Half Life of Knowledge

I belong to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). We give lots of talks on careers and jobs. In our last talk in Denver, we had about 30 folks. All were electrical engineers in their 40s and 50s. They were going through a career transition. Their key questions were:

What is hot right now?
How do I position my career to what's hot?
How can I get a job?

All great questions? However, the key thing for technical professionals is to keep current. It doesn't matter if the professional is in medicine, engineering, computer science, or architecture. These are all technical disciplines where the amount of knowledge is doubling every 5 or so years.
We call this the half life of knowledge - the amount of time knowledge is doubling. In some technical disciplines, the rate of change is more than drastic such as computer science, where I've heard it's more like 2 to 3 years.

Phenomenal.

This means that a professional does not retread then he or she is toast - unemployable or outsourceable. Tough thoughts in this economy.

What Got You Here ... Won't Get You There!

Just finished What Got You Here ... Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith.

Great book. Highly recommended.

Goldsmith is the quintessential executive coach. When you open the book, there are six pages of blurbs from the CEO's who's-who. One or two of these may be isolated. But, there are more than 30 of these astonishing plaudits. For example, Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford says: "... Marshall's proven improvement process ROCKS." High praise.

This book is not a psychological tome. It offers doable fixes for personal quirks. I'm reading it and am saying: "Wow. that's me."

Personal coaches have become a big phenomenon over the last five years. Goldsmith is the dean of them.

We all have personal quirks that hinder us from being successful at work and at home. Some of his tips are simple and reachable. For example, he says listen to comments from people. They have messages that may hinder us from being successful.

Say a simple "thanks" can work wonders. It keeps us balanced and focused on what's important.

Thanks, Marshall. I'm applying this book daily.

Getting Older and Getting Old

I spent the weekend in DC in a professional meeting. Nice folks. All engineers. All smart. All post 45. All self limiting.

It's interesting that as we get older mental and behavior atherosclerosis sets in. Reactions can be anticipated. Conversations are stultified, instead of free ranging.

The knee jerk response to new things and new ideas is automatically 'no.' "It hasn't been done before." "It won't work." "It's dead on arrival."

Individually - pretty much the same thing. The equivalent is 'why me' instead of 'why not me.'

I wonder if that happens to all folks. The mental language and response tends to be self-limiting. The self imposed mental glass ceiling.

Rock n' Roll from the 60's and 70's is getting a revival. Bono, Jagger and others are gyrating their hips and belting it out like they were 20.

How do they do it. I think it's attitude.

Forever young ... Amen.

Shameless Self Promotion

I've been reading Fast Company Magazine for almost ten years. It's normally a good read.

However...

The folks that they flog in the magazine are becoming a lot different than the run of the mill managers and folks I know. I'm either getting older. True. Or, Fast Company is out -3 sigma.

Most of the Fast 50 folks they flog don't represent people I know or even would want to know. Also, most Fast 50 seem to be into Shameless Self Promotion land. They land a good spread and share their gospel with FC and bingo, they're super heroes.

I wonder how many really are doing well.

Does Fast Company vet these folks and their doables or as Tom Peter's says: braggables.

It seems that a lot of these folks are phonies. They got a good to great idea, but they haven't executed. The rubber hasn't met the road with their idea.

Or, I can be out of it. Who knows?

Or even better, Fast Company call me sometime so I can flog my dream and hopefully become Fast 51.

Word of the Day: Resiliency

Business is tougher. Clients and bosses want more. Complexity is increasing daily. Things are changing all the time.

The result is more uncertainty. We don't have enough time or information to make the best decisions. Sometimes, we have to suboptimzie. We don't have much control over how decisions will be executed. Notice, I'm using the double edged word 'execute.' We have now less control over the inputs, process, and outputs of our decisions. Why? Most our outside our control.

The result is that more of us are feeling stressed and out of control. So, what's the solution?

Resiliency. That's my word of the day. It's a mindset to go with the flow. Don't be an oak that is uprooted in the winds of change. Be a willow that goes with the wind.

Much easier said than done. Many are us react to situations instead of being resilient to them. We want control. We want to know what's going on.

Well, even the top bosses can't control their destiny.

So, go with the flow, breathe deeply and remember the word of the day. Resiliency.

At the Globalization Wailing Wall

I just got an email about the commoditization of engineering. Duh...

The person was bemoaning the fact that middle aged engineers were being surplused. Great word. Less harsh than fired, dismissed, terminated, etc.

Is there a god given right for a job, even if it's a professional such as engineering, architecture, accounting, etc. I don't think so.

For the clueless, read The World if Flat.

Many professionals just don't get it. The entitlement world is long gone. It's all about adding value, bottom line, differentiation, etc. Do I like it. No, but can't fight city hall and can't stop globalization.

Get real because it's happening to all of us and it'll happen to you at the moment you least expect.

Walking and Talking

I give lots of presentations. I have a couple of critical ones next week. Those that can keep or keep away a client.

I'm an engineer and an introvert. My daughter calls me king dork after that best selling young adult book. But, public speaking is a make or break deal for my engineering business. It cements the deal with a client or brings me more clients.

The problem is that many of us engineers self selected into engineering. We'd rather be working on a task or managing a project than speak publicly.

Well, public speaking is necessity for making it into senior management and definitely into executive management.

So, how do you improve your speaking skills?

• Get a coach. Many companies will spring for one if you have a compelling reason. However, if you're a corporate plodder, don't even ask.
• Read books. There a lots of great books on public speaking from working a power point to working a crowd.
• Join Toast Masters or equivalent. These are groups that get you in front of people. Most of them, you don't know. it's safe.

You don't want the reputation of a great professional, but can't walk or talk. Today, that's a career killer.

Global Teaming - Key to Engineering Success

I'm an engineer. I self selected into engineering. I like to deconstruct things. I like problem solving. I was meant to be an engineer.

Many people self select into a profession or vocation, because they were meant to be there. In other words, they are predisposed to be in that profession - in terms of aptitude and attitude.

The problem, I've seen with many engineers is that they like problem solving and have the right aptitude, but all to often comes a passive attitude.

The problem is that the days of the 'lone ranger' engineer working tirelessly in a lab or in a cube is long gone. It's all about teaming - usually on a global scale.

A success ingredient for today's engineer is to think globally, be open to new ideas, and be gregarious.

If you're predisposed to solving problems, engineering is a great profession - with the following caveat.

Join. Contribute. Have fun. Being a loner is not on the critical path to success.

Three Hardest Things for an Executive To Do:

An executive is a manager with a Vice President's title or higher. This person has fought the corporate wars fro 10 or 20 years. The person has succeeded through building high performance teams to develop new products, develop new markets, and 'make the numbers.

People were essential to the executive's success. Most conversations were direct and focused on deliverables. The communications were transactional.

As an executive moves up the corporate ladder, this person must communicate differently. The person now has an enterprise point of view. This person must now speak the language of:

Messaging.
Inducers.
Consequencers.

Many executives don't excel at this because this requires a higher order skill level, than simply communicating person-to-person. It implies the ability to nuance, filter, and intuit. I means moving from a transactional mode to an enterprise point of view. Tough to do. Few do it well.

Most Important Career Skill!!!

What do you think is the most important career skill?

Is it some special knowledge that it's in critical demand?

Is it some special skill that is highly transferable.

Is it some special ability that is highly valued and differentiable? No.

It's resiliency.

Why? Knowledge, skills, and abilities whether they are innate or learned disappear. The market changes. They lessen during the aging process. The dilute because of the half life of knowledge.

Resiliency is the ability to go with the flow.

For advanced resiliency experts, it also implies the ability to see which way the flow is going. It's the ability to see things that are around the bend. The ability to see patterns in the water. The ablity to see and anticipate obstructions. The ability to see patterns, whirl pools, and ebb tides in the water. The ability to see intruders or predators.

Do I have it. No. But, I'm working on it every day