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LUCRUM Radio - Episode 4: Craig Jolley

July 24, 2008

Episode 4 of LUCRUM Radio is the first in a 2 part interview of Criag Jolley, Internet Marketing Manager for National City Mortgage.  Craig has an extensive history in using the web as a way to advance the interests of businesses.   Listen as we talk about how the web has evolved, the future of the internet, and telecommuting & the virtual office, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more.  Thanks to Craig for taking the time to talk with me.

 
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Written by DAVIDeBOWMAN · Filed Under Podcast | Leave a Comment 

How I Reduced My Gasoline Expenses by 40%

June 10, 2008

My daily commute averages just under an hour assuming I leave home by 5:45 in the morning and make my return trip before 4:00pm. Now, when I accepted my current position at LUCRUM as Marketing Manager gas was about $3.00 per gallon. Roughly 100 days later, it is hovering at just above $4.00 per gallon, and showing no signs of plateauing. That represents a substantial increase, and one which costs me quite a bit of real money. I am fortunate to own a very fuel efficient vehicle, but still need to fill up multiple times in a traditional 5 day work week. After much thought and careful consideration I have found a way to reduce my gasoline expenses by 40% a month. Let me explain how.

When I am not listening to books on cd from the library during my daily commute, I tend to listen a fair amount of talk and news on the radio. I am constantly barraged with “what to do about soaring gas prices?” Generally the answer given is something like, fewer SUV’s and more fuel efficient cars, use bio-fuels, tax the oil companies, switch to alternative fuels, move to the city and walk to work, drill for more oil, etc… I hear Senators, Congressmen, Presidential Candidates, The President, American Consumers, Business Owners, and Foreign Dignitaries all expound on how to solve this pressing issue. From liquid coal to switchgrass, ANWAR to Ethanol, hydrogen to methane to propane, there are a multitude of solutions, but none that is viable today. At least that is what you think….

Now all of these ideas have merit. While I agree with some more than others, you can make rational arguments that any of these solutions could yield marginal decreases in the price of fuel. But marginal decreases are not what we need. You see, while these ideas are all sound, they treat the symptoms of the problem. We need something to strike at the root. The game itself must be changed. We spend an inordinate amount of time placing the blame on “big oil” when we are reluctant to change our behavior in the face of price increases. Simple economic theory will tell you that these companies are going to charge as much as they can until the behavior of the marketplace forces them to change. Consumers have given these companies no form of retribution for raising prices. We continue to fill up, drive to the office, and complain about high prices, but we do nothing.

I am here to tell you that there is a simple way to reduce your personal dependence on foreign oil at the micro level. At the same time, this way could improve the environment, enrich our personal lives, reduce company expenditures and increase workforce productivity exponentially. The real alternative fuel is utilizing collaboration technology and the internet to get more work done, more efficiently, and at a much lower cost.

Collaboration Technology has allowed me to work from home on average 2 days per week. Thus, by this simple change in behavior I have reduced my consumption of gasoline by roughly 40%. I would like to increase that to 4 days a week, but baby steps are required for both me and my employer. Thus, I am sticking with 2 as the goal for now. Now, I ask you, what the net effect would be if consumers across the country were to embrace this trend? Well there are a few simple conclusions that come to mind.

First, by reducing the demand for gasoline, the overall supply would naturally increase. Now, the math does not work out exactly the same on a large scale as some people just can’t work remotely. Nurses, Doctors, Truck Drivers, UPS, etc… So the aggregate reduction in demand would admittedly be less than 40%. Still, if those who could work remotely chose to do so 2 days per week, the effect would be very noticeable. Include in this number those who are in sales, logging countless miles of windshield time to meet with clients in person and the impact increase more. Collaboration technology, delivered via the internet, empowers people to effectively “be in the same workspace” without ever leaving home. Let’s see switchgrass do that. Now this has a direct effect on gas prices in that Less Demand = More Supply = More Pressure to Lower Prices!

Now assuming that the distribution of remote office days was spread evenly across the work week, there would be a noticeable improvement in traffic patterns. Highways would be less congested - leading to safer driving, less gridlock, and as a result increased fuel efficiency. (Cleaner Air would be an added benefit, but that is another post.) Greater fuel efficiency would translate into reduced demand for gasoline. Again, Less Demand = More Supply = More Pressure to Lower Prices.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that if this trend were noticed, oil companies would act to stop it before it became a cultural norm by… lowering prices. Again the consumer benefits. Should this trend catch on and expand to 3 or 4 days a week, a virtuous cycle would develop, with oil companies again needing to reduce prices to entice you back into your car. Now the consumer would have a choice again, and oil would develop more of an elastic demand pattern. In short there would be real and measurable consequences to increasing prices - consequences which today don’t exist.

Finally in the benefits column is the fact that by working remotely 2 days a week, I recapture at least 4 hours of time that can be spent more productively. Exercise, family time, reading, working, and other activities easily fill the void created by eliminating my commute. Time is truly our most precious commodity, not oil. Giving me back 4 hours of productive time outweighs any economic benefits offered up in the first two reasons. More time = happier worker = lower turnover = more profits for company

So, in summary we would have fewer cars on the road, filling up less frequently, more empowered consumers, a better environment, and a more efficient workforce. Personally, by adopting this work model, I have more time, more money, and I am a better employee. It is just that simple.

I truly believe that the technology world needs to speak out about the concept of Collaboration as the Alternative Fuel of the Future. We are operating modern businesses on a factory model created to optimize the businesses of the industrial revolution. This system required people to work as machines, and the machines to be present to add value. This paradigm is no longer relevant for many of us, yet we continue on with business as usual. It is time to begin to use the collaborative tools of Enterprise 2.0 to solve problems in new and innovative ways. IT should be leading the charge in reducing the dependence on foreign oil, and allow us to get beyond simply blogging about how we hate high gas prices.

More to come on this concept in future posts. I would love to hear your thoughts on how collaboration can change the world. Please share your comments.

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Written by DAVIDeBOWMAN · Filed Under Information Technology | 4 Comments 

When Life Gets in the Way of A Great Blog Post

May 15, 2008

If you’ve read any of my previous postings, you know that I put a lot of thought and detail into each of my blogs. I have to say sorry that I’ve missed you all lately, but life has started to get in the way. I have several partially complete. But then…

This week - Urgent priorities with my new client, Ipsos, and other major client needs are driving my time. I also have a member of my team in town from Newfoundland.

Last week - I started to come up to speed with Ipsos and had meetings all day each day.

Prior week - I was finishing my Data Strategy/Architecture role with Kroger which required me to max out each day.

But, at night… Had lots of family things going on…you know what it’s like trying to balance work/home life. :) !

I’ve got one finishing high school, one just finished her first year of college. Two proms. One 8th grade formal. One child going to Orlando for two weeks, another going to Destin for a week. Three awards ceremonies. One child with recent medical issues and blah blah blah and so on….

So, I am trying to get back in to balance and expect to reach a proper rhythm again soon. Or my head will explode! I miss you all and hope to post some great content soon.

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Written by Scott Felten · Filed Under Information Technology | 2 Comments 

Marketing in the Recommendation Age

May 15, 2008

“Why on Earth would your company want a blog?” “Aren’t you afraid of what people might say?” “What about your brand?” As the guy who championed the idea of the blog at LUCRUM, and regular blogging evangelist, I am asked this question almost daily. My answer is simple. “I trust our people to do the right thing.”

My coworkers at LUCRUM are smart - much smarter than I am. I know that when they talk about technology, they are passionate about it. They speak from experience and they speak from the heart. They are sincere, and that is different. They are interesting. They are real. They are the essence of “The Brand.”

I also trust the readers of the site. They can smell disingenuous corporate speak from a mile away. Yeah, I could hire professional writers to put together a brand strategy for our blog. We could toil endlessly on the exact wording of every phrase - but why? It would not be real. It would not be different. It would invisible.

Thankfully, it is real. And… it is really fun to be involved with.

Just today, we were contacted by a talented IT Professional who was so moved by Andy Erickson’s LinkedIn profile and the honesty of the blog site that she sent in an amazing letter with her resume expressing her desire to join the LUCRUM team.

This is the result of conversation.

What we hope to achieve is not just conversation, but also recommendation. In this day and age reputation is so important. What you do is far more important than what you say you do. What you do IS the marketing. It is about customer service, employee relations, innovative thinking, and delivering real value for Clients each and every day.

We are working on building a tribe. A loyal group of eager participants, fully engaged in the experience of LUCRUM. We want to create evangelists. We aspire to deliver greatness. That aspiration lives in each of us, and thus the blog serves as the platform for sharing our honest hopes and dreams for the firm. It is a metaphor for the business as a whole. It is about being “recommendable” or perhaps more properly put “remarkable.”

Are we there yet? Nope. But we have taken the steps necessary to start the journey. Each and every day we learn. Each and every day we evolve. Hopefully, we listen, we grow, and we improve along the way.

Why blog? Well if what we do is to solve business problems by using technology, than why not embrace technology to identify those problems and uncover the solutions? Why not engage our people to drive innovation at every level of the organization? Why not give everyone, including our clients and the world at large, a voice in the conversation. Why not become recommendable?

Check out the link below for a great article about marketing in the recommendation age.

Marketing in the Recommendation Age | Small Business Solutions - TheStreet.com

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Written by DAVIDeBOWMAN · Filed Under Culture | 1 Comment 

What is Consulting?

April 29, 2008

“Good Morning”

“Do you have a need for Contract Programmers?”

Here at LUCRUM, Chuck has done a great job at filtering our email solicitations.  However, I still get the one above from some guy named Patrick Harris….it reminds me of how LUCRUM is positioned in the market as a consulting firm providing business and technology solutions.

There’s a real difference between “contract programmer” and “consultant.” The industry often mingles the definitions together and customers tend to negotiate for consulting services using “contract programmer” pricing.

LUCRUM has had a rich history of hiring IT professionals that thrive on “consulting” using their technology skills. With that statement, let’s ask ourselves “what is a consultant?” Consulting is bringing expertise of one’s experiences into a firm on a project or fee basis. One of the ironies of consulting is that the goal of the consultant must be to make him or herself obsolete.” All of us have been in the position of being frustrated (either as an internal or external consultant or even as a perm-placement worker) by management’s careful efforts to defeat any and all attempts on our part to transfer the knowledge we had to at least one (other) person in the organization. This puzzles me because I learned early on in my career that it is far more probable that a company will retain “intuitive knowledge” about their system/applications/data/whatever if more than one person has that knowledge.

To provide our technology expertise is simply not enough in today’s global economy. The disparity between India (and other Asian-based services) and the US will continue to have companies use “contract programmers” that are truly just “coders” and not consultants.

Why do I bring this up? It’s our livelihood! I also know that our mantra has been “85% social and 15% technical.” My ratio is skewed purposely to emphasize the requirement to “over-communicate” on every part of our daily assignment. The technology works; it doesn’t work if people are not communicating. As consultants, it’s up to us to take the lead responsibility with the customer on communications. That’s our largest challenge. You’ll see LUCRUM’s focus to grow our capabilities in this area with Customer Alignment Sessions, leveraging Whole Brain Organizational Development processes internally and with our customers, and a new larger emphasis on the consultant, and in developing unique professional skills. Jodie Heflin, as our Delivery Leader, has the proven track record of Customer-oriented 85/15 skills. It’s her goal to get all of our firm up to a higher level of capability; to “think” as a part of our customer’s business in addition to our technology capabilities.

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Written by JohnBostick · Filed Under Information Technology | Leave a Comment 

Expanding Your Box

April 15, 2008

My wife and I were sitting on the couch the other night and she was complaining that her sweat pants were fitting to tight and cutting into her stomach. Oh did I mention that she is seven months pregnant with our first daughter. Anyway, we were sitting there talking and she suddenly asks ‘Don’t you have sweat pants?’. I said ’sure’ and she went off to look in the closet. One thing you should know is that even pregnant, I have still have 100+ pounds on my wife. She came back later extremely happy. She had found a pair of my sweat pants and had them pulled up over the baby bulge and fitting comfortably. She looked funny, but she didn’t care. She had solved her problem.

Why do I bring this up? My wife is one to follow her usual processes. Clothes don’t fit = go shopping. She has bought her share of materity cloths, but is becoming more concerned about saving money. She had a problem, but didn’t want to follow her normal process and go shopping. She began thinking outside her ‘box’ of solutions can came up with something that resolved her problem and saved money. (Yeah!)

When developing solutions to IT problem, it is easy to get stuck in your ‘box’ of solutions. It is easier to stay in your comfort zone and create solutions based on what you have done before rather than venturing out and trying new things. I fight with this all the time. I recently had a client that needed to add an admin page to view user account information. They did not have reporting or direct access to the database. If I add a page to the site, then I have to secure it from other users. This can quickly add up to some development time doing the standard solution. What if I extend my thinking outside my ‘box’. They have SharePoint which is used to feed list information to the web site. Why not add the view user page in SharePoint? Security is already setup and they know how to use it.

With the pace that technology and development tools are changing today, it is hard to keep up with everything. It seems like there is a ‘best new way’ of doing something each year. Don’t get comfortable in your ‘box’. Try new technologies. Think of how this new tool can be used to solve problems in place of your old way. Read articles, attend user groups and talk to other people about the new technologies. Get an idea of what they do and how they might be useful to you. You might be surprised on how well they ‘fit’ your problems and can be added comfortably to your ‘box’.

Jeff

 

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Written by Jeff Rollins · Filed Under Information Technology | 2 Comments 

More Than Practice

April 11, 2008

Yesterday, my fellow colleague Jeff Morris gave a great presentation on development best practices. Since we had a small group, the presentation quickly turned into a fun and engaging discussion as we exchanged stories and thoughts.

Topics covered:

  • Logging - Be sure to capture those pesky errors and handle them with style.
  • Testing - Trust your code, but verify that trust.
  • Comments - They are only as helpful as you make them!
  • Reviews - Review the application’s functionality, logic, and code as often as possible.
  • Consistency - Use templates and standards.
  • Development Process - It’s important to have a method to the madness.
  • Documentation - Try to make something that will stay alive.

Ignoring these practices will undoubtedly cause a lot of pain and headaches. It is also important to be realistic and remember that constraints (time, money etc…) can make following all of these practices extremely difficult.

When it comes to best practices, the list could go on and on.  Each one of these practices represent a building block for success.  In summary, creating a solid application requires solid development practices.

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Written by JoshWolf · Filed Under Information Technology | 1 Comment 

People, Technology, and Learning

March 25, 2008

As the new marketing manager for LUCRUM, there is so much that I do not understand about what we do. Here is the good news. I know that I can learn.  I was reminded of this as I was reading one of Seth Godin’s latest posts about learning.  There has never been a time in history where knowledge has been so readily available.  The problem now becomes one of attention - picking what to learn out of the vast choices of information.  I am lucky to be surrounded by technology experts, all willing to share information about the technical aspects we deliver to our clients.  Here at LUCRUM, we regularly have employees present internally on emerging technologies through our Lunch and Learn and Brain Brew programs.  Learn by teaching is deeply engrained in our culture.  This only helps to make our consultants more effective with our clients, and our team better equipped to meet the evolving needs of business.  I know I have a lot to learn.  What is better is to know that I work somewhere where I am not only encouraged to learn, I am expected to.  Combine the culture I work in with the endless knowledge provided on the web, and there is really no excuse not to learn something of value every day.  Occasionally, I might test that knowledge here - soliciting your feedback to yield even greater understanding.  What an amazing time to be alive, and what an amazing place to be living it!

Seth’s Blog: Things you don’t understand

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Written by DAVIDeBOWMAN · Filed Under Culture | 2 Comments 

Are People the Answer? Not Necessarily…

March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patty’s Day. We owe much of our country’s early infrastructure development to the large group of Irish immigrants that came over in the 1800’s. Masses of capable workers were the solution to getting the canals, railroads, and roads built in this country over a century ago. My wife’s family is Irish. She’s the 6th of 10 kids and has quite a nice family. In the 1800’s “people” were the answer to most economic growth initiatives. Nowadays, I’m not so sure that’s still the answer.
In a March 4th article in the Dayton Business Journal (Dayton, Ohio….the one team that should have made it into the NCAA March Madness and didn’t) there’s an article that quotes Robert Half, the Menlo Park, California-based IT Staffing firm, that shows Ohio has a robust hiring plan in IT for 2008. By polling CIO’s at Ohio-based Headquarters of large firms, they see a “fertile job market” where 10% of them are predicting adding staff in Cincinnati while 4% are predicting staff reductions. There’s other cities mentioned as well that show an increase in hiring people into IT. I have a problem with the very concept the article was written on. It’s really a “nothing article” since IT isn’t about “how many people are in your organization” but rather how are you increasing productivity of your end users, your vendors, your clients! We are in a race to add more computing power unleashing the power of DATA. Everyone defaults their focus on IT meaning Technology and thus, Technology is taken care of by PEOPLE. Then we talk about “how many people are in your organization?” as if one has an army of talent to lead into battle in the world economy…not so, from my viewpoint. The article didn’t say what the other 86% of the CIO’s are doing in the Cincinnati market??? The stronger companies are focusing on creating collaborative environments where the power of INFORMATION and not TECHNOLOGY is the key to their value proposition.Nick Carr in his recent book The Big Switch is espousing that the IT world is going to change significantly one more time. This metamorphosis is going to close down separate Data Centers just like the industrial revolution 100 years ago reallocated individual power generation dynamo’s into a centralized power generation model shared through the electric grid. In their case, the grid had to be built after the centralized power generation facilities went up. In our case, the grid is the Internet and all of that fiber that started to be laid 10 years ago and is now providing huge bandwidth. Centralized data centers needed centralized people to run the physical aspects of them. Frankly, the logical attributes are virtualized just in the same manner the centralized data centers’ hardware and processing infrastructure are being virtualized. Everything from developing logical architecture (SOA), application requirements, application development and testing, and even managing all of the databases once in production can be done “anywhere, anytime, by anyone.” People are certainly needed and yet, processes are even more important. For maximum productivity, the people shouldn’t be in Ohio. Let’s be frank. The people should be where the processes are most mature and their costs become the lowest common denominator (read: Asia although our falling dollar may make other places and even the US more competitive). By providing computing power “just in time” with managed services on a “just in time” basis as well, there isn’t much of a need for an IT organization. Perhaps we rename IT the “Processes and Measures Services Organization.” Even the word “Information” is not needed since Information is an assumed need every time!
Ironically, Robert Half does have a division called Provititi whose main services offerings are centered around “Processes and Measures!!!” Now that’s cool! So, next time, I hope the Dayton Business Journal writes a story about Productivity Improvement measures for the Ohio-based companies! (I would be happy to serve as a source.)

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Written by JohnBostick · Filed Under Information Technology | Leave a Comment