November, 2008

The Elegant Universe, LHC and Cyberinfrastructure

The Elegant Universe, LHC & Cyberinfrastructure…  what can you imagine before, by and beyond perfect vision leap year 2020?

On the continual journey from good to great, quality and value will increasingly become inherent.

Unit Test? Yes (also btw here’s a Diagnostic Tool that may help with moving from good to great)

Collins states going from good to great requires discipline (disciplined people, thought and action). Taking software quality from good to great likely requires some of the same (including relative to unit testing) while progressively building increased levels of fun. To some unit testing is common sense and their answer to “Is unit testing beneficial?” would likely be a form of yes, or that increasingly it should be (e.g., may help with ensuring value that is inherent, intrinsic and pervasive… for some projects or applications you may even say it would be critical and innately part of developing capability maturity and being socially responsible).

On a slightly different note here is a Diagnostic Tool that may help each of us along our respective journeys. Perhaps it can somehow be applied to help us along our collective one too as the IT profession moves from good to great and toward truly being built to last and increasingly more so for the benefit of all.

Perhaps we all may benefit by reading and internalizing what it means to be a level 5 leader

See this page; and on it be sure to read this excerpt from Good to Great. Borrowing on words within Good to Great that were apparently once expressed by a paper industry hall of fame inductee (Darwin Smith), perhaps it is good to never stop trying to be qualified (perhaps this is something we all can more so apply to increasingly make quality and value more inherent within ourselves and our interconnected universe).

2008 Recipient of Advanced Technology Award chosen as Chairman of Global Board of World’s Largest IT Organization

Information and Communications Technology is described by employers as the number one contributor to Canada’s productivity. Click here to read more including about a serious skills shortage that is threatening the sector.

And also… click here to read exciting news about the CIPS Past President, an inherent quality of our profession who is the 2008 Recipient of Advanced Technology Award for Leadership in IT, and recently was chosen as Chairman of Global Board of World’s Largest IT organization. Congratulations Stephen!

Another step in the Internet’s evolution

Interesting piece on Internet Evolution by Mathew Ingram, technology writer for The Globe and Mail in Canada… The Internet Takes Another Step Into Outer Space. Perhaps this is another step in the Internet’s evolution. 2008 certainly has been an interesting year. Between now and perfect vision leap year 2020 the best is ideally yet to come.

Share or help mature ideas for making quality and value increasingly intrinsic and pervasive. Thank you for doing so.

The top priorities for Obama’s CTO

Perhaps cast a vote, e.g. for improving accessibility in remote areas (perhaps you will somehow be a catalyst for there being, by or before 2020, high-speed Internet to the vast majority of homes on the planet, including the vast majority of homes in rural areas). Perhaps you will somehow help the CTO determine priorities for making quality from various perspectives (e.g., quality of life), increasingly intrinsic and pervasive for the betterment and benefit of all.

Amazon’s view of a tester

Able to find bugs in code (The Rational Tester does Software Test and Performance Conference Boston)

Able therefore to help make quality more inherent.

Top software tools of 2008 (look forward to reading the results)

Look forward to reading the results…

Send your product submissions to Editor@SearchSoftwareQuality.com by Friday, Dec. 12.

Building Community (on a global scale)

It may be true that life long learning can contribute to better balance (e.g., between supply and demand). It may be true that rethinking IT management from a business perspective (e.g.) is necessary to further instill a holistic understanding to fulfilling business (and social responsibility) objectives by more so looking beyond IT services to the context where services are used. It may be true that initiatives and conferences that seek to foster collaboration and facilitate the transfer of experience and adaptation of methods (e.g.) are positive and an increasing trend. This post takes no credit for progress occurring around the globe. It does however encourage and applaud efforts to help make quality and value increasingly intrinsic and pervasive including those which ideally help build a sense of community, on a global scale (e.g.), in and external to the IT profession.

From Good to Great to Built to Last

A major launch related to the emerging global IT profession will happen in the coming year. Looking ahead more than a decade, 2020 could be a transition point, true leap year and time of more perfect vision that helps beam more value intrinsically and pervasively towards upcoming centuries.

At some juncture a future civilization (e.g., one that is perhaps even further enlightened) may look upon what we call the Dark Ages and say that 2020 was the start of the world coming out of the Gray Ages. 

Twain once conveyed the idea that a reader would have to discover their own order to a book. Perhaps this idea applies not only to readers.

From Good to Great to Built to Last. In an ironic twist, I now see Good to Great not as a sequel to Built to Last, but as more of a prequel. This book is about how to turn a good organization into one that produces sustained great results. Built to Last is about how you take a company with great results and turn it into an enduring great company of iconic stature. To make that final shift requires core values and a purpose beyond just making money combined with the key dynamic of preserve the core / stimulate progress. — Jim Collins, Good To Great

To ensure IT, and even humanity, is progressively built to last, perhaps the purpose of each person and organization must be beyond making money and inherently interconnected to a mindset for goodness that preserves and enhances core principles while increasingly inspiring trust, empowerment, collaboration, alignment and progressive excellence.

Looking forward to 2020 (part ii)

Have fun with this as there is a vast range of potential inputs including perhaps factoring in potential advances (or usage increases) relative to satellites (e.g. or e.g.) or nanotechnology (e.g.). The range of input is virtually endless as are the opportunities to help imagine a continually better future for all. Thank you for all you do. As a continual improvement co-contributor you are helping to progressively evolve quality and value to be increasingly intrinsic and pervasive. As we each look within to continually improve self while trying to be good to (and of help to) others we build positive energy for an ever brighter future where more and more as one software, technology, information and people serve a common mindset of and for goodness to be an ever present foundation within an unending journey of progressive excellence.

Looking forward to 2020

Looking forward to 2020, what positive advances may be achieved? When thinking about how quality and value may become increasingly intrinsic and pervasive, feel free to draw on a range of input (e.g., perhaps including Tools of Engagement, TelePresence and so on, perhaps even Star Trek 2009).

Download for Free: Dale Carnegie’s Golden Book

Within the inherent quality of the Golden Book by Dale Carnegie at the top of the list of a section entitled ”Cultivate a Mental Attitude that will Bring You Peace and Happiness” is “Fill you mind with thoughts of peace, courage, health and hope”. Seventh on the list is “Create happiness for others”.  Over 50 million copies of Mr. Carnegie’s books have been printed and published in 38 languages. He founded what is today a worldwide network of trainers with offices in more than 75 countries. This post simply shares awareness of another worthy read.

Download for Free: Dale Carnegie’s Golden Book

Be part of making forward progress and history that is good

Want to make a difference?

Perhaps consider how as an inherent quality of an emerging global IT profession, and related green and other socially responsible initiatives, you can help evolve associated quality and value to increasingly become intrinsic and pervasive and for the benefit and betterment of all.

Perhaps look within IFIP (e.g., this page) for some interesting reading (e.g., the aims and scope statements associated with WG 9.2 – Social Accountability (est. 1977)). Perhaps suggest updates to IFIP plans or content, or ask a question using this contact page. Perhaps ask what you can do to help IFIP before 2009, and then perhaps in relation to the IFIP 50th Anniversary in 2010.

This post takes no credit for the progress being made by IFIP, CIPS and others including anything that you may do or being doing to help with related continued forward progress. It does however applaud all efforts towards a global challenge of achieving greatness relative to the goodness innately associated with what social responsibility and accountability means or can mean.

Consider looking within your schedule and perhaps see if you can spare additional cycles now and then to increasingly be part of making forward progress and history that is good. Thank you for doing so.

“No matter how much you have achieved, you will always be merely good relative to what you can become.” — Jim Collins, Good To Great and The Social Sectors

On this day let us remember

Millions of readers may agree that Good To Great (by Jim Collins) is a worthy read, however do they agree with the title and contents of the opening page of Chapter 1? Is good really the enemy of great? What about the reverse of the question stated on page 1 (“what about the vast majority of companies that wake up partway through life and realize that they’re good, but not great?”) that was raised by a reader of another work by Jim Collins, Built to Last? It may be possible to be great but not good, however ideally as countries, governments, organizations and people evolve towards higher forms of greatness and excellence they will do so while building upon the foundation for such, goodness (i.e. essential tenets, principles, ethics, and values of and for it that must become more common knowledge, innate and preserved for true greatness to be achieved).

Will wealth and well-being increasingly exist in our world without the co-existence of the reverse (e.g., poverty and homelessness)? Will peace increasingly exist without the co-existence of its reverse (e.g., war)? Will social responsibility increasingly be inherent to truly great leaders and organizations? Ideally software, technology, information and people increasingly exemplify goodness as a foundation for progressive excellence and making the world continually a better place for all in the present and future.

On this day let us remember.