Matrix virtues and challenges

For the reason or another the matrix management came up to my mind just in the start of my holiday.

Inside the dotted line describes list of virtues that a matrix organization can provide for organization. As you can see, the model supports learning and efficiency as well as skills and expertise sharing. Therefore it is optimal model management team with diversified cognitive background.

About challenges then. A study called Challenges and Strategies of a Matrix Organization (HRPS, 2005) by Thomas Sy and Laura Sue D’Annunzio describes challenges from the HR point of view. The interviews and workshops were done with almost 300 top-level and mid-level managers. Five challenges were identified. In the parenthesis, the first figure is percentage of top-level managers mentioning the challenge and latter the same for mid-level managers.

1. Misaligned goals (67 % / 46 %)
2. Unclear roles and responsibilities (25 % / 86 %)
3. Ambiguous authority (71 % / 62 %)
4. Lack of a matrix guardian (92 % / 35 %)
5. Silo-focused employees (69 % / 73 %)

We can see that unclear roles and responsibilities and lack of a matrix guardian reflects different concerns of mid-level and top-level managers.

For mid-level managers the unclear goal is obvious concern. The study suggest focusing on clear guidelines and role descriptions, assignment of accountability, establishing a single point of contact for areas of responsibility and setting up a communication plan and information sharing processes.

The study suggest that a “fire proof matrix guardian” is needed to control the metrics of the organization. In matrix spotting the origin of the problem may be challenging because of the shared processes and responsibilities. With extensive measurement the flaws of the system can be spotted and fixed without unnecessary delays.

After reading the study, one can’t underestimate at least these three things:

1. Measuring the matrix and then acting according the metrics.
2. Communication among all employee groups as the authority may be ambiguous.
3. Setting clear guidelines and roles for mid-level managers and the remind the importance of single point of contact.

The article can be downloaded here [pdf].

Picture above, Pile of wood in North Savo, Finland (2006).

Bubble wrap sound!

Marylka i.e. Yoe posted this hilarious commercial to her blog. What would we been doing without this great innovation? Oh, what innovation? It is a toy that makes the sound of breaking single bubble from a bubble wrapper.

According to Marylka, the commercial promises, that using this toy calms you down when you are anxious and are about to lose temper. Then it is like instant therapy too, isn’t it?!

Thanks Marylka!

Picture Above used under CC license. Credits ElisabethGreen.

Continuous innovation fallacy

The amount of minor innovations make up 85 % to 90 % of companies’ development portfolios, says George S. Day in HBR Dec 2007.

From 1990 to 2004 the share of major innovations in the same development portfolios dropped from 20.4 % to 11.5 %. Meanwhile the total amount of growth initiatives rose. Day describes this development as “internal traffic jams of safe, incremental innovations that delay all projects, stress organization, and fail to achieve revenue goals”.

Safe is the keyword. Incremental development projects has higher probability of success. Thus they provide short term benefits and feeling of continuous progress. They are safe way to show results. But low risk in long term creates only slow growth.

In the daily paper innovations are done – surprise, surprise – in daily bases. It is obvious that there the low share of major innovations and incremental development culture in established media companies. Our culture is based on small steps rather than huge leaps. The readers expect consistency that makes them feel comfortable and give structure to their lives.

Newspapers in general have not been good platforms for major media innovations. The reason is understandable, though not necessary acceptable. In the printed world two significant innovations of the past decades came outside of the established companies. The two print innovations were of course free ad papers and commuter traffic media.

After reading this I was thinking is there any related risks when using agile product development methods like scrum? These methods are great for our the product development as they’re flexible and fast. Yes, we’re using them also. My question is about the culture and management model.

It is clear that even though the development culture is very agile, one still can show good long term growth if systematic innovation portfolio management process is introduced. Other way, without one the agile only culture may possess a risk for the continuous innovation fallacy.

In his HBR Dec 2007 article (Paid for). Day introduces two methods: Risk matrix and R-W-W.

Picture Above used under CC lisence. Credits to jnpoulos.

Cross-country skiing season started

A few hours ago I finally started my cross-country skiing season in Kuusamo, Finland. Great, super great! May sound weird, but I’ve really been waiting for this some time.

And how exhausting it was! It was early April when I last time was standing on skis and seven months without skiing makes a difference. First very steep and long ascends proved that. As I’ve mostly been running since May, skiing was not so easy. The technique was bit forgotten and above all my legs really didn’t work well today. Running is not enough as exercise for skiing between seasons. You just use different muscles when skiing compared to running.

So, today I was trying to find the right rhythm for skiing. The track was too demanding as I almost reached my maximum heart rate during the exercise. Today heart rate reached 197 beats per minute. It is too much. The rhythm was difficult to learn, since the limits of endurance was almost reached. Have to be much careful tomorrow, when I’m going to do two stints. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both significantly lower HR than today.

Yet exhausting, I loved the colour of white snow and chilly weather outside. Skiing inside the forest is so relaxing. Hope that the inconvenient truth is not totally true. If it is, we outdoor people are lost… We need our yearly portion of snow and sub-zero temperatures!

Picture above by a4gpa. Cross-country skiing at its best.

New advertising paradigms

John Deighton (Harvard Business School, US) and Leora Kornfeld (Mobile MUSE Consortium, Vancouver, Canada) have published an interesting working paper on advertising. The paper is called Digital Interactivity: Unanticipated Consequences for Markets, Marketing, and Consumers.

One of the key claims their article highlights is that traditional direct marketing has been a poor role model for interactive marketing. They suggest that traditional advertising paradigms, broadcast paradigm and direct paradigm are not answering the challenges of new media environment. By following only them, one miss change in people’s behaviour.

Instead Deighton and Kornfeld introduce five new ones: 1) Thought tracing, 2) Ubiquitous connectivity, 3) Property exchange, 4) Social exchange and 5) Cultural exchange. Channels fulfilling these paradigms should have competitive edge.

The study states that words like viewer and listener are too limiting in present media environment. They don’t reflect the media consumption habits of public. Simultaneously they say that the consumer is not right expression, but they recommed to use person as people have more roles in life than just being a consumer. Deighton: “And as digital interactivity increases the contexts in which people use new media, it becomes less and less productive to think of people as consumers alone”.

According to Deighton’s and Kornfeld’s study, there is a bright future for interactive ubiquitous media where the user is more than customer. Reputation and reliability as well as communities and cultural buzz act in important roles in these successful marketing channels. But, the authors don’t promise bright future for media relying old paradigms.

Time of pure viewers, listeners and consumers are gone for good.

Picture above used under CC license. Credits Rocketeer.

Power of multiple simultaneous signals

My colleague Mikko sent me a link to Marc van der Erve’s interesting presentation [PDF] dated May 11th 2007. It is a result of broader study called A New Dimension of Time [PDF]. To put it really short, he suggests that management’s key task is to support simultaneity within the organizations.

Simultaneity is described as multiple events taking place at the same time with zero interval. The process has always four successive states: Open chaos (Noise), Amplification (Transmission), Synchronization (Perception) and Resynchronization (Interpretation). He gives few examples on this concept from natural sciences and also from management. Here is the one about organization very shortly.

Open Chaos – Inequality / Market Gradient – Non-simultaneity

Amplification – Entrepreneur with idea – Emerging simultaneity, Triggering Event

Synchronization – Simultaneous employee behaviour – Spreading simultaneity, Temporary Code

Resynchronization – Growing organizational structure – Repeated simultaneity

The four states results a unique organizational structure as the process is evolutionary. According to van der Erve the clue is in a unique pattern of simultaneous behaviour. That is the moment when the idea gets shared shared understanding within the organization. That supports growth, as everybody are aiming the same goal.

Analogy to media? Oh yes! We can easily apply the whole concept to media too. There is a lot of noise in today’s media environment. Like this blog, it is just some quiet noise in the vast information stream that is produced 24h per day worldwide. The same goes for millions of other blogs and news sources too, until… until one of them publishes something really interesting that stands up from the ordinary noise. When important enough, other media starts to discuss the same issue at their pages and sites. And what’s most important, they discuss it at the same time. Then it is not anymore question of ordinary noise anymore, but merely loud voice that is heard everywhere. That may eventually create new interpretation of the prevailing truth.

Marc van der Erve claims that leadership is about developing simultaneity. Managers have to create an environment where simultaneous employee behaviour can occur. In media, the power to amplify signals was previously limited to publishers only. Now we all have access to add noise to the network and we all have possibility to amplify the most important signals. In both cases the change is powered by multiple simultaneous signals. That is power of many.

The picture above is taken close to Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (Dec 2007). Yet, nothing to do with subject.

Two zero four bpm

Our company sports club organized a fitness test last week. The aim was to provide participants proper understanding on their fitness and some tips for marathon training. Some of us had already run a marathon, and some were planning to do it next summer.

The test was 6×1000m run where heart rate was increased after every 1000m. First 1000m was almost walking but the last 1000m was meant to be running with maximum heart rate. Heart rate sensors and wrist computers were used to control the levels. In addition seven blood tests were taken to measure the blood lactate level development: at the start, after every 1000m and minute after the last 1000m. The blood test didn’t take more than 10-15 seconds and that time was eliminated from the speed calculation.

I got my results yesterday. There were some very interesting issues. My maximum heart rate was 204 beats per minute. It is quite high, but within the normal limits for my aged person. But, there was something to consider about in the blood lactate levels. Normally levels in the rest are between 0.6-1.8mmol/l, but my rest level was 3.3mmol/l. Short sleep and hard work week can be read from the lactate levels too. After running a 1000m the level dropped to 1.7mmol/l and basically stayed there 5000m. At the maximum heart rate lactate level climbed up to 10.4mmol/l, which started to feel almost painful.

The test gave me some suggestions for my exercise. It told that the fitness level is now very good. I also know that my aerobic boundary heart rate is 153 bpm and anaerobic 182 bpm. Below 153 bpm I can work whole day and above 182 bpm my endurance limit will be reached very fast. Approximately 60-80 % of my weekly training should be done below 153 bpm, 10 % – 30 % between 153 and 182 bpm and 2-10 % between 182-204 bpm. That’s my marathon training for the next summer. Let us see how it works.

The picture above from Amsterdam Marathon 2007. Used under CC licence. Credits Luigiter.

Interdisciplinary and inspiring!

While meeting our business partner, we discussed marketing and product development, which in my view go hand in hand. They’re so interconnected that it is reasonable to claim that all new features to our sites are digital marketing.

In fast growing businesses (like online classifieds) these processes have to be either in very close proximity to each other or totally integrated. This supports agile customer focused development and creates cross-functional synergies.

The business partner suggested TED as a good example of interdisciplinary meeting where development, technology, social sciences are combined. The seminar in Monterey, California is almost impossible to attempt as only 1000 participants are accepted. But, the good news: their online site is super great!

Just watching few videos it is clear why it is beneficial to put the tech, marketing and development people to work closely together in order to fulfill the customer needs. The ideas get richer as there is several angles to same subject available.

The picture above taken in Villa Borghese 2005. (Nothing to do with the subject, but I like the picture and especially Galleria Borghese nearby)