NBC Gets a Bargain With Oxygen, Analysts Say – NY Times
NBC Universal Acquires Oxygen
Jeff Zucker, president & CEO of NBC Universal, and Geraldine Laybourne, chmn. & CEO of Oxygen Media, discuss the acquisition…
As an executive in an acquired company I have agile principles to guide my actions:
- Embrace change
- Collaborate with the customer
- Deliver value
- Remove impediments
My career has included consolidation, closure, re-organizations, relocations, down-sizings and three acquisitions. In fact, none of my former employers exist as the same entity for which I started working.
Opportunities gird themselves in risk. Game on.
My management mission has not changed.
Scott Bellware and The Yellow Kid
The Yellow Kid, a 19th century hand-drawn provocateur, was all heart, embodied the anarchy of the slums and is tied to the phrase “Yellow Journalism.”
Scott Bellware, a 21st century development provocateur, is all heart, embodies the anarchy of Alt.Net, and is tied to the phrase “Soluble Code.”
Here the similarities end.
Alt.Net Conference
I had the privilege of attending the Alt.Net conference last weekend in Austin.
What I experienced was a happy collision of contrasts: mastery and inexperience, idealism and pragmatism, hope and frustration.
During the conference, the cause lacked coherent expression — though JP Boodhoo, who has a touch of the poet about him and can evoke the beating heart of it. Dave Laribee and others are very articulate in their blogs.
Still you can infer a group’s intent from its actions and over two days here’s what I connected with:
- Fellowship: Alt.Net is a loose affiliation of master developers who attract others (like me) who wish to learn.
- Shared Values: These developers aspire to excellence and independent judgement. They embrace passion, courage and honest reflection (articulated by JP). They seek to apply the handiest tool to any given situation and deliver value to their customer.
- Common Cause: These developers want to bring innovative tools, concepts and practices to the .Net platform whether they arrise from within Microsoft, an open and independent developer community, or other platforms. They are calling on Microsoft’s to introduce these innovations to the larger .Net developer community — or at minimum — to not hinder their use by those who wish to adopt them.
Worship the Plan: Part 2
This is what unrealistic planning does to execution.
Here’s the scenario:
Management adopts a project plan with unachievable goals given the time, features and resources.
The team begins in ignorance of “the plan”. Initial progress represents a sustainable pace.
Visible progress doesn’t match “the plan”. Management pressures the team. Short term, the red line gets steeper.
At this point, management revises the plan adjusting the start but retaining aggressive assumptions. “Now we know what we’re doing!”
Problem is, the productivity gain is not sustainable. The team is working extra hours and skipping necessary work to declare things done.
Problem is, the productivity gain is not real. Under stress the team works to increase the measure of value instead of value itself.
So productivity stalls. The team catches up on sleep, settles into the slog, and confronts thorny problems created by messy, incomplete and untested code.
Ultimately, the team produces less than had it maintained a sustainable pace.
Assuming the people and codebase aren’t hopeless, I added a period before the end where the team returns to sustainable pace. These are the tragic days when management gives up and before they cancel.
Another scenario – similar chart:
Management adopts a business plan with unachievable goals.
The product owner becomes risk averse or fool hearty, ignoring real opportunities that won’t hit impossible numbers.
The product drifts or lurches in bizarre directions and declines.