Rise Against Hunger 23,000 meals packaged! You can too!

On October 26, 2019 about 105 people got together for about 2.5 hours and packed 23,000+ meals with Rise Against Hunger. This picture shows just a portion of the meals packaged.

We had people packing meals from a net-working group that's hosted at the church, youth group members, boy scouts and cub scouts, the Interact club from the Roxbury High School and other community groups.

The work started about a year prior to this with many fundraisers to raise 34 cents per meal for a total of more than $7800.
Fundraisers included asking businesses for contributions, a fundraising dinner (Hillside3d.com), the youth group doing a car wash, bake sales, and more.

A member also sold more than $20,000 worth of Shoprite gift cards.  ShopRite donates a portion of the sale to the fundraising. If you would like to support our event next year by buying ShopRite gift cards, let us know.

Printastic donated the banner this year for the event so we could list all of the many supporting organizations. Some of the organizations were Diamond Gymnastics, Joe’s Pizza, Bryan’s Luncheonette, Nordic Contracting, Ronetco Supermarkets (ShopRite), Panera, Haagen Dazs, Flanders Bagel, and Fuddruckers. Please visit our supoorters.

Thank you to the many people and organizations who gave of their time to raise funds and pack meals.

Thank you to the many businesses, organizations, and individuals who supported the fundraising.

This year’s event was a follow-up to last year's event and we plan to do it again next year on Saturday, October 24, 2020. Here's where you can find out more, donate, or sign up to help.

A New Type of Net-Working Group

Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay

We've started a new type of net-working group.

It's Net-working because it's people who are working and people looking for work who are getting together to work on their "work journey". They help each other and work on the topics they choose together.

It's a group meeting monthly (Third Thursday) face-to-face in Morris Country New Jersey to discuss what they've applied. (Yes, we're in discussions about adding a monthly virtual meeting too).

It's also small teams (within the bigger group) of people meeting virtually every week or two (at an agreed time) to work together to apply tasks to make progress on their work journey.

It's also finding a "buddy" in the group to meet with a few times a week (phone or in-person as they agree) to help each other make progress on their work journey.

It's for people working and for people looking for work. Why? Because they can help each other since they have experience in the work journey.

It's about working together to build strong connections with others; this is the best form of networking.

We also take into consideration that the work journey is a spiritual one, so we address the spiritual needs too.

Come join us. Read more and sign up at this link

We are currently meeting in Morris County, New Jersey. As the group grows, we are considering expanding to other locations and virtual meetings too.

Digital Transformation and Disruption

Image by geralt on pixabay

 Note: I continue to provide talks on Digital Transformation. I'll add information here as I find more.

On October 2020 I am speaking on "Project Management of Digital Transformation". The original webinar is free. The replay will be available later for people who join the Great IT Professional.

A good friend, Steve Blais, has a presentation that I recommend on the subject of Digital Transformation (available on-demand). It is very informative. I include some of his points in my presentation.

Another good friend, George Pace, has a YouTube channel and he has been doing a weekly live streaming presentation on Digital Disruption. His website has more information too.

 These are notes from my earlier presentation on the same subject:

Someone was asking me today what my definition of Digital Transformation is. My definition is below. I had to think about it because I will be doing a presentation on the topic of "Managing Digitial Transformation and Disruption" on May 6, 2019 at the PMI NJ Symposium and I will provide the audience with a link to this blog post so they can find more information. So, this blog post will most likely be updated over time.

My Definition of Digital Transformation:
Digital Transformation is the use of digital technologies (AI, IoT, Cloud, Big data and analytics, blockchain, AR, VR, drones, etc.) to transform business.

It's not just about changing existing systems to use these technologies, but it's about leveraging these technologies to transform business.

Digital Transformation is much more effective when it delivers a focus on the customer.  There are several links below that demonstrate that importance.



Some helpful links:

Digital Transformation (DT) Definitions

• Brian Solis "The Definition of Digital Transformation" Jan 2017 - provides this graphic and definition of the 6 stages of DT. A very helpful article to understand the transformational stages provided by DT.
•  TechRepublic defines Digital Transformation - including financial forecasts, a video and link to Forrester report.
•  Zdnet "What is digital transformation? Everything you need to know about how technology is reshaping business" May 2018 - with video, text, and infographics, this article expresses spending figures around DT and top business projects.
• CIO "What is digital transformation? A necessary disruption" (Dec 2018)  Includes links to secrets of highly successful DT and 7 Myths of DT. Includes some stats, examples, and advice.

Digital Transformation Articles

• McKinsey: Five Moves to Make During a Digital Transformation : April 2019. This article emphasizes the following needs for successful digital transformation programs: clear objectives, bold scope, adaptive design, adopt agile, and clearly define leadership and accountability.
• How to Manage Disruptive Innovation - April 2019 Motley Fool interviews my friend John Cohn, IBM fellow. This article discusses several points about managing DT and my favorite point that John makes is to do it incrementally.
• Forrester "Forrester: Digital Rewrites The Rules Of Business" Feb. 2018 - This article (and accompanying white paper) stresses using DT to focus on the customer and deliver emotional customer experiences. 
• Gartner: "Embrace the Urgency of Digital Transformation" October 2017 with a reference to the Gartner "Hype Curve"
• Forbes: "What Is A Digital Transformation And Why Should You Care?"  - (Aug. 2018) A very good explanation of the new technologies that are driving digital transformation, examples, and what a businesses can do to be involved.
•  Harvard Business Review "Digital Transformation Is Not About Technology" - gives a failure rate of DT initiatives and provides lessons learned about how to go about DT
•  The "Business Agility Manefesto"  - While not directly about DT, this article speaks about business agility which can be supported by DT
• Salesforce "What Is Digital Transformation?" (not dated) - This article defined DT and provides addittional chapters on why businesses are going through DT, Examples of DT, and how to DT your business.
•  Linkedin Member post "Digital Transformation isn't only about Uber, Netflix, AirBnB or acronyms" Aug. 2007 uses a bit of humor (including a Dilbert comic), an example (in the job recruiting industry), and good story telling to show how he explains DT to customers.
• CIO: "Who in the C-suite owns emerging technology?" 2017 - Describes the clash at the C-lvel for ownership and responsibilty for emerging tech which enables DT.

Digital Transformation Pitfalls and Fixes

•  CIO "8 digital transformation mistakes (and how to fix them)" - October 2018
•  Digital Transformation and AI adoption: 5 lessons from senior leaders - techrepublic April 2019 - gives methods of how to make DT and AI adoption successful
• Tasktop "Discover Why Digital Transformations Fail at Scale" - (not dated) Free download (without email registration) of an ebook "Why Agile and DevOps transformations are failing at scale"
•  Forbes "The Three P's Of Digital Transformation" (April 2018) - Statistics relating to the challenges encountered with implementing DT strategy and ways to tackle these challenges. This article also emphasizes the importance of a customer experience centered strategy. 
• CIO "12 reasons why digital transformations fail" (August 2018) - Great examples of how to learn from others

Digital Transformation and Project Management

•  Silicon Angle "Gartner says AI will assume 80% of all project management tasks by 2030"  Summary and reference to a Gartner press release of a similar title. 
• Villanova University "Disruptive Technology: Expanding the Project Manager’s Role"  - speaks to how PMOs have had to change their roles due to disruptive technologies. Emphasizes the need for Change Management
• TechRepublic "5 ways project management can help you hack digital transformation" Feb 2019 - Videos and Text- figures of companies with DT strategies and number successful, how project management will be involved and help
• Projectified with PMI  "Digital Transformation — Why It Matters" Oct. 2017 - 26 minute podcast and transcript with DT definition, examples, culture.
• Simplilearn "Digital Transformation Hits the Project Management Profession Head On" Oct. 2018 - While this has a bit of advertising for their PMP classes, it does reference some stats on DT projects and an Altimeter group survey.
• The Telegraph "All change please: it’s digital transformation time" Nov. 2018 - This article supplies some business stats, viewpoint from Vodaphone CEO, and references a report.

Digitial Transformation Use Cases

• WIRED: "McDonald's Bites on Big Data With $300 Million Acquisition" - March 2019 - McDonald's is acquiring a Predictive Analytics company to provide customer centric service
• Informatica "Heard Enough About Digital Transformation From Uber and AirBnB?"  Dec. 2016 Videos and text give additional examples of DT including Land O'lakes
•  The Digital Transformation People "Are Digital Platform Companies Like Uber & Airbnb Disrupting Traditional Industries?" Feb 2017 Gives good infographics and examples.

Disruption / VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity)

• Forbes: "What Does VUCA Really Mean?" Dec. 2018 - Explains VUCA very well with a graphic
• Harvard Business Review: "What VUCA Really Means for You" Jan/Feb. 2014 - has a great chart with VUCA examples.
  

Artificial Inteligence:

• PWC "Six AI Priorities you Can't Afford to Ignore" - Great list of business priorities for AI. The left navigation also has access to a video and more pertinent AI challenges to be tackled
• WIRED guide to AI

Customer Experience and Design Thinking

• The Right Way to Lead Design Thinking - Harvard Business Review March-April 2019. This article speaks about the importance of empathizing with the customer. There are good case history stories and a good example of how to navigate ambiguity.

Project Complexity (occurs during DT)

• Project Complexity Model - This article explains many aspects of project complexity. Most, if not all of these, occur in DT projects

 

 

Job Search Methods

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

As a follow-up to my post entitled "Free Job Search Advice Links (tips, hints and more)", I thought it would be helpful to others if I listed some Job search methods that can be used.

First, some stories, then the links and stuff
Note: Everyone will tell you that finding people at your target companies is at least 4 (and as much as 8) times more effective than applying online. You want to get to the decision makers. These methods are ways of doing that. They recommend spending far more time on these types of efforts than on submitting your resume into online job listing sites (which many refer to as the "Black hole").

I had interviews with 5 companies, 3 of them came from recruiters who found me through searching LinkedIn and finding my profile. I believe what I've been told that being more active on LinkedIn and making sure you have keywords in your profile are a big help. I believe that is why these recruiters found me. I was making posts quite often: usually every working day of the week at prime internet times and using #hastags to draw attention to them. Also, make sure you change your settings to say if you are actively looking (and this flag is automatically reset after some time, so check it every few weeks).

The other two companies I had interviews with came from relationships I started and nurtured. Once came from when LinkedIn gave me the name of a recruiter who posted a job I applied to. Although, that perticular job didn't work out, I followed up often with that recruiter and we had several phone calls. Eventually they got to know me and helped me gain an interview for another position I saw that they posted. The other came from a technical meeting with that company. There are many meetups on Meetup.com and other sites that you can attend and build real strong relationships with people.

It's important to remember to be reciprocal and offer help to these people who are helping you.

1. Network with a focus
1. Network with generosity, giving, and listening.
2. The goal is to find (and develop) folks to be advocates and champions for you. Sometimes you'll find people that you never knew before will help you a lot.
3. Meet with people - preferably face-to-face for coffee or lunch. If you can't meet in person, then talk on the phone. Asking for a job isn't always going to help them to be successful in helping you. Ask for something that they can successfully help you with.
4. Ask them for job search advice and referrals to other people you can meet for job search advice. You can say "I know you're a successful person, can you introduce me to other successful people that I can meet with and explain my career goals and hear about theirs"
5. Go to Networking meetings, meetup groups - make valuable introductions, listen to their needs first and ask questions. Provide a paper that shows the parameters of your search (where, when, what, goal, target companies). Offer to help them in some way. Follow up with them.
6. Connect to people who you usually meet: neighbors, churches, charitible organizations, volunteering activities, the gym, the barber/hairdresser, grocery store
7. Go to Meetup.com events to find people with like interests or hobbies. Or, find a technical or business group in meetup.com - you may even find that a target employer has meetup events
8.  Reach out to people you have worked with before. Do they have a contact at a particular customer you want to contact? Do they have contact information?
2. Connect to people on linkedin - 
1. You can search for people at your target company who are doing what you are looking for or manage those roles. Always include a personallized message when inviting them to connect.
2. Lisa Rangel suggests you can send a message along the lines of "In the spirit of networking, I hope you will agree to connect with me" - then, once you are connected, ask them questions and offer to help them. You can ask about getting together for coffee or lunch. You can ask about the company culture or how to find connectiions there. 
3. Try making a connection with HR folks in your target companies. If you can get an advocate there, then you'll have help to get to a position.
4. Make connections with recruiters and talk to them on a regular basis
5. Post information (use hashtags) on LinkedIn, Comment and share articles, "like" posts to that you are more active. I've heard that this puts you higher in search rankings when recruiters look for people.
6.  Update your LinkedIn profile with keywords that recruiters would look for to find you (you can find these keywords in job descriptions you are interested in. You can also look for people who are in positions you are looking for and see what makes their LinkedIn profiles great. Do the same types of things with your own profile.
7. Use LinkedIn groups to contact people with similar interests and goals (by industry, professional affiliation, professional groups, hobbies). Post and comment on articles in these groups.
8. NEW 2019-03-21: A friend told me that when he found a job he was interested in, he looked on linkedin and found 2 dozen people at that one company. He either sent them email (if it was on their profile) or sent them a nicely worded invitation to connect and told him he applied to the particular job and asked for them to put in a good word for him and forward his resume. One of the people forwarded his resume to the hiring manager and he was hired!
3.  Contact recruiters (internal to companies and external, like executive recruiters): remember, they are working for the companies who seek applicants, they don't work for you. But, you can search linkedin for recruiters who have positions you are interested in.
1. optional: find recruiters that work with the companies you are targetting -use a LinkedIn search to find them.
2. You can use searchfirm.com to find recruiters
3. 2019-06-20 I just heard from someone that they use LinkedIn.com to search for recruiters and reach out to them (write a customer request to join).
4. Letter writing campaign - find people in the target company who would be the hiring manager for the position you are interested in. Ask people you are connected to in the target company for contacts or use google or LinkedIn to find these perspective hiring managers. Or, better yet, aim high to get someone at a level above your position to advocate for you. Send these people a postal letter, fedex, or USPS Priority mail explaining how you can help them. Tell them who you are in addition to what you can do for them. Tell something unique about yourself (maybe a hobby or volunteer work) and how it relates to your business strength. tell them how you differentiate yourself. Tell them you'll follow up in a week or two. Do that follow-up (find their phone number, email or use LinkedIn inmail). Ask for a meeting. Tell them that you're a successful professional as they are and you'd like to get to know each other by meeting.
5. Unemployment or employement offices in your state might have services you can use. Also, if you attended college, many colleges provide help.
6. Volunteer: By volunteering to do work you will gain people who know you, see your quality of work, see how you treat people, and want to be your champion.
7.  Look at eventbrite, meetup, or other places for events your target company might hold (or that people from those companies might attend). Attend and speak with people. Ask for follow-up meetings to get to know each other.
8. Direct Connections and Circle the Hiring Manager (2019-06-10 New addition) :  After identifying your target companies to work for, make connections with many people who would interface with the hiring manager for a position there. Do a google search (or linkedin search) for the probable title of the hiring manager for a position you would want in your target company (it doesn't have to be a posted position).  Look in LinkedIn for people connected to that hiring manager, or search for titles of people who would work with them (those who would manage them, those they would collaborate with, those they would manage). Make contact with them (search for their contact info) and ask for some time to get their input on the type of work you're interested in. Meet in person or on the phone. Continue this process until you have spent time with everyone near to the hiring manager. Eventually, you will be able to make contact with the hiring manager by using these people to introduce you.
9. The "Two Hour Job Search" - see https://2hourjobsearch.com/ - Steve Dalton also posts in Huffington Post.  
10. Informational Interviews. Here's an article about them:  https://www.shimmeringcareers.com/blog/job-interview-preparation-informational-interview/
11. Referrals:  see https://cultivatedculture.com/how-to-get-a-job-anywhere-no-connections/
 

If you know of other methods, please reply here with your comments!