Test

Brendan is off to South Africa to be Mazda's General Manager out there.

He says he'll still be logging in to check how the project's progress. I joked that he wouldn't remember this URL. We'll see.

So Brendan - if you are reading this then leave a comment and we'll know you still care.

And to everyone else - Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I'm feeling a difference

I saw three presentations yesterday, all about content.

This was a blessed relief.

I have read the ENGInE spec and it was dull. This is not a criticism. It's a document that wasn't created for entertainment. But I'm sure you can imagine that much of my work revolves around detail and the nitty gritty.

Content, however, is a completely different kettle of fish or at least it should be.

That's why the prospect of a day of reviewing content would seem to be better than the day job.

For six hours we looked at content, and I can't give you my reaction to it yet because Juergen hasn't seen it yet. But I will share some adjectives that I think can be used to describe the content of one of the presentations.

• Interesting
• Challenging
• Different
• Innovative
• Unique
• Un-Ford
• Colourful
• Difficult
• Extensive
• Pervasive
• Noninvasive

And while we're on the subject of words, I'd like to state, for the record, that tangibilize is not a word. Unless of course you believe that words entered by the surfing public on www.urbandictionary.com should be counted as real words. If Urban Dictionary words could be included in Scrabulous then I'd win every time.

Dilbert to the rescue

Thanks Reiner. This doesn't quite sum up where we are, but it's close enough to make me laugh out loud, and then need a drink.

Blonde moment

Recently I've been put under pressure to produce a Business Owner View.

The example that ran to 165 pages was a little intimidating for someone that hadn't produced one before but, being the consummate professional, I started doing my research.

I figured I'd need help.

I wasn't too sure what a Contextual Motivation Model was, let alone a Motivation and Function Association Matrix or a Conceptual Network Model and these were just some of the components for the document that had my name against it.

I carried on reading and, to my relief, discovered that it isn't a Business produced document but one produced by IT.

I raised this and the task was placed with someone who already has enough to occupy more than his working week.

So although I've saved myself a horrendous task, someone else is now overloaded to the point where something's got to give.

The irony of this situation is that I can't find anyone who sees any merit in the production of this document.

No flying cars

Mean Automakers Dash Nation's Hope For Flying Cars

Clever clogs

I guess one doesn't become a senior manager without there being some substance to one's knowledge and capabilities.

But even though that's the case it is damned irritating when they spot something that you, as the expert, should have picked up.

We had a review with Stephen Odell last week and he spotted an omission in our presentation.

I'd like to say it was deliberate; something we left out just to check that he was paying attention, but that would be a lie.

So we'll go back and rework that bit, and acknowledge our inferiority.

Doubting Thomas

Well actually it wasn't a Thomas, it was someone else who works in one of the markets - you know who you are...

"I don't have any faith in you, I mean Ford of Europe, delivering this on time." - (s)he said.

"Good point." I said "I can see where you're coming from, but we feel we're different (in so many ways) to other projects you may have encountered."

"Have you built anything yet?" they asked.

"Er no, but we hadn't planned to at this point in time." I replied.

"I'd be willing to place a bet that this project will be late." (s)he responded.

Now I know what's it's like to sit in the market and receive the product of the Ford of Europe machine. I know not everything is delivered when originally planned. I also know what it's like to work in Ford of Europe trying desperately to make things happen, according to the plan.

But wasn't it Henry Ford that said "History is bunk."? What has happened before doesn't need to have any bearing on our future. And, by the way, we are still on track to deliver on time.

Maybe I'm naive. I know I'm an optimist (which can be a curse). But I still think this is possible.

Would I put money on it? I don't bet.