Recognition in the Workplace

I admit that I have not really been in the IT workforce for that long, completing my masters degree in May. However, I have developed some strong feelings over the past year or so about the good and the bad of the workplace. My previous employer, unnamed large investment bank, was a a great experience. I was fresh out of grad school and they offered me a great entry level position where I could excel. I worked hard, went beyond the call of duty and excelled. Fast forward a couple of months and the whole department is getting moved out and looking for jobs.

I understand that this is the way that business goes, but I realized something in my time there. I was impressing people without really knowing it. Rarely were the words "Good Job" uttered, particularly from those in management positions. I was a cog. A well paid, cog, who enjoyed what they were doing, but a cog none the less.

As I went looking for a new position, I wanted to look for a company that would value what I would bring to the table, the intangebles and attitude. I am happy to say I found it. I have been in my current role for almost a month and I cannot tell you how please I am to come to the office. There have been times of very high stress, and stepping out of the box of what my "Job" is, but they have always been rewarded with words of encouragement and praise. As a junior employee, it is motivating to be recognized. It makes me want to come to work each day.

For companies out there, develop a culture of praise. It creates a happy workforce, a team atmosphere, and employees who are more than willing to step outside their comfort zone in order to move the company, or project, forward. Rewarding others probably has a direct correlation to your bottom line.

As for those who may be looking for work, go somewhere that is challenging, go somewhere that you want to be, look for something with a culture of recognition and you will work happy and be happy.

Get an MBA via an iPod

If you were to talk about the top business institutions in the country the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania would probably be at the top of the list. The school is known for housing some of the greatest minds in the business world, and creating an atmosphere where knowledge is king. But something new is happening at this, and many other schools across the country. They are giving away their information... for free. Wharton, and other schools such as Harvard and UC Berkeley, are putting out podcasts of lectures, speaker discussions and for public consumption clips.

So what does this mean? What is the benefit for the consumer and the institutions for these initiatives? There are actually quite a few. First from a consumer standpoint, free access is pretty exceptional, considering that it would cost you tens of thousands of dollars to attend the classes of these great minds. Second, the format itself is very accessible, since you can listen to a podcast while driving in the car, working out, or posting to your favorite Blog. Finally, the information is current. To have a highly regarded economist, like Jeremy Siegel, let you know what the market is doing this week, as opposed to when his newest book comes out, is very powerful.

From the Institution side this new delve into podcasting is obviously a marketing point. More than that, I think it is inline with the mission of academics and major institutions, to teach others. Never before has there been such a low cost to putting out audio or video to the public, podcasting costs less than publishing a book, and having an audio conversation has a much lower opportunity cost than writing. This means that great minds can have their voice heard by many more people and encourage a greater pool of academic thought.

As this media continues to develop you may see more institutions, and potentially subject matter experts from the business world, put out information for everyone to benefit from.

The Movies, of the Cartoons, of Our Youth

I am a child of the mid-eighties - early nineties, which means a couple of things.

1. I played Sesame Street video games on my Commodore 64.
2. I am, and forever will be, in debt to Lavar Burton for helping me learn to read.
3. Me and the Mario brothers could do just about anything (wrangle monkeys, clean pipes, save damsels in distress)
4. I grew up on great cartoons

As far as number four goes. I can remember coming home and plopping myself down and watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, HeMan, Thundercats, Voltron and Transformers like they were my religion. These things were great and cheesy all at the same time. Having recently watched a couple episodes of Voltron I need to honestly ask, what the hell was I thinking? Don't get me wrong, when I was a kid, these things were great. But watching them know you get a sense that it was all about the moving pictures and not the content of what was happening.... enter Hollywood.

Recently there has been a major push by studios to recreate some of that childhood magic in the form of Cartoon Remake Movies. I am not talking about the Batmans and Spidermans of the world, both of which I consider to be pretty good comic book adaptations. I am talking about the new Transformers and TMNT (Couldn't they have spelled it out). With these films, I only ask one thing... Don't Mess it Up. This is my childhood we are talking about here. While I lack the knowledge of what was actually being presented on that little screen, it is still important to me. The images are important. Please Hollywood, please... don't steal my childhood.

The Best Places to Visit on the Web

There are lots of new things happening on the web these days. I am sure you have all see the explosion of social websites, the supposed second version of the internet. While I don't really by the whole web 2.0 thing, I can definitely see a number of new sites and new business models becoming apparent, and yet is is still some of the old ones that are good ones. Here is my list of the 10 best places to visit on our World Wild Web (yup, I meant wild):

• Digg - By far the best application of social on the web thus far. Kevin Rose's, of TechTV fame, vision of the social web comes through as a place to have centralized news from across the web, brought to you by fellow travelers of the information super highway.
  
• Facebook - Yeah, there is myspace and Xanga and all the others, but there is something different about Facebook. It looks good, something many of its competitors just cannot say. Giving users a place to call there own on the net that is accessible to friends, past and present, this site could corner the market on the student user base.
• Google - Yes, I but the New Evil Empire on the list. You just cannot argue with the fact that Google continues to put out new, exciting and useful web tools. They are simple and powerful and constantly improving. Gmail, Google Calendar, Personalized Homepage, Google Maps, and who knows what is next. Google continues to produce key items on the new web.
• ClaimID - I will be honest, I vanity search all the time. ClaimID works off of the simple principal that everyone is going to be all over the net, and everyone should have the ability to say what is really about them. Managing your online identity will become more and more important as the web grows. Trust me, ClaimID is awesome.
• woot - Let the 133t speak abound. Woot.com has a simple model. Sell one thing for really cheap everyday. When they are all gone, they are gone. Tomorrow we sell something else. with a range from golf clubs and vacuums, you just never know what you will see for sale. Woot!
• TikiBar TV - So I cheated a little with this one. TikiBarTV is the first of two web content creators that harness the ability of the net to distribute video on this list. Watch the videos. They are great. Enter the world of Dr. Tiki, Johnny Johnny and Lala. Let them figure out the best drink for what ales you as you laugh hysterically.
• YouTube - The current web video king. Flat out, YouTube may become the defacto video site on the web for years to come. If they can dodge media giants from suing them out of existence, and being bought by Google could prevent that, they will continue to be the destination for parody, podcasts, TV clips and people falling down for years to come.
• topix.net - If Digg is the news aggregator for the web topix.net is the best way to know what is happening around your town. Letting you access the news based on a local level, topix may actually be leading the third generation of the internet - geographic content.
• Revision3 - These are the mavens of the media revolution. With shows like Diggnation, Ctl+Alt+Chicken, Infected and more to come, these webshows may just be the entertainment of the future. Don't get me wrong, there will always be room for high budget, high quality shows like LOST and House, but the guys at Rev3 may have the next tier of entertainment.
• ESPN - So this is not very web 2.0, it may not even be web 1.0, but ESPN.com, like no other site, is a central hub for a conglomeration of information for one of the largest segments of the American population, the sports fan. Ask any red blooded American male born in the last 50 years who the authority on sports information is and they will answer the sports leader, ESPN.