In my previous post, I mentioned the reasons why I would like to write down the ideal culture in my opinion and explained the most important culture for a development organization, “Goal-Oriented”. It’s deeply embedded with the purpose of the existence of the development organizations.

If the purpose of a development organization is to help the business serve the customers, to grow the revenue and to improve the margin by cutting cost, how can it achieve that goal? The answer is sound and clear, through innovation. Thus the second ideal culture:

Ideal Culture Number Two: Innovation

A development organization should devote itself to innovation. That’s the nature of “development”. It provides “technology” solutions to the customers and to the business. It should actively participate in all the aspects of the business to make improvements through technologies. It should act as a “driver for innovations” in an organization instead of just providing passive supports.

Nicholas Carr asked a breath-taking question, “Does IT Matter?” It deserves some serious considerations from every one working in a development organization. If we are just providing “commodity” or “utility” services to our customers and to our business, WE DON’T MATTER ANYMORE! A foreseeable future for such a development organization is to be replaced by either outsourcing or offshore. The only way to survive is to act as the source of innovation for the business by constantly utilize the most relevant advanced technologies to provide the best products and services to the business.

Innovation is not only about keeping up with the latest technologies but also about continuously improving the business processes for ourselves and for the business. For example, we can innovate in the following areas:

• The software development process. This is about how we deliver the products. We can improve the quality and shorten the time to market by fine tune the delivery process.
• The operational model. When the product is deployed and serving the customers and the business, how can we make it run more smoothly? How can we fine tune it to satisfy business need and manage the capacities as the business grows? How can we prevent big outages which will cost us the trust from our customer?
• The interactions with our business partners. How can we better understand the needs of our business partners? How can we assess the satisfaction rate of our business partners?
• Grow the business. How can we help to grow the business by providing the best product and services in the market? How can we help the marketing people to better design the marketing strategy? How can we help the sales force to identify potential customers and finish the deal as soon as possible? How can we help the service division to give world class service to our customers?
• Cut the cost. Where can we replace the manual labor with more efficient and accurate automation? How to find the best supplier around the world?

Innovation in every aspects, everywhere, everyday! Only through Innovation, we can prove our values to the business. Only through Innovation, we can find the right position of the development organization in the big picture, the center for business improvement! Only through Innovation, we can claim we are the Profit center instead of the Cost center!

Being an engineer myself for almost 10 years, I can rightfully assume that all the engineers are very interested in innovation. We were trained in school to address real world problems with the technologies. For our career future, we need to constantly learn new technologies, new tools and new concepts. We like to fix things. We enjoy the challenges. However, since we are often disconnected with the business, it’s hard for us to fully utilize our skills and talents to drive business innovation. We don’t know the problems for us to attack and conquer.

To break that curse, we, the engineers, need to pay more attention to the businesses. There lie the best opportunities for us to innovate, to improve, to achieve something big. The management team should also work hard to better connect the talents of engineers to the needs of the business. And that also needs innovation.

Any thoughts, my dear reader? I love to see them in the comments. I will continue with other Ideal Cultures soon!

I thought a lot about the ideal culture for a research and development organization recently. Since I graduated from school, I have been in different development organizations. In each organization, there was something I like and others I dislike. Well, life is always like that. You almost have to swallow the sweetness along with the bitterness because they come together.

Although any organization has its pros and cons, there is nothing preventing me from imagining a perfect organization which has the ideal culture, with my own standards. It can serve two purposes for myself.

First of all, it can serve as a benchmark for me to evaluate any organization I am part of or will be part of. Since, in my opinion, the culture is the most important factor that affects one’s effectiveness in an organization, everyone should seriously consider the culture if he or she considers job satisfaction and career achievements important in his or her life.

And even better, I can carry the culture with me. No organization is perfect. But, at least I can change myself to follow the principles that I deeply believe. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the World”. By practicing the culture I desire, I am able to create a environment/atmosphere around myself anywhere I go. After all, it should be we change the environment, not the environment changes us.

But, what does “culture” means here and why is it so important?

Generally speaking, culture “refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance” (from wikipedia). Applying it to the corporate environment, it means “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization” (from webster)

The organizational culture starts with Values and Goals and ends at Attitude and Practices. It determines the “characters” of an organization. It must be shared by all the members of an organization.

Imagine if one doesn’t share the same values and goals with the organization he/she works. If one totally cannot stand the attitudes and practices of his/her co-workers, how can he/she be productive in such an organization?

That’s why most of the organization have the “new employee orientation” for the new hires. One major goal for that training is to imprint the corporate values and goals into the new employee’s mind and to justify his/her attitudes and behaviors to fit in the organization. Or even earlier, a wise organization should evaluate the employee not only by his education, techniques, or experiences, but also by his values, goals and attitudes. So, the new employee can naturally “fit in” after he/she comes on board.

To define the ideal culture, we can start from reviewing the goals of a development organization.

As Peter Drucker sharply pointed out, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.” If there is no customer, the very reason for the organization’s own existence vanishes. We, who worked in development departments in a big organization, sometimes forgot that it’s the Customers who give us a job, not our boss, or even my boss’s boss. The reason we are here is to provide services to our customers.

An corporation needs a Information Technology department or a Research and Development department because it needs to provide better products or better services to the customers through the utilization of the most relevant technologies. The products or services may be directly used by the customers. Or they will be used other colleagues to serve the customer.

Ideal Culture Number One: Goal Oriented.

A development organization should have clear goals. Those goals should be tightly aligned with the business goals of the big organization we work for. They must be S. M. A. R. T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely), as suggested by many management best practices.

For a developer, actually, it’s kind of hard to link his or her own goals with the business goals. We are not customer-facing (that’s why we are not required to wear a tie every day at work). We are too deep down in the “hierarchy”. We only focus on the programs in our screen and the data our programs manipulate in the database. Who is our customer and what do they need? We don’t know and we don’t care.

That’s the exact reason why IT job sometimes can be boring. We hardly see the meaning of our work. Why do we have to work 14 hours a day just to meet that stupid deadline? By the way, where is that deadline coming from?

Only when we are able to link our jobs with the customer needs and the business goals, we can rediscover the reasons and meanings of our everyday work. We can regain the dignity and happiness we deserve in our jobs. We are not coming to the office to “do time”, like a prisoner does in a jail. We are making meaningful impacts to our customers! We are making their lives better through our hard work. That’s something worth proud of. And that’s the reason we get paid for. We deserve that pay check we receive every other week!

Another reason why every one should align their own goals with the business goals is more practical than restoring the meanings back to our job. If the business is not doing well and the business goals are missed, we will be punished one way or another. Reorganization can happen. Layoff may follow. Bad things will fall from the sky.

You may say why we should care. We can always move on to another job. Yes, but it won’t feel as good as the you get promotion and salary raise when business goes really well. Believe or not, our job is deeply connected with the business!

You may also feel that who we are to worry about the business. We are only a developer or a system engineer or a database administrator. We are just the IT guys who do all the back office work nobody cares. How can we impact the business? How can we drive up the stock price? The fact is our impact is much more significant than we realize. The application we designed and implemented may be the best seller in the market at attracts more customers and generate more revenue. One bug we put in the codes might cause many of our customers a half-hour frustration. Just recall how frustrated we were when we received a bill with wrong number in it and the time we spent in the conversation with the customer representative to correct it. Those angry customer will leave. Along with them, gone the revenue.

One of the key functions of the management team should be to identify the business goals, translate that into the goals of every one in the team, and to communicate the goals clearly to them. Every one should understand how his or her job is affecting the customer and the business. All the activities should be centered around those goals. Once the goal is achieved or exceeded, one deserves a pat on the shoulder, a kind of appreciation or a celebration party!

We, ourselves, should also constantly think in lines of the business goals. Think about what are important to our customers and our business. What can we do to improve the customer satisfaction, to grow the business and to save cost? Once we think like that, we will soon find out how important our work is to others, to the business. And we will soon find many opportunities open up for us to make meaningful impacts. The rewards will be both spiritual and material.

Aligning all the activities with the business goals are the most important culture for a development organization, in my opinion. What do you think? I will to see your opinions in the comments.

I will continue with other Ideal Cultures in my future posts. Stay tuned

I started to work for a new manager last year. The first thing my new boss asked me to do is to buy this book, “StrengthsFinder 2.0“, and take the test online. He assured me I would like that. Obviously, he took the test himself before and it has been tremendously helpful to his own career growth.

I bought the book, certainly. The introduction section explained why they think people should focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses.

Their reasons are simple:

• No one is perfect. We are all naturally good at something and fall short on other things.
• It’s our talents and strength that makes out standout, in a good way. Not the shortcomings.
• We are more engaged and happy when working with our strengths than working with our shortcomings.
• It’s more efficient to develop our strengths than to remedy our shortcomings.

By the way, they are a group of psychologists working for Gallup, holding Ph.D and Master degrees in Psychology.

I think this concept have great value in current world. It has a underline assumption that somebody else will cover your shortcomings. So you don’t need to worry about them.

We are living in a inter-connected society and we are inter-dependent with each other. Nowadays, almost nothing significant can be accomplished only by ourselves. Teamwork and organization are the most common ways of working and living. We don’t need to worry too much about what we lack. Our team mates, colleagues, or partners will compensate us through their strengths.

This assumption may not work all the time in all circumstances. A extreme scenario is to put a stock trader to an disconnected island by himself. His strengths in financial arena hardly matters anymore. On the contrary, if he so focused on developing his financial skills and neglected his skills of making everyday living, his shortcoming in living skills may be the killing factor to him in the island.

This is just an extreme counter case. But the points are clear. We still need to spend sometimes on our obvious weaknesses to avoid them from dragging us down. Once our base is covered, we should follow the advice and focus on developing on our strengths. After all, our strengths are what make differences! They are why we are unique and they are what we are born for!

On the back of the book, I got this secret “access code” that led me through the door of the online tests. It’s a regular psychology test we all have been through. Usually, a scenario/statement was described and you needed to choose how you agree or disagree. However, the question was kind of vague and it’s hard to pick yes or no. To make it even worth, the time was really limited. I didn’t even have time to think everything through. Later on, I figured they deliberately designed so to test your intuition, which can most accurately reflect your underline characters.

After I took the tests, the test report was sent to me in an email. I was amazed by the accuracy. When I read the descriptions, I could see myself in it. It accurately described a lot of my behaviors and motives. Now, eventually I could have a clear mind on what I am good at and what I want to do.

I sent the report to my manager. It was helpful to him since he could fully utilize my strengths when he assigned job for me to do. He did that and it worked out well both for me and for him. Who don’t want to come to work everyday happily working on something we are good at and interested?

I consider it’s a good personal development tool and a good management practice. Strongly recommend it to anybody wants to know more about self and people around you.

Focus on your and others’ strengths, not shortcomings, will help you live a happier and more effective life!

Strengths Discovery Report:

LINPEI ZHANG

Your Top 5 Themes

• Connectedness
• Input
• Developer
• Learner
• Positivity

CONNECTEDNESS

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

It’s very likely that you bring people together. You form a bond with each individual as you begin to understand his or her circumstances. You naturally identify with someone’s situation. You have a gift for helping people discover what they have in common. Often this frees them to communicate and cooperate. Chances are good that you may convince certain people that a particular project or cause improves humankind’s quality of life. Occasionally you persuade them of the importance of protecting the planet’s resources for future generations. Perhaps you help people realize they can accomplish more good as a group than they can as individuals. By nature, you routinely take time to listen to the philosophies of people. You prefer to associate with individuals who share your optimistic outlook on life. You undoubtedly avoid people who complain, gossip, or blame others for their endless misery.

Because of your strengths, you frequently engage in laborious tasks. You yearn to dedicate yourself to worthy causes or noble purposes. Fortifying the bonds between yourself, the people you know, or even those you will never meet gives your life special meaning.

INPUT

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

Instinctively, you usually are quiet during conversations, taking in everything that is said. You are particularly attentive when intelligent people toss about their ideas, theories, or concepts. Often you acquire more information and gain more insights than the speakers do. When you choose to expound on a topic that interests you or pose pertinent questions, many individuals listen carefully to every word you utter. Driven by your talents, you have been described as someone who reads a lot. You probably carry reading material with you just in case you have to wait in line, eat alone, or sit beside a stranger. Because the printed word feeds your mind, you frequently generate original plans, programs, designs, or activities. Chances are good that you are determined to keep abreast of the news. You probably satisfy your hunger for current information by habitually reading newspapers, magazines, correspondence, memos, files, or Internet sites. By nature, you are willing to spend time sharing your ideas with intelligent individuals. Of course, you want them to tell you their latest thinking. Conversations that involve a lot of questions and answers stimulate your mind. You know you have spent your time wisely when you have a number of new ideas, theories, or concepts to somehow file away or remember for future use.

DEVELOPER

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

By nature, you place more importance on the purpose and value of what you do than on the monetary rewards that accompany success. Because of your strengths, you naturally tune in to the moods of group members. You can read the emotions individuals are experiencing. This increases your chances of responding to the person appropriately and at the right time. It’s very likely that you can ease the tension, anger, and agitation people experience in their dealings with others. You soothe the frayed nerves of individuals. This enables them to act more reasonably. In the process, you affirm their humanity and their dignity. You help numerous people find ways to handle problems without sacrificing their self-respect or eroding the confidence others have in them. Chances are good that you usually put aside what you want to do and even inconvenience yourself to serve others. People probably say you devote yourself to the welfare and interests of many individuals. You routinely put their needs ahead of your own.

LEARNER

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

Instinctively, you have little difficulty giving intense effort to projects, problems, or opportunities that capture and keep your attention. Driven by your talents, you sometimes enroll in difficult or demanding classes. You might aim to expand your knowledge or challenge your thinking about certain things. It’s very likely that you see yourself as a contributing member of the group. You enjoy partnering with intelligent people. You like to exchange information, share observations, or offer tips for doing things more easily, efficiently, or swiftly. You are happiest collaborating with individuals who are not stingy with what they know. You have an ability to figure out how everyone on the team can benefit from each other’s knowledge, skills, experiences, or wisdom. Chances are good that you acquire knowledge more easily when you can talk with others about ideas, concepts, or theories. Thoughts come alive for you when questions are posed and answers are proposed. You have a delightful time thinking out loud and listening to intelligent people express themselves. You naturally document or store in your mind bits and pieces of discussions. You want to refer back to these insights or facts whenever the opportunity presents itself.

POSITIVITY

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

By nature, you realize life is good after you have shared your knowledge and skills with novice players, students, teammates, or associates. You probably are most gratified by individuals who want to improve personally or professionally. Because of your strengths, you probably consider yourself an idea person. Your job, studies, or life in general are more exciting when people ask you to generate novel assignments, activities, or campaigns. It’s very likely that you customarily take on additional duties or tasks when you feel optimistic about yourself and your life. Instinctively, you genuinely feel better about life when you can take the mystery out of complicated procedures. Often you outline in detail the steps to understand exactly what is happening and why.

ITIL(Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is the international standard for IT Service Management.  

ITIL Introduction is a presentation I prepared for the managers of my department after I passed the test for ITIL Foundation Certification. I didn’t cover the details of ITIL. In stead, I would like to point out the concepts, like Service, Quality, Measurement, etc., that are deeply rooted in ITIL materials and things that really impressed me and changed my minds.

It was presented in front of a group of mid-level managers. It generated some interests in ITIL, especially the idea of “measurement”. However, since the presentation was too high level and conceptual, it didn’t eventually take off the wide-spread ITIL implementation in my organization.

The lesson learned, you have to follow through your initiative rentlessly!