May 23, 2005
Performance management in business
The extended entry includes the first page of an article I'm writing on performance measures for business, and how existing indicators of profit margins, improvement and technology penetration (a horrible concept to begin with) are really not providing outcomes which can adequately assist in strategic planning. All comments, suggestions and input greatly appreciated as usual.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUR INDUSTRY SECTOR.
By now, all organisations are clear about the need to deliver to shareholders and stakeholders a clear communication of performance achievements over any period of time, and this forms the basis of reporting to governing authorities as part of corporate compliance activities. But understanding the criteria for performance both within an organisation and between an organisation and its peers is not widely understood. Indeed, for most enterprises, profit margins and market penetration are still the key performance indicators, partly because these are the highest priority for organisations generally, but also because they are the only aspects of organisational performance that are published and easy to calculate industry-wide. The Australian Banking and Financial services industry, for instance, only regards economic performance measures in terms of actual profits, share price, market share and improvement of these measures over time as indicators of quality and it is these aspects that contribute to rankings systems.
The trouble is that these end-products of performance management are significantly affected by organisational performance across a range of other indicators, including management of information systems, supply chain management, change management, innovation, differentiation in focus areas and education within the employee and customer markets. This is the so-called information society, and it is information and negotiation that actually provide the source materials upon which an organisation can grow. This in turn may or may not provide operational benefits and economic improvement, depending on how well the aspects of organisational performance are implemented, reviewed and adaptive to change. But it is these particular measures that can give a clearer, ‘macro’ sense of the performance of an organisation over time.
While some organisations may regard themselves as measuring these phenomena, it is often the case that organisations will measure their performance according to internal expectations and will not consider their position against their competitors, or the industry at large. Or, organisations will (for instance) compare penetration of technology hardware use across an industry sector rather than in terms of how efficiently that technology is being used.
In my consultancy work I’m often faced with organisations that have evolved to include technology considerations in the future development of the organisation, but due to concerns about the standard operating environment within a firm, or due to concerns about shirking in the workplace, or perhaps due to privacy concerns, they will be reticent to adopt measurement of technology efficiency. Partly because intranets and information management systems have evolved on an ad hoc basis, and partly due to misunderstanding the nature and structure of the electronic sphere, organisations feel their investment in information management solutions has far exceeded the promise of its supposed benefits.
But the problem has really been about poor consideration of performance management for these technology solutions, poor education about the information services to be derived from technology solutions, and poor comparisons of business improvement performance as a result of technology implementations.
Posted by jj at 11:49 AM | Comments (1)
Happy Birthday Mum!
Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish my Mum a very happy birthday and thank her for being such a fab Mum! Hope you have a happy day and enjoy all the pressies!
Love always!
Posted by jj at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)
May 19, 2005
Episode 3: The Verdict
(No spoilers here)
Generally I very much enjoyed it. Many, many fantastic scenes. There is one rather unfortunate plot inconsistency, and some sections were dramatically underplayed (sections that actually have a massive impact on the entire story, and you almost need to know the novels to get their significance, but I guess that's a reward for die-hard fans), but other than that, I have to say I am very happy with the final chapter.
More when more people have seen it!
Posted by jj at 7:46 AM | Comments (2)
May 15, 2005
Star Wars and the Land of Might-Have-Been
In the extended entry I explore the reasons why this last Star Wars film means so much to my generation.
It’s probably hard for many people to understand just how much of an influence Star Wars has had in the lives of people around my age. When the first Star Wars film came out, I was just six years old; old enough to absorb the details and nuances of a grown-up film, but also young enough to be completely enthralled, entranced and enraptured in this wonderful world of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It was for me, a faerytale, and I was still at the age of being read faerytales. I still believed in Santa Claus. I dreamt of princesses and far off kingdoms. So the world of Star Wars was as much a part of my childhood and my vision of the Land of Might-Have-Been as any other morality play, or bedtime story.
But unlike the Grimm faerytales and the bible stories that children were read, there was light and colour and sound in which to be utterly immersed. It’s so hard to explain to people only a few years younger than myself how revolutionary that film was for its time. The special effects were absolutely the best we had ever seen. The sound was almost beyond belief. The fact that it shook the seats and the floor of the cinema was something we had never before experienced. The colours, the costumes and the ideas were not so completely alien as to leave us out of our depth, but still we all felt we were part of something extraordinary.
As the years past, and the second film was released, The Empire Strikes Back, all the familiar faces were there, but yet there was still something new: this time, our hearts were torn from us, and we had more questions than answers. We were left with a film that was as thrilling as the first, but which taught us that uncomplicated happy endings can never be assumed. As an impressionable then nine year old, Empire left its mark in my life as a “coming of age” story, dealing out both victory and defeat at once.
Finally, as a girl of twelve, on the cusp of my teenage years, Return of the Jedi was released, and my faerytale was brought to life again in a way that resolved the issues of the second film, but also dealt sympathetically with the issue of falling from grace. Generally the faith of our generation was restored in the “way of things”, but we were more aware that the difference between good and evil was perhaps not so clear as we had been led to believe. Rather than being a simple matter of discerning black from white, it was more likely that the search for truth and peace would be through fields of grey.
I believe this progression from faerytale to adult tale of loss and gain is part of the reason why my generation feel so very close to Star Wars. When you think of how it shaped and echoed our own personal development, you can see just how important it became to our culture. That’s why there was such a revolt when the first of the prequels (The Phantom Menace) failed to deliver anything that would impact on our lives in so profound a fashion. That’s why as adults we looked on the love story of Anakin and Padme (in Attack of the Clones) with a deep sense of cynicism and lost hope. We left the theatre glad to have more of the story, but without the almost religious experience of reflecting on our own lives.
Revenge of the Sith opens at midnight on Wednesday night and I will be there, holding on to the hope that this last of the six films will fulfil the expectations of my generation. We are a deeply cynical lot, and we feel the need to be exposed to the best and the worst of ourselves. Rather than turning from the dark side, we seek to gaze into the abyss, to face our weaknesses and even to give in to them. Because it’s only through understanding the depth of our own darkness that we can find something good in ourselves. It’s only when we absorb the obscure political, philosophical and emotional factors impacting upon our lives that we can truly begin to see a path for our own redemption.
Ivor Novello once wrote a most magnificent ballad about losing hope, and then gaining it again. I’ve included the entire ballad below, because I think it articulates so well the cynicism followed by the dawn of hope that pervades both the psyche of our generation, and premise of the Star Wars universe.
Different from this world below.
Far more mercifully planned
Than the cruel place we know.
Innocence and peace are there.
All is good that is desired.
Faces there are always fair.
Love grows never old nor tired.
I shall never be your king nor you shall be my queen.
Days may pass and years may pass and seas lie in between.
We shall never find that lovely land of Might-Have-Been.
Comes the vision calm and clear,
Gleaming with unearthly lights
On my path of doubt and fear.
Winds from that far land are blown,
Whispering with secret breath.
Hope that plays her tune alone.
Love that conquers pain and death.
Shall we ever find that lovely land of Might-Have-Been?
Will I ever be your king or you at last my queen?
Days may pass or years may pass, the seas may lie between.
Shall we ever find our lovely land of Might-Have-Been?
I’m hopeful this last of the Star Wars sextet will provide that opportunity to find hope in ourselves, so that our generation can go back to the original films of our childhood, and believe again in the Land of Might-Have-Been.
Posted by jj at 5:47 PM | Comments (4)
May 12, 2005
Winter is upon us!
When Brisbane only manages to get a top temperature of 18.5° Celsius for the day, it's officially winter. I'm wearing scarves, so it must be cold.
In other news, I'm presently doing some rather interesting research tracking the reasons behind changes in online application submissions over time, and the process is rather similar to being placed in an unfamiliar town and just told to find your way around. There are no absolutely clear reasons for change, and so it becomes a process of testing and eliminating issues on the basis of the data you collect. First you compare online to offline submissions, then company to the industry generally, then you compare churn rates (people who access pages but don't complete submissions), then you consider technological issues (network downtime and changes to structure and site navigability), then you consider the timing of company versus competitor marketing campaigns, then external events.... it all becomes rather a matter of "what else can we think of?". But it is rather fascinating research. Much of the data that's out there is simply a publication of numbers and is not particularly interpretive, so what I've been doing is effectively interpreting these statistics, which can be quite an interesting challenge. It's certainly keeping me interested for the moment.
As for those of you who want to catch up on various issues, please feel free to contact me over the next week or so. Happy to meet up for lunch!
Posted by jj at 7:34 PM | Comments (2)
May 11, 2005
*happy sigh*
I would just like to take this opportunity to bask in how magnificent it is to spend time in the company of a dear friend. Thankyou to Van for a lovely meal tonight, and for being part of my life. It's amazing how being in the company of a friend you haven't seen for a long time can really make you feel blessed.
*hugs and much love and thanks to Van*
Posted by jj at 12:14 AM | Comments (1)
May 10, 2005
Feedback
You know it's always great to get good feedback. Thanks to all those who attended Saturday's MBA Orientation session on IT issues, and for your kind comments on feedback forms. I was shown a summary of feedback by our Marketing crew at BGSB, and so many people listed the IT session as being one of the highlights of the weekend, it was absolutely humbling. Thanks - it's great to feel that my sessions are useful to you all.
Thanks also to students in the Brisbane City Council class for always being such active participants in the program, and for exploring all the paths I take you down. It's great to feel that the ideas are beginning to really take flight.
Finally thanks to all those who keep accessing this blog and participating in discussion. It's one of the great boons of blogs that I receive feedback - good or bad - on posts. I do take comments on board, so feel free to be as critical or complimentary as you perceive to be appropriate.
Posted by jj at 7:21 PM | Comments (2)
May 8, 2005
Happy Mothers' Day!
Wishing all mothers a very happy day today, and to my Mum a big thankyou for being such a fabulous mother! Love you heaps, Mum.
Posted by jj at 9:30 AM | Comments (1)
May 5, 2005
Ideas Festival Update
First of all I'd like to invite all who are interested to the first function associated with the Ideas Festival. Tickets are going fast so book in now to see Jared Diamond who will be speaking at the Playhouse Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Complex, Brisbane.
Jared's most recent book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, discusses how societies have managed to just crumble away, sometimes without warning, and shows how the lessons of history can surely repeat themselves on modern societies. A fantastic speaker, Diamond has given us the chance to explore similar issues in this one-off Ideas Lecture, and at $16.50 a ticket, this is a must see event. Book now because it's going to sell out incredibly quickly. There are only 800 seats and as soon as this gets advertised it will go in a moment.
And on a much lighter note (as a result of today's Ideas Festival Advisors' Meeting), I'm wondering whether being called a "dangerous radical" by Phillip Adams is concerning or the highest form of compliment? Perhaps I shall just take it as a compliment and leave it at that. :-)
Posted by jj at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)
May 4, 2005
Blogging in brief
Good: Google patents quality search to add value to its present quantity search.
Interesting: a small business personal management tool based online. Probably nothing new, but based on the "keep it simple" interface that attracts people who don't want to learn new tools.
Why?: HHGTTG one of a trilogy of films. Are Americans really that stupid? Is the British film academy so short on funds?
Fascinating: The Bill Gates interview, conducted by Engadget. Enjoy part 1 and part 2.
For my students: The E-Readiness rankings for 2005. After three consecutive years of falling in global rankings, Australia actually managed to claw back to 10th position (from 12th in 2004).
LATE UPDATE - YAY!: NSW bans employer snooping of employee email.
Posted by jj at 7:35 PM | Comments (2)
May 3, 2005
The Blog Desert: during office hours
Hi. So I can't actually connect to update this blog during the day for the next few months as Suncorp won't allow internet access to secure systems. Nevertheless, I will do my best to keep up with things after hours. Not tonight though; give me a few days to settle in.
Posted by jj at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 2, 2005
Great ideas of the moment
There are a few great ideas out there at the moment. Here are three.
1. Time travellers' convention.
The biggest problem faced in science fiction about time travel is the embarrassment/disbelief/paradox of meeting yourself, your friends or your relations in the past, as a result of time travel. Particularly if you haven't thought about time travel when you happen to bump into yourself in the fruit and vegetable aisle at Woolworths. You're most likely to (a) not believe it's really you, (b) think you are on some kind of candid camera TV show, and/or (c) think you've gone mad and try to attack your future self (possibly wiping yourself out of existence, if you do real damage). So what better way to get around this, than to organise a Time Travellers' Convention, so that if you do bump in to yourself, you'll be mentally prepared and may even give yourself the solution to time travel, which would pretty much be the equivalent of the babelfish, in proving the non-existence of God. In any case, the Time Travellers' Convention is on next week, for all those time travellers out there who want to make their presence known without disturbing too many people in the process.
2. Peer-to-peer airlines
Ever wanted an airline service that effectually acts like a chartered jet, is a company run by geeks, allows you to bypass security queues, and can give you flexibility of travel arrangements, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Have a look at the concept described by Cringely behind DayJet. Pretty soon I can foresee the 13 329538 (DAYJET) number being registered for air pickups.
3. Blog commercialisation
It was always going to happen. Turning blog advertising and news generation into a business is both logical and timely. Particularly after dear old Rupert has just told everyone he thinks mainstream media should be blogging. So it's hardly surprising that Roger Simon, Charles Johnson and Marc Danziger have teamed up with some other A-List bloggers to produce Pajamas Media. Check out the concept here, and Danziger's explanation here.
Posted by jj at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
May 1, 2005
Cruise falls flat
The German newspaper, Der Spiegel, has conducted an interview with Steven Speilberg and Tom Cruise in the lead up to the release of Speilberg's take on the HG Wells classic, The War of the Worlds. It's actually a curious interview. After the initial pleasantries, Spiegel becomes provocative to say the least, questioning both about the US-centric focus of the film, then questioning Cruise about his belief in Scientology. Look in particular, for the way Spiegel catches Cruise out on three specific issues - the ethics of setting up a Scientology tent on the set of the film (after getting Speilberg to admit that he enjoyed raising fear in films like Jaws), the 'effectiveness' of the Scientology drug detox program, and Cruise mistaking intolerance for hatred.
It might take a fairly critical perspective to read this interview and see how Cruise has been totally annihilated during its course, but it's well worth taking that perspective. Cruise is self-contradicting, foolish and downright wrong about several aspects of his beliefs. Speilberg comes out sparkling, but does appear rather protective of his star, when he tries to turn the discussion of Scientology into a discussion of the role of celebrities in forwarding their beliefs.
Posted by jj at 9:41 AM | Comments (1)