Chance Bliss

I think I’ve figured out (if only partially) why there has been a huge backlash against Facebook’s new user interface. There is no anchor. In previous versions, the UI was centered around you. When you logged in, there was a large picture of yourself, serving as a visual confirmation that “Yes, you have logged into your account and this is your information”. In the new interface, everything is been flipped around. When you log in, the focus is not on you, but on what everyone else in doing (aka the news feed).

Case in point. This morning I went to Facebook and started posting comments on photos of a friend’s nice baby. I wrote something like “Are you sure you want to do this baby thing? Maybe adoption is the answer”. Not very nice, but she would expect that from me. After laughing to myself,  I started surfing around and noticed a few strangers amongst by friends. Then came the “You stupid idiot! You are logged into your wife’s account.” I should have noticed the tiny 110× 200px image of myself sandwiched between the left navigation and “what on your mind?” box or by my name in 8pt font in the upper right hand corner. Thanks a lot Facebook.

I get why Facebook did this. They want individuals to easily see and interact with their other. However, by removing individual from the center, the user is without an anchor, lost in a crowd of friends.

Where did the graphic star rating systems come from? Where ever it came from I wish it would go away. I have a problem quickly tell the difference between 4 versus 5 stars (and don’t get me started on the 1/2 stars – bunch of wishy-washy fence riders), except when they are in a list order. Who wants to count stars? Just do numbers.

OK. I know this sounds crazy, but when driving home from work the question of “What would I do if I was sent back in time?” goes through my head all the time. When I say “back in time”, I mean like a few hundred years, not like dinosaur times. Here are some questions that pass through my adolescent, sci-fi obsessed brain.

Could I bring stuff with me? If yes, what? Chemistry books? Weapons?  like Ash in The Army of Darkness . Maybe I shouldn’t use a cult comedy-horror movie as a guide. How about a history book? Nah. I could screw up the space-time continuum like in Back to the Future II. Damn you Hollywood.

Would I be wearing the same clothes as today? If people saw me, they might lock me up with all my futuristic footwear (aka Adidas) and fancy zippers (patented in 1851). People thought Michael J. Fox’s puffy vest was a life preserver.  Also would I be able to communicate with the past people assuming they spoke English? There so much slang in language that I might have a difficult time. Check out this excerpt from an 18th Century British-America book titled The American Your Man’s beft Companion:

“Before we enter upon Aritbmetick, it may be proper to give fome Examples of Letter on various Subjects, and upon divers Occafions; which Letter frequenctly read over, and fome Times copied.”

Dude stop jerkin’ my chain and like tell me the 411! Word to my mother!

Would I be able to even make a living back then? I sit in a office and work on a computer all day hence I am probably much, much weaker than your average human in the, lets say, 1751.  What skills could I bring to the table? Not much. I can read and write which is a leg up, but other than that what could I do?

“Dear Sir or Lord, would thoust be in need of a redesign of your interwebs (really old British term for web site)? I happened to notice your current one was carved in stone. Not at all becoming to an esteemed gentleman such as yourself.”

Or would I just die within weeks due to some horrible disease? The plague? Yellow fever? A tooth ache? I think this is the most likely outcome. But what if I took some antibiotics? So many questions, so many scenarios.

Here’s a poster that could help. Just pin it in your time machine.

This post, How to be a program manager by Joel Spolsky is a spot-on description of what I have been doing for the past 10 years. My job title has changed many times from project manager (with a mix of information architect) to product manager but I’m essentially a program manager.

My first job out of business school was web programming for Bank One. I knew nothing about HTML, CSS, SQL or any other languages. Fortunately, neither did Bank One. They just knew they had to start somewhere. This gave me an opportunity to learn every aspect of the web development from writing HTML (in notepad) to setting up database servers. I had some help, but it was still new to everyone so I mainly had to rely on myself and experimentation.

After about 2 years, I realized that I was never going to a true programmer. I just didn’t have the computer science background. What I did have was a full sense of the development process and a passion for user interface design. So I moved more towards project management and later on product management. I still use those basic HTML/CSS/JavaScript skills to create prototypes and functional specifications. But in addition to creating prototypes, they also go a long way in earning the respect of the development team.

“It helps, as a program manager, to be pretty good at coding yourself. This is unfair. Program managers aren’t supposed to write code. But programmers tend to respect programmers a lot more than non-programmers, no matter how smart they are. It is possible to be an effective program manager without being a coder, but the burden of earning the respect of the programming team will be higher.”

Having that hands-on experience, no matter how far back, gives me a big leg up where others (marketing, business executives and even web designers) stand on shaky ground. The understanding still needs to be demonstrated, but it so much easier when you share the same language and thought process.

Another great tweet.

“To make Lent more interesting, I enjoy forcing OTHER people to give up things they value. Like the ability to breathe.”

Cobra Commander

I was listening to This American Life episode about non-apologetic apologies and they mentioned a famous poem called “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams.

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Many poets have written their spoof on it so I decided to try it too. This is a first. I can’t remember ever writing or even trying to copy a poem before.

I gave you
the dirty cup
that was in
the dishwasher

in which I poured
your coffee
this morning

SORRY
it wasn’t that dirty
just a green something
and I was so lazy

Two people have mentioned Richard “Dick” Cheese to me in the past week so I guess I’ll post a video for those who haven’t heard him.

Reading his booking info page. It’s hilarious. My wedding reception would have been even more awesome if he was there. Oh wait, I missed my wedding’s cocktail hour because I forgot my pants at home. Long story.

I’ve had a number of managers. Some bad. Some good. Some in between. Here’s what I think it takes to make a good manager.

1. Promotion – A manager needs to promote the team constantly. This means regularly presenting and talking about the work. In other words, getting in people’s faces and telling them the team’s importance and how they are benefiting from it. The flip side is protecting the team at all cost. No one is going to trust someone who won’t stand up.
2. Coordination – A manager needs to knock down road blocks. Fight for the right resources. Put the right people in the right job, task or project. This requires not only to understand each team members strengths and weaknesses, but how each team member likes to work and what they like to work on.
3. Motivation – A manager needs to provide positive feedback and incentives. And “yes” money is important, but interesting work and “you’re doing a god job” can help too. Again, you have to know what drives each team member in order to come up non-monetary motivations. You can’t cast a blanket over everyone.
4. Conceptualization – A manager needs understand and communicate the larger concept and importance of a project. Many people refer to this as “the vision thing”, but I think that is too vague and weak. Effectively creating and communicating a new concept requires experience and expertise in making stuff over and over again. Vision only skims the surface. It does not provide enough meat to build.

It’s is difficult to pull off all of these things well. Often you are constrainted by time and other objectives within the larger company. I admire those who can do them all well.

I’ve noticed that airlines really think alliances are important. But as a passenger, do I really care? They must think it’s important enough to send me this email.

Dear Mr. Bliss,

In June 2008, Continental announced plans for extensive commercial cooperation with United Airlines and Star Alliance, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to our customers…blah blah blah

OnePass Members:

• Will continue to earn OnePass miles on Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines for all qualifying flights through Oct. 24, 2009.
• May book and ticket reward travel using OnePass miles for travel on Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines through Oct. 24, 2009.
• Must complete all reward travel on or before Oct. 24, 2010.
• Will continue to receive Elite upgrade privileges on Northwest through Oct. 24, 2009, or the date of the Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks loyalty program integration, whichever comes earlier.

OK. Now what? How am I actually benefiting from this? There seems to be a lot of date restrictions and of mentions of “rewards” and “privileges”. Can I click on something? Can I do anything with this email? Oh! I know. I can delete it.

A better email from Continental would have been:

Hey Chance,

We noticed that you have not arrived on-time for your pass 3 flights with Continental. Sorry about that and the sits next to the smelly toliets. As I token of our appreciation for choosing Continental, we automatically added 10,000 miles to your OnePass membership.

Book a flight with your OnePass miles now!

Happy flying,

Continental