Why We’re Bad At Newtworking #3: The New Skew Review

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Last week as I explored why we’re bad at networking, I covered how the basics are actually poorly handled, taught, and communicated. Somehow among all the books and lectures, we manage to get the actual basics of networking made boring, repetitive, and incoherent. In turn, that turns us off to networking and misinforms us.

However there’s a flip side to Basic Buzzword Breakdown that also makes us bad at networking; The Onslaught of The New.

Look I’m a big Neophile in my own way (that means I like new things, not that I love Neo in The Matrix). I love new stuff. I love interesting stuff. However there’s a lot to be said for the basics, for the old school, for known things, and that “lot to be said is “this stuff works and is reliable.”

Unfortunately, as part of the Hammering On Of Networking (which I don’t think I’m a part) we get the latest new thing dragged out and shoved in our faces and shot into our eyeballs. There’s always some Big! New! Networking! Thing!

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Project Management Time: The Horizontal And The Vertical

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As a Project Manager I both have to run processes, create processes, and get people do to them. It’s not as exciting as it sounds (and if the idea excites you then . . . well, we’re a lot a like).

The problem is that people don’t want to follow process for the most part. Who does like to fill out forms, do documentation, get the right boxes checked, etc.? People don’t enjoy this for the most part, and at best tolerate it.

Yet, at times, you’ll notice some processes do get done. Sometimes automatically, sometimes grudgingly. But they get done (and usually get done without coercion, or much of it).

So why does this happen? What is the difference between things that get done and things that don’t?

My answer is that there are Horizontal and Vertical Processes.

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Now This is How You Teach TCP/IP Headers

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Use legos.

Yes, this person figured out a way to use legos to represent header files and make them easier to understand.  If you don’t know what a header file is . . . well then you probably don’t care.  If you do care, this is a great instructional tool to explain IT issues to people . . .

Thanks to Boing Boing.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.