Why I don’t have to buy an Apple Watch

Is the Apple Watch just another distracting device?

David Gee (CIO) 20 March, 2015 11:57

The time is coming for each of us to decide – do we buy this new Apple Watch or not? There are many choices and price points for the product, plus we can expect third parties to provide accessories and apps to make these products even more individualised.

I’d love an Apple Watch to keep my golf score – an app with that function is appealing and saves me looking for a pencil to record my progress when I’m on a course.

What else? Being the sports nut that I am, the cricket score, rugby or basketball progress would also be nice. Yes I can do all of these things on my iPhone 6 but for a few months no-one would be the wiser. The Apple Watch is not waterproof, so keeping track of my laps in the pool is not going to be possible.

So is the Apple Watch just another distracting device?

So often I see drivers behind me in traffic with one hand on the wheel and the other on a smartphone. 

It just annoys the heck out of me and makes me a little concerned about a potential accident.

Avoiding people who are walking down the street with their heads buried in their smartphones can be just as hazardous. Also in the office, we consider it rude to be playing with one’s smartphone when there is important business at hand. At least the Apple Watch is hands free.

At the moment, My Apple iMac, iPad, and iPhone all make ‘ding’ noises within a few seconds of each other when I receive a message. Do I also want a fourth device to ‘ding’ me?

Choosing a model

Ok, so if it’s still on my wish list then which model would I buy? There is a range from A$499 for a Sports model to a price tag of A$24,000 for a watch at the very top of the range.

That top model is encased in 18 karat gold but if you really want to splash out then buy a Brikk, yes that really is the company name. At US$115,000, a Brikk costs about the same as a really nice sports car, and it’s covered with diamonds.

The Brikk is an Apple Watch that has been augmented and stylised – and you’ll have to wait six weeks after the launch date to get one.

April Fool’s Day?

What’s going to happen in April when this goes on sale? Will the public accept the luxury price for a watch that needs to be recharged every 18 hours?

 

Yes, the Apple Watch works like a Fitbit or other wearables that track your fitness. However, I can buy a Fitbit for $100.

GPS devices on the market also have turn-by-turn navigation (helping me to avoid those walkers I referred to earlier). Other devices have facial recognition for those embarrassing situations when you know someone walking towards you but you simply can’t remember their name. Sadly, the Apple Watch does not have this capability.

The fourth screen

Let’s remember we started with one screen, the TV. We added a second, the computer; and a third, the smart device. Will the Apple Watch become our fourth screen?

As a complementary product, the Apple Watch uses WiFi and Bluetooth to pair your new timepiece and then connect to the outside world. In short, it is a fourth screen that is reliant on others to be effective. Without connectivity, it’s just an expensive watch.

The irony is that the advent of smartphones has seen Generation Y not even bothering to wear a watch and I’ve seen them laugh at the oldies with their dated timepieces. Mere items of jewelry they say.

There is no question that the traditional watch makers have struggled to generate demand. However there are a few exceptions and classical Swiss watchmaker, Rolex, has enjoyed a rise among the middle and upper class in China. Now Apple is getting into the luxury market, but with a technology twist.

Famous last words

I’ve told myself that I won’t buy an Apple Watch and no amount of technology envy will make me.

But future apps might just make me change my mind. Apps have made the iPhone and iPad much more compelling.

So if anyone at Apple is reading this, I’d be delighted to test drive an Apple Watch with that wonderful golf score app. And while you are there, if the watch can also measure my swing to get the right tempo and monitor my heart rate when I putt, that would be fantastic.

Then I’ll be sold. I might even splash out on a sports model!

Transformation for SMARTIES

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[Blog post] Steps to avoid being a dummy.

These days nearly every organisation in the private and public sector is undertaking transformation efforts in one form or another. We all know that a business transformation is hard and involves both perspiration and inspiration.

As an IT professional this is both a threat and an opportunity. How you react when you are thrust into this position will be the key to you both surviving and thriving. I’ve had the privilege of leading more than my fair share of transformations, starting from my first in the '90s.

At Pioneer International, we challenged all the assumptions of the business and in doing so reengineered all processes and implemented new systems across the entire value chain. Later I completed a number of major transformations in Asia Pacific, Japan and in the USA when I was with global pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly.  More recently at CUA I completed a core banking transformation aided by an amazing team. I’m now advisor to an institution in New Zealand undertaking a core banking transformation.

As part of my journey I have collected scar tissue from both success and failure. Some learnings are transferrable between industries. We are all familiar with the reference book series marketed as "for dummies". I’ve always cringed at the notion of being a ‘dummy’, hence here is my guide to transformation for smarties.

S = Simple 
While we understand that transformations are complex and difficult programs of work, what really counts is that the change is ‘simple’ when done well. The best transformations don’t try to do too much or be too cute. We have to remember the change management of a transformation --that human beings are not able to absorb radical shifts when they do not understand the change.

I use my Pioneer project of 2000 as an example. The team tested the basic assumption of what value our business offered - which was that we produced concrete and building material products. But the subtle nuance was that customers really want a delivered product.

This meant how we organised the business could be radically changed. We changed the business from 300 order points to a single location. That single city location controlled all the 2000 delivery trucks which were now fitted with onboard computers.


M = Momentum
Transformations work against the natural order of a business, hence they are often surrounded by significant inertia. In my experience transformations feel like a roller coaster, and like gravity is working against you – it feels hard to push against the doubters and those that are spectating on the sidelines. 

 

It is only when the whole team pulls together and momentum starts to build that kinetic energy and physics work for you.  In a transformation the team always knows when they are doing the hard yards and the project is flying along - it is all about maintaining this momentum and ensuring it is focused on the right things.


 A = Anchors
Every successful transformation has clear anchors --the principles that everyone is working towards that provide crystal clarity. Conversely we have all seen the examples where the average person in the program is not on the same page and without realising, is working against the true direction of the change.  For example, Eli Lilly had 25 different flavours of CRM system around the world. The goal of the One Lilly project was to create a single CRM system on a single server in a single year using a single source code.

To support this aggressive goal, one anchor we adopted was 'vanilla’ - meaning no modifications. We also decided to try to standardise to one global process with 20 standard reports.  We ended up with just 25 global reports from 2000+ different reports globally previously. A few simple anchors established a framework that made the transformation a success.


R = Respect
In large projects, there is so much detail that the old adage "people respect what you inspect" really is true. As a leader you want focus on certain critical areas, and while you can delegate and empower, it is critical that your team knows what you really value.  Over time, this behaviour will end up with the team understanding and hence giving due credit to these facets.

Respect is also critical in transformations when dealing with people who don't react well to the change. By treating these people with respect, you make the process a lot easier for both parties.


T = Talent
Yes the T word is talent, not technology, training or testing.

I was once asked to take on a significant transformation for an organisation that had in excess of $1.4 billionb revenue per annum. Their technology was among the worst I had ever seen.  In accepting this role, I had a conversation with a global HR executive, who advised me that this was all about “people”. At the time I smiled and agreed. 

Over the next four years I realised how very correct he was, and my greatest achievement was not the delivery or turning around what I thought was the worst IT shop that I had ever seen. Instead it was building talent that has since sustained and grown this business.

My proudest achievement is in growing leaders who are change agents, and are now CIOs, partners or VPs in the vendor community. That’s the meaning of a real transformation, as each of those leaders and their teams are making a difference with their own careers.

I = Integrity
There were many “I” words that were strong candidates: innovation, integration, intelligence and intensity. But during any significant transformation there will be many moments of truth where how you act and the integrity you display can be a defining event.

As a leader you need to back your team in the tough times. It is never blind faith but a “trust, but verify” approach. The integrity of a transformation also includes the support of the individuals delivering the project and the willingness to go that extra mile.  

Clarity of the anticipated benefits and an understanding of why the change is imperative will create and maintain the integrity of the journey. When times are tough and the team is tired, they need to draw strength from understanding that bigger picture.

E = Essence
The essence of a transformation is about its focus. It is about boiling down all the fluff and aspiration then agreeing what exactly is going to add the most value in the shortest time.

In any transformation, it is hard not to get caught up with the superfluous add ons that have been in the back pocket of many in the organisation. It takes real courage to challenge and ensure that this essence is maintained and there is none of the normal scope creep that comes into large programs.

S = Starts with you 
The reality is that any transformation has to start with you. We can't expect the organisation and everyone else to transform while we stay the same. That’s just not realistic and it has to start with you.

Gandhi’s advice to “be the change that you want to see in the world” really resonates with me as a person and a leader.

Give my SMARTIES guide a try and let me know how it works for you.

Read more: http://www.itnews.com.au/BlogEntry/401006,transformation-for-smarties.aspx#ixzz3TGJLta4V

Spotify, the agile posterboy

[Blog post] Agile coach Anders Ivarsson streams his views.

IT shops across Australia are struggling with increased demands for digital innovation while battling reduced budget and cost pressures. These businesses are often competing with more nimble companies which can innovate rapidly.

Many are turning to agile development practices as a possible answer to gaining momentum for planned innovation efforts and as an alternative method to reduce the cost of developing new systems.

The result for many organisations has been mixed, and some say a lack of success can sometimes be reflective of a company’s culture. It’s been recommended to have a disciplined project management office (PMO) work side by side with an agile methodology.

I don't see this as a religious war over which is better, as clearly there is a place for traditional waterwall and agile to both co-exist. The trick is that there is insufficient sharing of best practice.
So what does work and how does one go about figuring out the best approach?

Spotify's benchmark
In CIO circles, Spotify is the benchmark of agile software engineering. The music streaming service is an incredible success story and has disrupted an industry where innovation is at its heart.

Spotify, from a standing start in 2008, has grown an impressive user base of 60 million users and 15 million paid customers. The company is renowned for retaining an innovative spirit despite rapid growth.

There are now around 600+ software engineers in Spotify, located around the globe in locations as diverse as Stockholm, Sydney, New York, Boston, and San Francisco. A size and scale that is not that different to many multinational corporates.

I sat down with the company’s Stockholm-based agile coach, Anders Ivarsson, to find out more about his role.

DG: I've heard about Spotify as a world leader in agile. What does Spotify do that is unique? 

AI: Spotify as a company has a genuine belief in and understanding of agile values and thus boasts a very agile culture. It can be seen in all levels from top management down to our individual contributors.

We're putting a lot of effort into keeping a culture of high trust, high transparency and where people are passionate about always improving and getting better results.

Within our product development, we have an organisational structure that has really helped us have autonomous teams, while also scaling to quite a large size.

It has also allowed us to keep being quite fluid and experiment with improving how we work, both within the teams and as a whole organisation. This is what most people are interested to learn about from us - how we've structured into squads, tribes, chapters and guilds.

There’s more information on the company’s engineering culture on the Spotify labs blog.

DG: Is this home grown and is it still evolving?

IA: This is very much home grown and is a constant evolution. We are always experimenting with new solutions and ideas, and adapting to new challenges and problems that come up.

DG: What issues still remain to be refined?

AI: When it comes to agile, I think we still could be a lot more disciplined around agile tech practices. As an organisation, we've achieved high levels of autonomy, but a challenge is to find and keep alignment between all the autonomous parts without reducing the autonomy.

As we keep growing, there is an ongoing challenge with clarity of vision and intent while also allowing for innovation and initiative to solve real problems.

DG: How are team assignments made? By whom and how?

AI: Just like many other things at Spotify, the answer is that ‘it depends’. Sometimes squads are spawned from an existing squad and take over part of their mission and backlog.

At other times we have a new idea - that might have come from anyone in the company, developed during one of our company-wide hack weeks, or perhaps realised through analysis of user behaviours in our product - that we want to test. We then spin up a new squad with the mission to solve that problem.

The squad themselves are most often heavily involved in finding their mission and defining what problem they should tackle.

DG: Has your team experienced any scaling limits to the agile model?

AI: We believe that each tribe should roughly follow Dunbar's number – that is maximum 100 to120 members which allows everyone to know and interact with one another.

That gives some upper limits to how big a tribe can become, but we’ve also seen tribes grow beyond that size and come up with ways of organising themselves to make it work.

I think the general pattern of highly autonomous teams with clear a mission works on all levels, so may likely scale beyond the current size.

DG: What is Spotify looking for in new hires?

AI: When we recruit to Spotify - no matter if it's for developers, product people, UX or other roles - we always look for technical excellence and skills, as well as a cultural fit and willingness to really participate in teamwork.

Finding the people with this mix of skills, experience and attitudes can be challenging and we put a lot of effort into constantly improving our recruitment.

DG: How long does it take to orientate new recruits to your culture and approach?

AI: It really depends. A lot of people come here and feel at home right away. But since we're growing so fast and are now quite large - plus we also keep constantly tweaking the way we work and how we're structured, it means it can be quite hard to get an overview of the whole organisation, what we're doing and how things work. This can be a bit of a shock to some at first.

We're running boot camps with every new engineer to give them a quick introduction to help easy onboarding, assist as to where to find information, etc - and that has really helped people get started more quickly.

DG: How well does the team collaborate globally?

AI:  Cooperating across geographical barriers, especially across several time zones, is always tricky.

Rather than having a distributed team working on the same thing from multiple locations, we often try to find enough people to build a small team in each location that can move more independently and autonomously, and thus reduce the need for constant synchronisation.

DG: Do you think it is possible for other organisations to mimic the ‘Spotify method’?

AI: I receive emails from companies that after reading our articles or watching our culture videos have been greatly inspired. Those companies have started making changes beneficial to them.

I also get a lot of questions from companies that have been trying to implement some of the things we do, but are looking for clarifications on details or have found places where it doesn't fit well with their current culture or way of working.

My personal take is that while it's great to look at what other companies are doing to find good behaviours and inspiration, you always have to start where you are and make gradual changes and improvements that fit within your context.

I don't think complex things like organisational design can just be copy-pasted like a blueprint for what will work.

David Gee presented his investigation into Spotify’s agile approach at the 7^th CIO Strategy Summit.

Read more: http://www.itnews.com.au/BlogEntry/400490,spotify-the-agile-posterboy.aspx#ixzz3TGIcFvVf