Steve Hooker: GOWM

Big John at GOWM

Mon, 14 Mar 2005 14:38:54 GMT

Here's the dude, John Garland, in front of his cabinets. Due to the recently announced cuts in the civil service, it sounds as if there will be no IT department. It'll probably be outsourced. But don't tell any one, because it'll scare the horses.

What do you mean Steve?

Well, most of the civil servants are ex pen pushers, ink and quill pens! And not very computer literate. Having someone in the building who could come down and help has helped. Telephoning someone to try and explain the problem so they can figure out what the problem is before they can offer a solution is going to be... problematical.

Content manangement without a system

Wed, 06 Oct 2004 21:32:25 GMT

Good article about CMS verses people. Much of the battle of creating a good, useful, up to date site, is in the people, not the system. "I know that," as George Bush would say.

This is the same issue that comes up in knowledge management. It's just too hard or too burdensome to add knowledge to the store, so people don't.

At the Government Office where I've set up a CMS using Manila, and where they've been using it now for over 4 years, the same was initially true. It was a tedious chore to add content, no matter how easy I made it. Sure they said they could understand the end benefits, but nobody steped forward to do it. Ultimately, the only solution was to make it part of some people's job description to update their section of the intranet, with one person over seeing the show and maintaining the content for everything. This has worked successfully. The intranet has grown enormously, and is the first port of call for questions. I think it was much of Manila's ease that made it a successful intranet. Some of my skills making weird and wonderful additions. But, mainly, OK, mostly the people process.

The distributed content editors know what to add and when. It's their job to. So far I've trained 50 or so such editors. A two hour beginner course is all they need. Many only come to the training for the laugh, Manila's CMS is so easy, and they've been doing it for so long, they know it as well as me. Though they threaten intermediate courses, and some have signed up, I don't think they'd need it, learning on the job as it were, is far better. I hope one day some will migrate up to managing Manila sites with Radio and it's outliners and the wonderful tricks and fancy flourishes that could occur there... Sigh, but they don't need it.

The main content cheese, rattles cages if things aren't in the right place at the right time. He knows if he doesn't his boss will rattle his cage, roughly. I think this is the way of it in the UK civil service.

Meanwhile the IT bods, keep the thing going, and call me in now and then when a special needs doing, or something weird is happening.

Of course, I try to get everybody in the whole place set up with their own Manila blog. "Bung it in, we'll sort it some how. Let anarchy reign, freedom for thinkers," cry I. But giving freedom of thought an airing in public, even if it's behind a firewall is near impossible in such an antagonistic, hierarchical structure. I think this is how it is, in the UK civil service. Nice people, but I wouldn't want to work there.

Another training day with local UK Government

Tue, 06 Jul 2004 21:14:26 GMT

Good bunch of people, all of them this time, and very interested in Manila, pity I ran out of time. Usually, I don't get a full compliment, this time I was over subscribed and sharing monitors (and manuals), with more wanting to get in after we started.

A quick two hour whizz through their intranet publishing system... Though they know it's a Manila erm... something, barely do they know the full power. Some use it daily, some not yet at all.

No wonder the time passed quickly, and I barely had time to thrill about RSS aggregation and how it's the next big thing. Though many were enamoured by my aggregator. And these guys have four, FOUR, archive years worth of all sorts of stuff. Though as they haven't been using Manila to the best effect, I'm unsure if these piles will be of much value. I think the future looks rosy with more sites being spawned, more stuff going in.

As I've discovered some people who, I feel, are genuinely interested in being more productive certainly, better informed definitely, but I wonder if they could blog?

For the first time, I didn't mention the word blog, I briefly, whizzed through knowledge management though I doubt they'd remember. But, blog—no. Content management—yes. RSS aggregation, XML, URL, reverse chronological news page. But blog? No.

They appreciated the "shortcuts feature" a spin off from the address book app I built for all staff (though some names weren't in the address book). All they have to do to add a link to someone's details, location, numbers et. al. is surround their name with quotes. To get a mugshot, add the word mugshot, to get their mailTo link, add email. Thus, "steve hooker mugshot" ;-)

Another department has asked me back. Non IT too. Bottom up infiltration of... Blogs! <manic taking over the world laugh>

Let users decide what's important and what's to be done in your company

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:11:52 GMT

This article tells of the layers of corporate waffle and loss making work middle manages seem to generate, but the one gem is this allegory:

An architect once designed a cluster of buildings. When asked by the landscape crew where to pave the sidewalks, he told them to plant grass between all the buildings, wait a year, then, after the occupants had worn the most useful paths, the architect told the landscape crew to pave the pathways that the occupants had created.

The comments and discuss features in blogs, where readers can leave feedback help to create the right lines, the right thinking, the right story. People aggregate and work out the best paths, ideas, deeper conversations happen, people actually think harder before they write. Relationships start between people and ideas. Other blogs link into these thoughts, stories, driving more traffic, and more thought... This is group thinking at its best. AKA internal, blogging systems, just like the one I run for the Government Office for the West Midlands.

Governments waste money

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 11:07:22 GMT

Interesting training day yesterday at the Government Offices for the West Midlands. (I was giving Manila training.)

I learned two important things:

Someone's daughter wanted to be a horse at the age of three. Thus, I shouldn't worry that my 3 year old Bradley wants to be a girl because he's "not brave of having his toenails cut."
On the topic of spending tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds plus increased labour on web projects when Manila could do it out of the box.

That money needed to be spent quickly less it disappeared, if it wasn't spent it may not come back and this was "the way Government works."
And, people would make purchasing decisions between, very low cost and very large cost without the slightest technical knowledge nor seeking advice, because "it gets their dick hard to spend loads."

several

RSS in (US) Government

Sun, 04 Jan 2004 13:59:57 GMT

"RSS in Government News about how RSS is being used by international, federal, state, and local governments"

As usual the UK Gov't haven't a clue. Why, oh why are we so behind? Answer: most of the UK Gov't leaders are technophobes. At least in my experience. And in others too.

It's no good to say I can use email therefore I am a technophile. When it is derogatory to call some one a techie it's vital we do something to get more techies into positions of authority and power. The culture and approach to IT in UK Government is risk adverse, and prefers to delay decisions thinking that the tortoise rather than the hare will win.

RSS is a tiny, tiny expense much like many of the IT solutions out there, yet it is the big, big plans and applications that are usually a waste of money which receive all the glory.

The e-envoy, Andrew Pindar: "Three-quarters of the population have never visited a government website at all." Because they're dull and lack personality? Where are the guides?

National strategy for technology nets £150million

Fri, 19 Dec 2003 10:24:56 GMT

"New government procurement guidelines to make government a more 'intelligent customer'"

Don't make me laugh.

"We want the UK to be a key knowledge hub in the global economy: a country with a reputation not only for outstanding scientific and technological discovery, but also for turning that knowledge into new and exciting products and services," said Science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury, who has been leading a review of innovation policy.

Blogs connect innovative people, forces them into thinking before they write, and allows rapid peer collaboration and correction.

'Lost generation' of bosses blamed for IT mediocrity

Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:21:00 GMT

Techies tend to be sidelined in key decision-making and are disconnected from the management mainstream. In effect, low-tech managers are forcing the UK economy into a low tech equilibrium.

This really pisses me off. I see this so often and hear, anecdotally from those techies, of idiotic management decisions spending orders of magnitude too much on pissy projects, and pennies on mission criticals.

I agree about the IT literacy tests. Especially in the 'jobs for life' UK Civil Service.

Government Office of the West Midlands: the visuals

Wed, 19 Nov 2003 16:41:39 GMT

Initial thoughts about layout.

Add a little colour...

Work them up a little, first idea.

Second idea in different colourways.

Make the first idea look like the second.

And finally... In black. Three images. Each month the image will change being something seasonal.

And finally... In grey.

BBC: sexing up e-government

Wed, 05 Nov 2003 12:31:16 GMT

"The officials from Santa Clara also have a few words of advice for their UK counterparts, suggesting a culture change in government might be needed.

"You need a strategy for e-democracy," said Mr Ajmani. "You need to get the public involved in decision-making. This takes a very long time for elected people to be comfortable with.""

Involving people? Sounds like a job for blogs :-)