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Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I never, absolutely ever, write about politics. But those of you who know me personally and professionally also know that I never shy away from talking about the tough issues, whether at work or at home: religion, politics, the economy, social justice, whatever. I believe strongly that the foundation of democracy is frank, open, honest dialogue between people who may disagree and hold divergent views and opinions, but who affirm their shared belief in the value of our society by trying to understand each other (even if they may never ultimately agree with each other on this or that issue).
In that spirit, I give you this post on my immediate reflections on the 2016 presidential election.
The Good
Blowing up the two party system
No shock that the two party system has been broken for a while, but the current election has shattered it—the fact that Sanders and Trump both succeeded as well as they did (to the astonishment of their respective party machines) indicates that something is very, very wrong with them both.
In my opinion, business as usual for both parties has led them to be out of touch with what their voters want and need, the problems they face, and the solutions that would make their lives better. Again, no shock (and has been the case for a decade or more), but this election cycle has made it impossible for them to continue with business as usual…at least I hope so. Here's to the wish that maybe the 2020 election will be better in this regard.
Lowering the cost of getting elected
Based on available data on what both candidates spent on the election ($1.3B for Clinton, $750M for Trump, divided by 50M votes), Clinton spent $26 per voter versus Trump at $15 per voter. I love anything that lowers the cost of running for office—how can you have a democracy where "anyone can be president" if it costs exorbitant amounts of money to run? It would be great if one impact of the 2016 election was significant decrease in the cost of running a campaign.
New modes of reaching the electorate
Just as Obama used grassroots fundraising and big data analytics to engage with the electorate in new ways, Trump has done a phenomenal job innovating in how he connected with voters, particularly in his use of Twitter. Say all you want about how uncensored tweets at three A.M. make a candidate look bad, the fact is, voters loved it. Corporations such as Kohls, Southwest Airlines, and Dell that have let down their guard to be real and authentic on social media have reaped the rewards, and Trump's willingness to be true to himself onTwitter (no matter what you thought of who he was) obviously resonated with lots of voters. I suspect we'll see a greater use of this technique not only in the next presidential race, but in the midterms as well—and I applaud that.
The Bad
Low bar political discourse
In my 47 years on this earth, I don't think political discourse in the US has ever been so low as it has been this election cycle. The lack of issues, facts, data, and analysis was, frankly, totally scandalous and beyond belief. On both sides, by both candidates. As I said in the intro, frank, open, and intelligent discourse across the aisle is one cornerstone of democracy, so to see us sink so low as a nation as we did is really, really disheartening. What's interesting is that in my personal conversations as I travel around the country for work, I had countless wonderful conversations and heated debates about politics and the election with people from across the political spectrum—total 180 from what we saw in the public sphere. So I'm not sure why we can do this on an individual level but not as a society, but we absolutely ned to figure out a way to do so, and fast.
The media
The media coverage of the election has been—to put it politely—shameful. Other than maybe NPR (admittedly a left-leaning source), Fox, CNN, MSNBC—really every mainstream media outlet—has resorted to salacious, fear mongering, lowest bar reporting. As an example, the ads for the second and third presidential debates looked more like WWE or UFC promos than serious political advertisements. Their willingness to latch on to the worst of what both candidates said and did rather than substantial, newsworthy, valuable content was shocking. And ultimately this did so much harm to the mechanisms of democracy that I don't even know where to start.
The Ugly
Trump's message
I'd say the thing that makes me the most sad about the election, and the thing that has had me weepy and emotional all day today, is the fact that we elected Trump on the basis of some of the most hateful, ugly, xenophobic, racist, sexist speech we've ever seen from a candidate, presidential or otherwise. Fifty million plus voters said yes to Trump and, tacitly or explicitly, said they were okay with sexual assault, characterizing Mexican immigrants as rapists, calling John McCain a coward, treating women as objects of either derision or sexual aggression, and playing loose and fast with the facts and bald faced lying. I'm from Chicago, so I get it: politics is a massively dirty business and politicians are not angels—I don't ask that they be perfect, just that they be effective. I don't want a "clean" elected official who can't get stuff done, but I also don't want a "dirty" one who can't either. I just want one who can in fact get stuff done. But the low bar, hateful level of discourse on Trump's side of this election, and the fact that it worked so well, makes me despair for the future of our nation and for the world that I'm leaving to my four kids.
Voter turnout
Was anyone else shocked at how few eligible voters turned out this year? 220M US citizens were eligible to vote, yet roughly 103M voted—less than 50%. In some areas, the numbers I saw were, to say the least, extremely disheartening. And I can't help but think, how could we engage these 100M non-voters to make sure they care enough to participate in 2018 and 2020? Would we get a better result for our society? Let's address the problem and find out together.
International perspective
To say that the world has been looking on the 2016 presidential election with horror is an understatement. Forget your alliances, Hillary if elected would have had a leg up on our reputation internationally. Well respected secretary of state, involved in world politics since 1992, she would have enjoyed a head start at least.
Trump? I shudder to think of what the world thinks of him. Based on my cursory scan of international headlines, it's not good. So he has a long row to hoe to gain the respect of his international partners. Despite being a left leaning independent, I believe he'll get there, but what happens in the meantime?
My Hope
With a republican president, senate and congress, Trump has two years of runway to get stuff done. I hope that he makes the most of it. I hope that Trump lands just right of center. Not building a wall, but meaningful immigration reform. Not banning muslims and dropping the the atom bomb on ISIS, but adopting a sane and actionable approach to helping stabilize the middle east. Not adopting an isolationist policy, but finding a way to participate in the global economy that benefits all US citizens.
I want my ten year old daughter, who, because we live in a hyper liberal town, associates Trump with the ultimate evil, to understand that we support whoever wins the election, hope for their success, and do everything we can in our sphere of influence to make that happen. Just because you don't agree with a candidate, doesn't mean you should demonize them or reduce them to a caricature. Their point of view always has merits, and there's value in seeking to understand the value of those merits and achieving a meeting of the minds…even if you ultimately agree to disagree.
So I try to be hopeful and forward looking despite reservations and sadness, and look forward to the next two years, whatever they may bring.
There's been a lot of ink spilled on the recent acquisition of Exstream by Open Text, and I've spilled some myself. But beyond what the acquisition means for Open Text and Exstream customers, it raises a larger issue in the customer communication management (CCM) space: if you're looking to make a CCM technology play, you might as well wait at least 18 months to do so.
The main reason I think this is true has to do with vendor risk.
Three of the top CCM product have been involved in an acquisition recently. Dell bought EMC, which owns Doc Sciences. Open Text bought Exstream and already owns StreamServe. Leaving aside the marketing spiels we're hearing from both firms about the strategic value of the acquisitions, the fact remains that any software acquisition brings at least 18 months of uncertainty with it: will the development teams remain or jump ship? What happens to the sales resources? What's the long term plan for the new product? Are we planning to just milk license maintenance revenue or is this a platform we're going to invest strategically and significantly in? Can we successfully weather the road bumps in the months following the acquisition to continue to develop the product or will we take two steps back (and potentially kill the product altogether)?
Now, to be fair, there are at least two major players out there that are acquisition free and still solid: Oracle and GMC. But as good as they are, to limit your vendor selection to these two would be short sighted. So if you're an organization that's considering a platform decision, you're in a hard place given that three of the top players are off limits until the dust settles on acquisitions.
But most large organizations already have a CCM solution in place, even if they haven't fully replaced their main frame output with these more modern options. Even for these folks, however, the current landscape is risky. As they seek to keep their platform portfolio current, they need to evaluate whether to continue with their current vendor or change course. If they currently own StreamServe, Exstream, or Doc Sciences it's hard to know what to do, because the future of these products is up in the air given recent acquisitions. If they own Oracle, GMC, or another solution not involved in recent acquisitions, their options for making a change are severely limited without being able to consider StreamServe, Exstream, or Doc Sciences.
Given all this uncertainty regarding CCM software, the safest thing to do is to wait until the dust settles. But what do you do in the meantime to continue making progress with CCM? There's some basic blocking and tackling organizations can do while waiting to see what happens with StreamServe, Exstream, and Doc Sciences in order to add significant value to their CCM programs:
The Final Word
So much for my doom and gloom prognostications about the challenges CCM faces in the wake of the Doc Sciences and Exstream acquisitions. Hopefully, Dell and Open Text get their acts together and figure out what they're doing with their CCM products ASAP. If they do, all will be well for the CCM marketplace. But even if they don't, I've tried to point to some areas where firms can continue to make progress on CCM until the dust settles in the vendor arena.
A few years back, I wrote a post about how SharePoint by itself couldn't do records management (RM) and that, even with any number of add ons available to help it do RM better, large organizations shouldn't use SharePoint to do so. I wanted to return to the topic and write a sustained reconsideration of how far SharePoint has (or hasn't) come in the last three years.
But as I sat down to write, I realized that, regardless of whether SharePoint today is better at doing RM, RM itself is becoming almost besides the point at many organizations, let alone whether SharePoint (or any other system) can support it—the real center of managing information to deliver business value is shifting, and fast. But before you all hoist me on my own petard for this assertion, let me explain what I mean.
Records, Schmekerds
Ever since we've been in a predominantly electronic world (circa 2000ish), RM has struggled to do its job, i.e., help the organization retain records as long as required by laws, regulations, etc., and then dispose of them. The retaining records part hasn't been the problem, it's the disposing of them that RM has struggled with. Most organizations today still keep everything forever, whether or not they have RM in place.
And even over the last three years, as RM professionals have worked to evolve into information governance (IG) professionals, not much has really changed: we're still keeping everything forever, and the dream of being the savior who unlocks the value of information for the business is no closer to reality than it was when we only managed the boxes in the basement.
This is why, at most organizations I work with, RM is not high on the priority list of enterprise capabilities that are getting support and funding. And so, I hate to break it to you, whether SharePoint can do records or not isn't something folks care too much about any more—or at least, they shouldn't. Instead, the most critical question of the moment I see for large firms is, how do I protect my most sensitive corporate data from getting into the wrong hands? Followed almost immediately by, How can I also help the business get value from the information we're protecting?
Information Security is Information Management
Think about it for a second: the most sensitive data, like personal health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) also happens to be some of the most valuable information an organization manages. So if you manage PHI/PII in order to protect it, you're halfway to managing it to deliver value to the organization. And if you manage PHI/PII to protect it and deliver value to the organization in the process, you're accomplishing everything IG, RM, ECM, document management, and every other buzz word applied to managing unstructured data has been striving for over the last 30 years.
Which is why I've been writing about the increasing importance of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to corporate information management. I feel that the CISO is the right person in the current environment to own information management and be successful. Furthermore, at an increasing number of large, heavily regulated organizations, I'm seeing the CISO pick up the information management gauntlet and run with it…very successfully. This is a trend that I think will only pick up speed over the next 18 months.
The Final Word
So what does this all mean for doing RM in SharePoint? Well, if you're an information management professional and you're still spending your time worrying about RM in SharePoint (or anywhere else), you should stop. The center of gravity of information management is shifting and you need to shift with it. Managing high risk, high value information is the game these days, both to protect it from the inevitable breach (a matter of when not if) as well as to make it more manageable by end users. Your champions are no longer IT, RM, or legal, but rather the CISO and their stakeholders (typically the rest of the C Suite). And they have enterprise visibility and real budget and support combined with the disinclination of senior executives to (1) appear before government hearings, (2) pay multimillion dollar fines, and (3) go to jail. Compared to this, whether we keep records for the appointed time and then dispose of them seems hardly worth the effort, whether it's in SharePoint or some other system.
Despite being a bit worn out from two solid days of presentations and networking, day three was another good one at DIA 2015. Unlike days one and two, today was all about IT for me, from how to select and implement document management systems to how to validate SaaS/cloud GXP systems, eliminate unintentional bias in your risk management program, and how to determine whether a system needs to be validated.
The Critical Role of Document Management Supporting Submissions brought together folks from Covance and J&J who have recently selected and implemented doc management systems as well as someone from Veeva Systems who's been involved in a wide range of implementations across many organizations. The session provided a wealth of real world advice and guidance on how to select and implement a document management system and, although it was a turbo session, the presenters clearly planned together to make sure their sections were complementary. By the end, I think folks walked away with a good general idea of what they'll face when trying to implement a doc management system as well as a good idea of what two real world companies are doing.
The other session, Frontier Issues in Electronic Data Integrity Today, as the title suggests, handled some "edge case" topics: cloud/SaaS validation, bias in risk based analysis, and validating gray area systems (like medical information). And while all the presentations had valuable information, the cloud/SaaS validation really hit home for me, for a few reasons.
First, every life sciences person I speak with who is even remotely involved with IT has more questions than answers about this topic. Second, if you ask five cloud/SaaS vendors How can a cloud/SaaS solution be validated?, you'll get six answers. And third, if you ask a regulator the same question, they'll tell you that their regs are system independent so cloud/SaaS simply need to validate the same way as on prem, paper, etc.
This session definitely did not dissapoint. Teri Stokes was hugely knowledgable, having come out of the mainframe world and been involved in IT for many years in addition to having a pharma background. She brought a deep understanding, therefore, of not just GxP and pharma, but good IT practices, pharma or not. And what became clear in the talk (and what I've suspected for some time now), is that validation is basically the standard change management and control processes any good IT shop in any industry should have in place for any application or hardware, but scaffolded with training on requirements for GXP processes.
Given that, determining how to validate your cloud/SaaS providers becomes much clearer, but Teri raised a few issues that really resonated with the folks in the room. First, make sure you understand all the parties involved in delivering the cloud/SaaS service you're buying. If it's SaaS software, does the vendor also own the infrastructure it runs on or do they run their product in someone else's data center? If they do, you need to know that and make sure your validation process accounts for it. Second, who has access as system admin to your cloud/SaaS system or environment? A critical part of validation is change/release management, i.e., ensuring that GXP data either doesn't change or only does so based on strict control requirements and with an audit trail. So if your SaaS software provider hosts their solution in someone else's data center, you need to know whether an employee of that data center is a SysAdmin for your data and be able to manage them according to GXP requirements. And third, make sure you understand your cloud/SaaS provider's upgrade process, because, depending on how the solution is architected and intregrated with your other systems, you may very well need to revalidate when they apply a secyrity patch, for example…which could happen monthly or even weekly, depending on their technology.
So much for day three. Tomorrow is a short day, but I'm looking forward to a great session on legacy R&D systems and the chance to catch up with the couple of folks I've yet to bump into here in DC.
Today was my first full day at DIA 2015, and it was a whirlwind. I managed to see sessions on Regulatory, Manufacturing, Clinical, and PV and have some substantive one on one discussions with Medical Affairs and Safety folks as well. And on top of all that, I met with a number of very interesting vendors and service providers to pick their brains about "THE FUTURE OF PHARMA"…no wonder it feels like Thursday already.
My morning session was Social Media: Opportunities and Challenges in PV and Clinical Research. And although there was a huge amount of valuable information on that specific topic, I found myself imagining the larger impact of social media monitoring for life sciences organizations. Carrie Pierce, from Epidemico, presented a case study where she analyzed publicly available social media data for a Type 2 diabetes drug. Her goal was to show how a PV function could manage the seemingly overwhelming volume of social media data to arrive at a workable subset for PV purposes.
To do so, she showed rich examples of actual Tweets and Facebook posts from patients. Again, while the value to PV was clearly apparent, this patient information had much wider applicability. There was information about how to "game" trials, user problems with drug delivery (e.g., pen malfunctions), off label applications (e.g., skin clearing up, losing weight), and ideas for improving trials from a patient's perspective. All of these would help a life sciences organization improve front office, value chain operations, not simply "do PV better". And all of these would help life sciences organizations get more truly patient centric–something everyone is working hard to do.
I also saw a fascinating session on Continuous Improvement and Innovation in Manufacturing Approaches that was all real life case studies (from Pfizer, GSK, and Vertex). Both Pfizer and GSK talked about how they're using self-contained, pod-based, modular manufacturing equipment that allows them to set up a manufacturing line in a matter of days rather than months and with a footprint significantly smaller than traditional batch production approaches. Vertex shared how they're using Quality by Design (QbD) to speed their manufacturing capabilities, which was less about futuristic technology and more about the people/process scaffolding that allows them to leverage their traditional manufacturing technology in a more agile way. To me, given how behind the curve life sciences manufacturing has been in terms of process efficiency relative to its peers in other manufacturing subverticals, this was a tremendous leap forward and great to see at DIA. It made me hope that in future years we might see some SMEs from other manufacturing domains present in order to enable some cross fertilization and to continue to evolve life sciences' lean/six sigma/continuous improvement maturity.
There was also a session on Bringing Clinical Trials into the 21st Century, which, as you might imagine, spoke a lot about patient centric approaches to clinical trials. But what occurred to me during the session, and what was confirmed in other conversations with PV, Regulatory, Clinical, and Medical Affairs folks, as well as with vendors in the mobile, document management, and CRO domains, is that patient centricity will require more than simply life sciences organizations getting involved to be realized. Here's what I mean…
For me, patient centricity boils down to making sure patients get the care and therapies they need and that those care and therapies are effective. Given this, true patient centricity requires the involvement of life sciences, of course, because they develop the drugs and devices that help patients get healthy; but it also requires the involvement of providers, because they deliver care (and often the drugs and devices) that contribute to patient health; it requires the involvement of payers, because they fund the cost for drugs, devices, and care that help patients get healthy; it requires the involvement of employers, because they often foot the bill for insuring patients and stand to benefit from good outcomes; it requires the involvement of patient advocate groups, because they work to ensure that the voice of the patient is heard; it requires the involvement of regulators, because they are charged with ensuring that all patient health stakeholders behave in ways that protect patient safety; and it requires the involvement of vendors and service providers, because they create products and services that enable these other stakeholders to be effective.
Given all this, the real way forward to patient centricity is larger than life sciences and will have an impact beyond corporate revenue (although it will also do that).
So much for my take on DIA 2015 day two. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings…
Even though my flight from Chicago was delayed (given the severe storms there all day, I was lucky to even get out at all), I managed to see one great session and have some wonderful conversations in the networking breaks and on the expo floor at DIA today.
The two topics I was most excited about were continuous process improvement and enterprise document management strategy.
The first came up in the 11 am session, with Michelle Charles from Merck and Chris Hanna from Kattner-Thalmann. They both spoke to continuous improvement (CI) and Lean Six Sigma efforts in reg ops–Chris from the professional services, more theoretical angle, Michelle from the been there, done that angle of finishing a CI project at Merck in 6 months. And although the net net wasn't anything earth shaking in terms of CI, for the Life Sciences industry, which has traditionally been way way behind other manufacturing verticals, it was a big plus to see a culture shift regarding process improvement. And it's always great to hear what a real person at a real company is doing about a critical challenge like CI (thanks, Michelle)…
Enterprise document strategy wasn't the subject of any given session, but rather the topic of conversations in the vendor expo and at networking breaks throughout the day. And in this regard what I heard was that, despite a decade or more of work on functionally based document management strategy, very few organizations were approaching document management strategy from a cross functional, truly enterprise perspective, i.e., across the value chain from R&D and clinical, to regulatory, QA, maufacturing, and commercial, PV, and medical affairs. But despite that lack of enterprise perspective, most firms truly needed that enterprise perspective to solve their many, significant business challenges relating to document management.
The negative effects of the lack of document mangement strategy that folks described were striking: low adoption of exepensive, resource intensive document management systems, extreme end user disatisfaction with document management tools, process inefficiencies, increased compliance costs and risks, impaired executive decision making, higher portfolio risk, etc.
Other than "getting a great enterprise wide strategy", no quick answers to the problem. But I'm grateful for the opportunity to engage folks in great conversation and learn more about what's going on in the industry.
I look forward to what DIA 2015 day two brings!
I work a lot with end of pipe functions in Life Sciences organizations (especially Quality and Manufacturing) and it always strikes me as strange that Life Sciences organizations don't typically view themselves as manufacturers who happen to make specialized products that rely on scientific research, but rather as scientific research organizations that happen to make products.
Now, I know this is a broad generalization, but I think it holds true for lots of companies out there. And certainly, the Life Sciences industry as a whole seems to identify much less with mainstream manufacturing than with health care…which makes a certain amount of sense given what Life Sciences does for a living. And the close relationships and peer networking with providers and payers confer significant benefits on Life Sciences organizations.
But this focus on health care rather than manufacturing also has negative effects on Life Sciences organizations, because, after all, we can't lose sight of the fact that what Life Sciences organizations do for a living is to make products that they sell to customers. In this, the Pfizers and Mercks of the world are no different from the Hondas, Krafts, Apples, Boeings, or GEs.
Where Life Sciences organizations tend to differ, unfortunately, is that they lag far behind their non-Life Sciences counterparts in adopting continuous improvement (CI) approaches to their product life cycle, e.g., six sigma, LEAN, TQM, etc. The only manufacturing sector that is worse off than Life Sciences in this respect is Oil and Gas, where the boom and bust mentality has made a sustained, widespread adoption of CI almost impossible in petroleum operations as a whole.
Without remaining on my soap box and devoting an entire post to this topic, suffice it to say that I'm looking forward to the following DIA sessions devoted to CI and manufacturing best practices:
Continuous Improvement and Innovation in Manufacturing Approaches – Tuesday 6/16, 1:30 – 3:00
A Transformational Approach to Development, Manufacturing and Distribution
Michael K O'Brien, PhD, Vice President, Leadership, Pharmaceutical Science, Technology and Innovation, Pfizer Inc
Return On Investment from Manufacturing Technology Innovation: Opportunities and Realities
Andrew Mark Buswell, PhD, MBA, Head of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, GlaxoSmithKline
Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Regulatory Opportunities and Challenges
Stephanie Krogmeier, PhD, RPh, Senior Director, Global CMC Regulatory Affairs Strategy, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Knowledge Management for the Product Life Cycle – Wednesday 6/17, 3:30 – 5:00
Recommendations for a Streamlined, Global Assessment of CMC Changes and Optimized Dossier Preparation Process
Kim S. Northam, Associate Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Accenture
Compliance and Change Control: Checking That the Manufacture/CMC is Maintained in Accord With the Terms of the License
Peter Lassoff, PharmD, Vice President and Head, Global Regulatory Affairs, Quintiles Inc.
Opportunities for Industry
Paige Kane, Director, Knowledge Management, Pfizer Inc
I'm excited to hear what Pfizer, GSK, and Vertex are doing for CI and to see how Pfizer (as well as other clients Quintiles and Accenture have seen) are leveraging knowledge management to improve the product life cycle. I hope to see some of you in DC and to get a chance to connect and keep the conversation going!
One of the topics I'm most passionate about in Life Sciences is the strategic importance of Regulatory Affairs and Operations. Too often, the work of Regulatory is viewed as administrative overhead and a cost center rather than part of the core value chain activities related to drug/device development, like R&D, Clinical, and Commercial are. Rather than get on my soap box here, you can read a recent white paper I published that gets into the nitty gritty details on the subject. However, I am excited for one session at DIA 2015 in particular that looks like it's going to address, at least in part, the need to transform how we approach Regulatory:
Evolving Your Regulatory Information Management Strategy to Meet the Changing Business Environment – Monday 6/15, 11:00 – 12:00
Adapting Business Process to Support Global RIMS
Michelle L. Charles, MPH, Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, Merck & Co., Inc.
Lean Six Sigma For Delivering High-Velocity RIMS Strategies
Christopher P Hanna, PhD, PMP, Principal, Kattner-Thalmann Partners
These presentations hit on two topics–global processes and continuous improvement–that I think are key for getting the most out of Regulatory. In terms of a global view of Regulatory processes, just about every Life Sciences organization I talk to struggles with getting the same levels of efficiency and effectiveness out of their affiliates in Most of World (MOW), i.e., countries outside the US and EU. Some of this is due to the difficulties of managing processes and teams half a world a way; some is due to poor document management practices; some is due to outdated or low functioning technology for collaboration. But the result is the same in every case: increased time to market, increased cost of compliance, increased risk of non-compliance.
In terms of continuous improvement, it's high time that Life Sciences organizations view themselves not only as scientific research organizations but also as manufacturers…and not just at the end of pipe in Quality and Manufacturing, but upstream in the product development functions such as R&D, Clinical, and, yes, Regulatory. Too often, Life Sciences organizations forget the critical lessons learned in other manufacturing sectors about the need for tight integration between all parts of the product value chain, from design and development, through process engineering, to manufacturing, quality, supply chain, sales, and marketing.
I'm looking forward to how the sessions tackle these issues and hope to connect with folks to continue the conversation in DC!
This year's Drug Info Association (DIA) annual conference is coming up in two weeks in DC, and I'm excited for four days of education, networking, and great conversations.
As usual, the line up of speakers is top notch, so it's been tough to try to plan on what to attend without feeling like I'm missing out on things. In terms of topic areas, I'm focusing this year on information/document management, of course, but also augmenting that with sessions on social media, knowledge management, digitization, and continuous improvement…all of which require a solid information/document management foundation to be successful. And beyond these, I found a few promising sessions that focus on the more organizational dimensions of drug development effectiveness.
In case you're planning to attend and are looking for advice on what to see, here are the sessions (along with the speakers and topics for each) that I'm planning to attend:
Evolving Your Regulatory Information Management Strategy to Meet the Changing Business Environment – Monday 6/15, 11:00 – 12:00
Adapting Business Process to Support Global RIMS
Michelle L. Charles, MPH, Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, Merck & Co., Inc.
Lean Six Sigma For Delivering High-Velocity RIMS Strategies
Christopher P Hanna, PhD, PMP, Principal, Kattner-Thalmann Partners
Social Media: Opportunities and Challenges in Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Research – Tuesday 6/16, 8:00 – 9:30
Social Media: Impact on Clinical Studies
Alexis Reisin Miller, JD, Senior Director, Regulatory Policy and Intelligence, Eisai Inc.
Digital Drug Safety
Carrie E. Pierce, MBA, Senior Project Manager, Epidemico
Social Media Analytics
Martin Harvey Allchurch, LLM, International Affairs, European Medicines Agency
Better Team Performance in Drug Development: Effective Relationship Building Across Cultures, Especially the West and Asia – Tuesday 6/16, 10:30 – 12:00
Atsushi Tsukamoto, PhD, MSc, PMP, Senior Director, Global Project Management, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.
Robert A. Hilke, MA, Chief Executive Officer, Hilke Communications Corporation
Gareth Julian Monteath, MBA, MS, Program Director, Link Global Solution Inc.
Continuous Improvement and Innovation in Manufacturing Approaches – Tuesday 6/16, 1:30 – 3:00
A Transformational Approach to Development, Manufacturing and Distribution
Michael K O'Brien, PhD, Vice President, Leadership, Pharmaceutical Science, Technology and Innovation, Pfizer Inc
Return On Investment from Manufacturing Technology Innovation: Opportunities and Realities
Andrew Mark Buswell, PhD, MBA, Head of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, GlaxoSmithKline
Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Regulatory Opportunities and Challenges
Stephanie Krogmeier, PhD, RPh, Senior Director, Global CMC Regulatory Affairs Strategy, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Bringing Clinical Trial Practices into the 21st Century – Tuesday 6/16, 3:30 – 5:00
The Mobile Health Care Continuum: From Clinical Research to mHealth…and Back
Judith Teall, RN, Exco InTouch
Bringing Clinical Trial Practices into the 21st Century
Cecilia Tran-Muchowski, Senior Clinical Program Manager, Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Nursing and Adherence Strategies to Increase Patient Engagement
Jennifer M Allen, BSN, MBA, Senior Manager, Client Engagement, UBC: An Express Scripts Company
20/20 Foresight: Patient Recruitment in 2025
Matthew Stumm, Strategic Branding & Advertising, BBK Worldwide
Keys to Managing a Successful Regulatory Strategy and Submission – Wednesday 6/17, 8:00 – 9:30
Targeted Labeling Is the Key to Your Marketing Application Strategy
Diana E Bytnar Fordyce, PhD, MS, RAC, Regulations Pharmaceuticals Consultant
Seven Recommendations for Building a Better NDA
Jeff Antos, Vice President, The Weinberg Group Inc.
Questions to Consider Before Assembling Your eCTD
Robert Rohde, Head of Submissions, Pharmakey LLC
Digitization of Clinical Trials: Check the Pulse on Bringing Benefits to Patients – Wednesday 6/17, 10:30 – 12:00
Potential ROIs of eConsent: Patient Enrollment, Engagement, Retention and Compliance
Eric Delente, MA, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director, Enforme
The Rise of Mobile and Digital Health Care: Let's Tell the Patients
Judith Teall, RN, Exco InTouch
The Electronic Investigator Site File: What's In It For the Patient?
Betsy Fallen, RN, Principal, BAFallen Consulting, LLC
Knowledge Management for the Product Life Cycle – Wednesday 6/17, 3:30 – 5:00
Recommendations for a Streamlined, Global Assessment of CMC Changes and Optimized Dossier Preparation Process
Kim S. Northam, Associate Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Accenture
Compliance and Change Control: Checking That the Manufacture/CMC is Maintained in Accord With the Terms of the License
Peter Lassoff, PharmD, Vice President and Head, Global Regulatory Affairs, Quintiles Inc.
Opportunities for Industry
Paige Kane, Director, Knowledge Management, Pfizer Inc
Tired of Reinvesting in Old R&D Systems? Several Large Pharmaceutical Companies and Other Leaders Are Flipping Paradigms – Thursday 6/18, 9:00 – 10:30
Context Setting: Why the Industry Needs to Rethink the R&D IT Paradigm
Jonathan Burr, Accenture Life Sciences | Accelerated Research & Development Services
A Case Study in Life Sciences Cloud Implementation
Sandra Tremps, MS, Global Leader, Clinical, Regulatory, and Safety IT, Merck & Co., Inc.
The Final Word
Ok, so those are my picks for what not to miss at DIA this year. Feel free to jump in and share what you're most excited about, and let's get the conversation started!
I was in a client visioning workshop recently for the global QA function of a large life sciences organization. The workshop was fantastic – which is the subject for another post – but one thing stood out in my mind. An executive from manufacturing came to give us an overview of their 2020 roadmap and strategy, and in doing so, he provided a crisp definition of strategy: Where are you now, where do you want to go, how will you get there, what will you get when you do, and why are you doing it?
I loved this not only because it distills "strategy" down to its essence, but also because of the last question: "Why are you doing it?" To me, this is the most important question to ask (and answer) when doing a strategy, because the success of your strategy ultimately depends on the strength of this answer.
You might be thinking that "What will you get when you do?" is the more important question; after all, this is the payoff, the ROI, the benefit statement, so what could be more critical? Show me the money, right?
Wrong. Organizations have lots of ways to realize returns, including leaving their money in the bank, which gets them a return with almost no effort. So if you want leadership to get off the dime to find and support your strategy, you have to be offering more than simply a bag of cash at the end of it.
This is where "Why are you doing it?" comes in. Your strategy has to be grounded in something the organization cares deeply about, and that's going to be different from organization to organization, as well as within the same organization – over time, in different divisions, different geos, etc.
To be effective, a business case needs to be about more than simply the numbers; it needs to connect the numbers to something the organization cares about, to connect the dots between the costs/benefits and a reason for taking action that leadership can support. No matter how good the anticipated return on investment, realizing that return will take effort and organizational change, and there's always risk that it won't work out as planned. Dollars alone won't be enough for an organization to bet on your strategy; folks need to believe in the why of what you're doing. When they do, you've got a successful business case on your hands.
Given how important the business case is to a strategy, and how difficult it is to build a good business case, we're dedicating a panel session to building an effective business case at the upcoming DOCUMENT Strategy Forum in Greenwich, Connecticut, May 12 – 14.For the session, "Effective Business Case Development," we've tapped three experienced leaders to talk about how they've built business cases, what's worked and what hasn't, and give you practical, tangible advice you can take back to your organization to use in your next business case effort:
To learn more about the conference, which brings together leaders from across all industries to share their experiences and expertise with information management, click here. We'd love to see you there!
So I've been involved in municipal government for a few months now, and my biggest takeaway is, "Damn, things move slow." Don't get me wrong, I've worked with (and at) some execution-challenged organizations in the private sector, but they look positively agile compared to my experience with municipal government.
Now, I don't mean this to be some kind of anti-government rant—I really don't. But in retooling this blog to chronicle my foray into state and local government, I wanted to remain true to my outsider status and call it like I see it, for what it's worth.
And I'll be honest, one of the biggest stumbling blocks so far has been the Open Meetings Act (OMA), which was created to prevent back room, nefarious dealings in government (a noble and important goal), but which seems more often than not, these days at least, to prevent well-intentioned government stakeholders from being able to get a blessed thing done when not in a public meeting.
Think of it this way: imagine if a corporation couldn't make decisions or do substantive work unless they held a public meeting, the agenda of which had to be published 48 hours beforehand, and no real work could go on outside of these meetings. I mean, it's a common complaint that meetings are the main thing preventing corporations from getting work done. So given these constraints, what could you expect them to really accomplish if meetings were the only vehicle for doing work?
Without answering that semi-rhetorical question, I want to take a look at an avenue for both complying with the OMA and getting work done in spite of it: social media. Consumer social media tools like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and so on, hold out the promise of fostering ongoing productive government work while complying with the OMA…an exciting possibility for those of us frustrated with the limitations on how municipal stakeholders can work to do the people's business.
To that end, I've been doing some research on how government entities can use social media, and I'll have to admit that there are no clear answers out there—heck, there aren't even really any clear directions emerging. But based on my research, I've built a light infographic that sums up the possibilities open to government entities looking to use social media tools/methods to get work done.
The horizontal axis tracks three things:
The vertical axis tracks:
The final word
This should give you all a good overview of my experience to date with the OMA and trying to foster effective municipal government. In the next post, I'll dig into the specifics of the figure above to talk about how municipal (and state and local governments) could begin to use social media to further their agendas and get work done despite the very real barriers presented by antiquated legislation like the OMA.
But in the meantime, I'd love to hear from you all out there about this stuff—so jump in and let's get the conversation started!
I live in the village of Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that borders the city directly to the west. I was appointed recently to the Civic Information Systems Committee (CISC), a body charged with advising the village board on village's use of technology and information systems, both internally and with the outside community of residents, vendors, partners, and the wider world in general.
Although I've been following developments in Gov2.0 closely over the last two years or so, this is my first direct involvement with it. And in the interest of jumping in with both feet, I figured it would be a good idea to use this blog to document my experiences on the CISC and with Gov2.0 more generally.
In the coming weeks and months, then, I plan to cover a full range of Gov2.0 topics, from the airy heights of theory to the nitty-gritty, down-in-the-weeds view of trying to actually get stuff done on the committee. And I look forward to making this a place for you all to share your thoughts and experiences with Gov2.0, not only to keep me honest with good old-fashioned heckling, but also to widen the conversation beyond my point of view to include yours.
My first post will be after the winter recess, but in the meantime, jump in and make suggestions for topics I should address, and I'll get them on the docket for 2012.
I hope you all have safe and enjoyable holidays with family and friends and look forward to seeing you back here in January!
I'm a total book snob. The list of great books out there that I want to read is so long that, even if I spent twelve hours a day doing nothing but reading and lived another hundred years, it would be difficult to get through all of them. So I'm pretty protective of the few hours a week I actually have to devote to reading.
Given this, I was fairly skeptical when I dove into Patrick Lencioni's Getting Naked last Saturday, because it was written as a fictional account of the takeover of a boutique consulting firm by a "big five" type firm.
I was ready for the worst that business books have to offer: hackneyed story line, wooden dialogue, obvious, Dr. Phil-esque "learnings" (just typing the word makes me cringe…when did "lesson" stop being good enough?)—and I was imagining all the books on my bucket list that I would never get to read because I chose to read Lencioni's.Cut to an hour later, with me fifty pages in and not only totally engrossed but fired up about putting my suit back on Monday morning and getting back in the trenches with my clients—this is a fantastic book.
Lencioni does such a great job telling the story of Lighthouse Partners, the boutique firm that gets gobbled up by a Big Five firm, that you quickly forget how trite the idea of a business fable is and just get engrossed in the story. And the lessons here are anything but obvious, especially for folks used to working in the cutthroat, work-em-to-death environment of large professional services firms.
Lencioni gets at what the heart of consulting should be: a complete focus on serving the client. He shows us a firm where no one sells, they simply consult. Sales calls are just the opportunity to begin solving the client's problems. If they find value in that activity and want to pay for more they will; if they don't, they won't, and both parties shake hands and part amicably.
Projects are not the delivery of the work agreed to in an SOW. They are the creation of value for the client, and the SOW is merely a starting point for that activity. And the creation of value for a client does not happen through having the smartest, most confident consultants in place telling the client what to do; it comes from having consultants who are egoless, fearless, and graceful under pressure work with clients to help facilitate solutions, all predicated on doing what's best for the client, even if it means losing the business.
In this way, Getting Naked shares its fundamental orientation with Mahan Khalsa's Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play, although the latter is more about how to transform your sales process from a transactional approach to a consultative one.
And before you dismiss Lencioni's approach as pie in the sky and untenable in the real world of management consulting, you should know that it's based on the work he's been doing with his own real-world, boutique firm for years now. And if you take a deep breath and think through your own experience with clients (with what's gone well, what hasn't, your successes, your failures), I think you'll begin to see that the times you were most successful were the times you were focused on the client rather than the contract, your numbers, or selling, and that Lencioni's approach is a powerful way to do that on a more consistent basis.
The final word
Clearly I think this is an important read for anyone who works in consulting. But I would expand that to include anyone who works with consultants, because you should be getting this kind of service from the folks you're paying good money to (and lots of it) to get help solving your most important business problems. And if you're not, Getting Naked will help you know what to ask for or, if that doesn't work, find the kind of consulting firm that puts client service first, and everything else second.
At long last, I've finished James Gleick's The Information: A History. A Theory. A Flood. As those of you who are regulars here know, I've been on a bit of a Gleick kick over the last six months, so I had high expectations for his latest work.
I'm happy to say that The Information doesn't disappoint. This book is a tour de force, even for Gleick, who specializes in tours de force. His scope is sweeping, from Plato to quantum computing, and, as we've come to expect from Gleick, he gets deep into the details of long-forgotten science and technology innovations.
He begins the book with an overview of the fascinating story of Claude Shannon, a researcher at Bell Labs who pioneered the concept of the byte. With the stage set, he steps back to give readers the long view of the emergence of information in the West.
From the decoding of West African drumming by colonial powers, the invention of formal logic, Charles Babbage's difference engine, and the history of the dictionary in English (all of which are interesting enough to be books in their own right but seemingly tangential to Shannon's work) Gleick starts to more obviously hone in on his main subject.
Chapter by chapter, Gleick traces the ascendance of information in a range of scientific disciplines, from biology to electrical engineering and physics. And as these pursuits became less and less about processes or things and more and more about the information that structured things and processes, new disciplines almost wholly build on information began to arise, such as genetics.
The result is a challenging but eminently rewarding work of intellectual history that manages to both give readers almost overwhelming detail in conjunction with a solid grounding in the big picture—largely due to Gleick's adept prose and narrative skills.
This book is essential reading, not only for information professionals across a range of fields but simply for anyone who wants a better appreciation for the historical roots of our current information-based society—neither will be disappointed.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book to use in preparing for this post.
At every client these days, mobility is a big deal, whether because increasing numbers of employees are demanding that the enterprise support their personal smart phones and tablets or because the organization is looking to gain competitive advantage through the strategic use of mobility in its core business processes.
And although most of my clients have been enabling mobility since the advent of laptops, just about every one of those clients is in more or less uncharted territory when it comes to the new wave of mobility ushered in by smartphones and tablets. increasing numbers of employees are demanding that the enterprise support their personal smart phones and tablets or because the organization is looking to gain competitive advantage through the strategic use of mobility in its core business processes.
This makes a certain amount of sense: after all, laptops are essentially portable desktop computers, while smartphones and tablets are radically new form factors that demand a reimagination of the entire end user experience. On top of which, these devices are often consumer devices, owned by employees, that therefore exist outside the reach of IT control.
Given all the urgency and uncertainty around the enterprise use of mobile devices, iPad for the Enterprise is a welcome addition to the literature available on the topic.
Nathan Clevenger has been involved in the development of mobile strategies and applications for over a decade, and the book reflects it. He begins with a consideration of iPad strategy that's a wonderful primer for anyone involved in mobility at their organization, from developers in the trenches to executive leadership.
It sets the stage through a consideration of how we reached the current state of mobility and introduces the concept of the consumerization of IT, i.e., IT changes being driven in a decentralized way by the "consumers" in the enterprise (the employees) rather than in a centralized way by IT.
From there, it moves to more practical considerations and presents an overview of how to build an enterprise mobile strategy and application roadmap. Both are somewhat general—it's difficult to generalize meaningfully about either of these activities—but nonetheless useful, especially for folks who've never participated in creating enterprise strategy before.
With the groundwork in place, Clevenger moves through all the phases of iPad app development: architecture, design, development, and deployment. And while none of this is not intended as a detailed ho- to guide or instructional manual for app development, he manages to get in enough technical detail and code samples to make this a valuable first-stop for technical folks looking to better understand what's happening under the hood of the iPad.
All in all, the book is a strong offering. Non-technical readers will benefit greatly not only from the first section on strategy, but also from the more technical sections, which they can read selectively to gain a better preliminary understanding of concepts like sandbox security or iOS Human Interface Guidelines. Technical readers will not be disappointed in Clevenger's treatment of app development and will also benefit from a better understanding of the context and strategy of iPad app development.
My wife and I just welcomed our second child into the world last week, so I'm taking a few weeks off from the blog to spend some quality time with my family.
While I'm doing that, here's some oldie but goodie posts you may not have seen before:
I recently kicked off a series of posts on insulation that's meant to talk about the critical ways leaders can become disconnected—and hopefully provide some ideas on how they can fight against it.
I listed four kinds of insulation in the introductory post:
In this post I want to dig into the last one, insulation from the marketplace.
The problem
Of the four kinds of insulation, this one is the easiest to fall prey to and the most difficult to counteract. After all, the marketplace is made up of your competition and your customers—two very difficult folks to get familiar with. But without knowing as much as possible about both, you won't be as effective a leader as you could be.
For those of you out there in sales, marketing, and customer service, being attuned to your customers or your competition (or both) is part and parcel of your job description. But for the rest of us, our day-to-day, short-term responsibilities can keep us so busy that we forget about the larger context of our work.
The solution
There's no single best way to get to know your customers and competition better. But I want to share a few techniques I've used over the years to fight against this kind of insulation.
The final word
That's my best advice for how to get to know your competitors and customers—how about you folks? Got any tried and true advice on how to do this? Horror stories of what happens when you're out of touch with either (or both) of them? Success stories about how you connected with either (or both) of them? Jump in, and let's get the conversation started!
I'm on a bit of a James Gleick kick right now, and before I dig into reading The Information in earnest, I figured I'd step back and write up my thoughts on What Just Happened, a collection of his technology essays from 1990 – 2001.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Gleick, he's a fantastic science and technology writer, best known for his biographies of Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman…although when you're a polymath like Gleick, "best known for" oversimplifies the breadth of your accomplishments.
During the nineties, he was at the forefront of those who understood just how profound the changes taking place to the information landscape were. He may not have been right 100% of the time (more on that in a minute), but he was always willing to see past the immediate wow factor of any given technological innovation to get at the larger implications for us as individuals, for our culture, and for society as a whole.
As you might expect, he covers a lot of ground in WJH, from the joys and frustrations of being a WinWord power user, to the radical transformation of telcos, the growth of Microsoft, the Internet and politics, the death of money, Y2K, and even the state of Internet porn circa 1995.
All the essays are excellent here, although some are more substantial than others. And while Gleick is always well-informed on his subject matter, you can definitely tell which topics he's engaged with more deeply (especially the history of telephony, which is the starting point for The Information).
Mostly right
What was most striking to me, his modesty in the preface notwithstanding, is how often Gleick gets it right here. Even in the dim first light of the Internet age, he saw with surprising clarity just what this new thing would mean for us.
We definitely laugh when he pokes fun at the Bell Labs employees running around with their buzzing, beeping devices getting plain-text stock quotes or news items and forwarded answering machine messages from their voice mail. But he also steps back from this near-sighted perspective to give us his real thoughts on the matter: these science experiments and toy gadgets will fundamentally alter how we live our lives–and had already started to do so, even way back when he was writing these essays.
And when he does step back, you almost suspect him of having revised the essays in light of what was to come…except in the case of porn ("This is Sex?"), which he doesn't see as all that suited to the online world. A small misstep in an otherwise eerily prescient collection of essays.
A state of wonder
Beyond how right Gleick is about most of this stuff, there's also a real sense of wonderment here, a slack-jawed stare at the changes going on that asks could this really come to pass during my lifetime?
It's like looking at one of of those "Home of the Future" spreads in a 50s issue of Popular Mechanics, where computers cook meals and robots put your slippers on, except that in hindsight we know that Gleick was right–the amazing gadgets and technologies he previews have become an expected, even routine part of our everyday lives. It makes me wonder which of the futuristic capabilities that we marvel at today will be ho-hum in ten year's time.
Getting used to it
Finally, I was amazed throughout the book at how rapidly we've adapted to all these seismic changes to the way we live our lives. From how we communicate with family, friends, and colleagues, to how we pay for goods and services, consume news and entertainment, do business, and participate in politics, things have changed radically since 1990. And as Gleick points out, we struggled with them deeply, and in retrospect, almost comically so, as they were emerging.
But from this side of the shift, it's hard to remember in any tangible way what it was like before debit cards, cell phones, Microsoft Word, and seamless e-commerce. Reading Gleick's first-hand account from the front lines of these shifts is a reminder both of just how difficult and how short-lived such transitions are these days.
The final word
All in all, this is a great book–required reading for anyone interested in technology and its impact on society, both looking forward and looking back.
And while I turn now plow through The Information, I'd love to hear from folks out there who've read WJH: what'd you all think? Love it? Hate it? Did I miss anything in my assessment? Jump in, and let's get the conversation started!
I recently kicked off a series of posts on insulation that's meant to talk about the critical ways leaders can become disconnected—and hopefully provide some ideas on how they can fight against it.
I listed four kinds of insulation in the introductory post:
In this post I want to dig into the third, insulation from wider communities of practice.
Something's got to give
We all have enough to do for our jobs without taking on additional work. Most days it seems like just keeping on top of the currently burning fires is all we do.
Given this, it's all too easy to lose touch with the wider world out there, i.e., the community of practitioners in your discipline. These are the folks who are doing the same job you are but at different organizations, are involved in standards boards and working groups, speak at conferences, write expert blogs, or publish articles and books.
You may know some of them…heck, you may have been one of them once upon a time before your regular job sapped all your professional energies.
My hero
Whatever the case may be, you likely envy them a bit–who hasn't wondered how they manage to keep up with their day job and be a thought leader (and maybe daydreamed a bit about what it would be like to be them for a day or two)? Or maybe you think participating in the wider community of practice is a distraction, a nice to have, a way to put feathers in your cap that has little to do with getting the job done.
Just do it
The reality is that participation in the wider community of practice is vital to being an effective leader for a number of reasons.
The final word
No surprise: I think everyone should make the effort to participate in the wider communities of practice that are relevant for them…what do you all think? Are you currently an active participant? How do you stay involved and balance your responsibilities to your "real" job? Of if you think participating in the wider community of practice is a nice to have, tell us why.
I'd love to hear what folks out there think about all this…so jump in and let's get the conversation started!
I recently kicked off a series of posts on insulation that's meant to talk about the critical ways leaders can become disconnected—and hopefully provide some ideas on how they can fight against it.
I listed four kinds of insulation in the introductory post:
In this post I want to dig into the second, insulation from the work being done on the ground.
It's good to be the king?
Insulation from the work being done on the ground tends to be more acute and pervasive the higher you move in the organization. After all, as you move up the food chain, you naturally get more and more abstracted from day-to-day work–what you do becomes more about enabling others to do that work…or enabling others to enable others to enable others to do that work (and so on).
But it can also be a problem for those line managers just one step removed from the work being done in the trenches. I know I've seen my fair share of newly-minted managers, fresh from the front lines, who all of a sudden have no clue what their team is doing. it seems that some leaders simply have a tendency to get out of touch with what their directs are doing, no matter that they're sitting across the aisle from them day in and day out.
Here's what I don't mean
Before I dig in, however, I want to clarify what I do and don't mean by being in touch with the work on the ground. I don't mean that the leader should be doing the work side by side with their teams or even that they should be able to do it (or even know how it's done).
Rather, a leader who's in touch with the work being done on the ground understands the tasks their team is working on at any given time, the constraints on these tasks, the reasons why the work is being done, and the organizational stakeholders counting in it. They "get" what their teams are doing and can articulate it crisply to outsiders (their boss, peers, and others outside their group) and also discuss it intelligently with their teams.
I think we've all seen what happens when a leader is disconnected from the work being done on the ground (and most of us at one time or another have probably fallen into this trap):
Enough about me, what do YOU think about me
So much for what's wrong—how can leaders reconnect with the work on the ground if they find themselves disconnected? They need to do three things…
The final word
That's what I have to say about being insulated from the work on the ground. In the next post, we'll turn outwards and look at a kind of insulation that cuts leaders off from the wider world: insulation from wider communities of practice.
But while I'm cooking that up, I'd love to hear from those of you out there who have your own thoughts on how leaders can better align with the day-to-day work of the organization: give me criticism and feedback, ask a question of the group, share your own experiences or thoughts…jump in and let's get the conversation started!
I help organizations plan the work they need to do.
I help teams get political support and organizational funding.
I help organizations understand how technology can meaningfully affect the way they do business.
I help IT understand what end-users need and how technology can deliver it.
I strive to be an active, informed, and informative participant in the wider communities of technology, process, and strategy professionals.
I serve clients.
Specialties: Information security and privacy, information governance, data life cycle management, enterprise content management (ECM), records management, e-discovery, IT service delivery
Contributor to CMSWire and agile ramblings.
I work closely with our marketing, sales, and delivery teams to:
- Manage client relationships
- Ensure high-quality engagements
- Coordinate service development and delivery
- Cultivate industry thought leadership
- Grow the Doculabs brand
Appointed to serve on a citizen commission tasked by the Village Board to help the Village of Oak Park better use technology to fulfill its mission to serve its citizens and the community.
Deliver strategic enterprise content management engagements with global, Fortune 2000 companies in banking, financial services, insurance, health care, mining, and manufacturing, as well as for state and local governments.
Developed new taxonomy service offering—in first 12 months after launch, represented 10% of firm's revenue.
Designed and co-taught Arts and the City, a weekly seminar for college seniors that fostered a critical approach to the arts through experience, reflection, and practice.
Manager of start-up SWAT development team (6 people, $850K annual budget); successfully introduced agile development methods into waterfall IT environment and shifted delivery schedules from ad hoc to regular releases. Resolved 550 service requests and completed 50 enhancement projects in first 8 months.
Project manager and lead analyst on $500K website redesign (350 B2B relationships, 1000 co-branded sites): managed team of 35; lead executive steering committee in risk analysis and mitigation.
Single-handedly automated the content transformation pipeline with process redesign and the end-to-end development and implementation of software tools. Resulted in the department being the most productive online content development group Kaplan-wide from 2003 – 2007.
Co-taught core seminar, focused on critical approaches to art, in Fall and Spring sessions.
Designed and taught a creative writing seminar in the Fall session.
As an instructor in the University's academic writing program, was paired with senior faculty members in the Humanities Core program to co-teach first-year students. Shared responsibilities for grading papers, but had primary responsibility for teaching academic writing skills through small group instruction and one-on-one mentoring.
strategy | process | transformation | enterprise 2.0


text:
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
Vintage photos of:
Washington, D.C., 1922. "Capt. Kopper and 'Cootie' at White House." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
By 1922 serious racers didn't drive on wooden, artillery wheels. If these broke up the car invariably turned over.
That thing that looks like a fuel pump is actually a hand-operated Klaxon horn—like the Model No.3 in the lower left of the ad below. A bit pricey at $4.00 in 1918, but more affordable than the electric versions.
The apparatus on the outside of the car by his left forearm is part of the fuel system. Periodically the driver would have to work this pump to increase the air pressure in the fuel tank to maintain enough pressure to force fuel from the tank to the engine. This system required a great deal of hand pumping as the liquid volume of the gasoline in the tank was replaced by air as the fuel was used up.
Thanks for the technical details, Horace T. Water -- I had thought, when I first saw the photo, that the "Cootie" might be a Model T underneath. In 1923, when he was 19 years old, my father (the original/real Ormington) built a Ford-based race car that must have looked something like that. No photos survive, nor did the car itself for long. In one of my father's first races, there was a major accident, with another driver killed, and my father's right arm badly mangled. He kept his arm and gradually regained full use of it, but his family prevailed on him to get into a "safer" form of motorsports if he was determined to keep at it, so he took up boat racing, in outboard-powered hydroplanes, and did that for thirty years, with some flipovers but no serious injuries. Still, he never got over wanting to race cars, and in his 70's, my father (with that same salvaged right arm exercising its usual creativity) built a replica 1920's race car made of parts from Mustangs and Austin-Healeys and other items he had on hand, which he then exhibited at car meets. He died in 1991 -- I wish he could have seen this "Cootie" photo, as I know he would have loved it.
A Ford, Model T based, speedster. An early hot rod. The exhaust exiting from the left side indicates a high performance overhead valve cylinder head, possibly a RAJO, built in Racine, Wisconsin
Isn't he just to coolest thing since (or before) James Dean.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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This raw recipe and information resource contains an extensive introductory section on raw foods that covers everything from the benefits of raw foods to stocking a basic raw foods pantry to simplified sprouting instructions. The recipes contained in the easy-to-follow guide include juices, fruit recipes, salads, dressings, sauces and condiments, dips and fillings, soups, entrees, snacks, dehydrates, desserts and treats. All the recipes have as their goal simple preparation with easy to acquire, reasonably-priced ingredients. So they're cost-effective and time-efficient, designed for everyday people.
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Raw food never tasted so good!
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Read what others have to say about Kim's books and resources
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text:
More Planes:
Before clicking on "Quick Mission" hold down Alt, Ctrl and Shift on the right hand side of the keyboard, before doing all this make sure the "Fly All" option is off. Keep on holding it down while you are choosing your plane until you click on "OK"...you will be able to choose all the choppers and two other creature type of planes.
Thanks to Revolution readers Alcino Ferreira- Jorge and Mark M.!


text:
Banking Department Warns Consumers About Apparent Internet Loan Scams
The Pennsylvania Department of Banking is warning consumers about two apparent Internet loan scams: Uni-Lending Group, online at www.uni-lending.com; and Silvergate Financial Services, online at www.silvergatefinancial.com.
Both companies offer loans through their Web sites and ask for money in advance to process them. They also collect personal financial information, such as Social Security and bank account numbers, which could be used to commit identity fraud.
Uni-Lending Group and Silvergate Financial Services claim to be lenders based in Philadelphia, but neither is located there or licensed by the Department of Banking.
If you are a victim to these or are aware of any other advance fee loan scams, please notify the Department of Banking at (800) PA-BANKS (within PA) or (717) 787-1854.


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Full name Alfred Louis Valentine
Born April 28, 1930, Kingston, Jamaica
Died May 11, 2004, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (aged 74 years 13 days)
Major teams West Indies, Jamaica
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox
|Test debut
|England v West Indies at Manchester, Jun 8-12, 1950 scorecard
|Last Test
|West Indies v India at Kingston, Apr 13-18, 1962 scorecard
|Test statistics
|First-class span
|1949/50 - 1964/65
Alf Valentine, who has died in America at the age of 74, was a vital cog in the first great West Indian team - the one that shocked England in 1950 by winning the series 3-1.
England had been forewarned about the Three Ws - Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott - who formed the batting spine of that strong 1950 side. But they hadn't expected to have to contend with two contrasting top-class spinners as well.
It was some of the most inspired selection by any Test side. Before the tour Valentine, who turned 20 shortly after he arrived in England from Jamaica, and Trinidad's Sonny Ramadhin, 21, had played just two first-class matches apiece - the trial games for selection. Although they didn't set the world alight - Valentine took only two wickets, for 190 - they obviously impressed someone, and were called up for the boat trip to the UK.
Valentine was tall, and bowled briskish left-arm spin with a whirling action. He ripped the ball savagely: one of his team-mates thought he could probably turn the ball on glass. Ramadhin, meanwhile, bowled a mystifying mixture of offbreaks and legspinners, with his sleeves rolled down (and often with his cap firmly in place).
They seemed to bowl almost all summer. The 1950 team's only real weakness was a lack of class in pace bowling, and Ram and Val would soon be wheeling away after a few perfunctory new-ball overs. In all Ramadhin took 135 wickets on the tour at 14.88, and Valentine 123 at 17.94 - the next-best was the medium-pacer Gerry Gomez, with 55 at 25.58. Valentine went for less than two an over throughout: his 1185.2 overs cost only 2207 runs. With Ramadhin sending down over 1000 overs too, both the spinners bowled more than twice as many overs as anyone else, except Gomez (680.3). Valentine must have drained quite a few bottles of the surgical spirit that he applied to his sore spinning finger after a long spell.
It was the same story in the Tests. In the first, at Old Trafford, Valentine marked his debut with 8 for 104 (and 3 for 100), taking the first eight wickets to fall in his first Test. But this time the batting misfired, and England won comfortably. Then came the famous Test at Lord's - West Indies' first win on English soil, at Lord's too, the match that inspired a famous calypso about "Those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine". What shocked MCC members almost more than Ramadhin's 11 wickets and Valentine's seven was the sight of West Indian supporters dancing on the hallowed turf after the game, which their side had won by a whopping 326 runs.
With Worrell and Weekes running into form West Indies won the series going away. At Trent Bridge they put on 558 - Worrell himself made 261 - then turned the spin twins loose. Valentine bowled 92 overs in the second innings, a record at the time, and took 3 for 140: Ramadhin (who was later to claim that record) claimed 5 for 135 in 81.2.
And West Indies wrapped things up at The Oval with an innings win, despite Len Hutton's double-century. This time Valentine took 10 for 160 - a devastating 6 for 39 in the second innings - to take his series tally to 33 from four Tests, a West Indian record until Malcolm Marshall muscled past it in 1988.
Both spinners were shoo-ins as Wisden Cricketers of the Year, and Leslie Smith's essay on Valentine probably explains why he was no great shakes as a batsman: "He scored no more than 49 runs on the tour without ever reaching double figures. This may have been due to the fact that his eyesight was far from perfect. He began the tour without spectacles, but midway through the season another member of the team asked him the score. Valentine said he could not see, despite the scoreboard and the figures being large and clear. Arrangements were then made for him to be supplied with spectacles, which he obtained under the National Insurance scheme, and he wore them for the rest of the tour. He used sticking-plaster near the temples to prevent the spectacles slipping, but with or without them Valentine was a fine bowler and an object-lesson to Englishmen in the value of true finger-spin."
Even with glasses, Valentine never quite hit such heights in Test cricket again, although - again overbowled - he did take 24 wickets in Australia in 1951-52, in a series the Aussies won 4-1 (it would have been much closer but for an unlikely one-wicket victory in the fourth Test at Melbourne). Illness and injuries began to restrict him, and he played only two Tests in England in 1957, without taking a wicket. Nonetheless he was the first West Indian bowler to take 100 Test wickets, finishing with 139 at 30.32.
He played in the famous Tied Test at Brisbane in 1960-61, although he only took one wicket. His most important contribution to that match probably came in Wes Hall's epic final over. One ball was pushed towards mid-on, and Hall scampered over himself and fielded it, and unleashed a wild throw that missed the stumps at the bowler's end by yards. Fortunately Valentine was alert, and backed up the throw to stop the overthrows that would have won the game for Australia.
But with Lance Gibbs beginning to make his mark - he took three wickets in four balls in the third Test, and a hat-trick in the fourth - Valentine's days were numbered. He toured England in 1963, without playing in a Test, and faded from the scene. He finished with 475 first-class wickets at 26.21 - with a best of 8 for 26 against Lancashire in 1950 - and 470 runs at 5.
He played a few seasons of Birmingham League cricket, before moving to America with his second wife in 1978 (his first wife, with whom he had four daughters, had died). A chance visit to a Sydney care home during that 1960-61 tour had made him want to devote his life to helping underprivileged children, and in America the Valentines were foster-parents to a succession of abandoned children, often taking in up to a dozen at a time.
Alf Valentine returned to England in 2000 and joined his old pal Ramadhin - who has lived in Lancashire for many years after playing for them in the '60s - for a testimonial event that was not a great success. He had a stroke a few weeks ago while recovering from a back operation, and spent his last days in a wheelchair. He died at his home in Orlando, Florida, on May 11, just 13 days after his 74th birthday.
Steven Lynch
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1951
AB de Villiers misses out on ESPNcricinfo's all-time IPL XI
Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga make up the overseas roster, while MS Dhoni captains the side
Smith, Dhoni central to Pune's turnaround
There were rumours about Rising Pune being a bickering and uninterested unit because of off-field decisions, but amid the noise, the think-tank addressed the underlying issue of how to win games
A history of the Champions Trophy in seven matches
A look at some of the games that summed up the themes the tournament has come to embody over the years
Warner, Bhuvneshwar sparkle in solid Sunrisers season
A second title in a row proved beyond Sunrisers Hyderabad but, with a well-assembled squad, missing only an elite lower-order hitter, they ended their season with far more positives than negatives
How a hotel takes care of players and teams for the two-month season
AB de Villiers misses out on ESPNcricinfo's all-time IPL XI (166)
Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga make up the overseas roster, while MS Dhoni captains the side
I won't be your hat-trick victim (59)
Also, what is the record for number of stumpings in Test and first-class innings?
England have been to hell but are looking at the stars now (50)
Their metamorphosis after the low of the World Cup has been remarkable, to the point where they must be ranked as favourites for the Champions Trophy
Smith, Dhoni central to Pune's turnaround (47)
There were rumours about Rising Pune being a bickering and uninterested unit because of off-field decisions, but amid the noise, the think-tank addressed the underlying issue of how to win games
Vote for the readers' all-time IPL XI (42)
ESPNcricinfo's jury has named its all-time IPL XI. Would you make any changes?


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Kite Flying is a great way to spend time at the beach. Whether you are flying a kite you made at home from a paper bag or are participating in one of the large kite flying competitions, flying a kite is one of the great all time beach activities. Since I live in Washington State, the Washington State International Kite Festival is my favorite festival. KiteLife.com calls this "the greatest, grandest, Kite Festival on the North American continent!"
Each year the third week in August sees the skies a blaze of color on the Long Beach Peninsula. Tens of thousands of spectators take in the show and participate with their own high-flying kite.
Tip: Check out Prism Kites from Seattle
Prism is a tremendous company that has been making high tech and intriguing kites since the late 1980's. If you are at all interested in kite flying but need some background or tips or you want to watch some videos on kiteflying, make sure to check out their site.
If you are looking for a power kite to pull you on any kind of board or wheeled vehicle, the folks at Prism have the kite for you. (Keep heading to the bottom of this page to have a look at some Prism kites)
Outer Bank, NC events
For a listing of many events around Nags Head, NC check out Kitty Hawk Kites_________________________________________________________________
Annual Kite Party at Huntington Beach
KITE PARTY takes places right at the Huntington Beach Pier every single year in February and March. It runs from about 11:00 am - Dark (and sometimes later). Anyone who is anyone in the world of flying kites will be there.
Ocean Beach Kite Festival
This festival takes place annually in March at Ocean Beach, San Diego. Take flight with aviation aficionados young and old in Ocean Beach for the San Diego's annual kite festival and craft fair. In 2009 was the 61st annual festival._________________________________________________________________
Redondo Beach Annual Festival of the Kite
This festival happens every year in March on the Redondo Beach Pier - located where Torrance Blvd kisses the Pacific Ocean in Redondo Beach, CA.
Enjoy one of southern California's best and longest-running kite festival sponsored by X-Kites. This year the festival will include a martial arts demonstration by Chambliss Taekwondo, live music on the pier and $500 in prizes will be awarded! Prizes for highest kite, youngest kite flyer, youngest at heart kite flyer, best hand-made kite, best ground display and kite trivia contest winner. The day will culminate with a mass kite ascension flight.
Learn more about this wonderful festival at Redondo Beach Pier._________________________________________________________________
Fly into Spring Kite Festival at Nantasket Beach, MA
Every year in April, this free kite festival takes place. The event is free and open to the public, and there will be food, discount coupons from local merchants and fun for the whole family. Bring your kite! Location: The north end of Nantasket Beach. Low tide is around 1:00 PM.
Learn a bit more about this festival from The Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce or Co-Sponsor, Sea Side Kites_________________________________________________________________
Atlantic Coast Kite Festival - Portsmouth, VA
Event Date: 05/01/2009 - 05/03/2009 Location: 17th Street Park On the beach between 16th and 18th Streets Courthouse Galleries in Portsmouth Portsmouth City Park
Atlantic Coast Kite Festival_________________________________________________________________
Hammonasset Kite Festival
(formerly known as the Soundwinds Kite Festival)
Time: 11 AM to 4 PM
May 16 and 17, 2009
Hammonasset Beach State Park,Madison, CT
Hamonasset Kite Festival
This is a kite festival for the whole family.Bring a picnic and spend the day. Come rain or shine.
Rockaway Beach Kite Festival
May 16 - 17, 2009 Rockaway Beach, OR
Great Lakes Kite Festival
May 16, & 17, 2009 Grand Haven, MI
At the State Park (the beach) in Grand Haven, MIOur biggest festival of the year! See giant kites and expert kite fliers from all over! This festival is FREE to attend, though there is a charge to park inside the State Park
Macinaw Kites & Toys_________________________________________________________________
Lincoln City Summer Kite Festival - Lincoln City, OR
The 25th Annual Summer Kite Festival, will be held June 27th & 28th at the D-River State Wayside from 10am to 4pm.
This year's theme is "Pacific Wonderland". A celebration of both professional and leisure kite fliers with some of the most colorful big "show kites" in the world.
Kite Festival Information_________________________________________________________________
31st Annual Wright Kite Festival
Event Location Wright Brothers Monument, Kill Devil Hills, NC
Event Dates July 11 - 12, 2009_________________________________________________________________
28th Annual Washington State Int'l Kite Festival
Event Location Long Beach Peninsula, WA
Event Dates August 17 - 23, 2009
Contact Info Call Nancy at (360) 642-2264 for more information
Description Seven days of the most amazing kite flying ever with kite flyers from around the world. Bring your kite and join the fun!
World Kite Museum_________________________________________________________________
Seal Beach Japan Kite Festival
Event Location Seal Beach, CA
Event Dates October 4th, 2009
Japan Kite Festival_________________________________________________________________
Fall Kite Festival - Lincoln City,OR
October 10 & 11, 2009
This is the 31st annual Fall Kite festival and will include demonstrations, kids' kite making and fun for the whole family. This year's theme is "Pacific Wonderland". Check back soon for up to date information!FMI call 800-452-2151
Fall Kite Festival
Up Up & Away Kite Club in Seal Beach, CA. This is a great family and civic oriented club that is the main sponsor of the annual Japan America Kite Festival at Seal Beach.
The American Kitefliers Association
San Diego Kite Club
Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean Beach, California
Seal Beach, California
Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Santa Cruz, California
Grand Haven, Michigan
Huntington Beach, CA – Visit The Kite Connection on the Huntington Beach pier. Every year the owner sponsors an invitational event known as the Huntington Beach Kite Party. It's been named Best Kiting Event in the USA by Kite Trade Association International, and is now an institution, recognized as one of the premiere kiting events in the country.
Monterey State Beach - Seaside, CA
Grandview Nature Preserve, VA - Located about seven miles from Hampton, VA this location features about 2 ½ miles of Chesapeake Bay beach with breezy winds.
Wrightsville Beach, NC - Head to Wrightsville Beach in early November for the Annual Cape Fear Kite Festival. The festival is usually held by the Shell Island Resort on the North end of the Beach. It begins at 10:00 a.m. each day and runs until 5:00 p.m.
Come for the weekend and enjoy great family fun. Activities usually include a free kids kite making class, Stunt kite lessons and demonstrations along with a large show kite display and kite auction.
Jockey's Ridge - Nags Head, NC
Oneida Shores and Jamesville Beach - Syracuse, NY
Treasure Island and Clearwater Beach - St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Island Beach State Park - Seaside Park, NJ - Check out the information for locals only if you plan on being in the neighborhood. During summer months there are planned kite flying activities at the beach. www.cobrakite.com
Return from Kite Flying to www.tips-for-the-beach.com


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Tiny orange biting bugs...have picture, help!
The last couple of weeks we've had these super tiny orange bugs biting us from time to time. Both my wife and I have seen them on us (usually following a bite)...they are about this size of the very tip of a pen. This morning my wife killed one, stuck it under my son's microscope, and took a picture.
Can anyone tell me what this is?
Flickr URL: http://flic.kr/p/9yvk6H
Maybe a flea? Bedbug? Any ideas??
Note: These are getting us INSIDE our house (not outside), and they are not chiggers (at least, they don't feel like chiggers and aren't burrowing under our skin).
It looks to be a young flea. Do you have any pets?
Sprinkle 21 mule team borax all around your floors and carpet, and especially pet bedding, leave there for a day at least before vacuuming or sweeping.
Looks like a midge.
If you have pets, 'tis the season for the back of the neck flea applications too. (frontline/advantage/etc.)
Please let us know what they say?
Don't think its a flea. I suspect either springtails or psocids (booklice). They are not biters, though. I anxious to hear what your pest guy says. Keep us posted.
It looks to be a thrips. If you google "thrips image," you will find photos that look much like the one you posted.
but.... thrips don't bite people..... or do they?
The University of Illinois has an amazing entomology department and they love challenges. May Birnbaum is the head and is legendary for her efforts to explain insects to people. She started the Scary Insect Film Festival which is free and nothing but fun. Tom Hanks brother teaches there so we used to see him buying ice cream for nieces and nephews at time.
In Chicago, we know what bedbugs look like. Yours is not one of them. It looks almost too long to be a flea.
Anyhow, the advice to treat your pets now for fleas or whatever insects they roll around with is great. The stuff is amazing and I used to have dogs in such anguish they would scratch and lick themselves raw in places.
Borax/Boron, is a simple mineral that has been used for ages to control crawling pests that come in contact with it. It is also about the only thing that will kill creeping charlie in your yard. Unfortunately people overused it and it is restricted or banned for exterior use in many states. It can render soil sterile for many years.
Whenever I had to open walls in a restoration I coated studs and so forth with a spray solution of Boron before sealing them shut.
Good call, Jane; I now believe them to be thrips as well. They are a nuisance, but cause no problems. They don't bite-something else is causing the irritation or reaction.
sdester: I too use Boron, specifically Tim-Bor as you do. I actually put a layer of the powder on sills plates in sheds, garages, basements as it also protects against moisture damage.
Actually, thrips do bite humans, even though they do not suck blood, as some other biting insects. Generally, they bite just to find out if it's something edible, or not. Their bites are purported to be painful. Lots of info about them is available on the web, if you do a google search.:no:
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I'm new to this forum and relatively new to beekeeping. I've had one hive since last spring, and as of yesterday, I have two (captured a swarm!) My question is about when to extract honey.
Is it better for the bees to extract while there is still nectar flowing (I live in Vermont so it's nearing the end of nectar flow)? Or can I extract any time as long as I leave enough honey for them to survive the winter?
I've heard that it's better to extract while there is still nectar flowing so that they can replenish their stores, but that doesn't quite make sense to me because I won't be taking honey from the deeps anyway. Why not wait until after nectar flow? Can anyone clarify this for me?
Thank you!


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At their recent Rec Room Event, Reebok showcased a selection of upcoming sneaker samples for the Fall/Winter season. From the looks of it, the sportswear brand looks like they'll be releasing a wide range of different throwback style sneakers in countless colorways and textile choices. Check it out!
Photography: Stephen Wordie


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Dachshund > Dachshund sweaters?
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Dachshund > What kind of collar do you have?
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