Paul Woods

Opening the can of worms that is Corporate Culture

Thanks Long for taking the time to post your perspective on the issue I raised around corporate culture... and how to articulate or assess it.  Here is Long's post on how to assess corporate culture, using an example close to my heart... Microsoft:

Let’s take Microsoft for example. At first, I would use Wikipedia to get a rough picture of the company. I choose Wikipedia because it is easily accessible and fairly unbiased, however it is still mostly an external viewpoint from people outside of Microsoft so it’s not in-depth enough alone.

Moving towards something more internal, Microsoft has a huge reputation for corporate blogging, so I would definitely have a look at blogs such as the Microsoft Careers blog and other employee blogs.

Not that I’d only look at three resources, but in conclusion, people is the key. Whether its past or current employees, these people would know the culture more than anyone else. So I’ll definitely try my hardest to get in touch with them, whether through email, instant messaging or even phone calls, talking to these people would give me the best insight into the corporate culture of the company.

Of course nothing beats experiencing it yourself. Getting a tour or starting an internship at the organisation would be better than all of the above, obviously a lot harder too.

Great post Long!  But I think you have raised some more questions than answers! 

Microsoft is a special case, they have blogger bandwidth.  Thanks to the wisdom of crowds, you can get a feel for the corporate culture.  The good and the bad (Mini-Microsoft is the perfect example of keeping the balance).  But with thousands of bloggers you are still only getting a feel for the culture... So trying to articulate your organisations culture with a handful of bloggers might be a tough job.  And if you pull it off, it is still only a feel for what the culture is.

Long I think you hit the nail on the head... experience is still really the only way to assess it.  The internship example you gave is great.  From my personal experience I can tell you that the culture at Microsoft IS DIFFERENT to what is depicted in the blogosphere (some things better, some things worse).  I could get a feel from blogs and talking to people, but I didn't know for sure until I took the plunge!

What if you are not assessing corporate culture for employment... what if you are assessing corporate culture as part of a purchasing decision between several suppliers.  Is it any different to choosing an employer? All other factors being equal, how would you use corporate culture to differentiate between the good and bad?  As a marketer, how do you articulate your corporate culture to ensure you stand out from your competitors in a competition intense market?

Does it all just come down to "Gut Feel"?

I think I just opened another can of worms... any takers for this conundrum?

Corporate Culture: Getting past the HR/Marketing fluff

Paul's Group Question of the Day: Say you are applying for a job at company x... how would you go about assessing the corporate culture there?  How is the culture at company x better than company y?  And how do you measure it?  Sure they have that HR page on their website that says that it is a great place to work... but how do you look past the brochure and actually get a feel for it yourself?

Do you just ask people?  How would you like an organisation to articulate its corporate culture to you?  Are blogs the answer? (you can say no if you want!)  Or does it take more than that?

How to participate:
Blog your thoughts on the above topic, and send me an email with the details (Your name, City, Country, Blog URL, and Post URL).  I will link to the submissions I receive each day, and then put together a summary for the world to share after the deadline at Midnight Friday 11 August 2006.

Come on... Join the conversation!

veotag: Skip to the video content you want!

... via Guy Kawasaki, veotag is a product which allows you to add clickable (and even better... SEARCHABLE ie Search engine searchable) links to content in your videos.  For example you can set up links to each scene of a movie...  or parts of a speech/presentation you recorded.

Talking about presentations, you can also incorporate your slides with the video... or you can just create links to sections of a audio only file.  SWEEEET!

Here are two examples... both Guy Kawasaki, and both presentations I recommend everyone to have a look at.

Guy Kawasaki - The Art of the Start
Guy Kawasaki - The Art of Innovation

Hmmm... I have a few of my presentations on file which are dying for this kind of treatment.  And then there is every corporate annual general meeting, keynote addresses, training materials etc.

First week at Data#3

... it was funny being introduced to 150 or so people on the first day in the office.  We started at one end and everyone was getting the full spiel...

"Hi this is Paul, he just joined us from Microsoft, he is working on this... and that... and will be helping out with this..."

By the time we got to the end of the office it was...

"Hi this is Paul... he started on Monday... who else is left?"

One week in at Data#3, in my role as a Solution Consultant.  I must say it is pretty good.  Desk is smaller than the one at Microsoft, but then again Data#3 don't make USD $1 000 000 000/month.  On the other hand my phone got smarter, so you win some, you lose some :)

The cool thing about this job is that I have joined at a great time, and have the opportunity to do some very exciting (and visible) things that will drive growth over the next few years.

... and I get to sit next to the recruitment girls :)

Windows Live Local :: Nandos and Starbucks Australia Wide!

Ok... last day of holidays... bored... what do you do? Create the ultimate Windows Live Local Collections... which everyone in our industry needs to know about!  Now that we have pretty good coverage in Australia (well apart from Melbourne for some reason?)... it is a piece of cake!

1) Where to get a coffee... Every Starbucks Store in Australia (70ish)
2) Where to get some good grub... Every Nandos Store in Australia (115ish)

So if you love your coffee, or crave a Nandos Sepremo Chicken burger with Swiss Cheese and Extra Hot Peri Peri Sauce (and some Peri Peri Chips to go with the burger)..  mmmmmmm Nandos!  *Drool*... Where was I... oh yeah... check out the collections above.

For those of you going to TechEd, I will be there to present on Thursday, 24 August 2006...

... and here is where I will getting my morning coffee...

... and here is where I will be grabbing lunch!  Everyone is more than welcome to join me... shoot me an email if you are interested.

Turn back your 'bloggy' clock

Darren Rowse has been running a series of interviews with bloggers asking the question... 'What would I do differently if I had to start my blog again?'

Being that I just did that myself about 6 weeks ago, here are some things I am doing differently, and one or two that I already wish I had changed!

1) Customisable - my old blog was on MSN Spaces, and I just couldn't get away from that generic Spaces look and feel.  With Typepad, I am slowly working to craft out my own look and feel (very slowly!)

2) Domain Name - still working on this one... but I really want to integrate my domain name (http://www.paul-woods.com/) and my blog address (http://paul-woods.typepad.com/).  At the moment one just redirects to the other due to some difficulties I am having with my domain registry (and a little laziness on my part).

3) More Targeted Content - again, still working on this one... I want to start developing some hard hitting, business value orientated, targeted technology essays to post on the site.  Content that gets people thinking!

and finally...

4) Started Earlier! - I have only been blogging for 12 months and I have learnt many lessons from the process.  I just don't know why I didn't start blogging earlier!

Darren... what would you do if you had to start my blog again?

Ten Lessons Learnt at Microsoft

I thought it would be great to share with everyone the top ten lessons I learnt whilst an Intern at Microsoft.  The following list essentially is how I continue to analyse what I am doing every day... to keep on track.  Hopefully you will also find it a useful tool.

In no particular order...

10) Be Passionate
Dive in and give it your all.  Be excited, believe, and most of all encourage everyone else to believe as well!

9) Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
This is a big one!  12 months ago I was a nervous wreck whenever I even thought about presenting to a small group of people (... I was even nervous when I didn't have to speak!).  Now I absolutely love getting up on stage and sharing a story with 5 people, or 155 people.  I would never have found this out if I had not stepped out of my comfort zone.  Likewise, when I went to university I stepped out of my comfort zone and picked a major I had no real interest in before, and now I absolutely love anything to do with Marketing.

Step out of your comfort zone, and live!

8) Take on Big Challenges
... because when you succeed, it is sooooooo much sweeter!

7) Give More
Live to give, do not live to receive.  Not only does it get peoples attention (which is great for building relationships), but you will get much more in return.  Offer to take notes at the meeting (you are the one writing the history books. As a friend of mine once said... "He who controls the definitions, controls the argument"), offer to present at the user group (you are the one igniting the passion of many in the room), offer to take the stretch assignment or the big challenge (people will remember you!). 

Plus, it feels great to give.  Trust me!

6) Soak Up All That You Can
Try to learn as much as you can from as many people as possible.  Learn from their mistakes, their experience, and their stories.  Pick up as much advice as you can.

But don't just soak it all up, actually use the information gathered in your analysis, your processes, and your decisions.  Act on what you have learnt.

5) Don't be Afraid to 'Geek It Up'
... just be sure to do it at your pace, and with products/technology you love.  Everyone I met at Microsoft did this (although many will not share that publicly!).  Whether it be Virtualisation and Development, or Cars and Photography, make sure you have something you can really stick your teeth into and know in depth.  Because there will always be someone, somewhere that you can strike up a conversation with, and build a relationship very quickly based on your knowledge of a particular topic.

So if you want to get to know me, lets 'Geek It Up' and talk about Flying Aircraft, Digital SLRs, or v.Next Software (or all three!)

4) The Result of Taking Shortcuts is ALWAYS Less Than You Expect
I have never really been one for taking shortcuts in the past, but this time I thought I could get away with it.  I can't think of one time in history where this lesson hasn't held true.  In this instance I had a product brochure (for BizTalk Server 2006) in PDF format, with all the extra bits that professional printing places need to figure out colour matching, where to cut the paper etc.  Being a little tight, I thought I could get away with simply printing the brochure on our unreliable colour laser printer at work, and then get the good old guillotine out and cut the pages to fit.

End result was a pretty lack luster colour, uneven cuts, and an overall unprofessional feel to the printed document.  Sure it saved me $500, but I am pretty confident that it also saved a majority of customers tens of thousands of their dollars for disregarding the product based on their first impressions alone... the brochure.

3) Do Not Tell a Cab Driver Who You Work For!
... unless you have quickly refreshed basic PC troubleshooting 101, the latest deals at Dell, and most importantly what garbage was published about computers in the weekend paper.  At one stage I was commuting to a client site in a cab every day for 3 weeks.  I learnt this lesson very quickly.  Every now and then there were days I would wear a Microsoft shirt.  You can't talk your way out of that one!  They were the bad trips.

Note this lesson also applies to people sitting beside you on Aircraft, whilst waiting in Airports, sitting on the bus etc.

2) Relationships, Relationships, Relationships
Everyone by know should know that it not what you know, but who you know that gets you anywhere in this world.  From a personal perspective, all my job offers when I left Microsoft were unadvertised positions (some even created just for me!), and all were from people who I had a professional relationship with already.

The worlds economy runs on trust... people need to know you before investing in you.  Sure... pieces of paper and letters after your name count, but in the end the key differentiator for between you and another candidate, or your company, and another company, is the level of trust in the relationship.  No relationship = no trust = no sale, or no job offer.

Plus it is nice to have plenty of friends :)

1) Change the World Every Day
Otherwise it gets harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning.

Nervous about Public Speaking? Or any type of Speaking?

Stumbled across a great resource this morning for anyone who has to speak, whether it be in front of 10,000 people, 100 people, or your family.  The Speaking Channel is an Internet TV channel launched a month or so ago focused 100% on improving the way we speak.  My favorite show has to be "Great Speaking, with TJ Walker", where they critique speeches by people like Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Some great tips I have seen so far...

• The 'Words' only make up about 7% of your speech, so don't spend all your preparation time drafting and re-drafting the words.  Focus on tone, pitch, body language, gestures... when you rehearse!
• REHEARSE, REHEARSE, REHEARSE!!  Not rehearsing is like sending out a first draft of a memo or newsletter to all your customers, suppliers and to the media without checking the spelling, without checking the grammar, or without checking the formatting
• Record your rehearsals (and your speeches) so you can see what you can improve (the other 93% of your speech)
• PowerPoint + Text = Bad
• PowerPoint + Images = Good

If only I recorded some of my presentations from the last 12 months... you can send your own in for critique on the show.

Scoble on the IT Goddess Calendar

The IT Screen Goddess Calendar has made it to Scobles blog... so now everyone knows about it!

Well... I must say congrats to Sonja Bernhardt and the IT Screen Goddess calendar crew.  Whilst I still joke that the calendar was not positioned to the right audience to begin with (wouldn't a calendar with hot IT blokes attract more women to IT?)... it will certainly achieve its goals now - to fund roadshows and Women in IT activities to encourage more females into this great industry.  To me this is a fantastic outcome. 

More so, this is a fantastic example of how to market something in this day and age.  The golden rule - POLARISE (POLARIZE for our American friends).  If people love a product - they will talk about it.  If people hate a product - they will talk about it.  Word of mouth rules in this day and age.  And most importantly, all this publicity cost them nothing.  Indirectly I think that the Australian Computer Society might have actually done more good in this case by pulling their sponsorship, ensuring the success of the calendar!

I have met a few of the models (and in fact had dinner with Barbara and Kim a few weeks ago at the National ICT Skills Summit, and had the pleasure of meeting Anastasia at the ACS Young IT Professional conference I presented at) and I hope they continue the good work!

E-Tax: The Australian Tax Office (ATO) just doesn't get it!

What are the Australian Tax Office thinking!

OK, E-Tax is better than doing the old paper based tax return, but (like many government departments) the ATO have tried to maintain the level of complexity to ensure that no one has a positive 'tax return experience'

Exhibit A: Title

This should be the easy part... we haven't even hit anything to do with dollars yet!  What do you think the four most common titles would be for a tax payer in Australia?  My quick assumption (and please post a comment if you disagree) would be Mr, closely followed by Mrs, Ms, and Miss.  I would go a step further (and again assume) that at least 90% of the population would share one of those four titles.

Alphabetical order is a great thing... but not in situations like this!  The first option for title in E-tax is Abbot.  Not many of them in Australia (relative to the general population).  The third option for title is Air Chief Marshall.  You can count the number of Air Chief Marshalls in Australia on one hand!

You will find Mr as option 78 in the drop-down list.  Mrs at 79, Ms at 80, and Miss at 75.  Some notable (and very rare) titles you scroll past on the way are

• Cardinal
• Commissioner
• Duke
• Earl
• His/Her Royal Highness

To make the software more usable and efficient, and less confusing and frustrating... in this instance is simple. Mr, Mrs, Ms and Miss should be on top of the list, and then the rest of the titles in alphabetical order.  A great example of this is when you book on-line with Qantas.  The most popular destinations (Capital Cities, and major Tourist Centres) are on the top of the list, and then all others are in alphabetical order.

User experience matters!  Even when lodging your tax return.