![The Big Lebowski (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray Book + Digital Copy]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512F90yEqdL._SL75_.jpg){kind=small}
Saturday
Jan022010
Three Ideas for 2010 Part II: DIY Work Hacking
Young Urban ProfessionalHappy 2010! Note this is the second in a three-part series covering three big ideas to ride in 2010. Part I is here.
DIY Work Hacking
In a column in the New York Times last month Tom Friedman described how do-it-yourself (DIY) technology tools, particularly cloud computing services, are empowering workers to do more with less. The Harvard Business Review in their January/February issue describes this as Hacking Work (article available behind the paywall).
"When a 12-year-old can gather information faster, process it more efficiently, reference more diverse professionals, and get volunteer guidance from better sources than you can at work, how can you pretend to be competitive?...Hack work, and embrace the others in your midst who care enough to do so."
Good advice.
I have been a DIY type my whole career - always on the lookout for ways I can use technology to streamline my work. One of my favorite techniques is to use bookmarklets. If you don't know where to start, visit marklets.com. They have a great directory. Another great resource for ideas on hacking work is, naturally, Lifehacker. The photo above is the site's editor, Adam Pash. I am not sure if this is a sign of the times or not, but Lifehacker's global traffic was up 37% last year according to their own stats, which they make publicly available here.
Doing more with less is part of The Great Reset. Those who embrace using new technologies and tools will not only survive, but thrive. No one will teach you necessarily how to do this on your own. Each information worker needs to take matters into their own hands.
Reader Comments (10)
I read this this morning and even went to the bookstore to read the article and it bothered me because it reminded me of something, I finally found it. “When a 14 year old kid can blow up your business in his spare time, not because he hates you but because he loves you, then you got a problem.” -Clay Shirky, Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable The original quote goes back to 1993 and is talking about Dave Barry. It's one kind of funny when it happens to a newspaper columnist, but it is a whole different kind of funny when it's a bank. Small business has a real chance because it can concentrate all available resources into a room and get something done, something impossible in a large business. I think we are going to a lot of traditional businesses disrupted as employees figure out how to do these things and them figure out that they can make more money doing it themselves or as consultants.
Steve -Great information as usual. In my opinion, as the tools get easier and easier to use and marketer better and better, the digital divide keeps shrinking. Sort of like the secret sauce being made public which is a good thing. The future I see is a continued rise of independent and branded media sources using many of these tools. The word "blog" may shift to something else completely such as "media source" or "online media source" ...
David, I think that the word "blog" is already well on the way to moving in this direction.
Absolutely, Steve. What do you see replacing it?
It's hard to say. I try not to focus on the channels but the larger trend. One trend I have noticed is that the conversation seems to be re-aggregating on a few sites where once it was disaggregated. There's a middle ground too in that sites are adding Facebook Connect or Twitter OAuth as a way to log in.
Steve,Good point. I think the trend in one word is content. However, I think you are seeing this content come to fruition in a couple of ways:1. Content Creators: Everything from bloggers to online TV shows. 2. Content DJ's: Take content from the content producers and deliver it to their audience in a unique way. Example: Alltop, PopURLS. Some are active some are passive.3. Content Sponsors: Brands, advertisers, etc. that don't create online content but want to get involved with their pocketbook. Sponsoring online content or even co-branding it (UPS and PopURLS).I believe 2010 is the year of online content experimentation from people that haven't been involved in the traditional techy space (meaning not just blogs about blogs or tech shows). The best stuff will Rise To The Top :)
Gee Steve-You have this way of making my fingers tingle on a lazy Sunday. "The best stuff will Rise To The Top". Yes. Most certainly it will.Wishing you and your family the best in 2010.
When we started fisheye, the company I am a partner in, 12 months ago we were lean by necessity. When the first clients started coming in, we continued to be lean by choice.Instead of hiring an IT manager and buying servers, we use dropbox at a total cost of $600/year. We're shared, we're backed up, all of our stuff is available to everybody who's involved with a project, wherever they are. Instead of ordering a landline and figuring out who's on receptionist duty we bought everybody Skype subscriptions for outgoing calls and added unlimited incoming minutes to our cellphones. Instead of buying office furniture we concentrated on creating a creative, inviting space that lends itself to problem solving, a space that both clients and collaborators like to share. Furniture came from craigslist, from antique stores and from our basements. Instead of paying for custom solutions we hacked together a Wordpress setup that serves us both as a CMS to serve our site and as an extranet to share information with our clients. In instead of paying web developers we use services like posterous, flickr, youtube, facebook and whatever else is relevant at the time to spread the word. This is the best time ever to start a new business. It's becoming clearer and clearer that the old ways aren't working, so if you've got new thinking to offer, chances are that you'll be getting an audience with potential clients. And with the tools being so very affordable, the risk of launching a start-up have dramatically decreased. It's really just a matter of playing and experimenting.
It is very true that the un-molded mind will grasp things (all things and not just change) much faster than a grown, habit-formed mind. Pretty soon, we'll be teaching Ruby and Ajax in Jr High just to make sure that our kids have a real chance at a job!Anyway, yet another great post on adapting! Keep it coming!
Steve,Take a look at Harold Jarche's recent article Knowledge artisans choose their tools. Fits in quite well with what you have here.The question isn't how to get people to hack work; those who really care about their work will "hack" it even if they don't know that is what they are doing. The real challenge is how to get the companies they work for to allow it (for those who are doing their great work as part of a company, and not on their own).