Facebook

Last month or two, blogsphere is abuzz about Facebook. Particularly, after Mark Zuckerberg, wonderboy CEO of Facebook, announced F8. For those who missed F8 announcement - this is Facebook launching a development platform to building applications leveraging social networks. A very good analysis of Facebook and its new social platform is done by Marc Andreessen at his blog here. I will recommend reading it.

F8 platform provides a good extensibility model around Facebook at interfaces/API, data access and user interface level. I also like the fact how it makes a close system – Facebook site in itself, open to building and extending the system – like building other applications on top of Facebook plus the governance model around it.

This move towards providing a platform for build social applications and access to its social network is fuelling speculation on how Facebook is going to be the next big thing. Pundits are already putting Facebook in a different league than MySpace given its open platform and ability to attract and build healthy and bigger ecosystem.

Personally, I like the move as it continues to influence and challenge traditional development thought processes by opening up the development paradigms necessary to embrace social style of development. An approach that embrace opening up development paradigm to foster healthy eco systems required to serve products and services necessary to deliver unique customer experiences. I have covered this topic in different contexts here, here, here and here.

You get what you measure (or lack of)

As the saying goes “What you can’t measure – you can’t improve”. Paul Kedrosky mentioned in his blog various metrics an enterprise software company to use. It lists a score card of a typical good enterprise software company.

Personally, I am a number kind of a guy and also emphasize measuring various aspect of business – be it around what we do (building, selling, supporting, etc.) in a company or how (process, organization structure, etc.) we do it. It makes decision making objective and helps the organization to focus on the right things. Although, people need to keep in mind common sense and an aspect on subjectivity before making decision – as sometimes indicators don’t tell the whole story.

Also before instituing any metrics, an organization management, should carefully consider what it is trying to accomplish. Metrics drives behavior within organization. So good metrics drive good behavior and bad metrics drive bad behavior in the organization.

Paul Kedrosky’s blog suggests few key measurements around various aspect of the business. It also include a typical score card that can be used to benchmark. Check it out.

In product development, few of the metrics that I find helpful are around the following:

1. Utilizing capacity and resources

2. Progress of current work in development

3. Several quality metrics of work in progress during various development phases

4. Quality of releases in the market

5. Customer satisfaction metrics

6. Various organization metrics

un pour tous, tous pour un

Oh! I just love it…

One for all, and all for one. Teamwork rocks!!

…

3P – People, Product and Process

Last few days, I was busy clearing much of the boxes that I had brought back from my office. It was walking down the memory lane going over various folders, documents and depositing them to recycle.

One thing I noticed was how long 3P – People, Product Process has been part of my work. I found meeting agenda starting in year 2001 that included 3P. Managing around these dimensions became an integral and central part of the work. Although, the concepts got molded over the period of time.

I don’t recollect how I got exposed to 3P initially – but I recall managing to these dimensions got re-enforced after I read “Execution” by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan sometime in 2002-03.

In “Execution”, these three dimensions were referred to as “Strategy” – focusing on why/what; “Operations” – focusing on how; and “People” – focusing on who.

Coming from the Product Development organization, “Strategy” seemed to me as something that result into a “Product” and “Operations” was all about “Processes” needed to build an efficient organization.

So what surfaced in my staff agenda in 2001 – still remains an integral part of the agenda today.

Also one thing about opening old boxes – sometimes I think, it is better to keep them closed. It helps save time and grief.