Andrew Shuttleworth Web HQ

Project Management

Project management sounds dull and boring. But more and more I'm being convinced that it is not a boring stand alone discipline, but is a set of processes and best practices that are or should be involved in every 'project' do. Now before you start thinking 'I don't do projects', let's look at a common definition of 'project' in this context, usually something like 'a goal or objective requiring one or more tasks for completion'. At this simple level almost everything we do in life is a form of project. For a great perspective on how projects make up our daily activities read or listen to David Allen's 'Getting Things Done'. (Despite the simple title, this is more than your average personal productivity book and even if you are already familiar with similar principles I'm sure everyone can gain something from this book).

Anyway, one of my main personal and professional focuses this year is project management. As suggested above I will be considering how this can be applied to my personal life, but it is also vitally important to my role managing global projects for Getronics that I back up my experience with globally recognized knowledge and practices. There is a huge amount of information out there. I'm sure project management is going to continue to become more conspicuous over the coming years driven by the need for greater efficiency (or achieving more for less) in order to boost competitiveness.

My goal for this year is to obtain the Project Management Institues 'Project Management' qualification .... and now I have posted that here I have an extra incentive to make sure that happens.

Best RSS Reader Tool

I think I understand the concept of RSS feeds but it still seems to be an immature technology,  although definitely taking off in a big way. One of the reasons that I think it is still immature (in addition to not being sure whether I really inderstand it) is that I can't seem to get hold of the right tool to read RSS feeds. If a Google search doesn't give me the perfect answer I'm looking for after about 3 clicks, then something is not quite right :-) I'd consider myself an information junkie and computer literate but I'm still not using this technology. So help me out, get me started... what's the best, starter level RSS reader client for windows? Web based would also work.

[Update 19 Jan 2004 : See my post about my Newsgator purchase here]

Longest term goals

In a follow up to the previous post, wondering how many people have set what I will call 'longest term goals' and have a plan to achieve them? In other words, where do you want to be at the end of your life and what are you doing to make sure it happens?

The value of working in a company

It is said that one of the benefits about working in a company is for the experience you get. But is this experience truly vauable?

Is it not the case that the more experience you get the more you find out you have to learn?

How much of the experience you are getting is really contributing to your long term goals?

Unless you are getting a very wide range of experience are you not just pigeon-holing yourself more and more as each day goes by?

How much time that you spend in a company is really experience and how much is spent simply fueling the gears of the corporate machine?

Even if you feverishly work to get as much experience as possible, how much difference does the extra effort really make?

I guess it boils down to what are your long term goals, but is it not all too easy to settle (even in the current economy) for the comfort and security of company life while the days tick by?

What are the alternatives? And are the alternatives anything more than just greener grass?

Oze & Value of a Blog

Just on my way back from Oze (a beautiful marsh-like area in the hills of Gunma). I'm very happy to say that my Pocket PC with mobile data card is going to work very well as a moblogging tool! The size of the screen is obviously a restriction but the MovableType interface is rendered very well in Pocket IE.

Anyway, I was thinking what value this blog is going to be to me. It will have to offer some value so that I can justify the time spent posting. So I'll be thinking about that and will post in the comments later. Interested to hear what others have to say.

Oh no! Blogging about Blogging

I was going to try to avoid this but it is perhaps inevitbale at the start of a new blog ... a sort of evolving charter or mission statement: I've got blog what my blog is going to be about ... or blog about blogging. (All you who've been there done that perhaps come back in a few months). First of all probably credit to Joichi Ito* from where I think I get the category name Blogging About Blogging. Not sure if he was the first to use it but anyway.

Anyway, after feeling a bit deflated last night what even I thought were boring posts I realized (and I know retrospectively I'm way behind everyone here) that one of the keys to a successful blog is the inter-connections between people. It's not much use if no-one is reading your blog and the value of it is limited if it is standalone without links to other blogs. My first posts only contained links to web sites, not to blogs or other people. So that's one of the things I'll be working on. Anyone who knows me will tell you I get around a bit in Tokyo so it's just a matter of bringing some that network online as well as creating a new one.

One thing I am concerned about is blogging about other people or companies without their permission. How have others handled this issue?

* Still got to learn about blogrolling so give me a chance and I'll get to it.

Some cool stuff to start with

Here's just some of the stuff I think is cool:

Pocket PCs and mobile computing in general
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Mapping web sites (like Mapion and MapFan in Japan)
Mobile phones in Japan
Online train route planners
Car navigation
Yahoo! Groups (currently subscribed to 84!)
The internet (can't really be understated, can it)
Living and working in Tokyo, Yokohama and Japan

.... did I mention Pocket PCs yet?

That's a bit of a boring list. Going to have to do better than that I think. I'm sure I'll be writing more about these things though.

Typos

By the way, I'm terrible for careless typos, so apologies in advance for those that get through. I'll correct as I notice them or as they are pointed out.

About Shut' Up

Now I've broken a good old rule by not writing about my blog in the first post, I can go and get that out the way.

A4 - why 297mm x 210mm?

Just wanted to find out the dimensions of an A4 piece of paper to put in to my scanner software setting and put the question into Google (quicker than getting out the ruler). The top result was a very interesting page explaining why A4 paper is the size it is. Read all about it for yourself!