Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 86

Big Data in 2014: 6 Bold Predictions

If you haven't heard of big data and you work in IT then you're unfortunately behind the curve.  Big data is the ability to analyze massive amounts of structured and non-structured data to help a company be more proactive in driving revenue, reducing expenses, increasing customer retention, increasing quality, or just about anything else that helps a company be more profitable.  See Information Week's 6 bold predictions for 2014.  Interesting stuff

Delivering Bad News on a Project

If you've been around the block a few times you know that sometimes as the PM you need to tell a stakeholder something they don't want to hear.  My friends at Projectmanager.com put together some handy tips to consider when (not if) you have to deliver bad news.  Good reminders in a short, concise video.

In Search of Authenticity

As leaders, being perceived as authentic and real is an absolute prerequisite to getting others to want to follow you.  So many leaders, though, replace authenticity with creating an exterior persona that others may find appealing but doesn't match the leader's interior persona.  When the interior and exterior persona get out of kilter, trust in the leader is compromised.  My friends across the pond at Leaders Voice wrote a nifty little piece on being an authentic leader.  Give it a look here.

Accessing Shared Skydrive Folders from Windows Explorer

I am becoming more and more enamored with Skydrive.  I have a Surface Pro 2, HTC Windows Phone, and a Dell Venue 8 Pro and love that I can access critical documents on all my devices.  My wife and I also share files for our business using Skydrive.  I was a bit puzzled as to how to access folders Patty shared with me through Windows Explorer.  I stumbled upon this blog entry that articulates a simple-to-do method to map shared Skydrive folders as a drive in Windows Explorer.  Very elegant and simple to implement. 

Flying alone with Autism

Our son Trevor flew for the first time on his own from college at Arizona State University to Seattle.  He's flown plenty in his life so is no stranger to airports, yet he's never gone through the routine on his own.  He did great!  My wife Patty wrote a neat piece to help those with autism (or anyone who needs help with the experience of flying) navigate the airport and fly the friendly skies. 

I hope you enjoy this Growing Up Autistic article. 

Get your Credit Score Free Once a Month

I was doing my reading this morning and came across this website while reading an article on MSN Money.  You can get your credit score and the drivers which influence your credit score.  Pretty handy, very easy to understand, and the credit score is free.  Find it at credit.com.

When Are You Coming Home? Five Practical Tips To Realizing Work/Life Balance

So let’s talk about over-used terms for a minute. 

If you’ve been in the business world since the mid 1990s you’ve likely heard your management espouse the desire for employees to achieve greater work/life balance.  Many U.S. companies have adopted programs to help employees strike a better life balance by providing health club benefits, entertainment discount programs, and additional time off for events such as the birth of a child.  Despite all this, Americans are of the most overworked and flat-out busy people on earth, recently surpassing the Japanese and long surpassing the Europeans. With all this discussion of work/life balance, how can we in the U.S. also be of the most overworked people in the world?  The answer is pretty simple; many of us talk work/life balance, but don’t live work/life balance primarily because we don’t know how to do it. 
First let’s get clear on the primary purpose of achieving work/life balance.  It’s about minimizing stress in your life.  Much of the stress in a typical person’s life is derived from work.  Stress also comes from non-work activities as well.  You can say you’ve got work/life balance, but in addition to working full-time, you might participate in many activities with the kids, volunteer at the local homeless shelter, and exercise five days a week. If you’re feeling stressed and tired, you haven’t achieved the primary intent of work/life balance, which is to reduce stress. All you have done is balanced the degree of stress you have in your work life with the stress you have in your non-work life.  But at least the stress is balanced... 
Amazon.com Widgets To realize a practical work/life balance, consider the following tips:
Consciously (and honestly) decide what is really important - Saying that work/life balance is important is one thing; truly meaning it is a different game altogether.  You may want to believe you place other things above work, but wanting to believe it simply doesn’t mean it’s so.  Make a conscious, realistic declaration on where your priorities lie, then examine your behaviors or ask a friend, relative, significant other, or spouse.  Taking the first step toward the quest for work/life balance means eliminating the gap between what you desire and what you do.
Make your calendar a life thing, not just a work thing - Integrate important personal activities into your calendar.  Examples of things to schedule include exercise, being home at a specific time for dinner, and kids’ activities.  Also include items such as important meetings that your spouse or significant other needs to attend which require you to be at home with the kids or to take junior to the dentist.
Measure success in results, not hours - Those who measure success based on hours worked will prioritize hours over results and tend to be less motivated to figure out how to get more work done in less time.  Those who measure success based on results are more likely to figure out better ways to do things, prioritize their work, and get home in time for dinner.  Don’t use the clock as your gauge of success; use the results you deliver as your success yardstick.
Don’t succumb to peer pressure - From our earliest years, we are exposed to peer pressure.  The “I dare you’s” from our youth become “Who’s got a bigger house” or “Who drives a nicer car” as adults.  Look, just because a peer works 18 hours a day doesn’t mean he or she gets more done or is more effective.  It just means that your peer chooses to run the hours race because he or she feels it is the best means to get ahead.  Don’t let your peers’ actions pressure you to run the wrong race.  Just stay focused on providing meaningful results that provide value to the organization.
Don’t take on too much “life” in work/life balance - Achieving work/life balance doesn’t mean you cram more and more stuff into the life side of the equation to balance out a high-octane work life.  Achieving good work/life balance means doing both in moderation and minimizing the stress in your life.   You could be working a 40-hour work week and still be stressed out because of the non-work activities you’ve committed to.  Doing too much life can be just as stressful to you and your loved ones as doing too much work.  Don’t feel obligated or pressured to fill up every hour of your week with life activities.  Doing both in moderation helps you attain the key benefit of work/life balance; a low-stress life. 

Realizing the quest for work/life balance means first doing some serious soul searching and coming to grips with your true life priorities.  If you acknowledge you are a workaholic and don’t want to change, then by all means work 18-hour days.  If you do want to change, though, you need to accept the challenge head-on and get on the road to a more balanced lifestyle.  You may be surprised at how your quality of life increases and how little it truly impacts your career aspirations. 

Dinnertime - Balancing the Work/Life Balance Equation

Some time back I did an interview on the importance of dinnertime.  It reminded me of the importance of eating dinner as a family in the work/life balance equation so I thought I would post it here as well:

In your view, why aren't families sitting down to the dinner table like they did in the 1950s? 
Simple; families have allowed themselves to get so busy that they have come to accept that sitting down together for dinner isn't a necessity.  It all starts with the parents; if they don't sit down together or enforce that the family will be eating together, the family won't do it. Make sitting down together the rule and not doing so the exception.
How does this affect both parents and children? 
Dinnertime is a prime opportunity to have a captive audience with your kids and to allow for discussions to develop organically.  Not capitalizing on this opportunity means that parents and children miss the chance to connect on both simple topics (how was your day?) and more complex topics (addictions and sex). 
Amazon.com Widgets What are your top five tips for creating the perfect family dinner together?
Start early when the kids are young - set the expectation that the family sits down for dinner together such that the kids see it as the normal thing to do.
Establish a contract - When my kids were little, my wife and kids would eat dinner at 5PM and I would eat later when I got home from work.  We had to agree upon a dinner time (6PM) where we would all agree to be at the table for dinner.  I had to schedule it in my calendar and treat it just like a meeting; because if I didn't make the meeting I would keep my family waiting.  Our 6PM dinnertime contract has been in force for years and has worked beautifully.
Turn off the electronics - No TV, iPods, or any other distractions at the table.  If Publisher’s Clearinghouse calls with a $1 million prize then let them wait. 
Have some fun - laughing at the dinner table is massive for building relationships as a family.  Encourage a bit of goofiness and fun.  If kids see dinnertime as a fun time they are more likely to want to do it
Don't be in a rush to leave the table – Before our daughter went off to college my wife and I frequently would sit around the table with her after the meal talking about whatever was on her mind.  From our perspective as parents there was nothing more important than giving her our attention and talking about whatever it was she wanted to talk about.   

What is the most important thing parents should know about eating with their children? 
Dinnertime is more than filling your gullet.  It is where kids get to observe their parents in a captive environment and establish relationships which transcend well beyond the dinner table.  Think about dinnertime as the place where relationships get built and where your words and actions imprint upon your kids.

Is there anything else you think I should know? 
This all starts with the parents.  If the parents agree that dinnertime is a priority then the kids will see it as a priority.  If the parents view the dinner table as a place to build relationships, the kids will participate.  If parents make the dinner table fun, the kids will want to be there.  Parents need to set the standard and be the example. 

So What Really Matters?

Several years back I got into a conversation with a colleague about our kids.  He told me of how he took his daughters to the circus.  He wasn't able to afford it, but decided to go anyway.  While they were at the circus, he looked over at his oldest daughter.  The look on her face was one of utter contentment and delight.  Seeing his daughter's face caused my colleague to get all choked up.  The price of admission was redeemed through a priceless moment that my colleague shared with his daughter.   
I had a similar experience with my eldest.  We were at Disneyland a number of years back watching the evening fireworks show.  I looked at my daughter's face and saw that same utter contentment and delight that my colleague experienced with his daughter.  While looking at my daughter, I myself had the greatest feeling of contentment knowing that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. The thought of it chokes me up all over again.
Amazon.com Widgets Yup, we have days filled with irritating emails, ugly meetings, and demanding customers.  What's really important, though, is to take stock in what really matters in life. For me it is my faith and my family.  If those two things are going strong then everything else is a distant third.

During this holiday season take a few minutes to think about what really matters to you and that you're taking time to delight in those things.  Don't let the nagging irritations of the day bring you down.

Putting Some Balance In The Work Life Balance Equation

With the vacation season in the rear-view mirror, many of us are going to get back to the grind of working too much, not getting enough sleep, eating poorly and not getting enough exercise.   The concept of work life balance to most is just a bunch of theoretical baloney espoused by a bunch of talking-head motivational speakers and organizational leaders.  There’s simply no way out of the imbalance, right?

BZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT.  Wrong.
There truly is such a thing as achieving work life balance.  Take it from me; a recovering workaholic who wore 60-hour weeks like a badge of honor.  Sheesh.

First let’s get clear on the primary purpose of achieving work life balance. It’s about minimizing stress in your life. Much of the stress in a typical person’s life is derived from work. You can say you’ve got work life balance, but in addition to working full-time, you might participate in many activities with the kids, volunteer at the local homeless shelter, and exercise five days a week.
Amazon.com Widgets  If you’re feeling stressed and tired you haven’t achieved the primary intent of work life balance, which is to reduce stress. All you have done is balanced the degree of stress you have in your work life with the stress you have in your non-work life. So now, you have stress not only in your work life but also in your “life” life.  Sure, it’s balanced, but you’re even more stressed than ever.

There are a few basic tenets that I have learned (the hard way, of course) regarding achieving work life balance:

Work life balance doesn’t mean you never have to burn the midnight oil to get a project done. There will be times you will need to work hard to meet a deadline. What work life balance does mean, though, is that burning the midnight oil will only be an exception, not a regular event. Achieving work life balance doesn’t give you a get-out-of-jail-free card to not work hard or only work a few hours a week. We were meant to work and to provide for ourselves. It just means that work is done in moderation and not to an extreme. Realizing the quest for work life balance means doing some serious soul searching. If you acknowledge you are a workaholic and don’t want to change, then anything I or anyone else will say to you won’t be worth much.   Acknowledging you are a workaholic is the first and most important step to getting on the road to work life balance.
This topic is very near and dear to me; so much so that I wrote a self-study seminar on it with a self-assessment plan to help you see where your weak points are and devise an improvement plan to help you get better balance.   It’s also free, no-strings-attached.  If you are interested in getting better work life balance get the self-study work life balance seminar now with my compliments and best wishes.

Best to you –
Lonnie Pacelli is an internationally recognized project management and leadership author and consultant with over over 20 years experience at Microsoft, Accenture and his own company, Project Management Advisor. Read more about Lonnie, see his books and articles, and get lots of free self-study seminars and resources.

See the rest of Lonnie's blog on Amazon Connect.