The MVC-ETL Pattern

Nothing's too easy in software development when you haven't done it for a while or don't really have a dev plan.  Hours can be wasted setting up the tools, prototyping and testing.  A friend of mine has been asking me recently how to use MVC for his project.  Last night I spent some time with him and realized that his problem was not just understanding and using MVC, it was also that his data was not ready.  So where to begin?

ETL

When we have a data-driven app, we really have just two options: 1) build forms and code to store our data in exactly the shape we're going to use it or 2) use ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools and techniques to shape our data into the necessary output formats.

The popular visual, gui-based ETL tools that I know of in wide use today are Alteryx, Tableau Prep Builder and Microsoft SSIS.  There are many more.  ETL tools (this could be code like C#, Python, R, etc. but here I'm only talking about visual tools that to me are more approachable and usable) are used to connect to data sources (extract), twist and turn the data into the shapes and outputs you want (transform) and save them off for access later (load).

The Tableau Prep Builder user interface that in the top pane, left side, we connect to some data, twist and turn it into our output shapes, join it and all that visually, then finally output it to a final source.

MVC

MVC is the Model View Controller software pattern.  There are many frameworks that implement this pattern.  My favorite is Microsoft ASP.NET MVC, which I have been using since 2009.  Something that goes really well with MVC in ASP.NET is Entity Framework, which makes it easy to connect to and work with data in a language like C#.  Another powerful aspect of the .NET Framework is LINQ to SQL which makes it easy to work with data within code. 

What the folder structure of an ASP.NET MVC web application looks like.  Note that there are folders for the Models, Views and Controllers.  This makes it easier for developers to separate and utilize these three aspects.

The Model in MVC is the database, and perhaps the one we created above in ETL.  There may be additional database tables we need to use and all the "logic" of the data and its shape and form live within this module.

The Controllers in MVC are those things that help us get and put the data.  From controllers, we connect to, work with, surface and store data.  Some transformations can take place here but for the purposes of this article, I am handling all the "heavy lifting" data transformations in the ETL flow described above.  The benefits of this approach are the we can separate our concerns between MVC which is great for making software applications and ETL, which is great for turning data into the shapes we need for our apps.

The Views in MVC are the actual screens that users see and interact with.  Screens can be created for viewing or entering data.  The views might have ViewModels that go into them that make it easy for the logic of the view to present the data to the user.

MVC and ETL Together: PB&J

By combining the power of MVC to make applications with the power of ETL to turn your data into easily-usable shapes, developers today can expand their reach, improve the quality of their apps and time to market.

Lindsey Coen-Fernandez of Advantage Performance Group Shares Some Wisdom

We just caught up with Lindsey Coen-Fernandez of Advantage Performance Group.  Lindsey is an inspiring entrepreneur and leader in the area of organization development.  I went to one of Lindsey's workshops just before Christmas and had a great time.  Here's our follow up items based on the call with her:

Lindsey has an upcoming workshop she'll be putting on around the May time frame and stay tuned for that.  She believes the will likely be "The Neuroscience Behind Decision Making".  I had never heard of an "analytic network coach" and that's her specialty.  Sounds good.  I can see how helping people with decision making is a very key skill for facilitators.  I typically list options with pros and cons and a recommendation or argument, for example.  David Slight's BDN model and our causality conversation topics for this year sound similar as well.

Lindsey's target market is $100M to $500M businesses: not yet enterprises but rather well established.  She is seeking more business in the NW and has traveled extensively, globally for years.  She also produces webinars.

I plan to connect her with my friends John and Toni from the US Forest Service who run the National Facilitator Cadre when I worked with them back in 2012.  Also, I will connect her with the new Environmental subgroup that formed out of Indivisible Eastside.  Check out IE!  

Lindsey recommended a meetup to me (I shared my involvement in the Corruption subgroup for IE) called "Let's Talk About Race" from DNDA.  I commented to her how Race and Security topics coincide a great deal.  I have a list of local Security experts that I maintain it would be fun to get them together and involved.

Lindsey also recommend Andy Storch who has a podcast called Entrepreneur Hot Seat and a company called "The Hustle", which produces a daily newsletter about the latest tech and business info for millennials and are making good money with their business model.

Thanks to Lindsey to all of her great wisdom.  Check her out! 

26 Interesting Things About Modern Product & Service Development

We are prepping for the February Podcast, which will be about Developing & Managing Products and Services.  It's an exciting and fun topics.  Here are some of the highlights from the meetup that we are considering for the Podcast.  Please provide your input and ideas or what you would like us to cover.  What challenges do you have with the topic?  What blind spots are there?  What practices and principles have you used that worked?

1. Chaos Theory and Non-Linear Dynamics
2. The Developing and Managing Products and Services area from the APQC PCF (link) 
3. Known small effects that have lead to huge changes, issues, problems, catastrophes or events: the butterfly effect, the straw that broke the camel's back and other tipping points. 1 degree shifts.
4. What are elements, tools and practices of the modern practice of product and service development?
1. In Software
2. Physical Products
3. Services
5. Which companies are making the best and most innovative products today and how?  Why?  For example, the DJI Mavic Drones, South Park, Air BnB, Uber, who else?
6. Who is providing the best service today and how?  What are the elements of it?
7. The importance of decision making and how differences in beliefs or decisions can grossly impact the quality of success on a project.
8. "Incantations" and parrots.  How many people are simply repeating others and not questioning the cause or underlying assumptions that fed into what they currently see or perceive?  Copy cats might not and should not last. (Developing the deepest and most defensible niche).
9. The topic of "Everything dies or is dying"
10. Application and Product Lifecycle Management, Phases of Product Lifecycles (Plan, Define, Realize, Commericalize, Phase Out) and it also includes Supply Chain Managmeent and Customer Relationship Management (And SUpport Processes)
11. Is PLM the core engine of value and growth within a company (probably)?
12. Techniques for being able to reasonably work with complexity or complex systems, ideas, concepts, etc.
13. What are the problems and challenges in working with complex systems?  What are the tools for overcoming their challenges?
14. Attribution: how it might be hard to determine what really was the original impact, actor, etc. that caused a process to develop into what it is today or what it would / could become.
15. Why did "non-linear management" get so many eye-rolls when shared with the group?  Isn't that what we're talking about after all?  Too much of a buzzword?
16. Challenges with "insight alignment" and how we can have and align group insights for optimal performance, value and outcomes.
17. Entropy and counter-entropy systems.  Organizing around an increasingly chaotic world.
18. "An organizational immune system" and what it would be.  What are its properties and methods?  
19. Product intelligence vs. business intelligence.  Is one bottoms up and the other tops down?  Do both matter?
20. Thresholds and control systems, alerts and alarms for responding to important conditions
21. The need for "crossing domains" for innovation and creativity.  Yin and Yang as opposing forces that somehow find balance in the middle.  If the world could be seen as these components, what would they be and how would they be managed?
22. Which metrics matter and how would we identify missing metrics in our model before it was too late?
23. Divine flaws, fractures, and "seeds of disaster".  Are they really there?  Does this feature really exist in everything?
24. The need to "go up one level of abstraction" and to use data, models and visualization for managing.
25. Failing fast and failing slow.  Combating the forces of failure and death in business.
26. Two separate forces in innovation 1) truly producing something new and out of context 2) integrating that product/service/thing into an existing company, product line, market, etc.  What do we call these practices?

Tune into Episode 4 of the AppsJack Capable Communities Podcast in mid February '17 to hear more about all of these topics.

About Vision & Strategy - How to develop it, other challenges and considerations

We had a motley crew of awesome people show up to the AppsJack Share gathering last in Kirkland to talk about Vision & Strategy. I got a lot of great input (see everything below) that will help me better direct the January version of the podcast.

Key Takeaways:

1. Strategy and approach (what to do) depends on the stage and situation of the business
2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) a good way to break down complex projects
3. Internal and external lenses/views/perspectives key to understanding and thinking about strategy
4. Personal and corporate authenticity key to successful implementation
5. Aligning an essential skill
6. Nuance and readiness for seeing, understanding, integrating and working with outliers and anomalies is another key
7. Timeframe matters for strategic thinking
8. Context matters (and therefore controlling/limiting scope and having focus)
9. There is a general prerence toward rapid tests of assumptions (failing fast) rather than long and protracted 'strategic' actions but there are times when the latter tactics (strategic actions) matter
10. We couldn't determine whether or not models mattered. Models are meant to be broken, so why manage to them or even think about them?
11. The mitigation and reduction of risk is key to successful strategy
12. Design thinking is a key and related skill
13. Strategy isn't and shouldn't be thought of as linear

We wondered at the very beginning if we should start by discussing vision or strategy and the answer, perhaps not surprisingly, was 'it depends'.  Chris brought up a good point that it very much depends on the stage, phase or status of the organization.  Assessment and triage (qualification) is first needed.  Steve raised challenges he has about breaking down a compelling vision into the component parts.  To me, these are the skills of project managers and other leaders who make complex and challenging things easier, that can be communicated to the necessary suppliers.  Work breakdown structure is a common method.  Mike Pritchard shared that he thinks there is an internal and external vision.  Joe Okonek refers to the vision, values and valued behaviors as things that can / should be externally communicated and publicly shared.  Missions, for example, can be internal documents and communications that help internal relationships focus on comm and strategic goal.  Public/open and private/closed is another dimension on which to explore strategy.

Good parts / what attendees liked: mentions of sex, swearing, arguments, passionate discussion, British accents, food, beer.  Authenticity was brought up as a key factor in this area.  Without true authenticity (and value, quality) your audience will see you as a fake and disengage (won't authorize).  Berry talked about the importance of alignment.  For example, aligning yourself and your company with the market and environment and their vision, values, purposes, needs, interests, ideas, etc.  Dominic talked about the difference between power (which can be personal and thought of as influence) and force, which can be applied from the tops down if someone has a lot of money or ability to coerce.  10 types of power are discussed in this article.  David brought up the point that strategy usually requires a longer and more futuristic timeline.  For example, he said that it's hard to be strategic for two minutes.  

Dominic led us in a discussion of the definition of a strategy and there were many different thoughts and opinions.  Someone defined a strategy as choosing an approach or an approach chosen ie a decision and commitment was necessarily made. I brought up the notion that it is hard to create a perfect product but many people disagreed: that within a domain, there can be a perfect product.  But there is a context, and knowing this context well is critical for product success.  Dominic wanted us to separate 'strategy' generically with 'strategy with a purpose' (a clear why). I brought up an issue I was having at work making a decision to build a feature for a big customer or not.  I am in the process of determining whether their request is qualified or not.  There is much skill required in qualification of certain issues.  Many at the table believed that 'if you are going to fail, fail fast' and people didn't like the idea of dragging on some elaborate process but others believed that caution and due diligence, not just action, were required in certain ambiguous political situations.  There are also scenarios where people cannot afford to fail fast, especially when there is not yet a powerful coalition, agreement and a clearly articulated and communicated vision.  

Richard wanted to know, "How do you know you have strategy?"  It's a good question.  We agreed that force, power, belief, authenticity, conviction and in many ways consistency were required for strategy.  But flexibility and other leadership qualities are also required.  We talked for some time about whether models were important or not.  David did not believe they were beneficial.  I gave the example of NoSQL database strategies where the data gets stored independent of a rigid table schema.  Many new data storage strategies do not rely on a centralized schema.  Differences between abstractions and concrete proof, evidence or data were interesting.  "Insight" or mental models are interesting when derived from data or science.  Steve talked about millennials and their needs.  He says that they share a desire for a better world and have this impediment of the rest of the world who is still alive, their elders.  

Someone pointed out that it is important to seek out anomalies in your data and to test assumptions.  Andy Scott made the point about the import of assumption testing on Episode 2 of the podcast.  Assumptions are a category or area of risk.  Steve shared the saying, "The presumptuous assume, the sumptuous consume."  People do need to build and test (at least mental) models.  Jean brought up the saying to test early and test often.  I shared about test-driven development (TDD), which is about only writing enough code (doing enough) to pass the next test.  It is a Lean approach.  Richard talked about the Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) role at Netflix and how they have build their strategy and plan around mitigating risk.  Managing and reducing risk is a key element of good strategy.  We talked a lot about design, design thinking and its import and spent quite a bit of time talking about Steve Jobs as a visionary and who else he surrounded himself with that helped make him successful.  It was suggested that Jonathan Ive at Apple was very critical to Steve's success and controlled and manipulated him in many ways.  He did of course have many failures as well.  Someone shared the idea of designing for failure, not success.  

Dominic wanted to make it clear that strategy was not linear and that it runs off of principles related to non-linear dynamics and non-linear systems.  Berry shared that it is our intention as managers to create systems that control and constrain--and this is necessary--but does indeed rub up against the truly dynamic nature of people and systems; feedback loops and quality systems that continuously transform and improve systems are indeed required.  We talked about automation and its important and how design decisions like 'who does what' plays big-time into strategy.  In my opinion, users should be the preferred and default / de facto actor and some (many?) of them should have the option to do a task themselves (value add) or delegate a task to a computer or someone else.  We started talking about the podcast toward the end of the event and Bruce recommended The Boss Show, which is a Seattle-area recording about bosses.

Berry posed the question, "How do you know that your vision is not a unicorn?" which is basically to say that you are not living a delusion or tilting at windmills.  The book Black Swan was recommended.  Richard talked a lot about the many types of currencies which relates to the idea of non-monetary economies.  I wondered out loud and Steve agreed that there is some sort of harmonic mathematical equation that describes a leader's oscillation between hypothesis tests and failures.  Bruce brought up 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey and I mentioned that The 8th Habit is about "finding your true voice and helping others find theirs".  The book also talks a lot about connecting strategies of the head with those of the heart which is probably truly about authenticity, believe and conviction.

Questions and topics for further consideration:

• A Strategy (noun) vs. Strategy (verb) - What are the differences?
• The skill of qualification; how to qualify, what to qualify, what to ignore?
• Modern automation thoughts - who does what and what to do with the displaced workers?
• Why do the ideas of internal/private/closed and external/public/open help us in thinking about strategy?
• How do you know you have strategy?  (What is strategy?)
• What are the differences between real-world models and mental models and/or thought processes?  
• Test-driven design in management?
• The applications of flexibility and rigidity in strategy development

Which topics, ideas and points would like to see covered on the podcast about Vision & Strategy?

Managing Enterprise Risk, Compliance and Resiliency - Recap of October AppsJack Business Services Share meetup

The AppsJack Share team gathered on Tuesday, October 25th at Big Fish Grill in Kirkland, WA to discuss "Enterprise Risk, Compliance and Resiliency".  The guests were seasoned professionals who shared many interesting ideas about the topic.  Here are some of the biggest ideas and highlights.  Next month's topic is Managing External Relationships.

What is an acceptable level and/or amount of risk?

Risk can be scored and quantified but it is quite hard to measure.

Risk is comparative and/or relative, not absolute.

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) can be a handy tool for looking at the dark side of situations and understanding potential impacts.

Risk Priority Number (RPN) is used, commonly in the automotive industry, as a measure of assessed risk and helps identify critical failure modes associated with a design or process. RPN values range from 1 (absolute best) to 1000 (absolute worst).  RPN is somewhat similar to the criticality.

Quite a bit of conversation was had about differences between risk (perceived negative impact) and opportunity (perceived negative impact).  Weighing both of these sides is critical for decision making.  Both live within the context of uncertainty.  Information gathering, research and assessment are  good tools to reduce uncertainty and increase the ability to predict outcomes.

David Slight brought up the point about the cost to mitigate.  Just because a risk could be mitigated, the question is raised "is it worth mitigating?"

Risk reduction is indeed a measurement and tool that is commonly used.

Paul, a first-time attendee and new Seattleite (welcome to the group, Paul), shared about the tool of Potential Problem Analysis.  PPA is a way that can help analysts anticipate problems before they happen and to identify the actions needed to be taken to prevent them from happening, or to minimize the effect.

David said that many people assume that there is a 1:1 relationship between the problem and its solution, which is a fallacy.  And that risk is oftentimes hierarchically decomposed, which presents issues since things are multi-dimensional and multi-faceted (do not fall into simple hierarchies).  NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) provides a Risk Management Framework that is common in industry.

Fred said that a lack of a Business Continuity plan is one of the biggest risks that companies face.  Without this plan, they have no plan and are therefore at risk.

There are many types of risk: financial, reputation, technological, infrastructural, contractual, relational, global, service, project, corporate, enterprise, operational.  This page has many of the risk types explained and differentiated.

Controls and compliance are big parts of the risk management process and plan.

Eric shared about extremely significant cultural differences about risk between companies in, say, healthcare, and those in, say, fashion.  Stark differences in language and behavior can be seen between these two cultures.

Jean, who was at the group for the first time and is currently taking a Building your Own Theology class at BCC,  shared about a big difference between the occurrence of the risk and the actual harm that results from it.  The risk event and the following harm or actions are two different areas, each requiring management, caution and care.

There are many situations and scenarios where we as humans choose to "look the other way" from a risk or issue so we maintain focus on our current projects and mission.  We "accept" (by ignoring) the other risk and therefore are at risk to its potential harm.  Risk and strategy are closely related.

We spoke quite a bit about authorization and systems including roles.  The BART system (Boundary, Authority, Role and Task) is a good way to clearly define roles.

We moved onto the topic of resiliency.  We agreed that scalability was related, as is the idea of "foreverness".  A clear plan that is aware of various thresholds, steps and milestones can help with communications about foreverness, a commitment to permanence and resiliency.

Many organizational and management-level issues can crop up in the topic of risk, authority and resiliency.  For example, there are many scenarios when people have a lot of responsibility but no authority.  Legitimate power delegated is a key to organizational success and growth.  (Managing down the chain).

Reba and others commented on individual-level requirements such as "if I found it, then I fix it".  Leadership and care at the individual level are required for organizations to survive and grow optimally.  Tableau has a core cultural value of "We Work as a Team" and that works well but it can also get into a blaming situation where no one (only the team) is accountable.  I felt that a similar cultural value of "I either hand-off well or I win." was a good one.

"I either hand off or we win."

Bruce, an always great contributor at the meetings, shared the phrase "you can't manage a secret".  And Leland, also new to the meeting, shared about the need for positive handoff.

Ultimately culture and individual attitudes, aggregated, play into the ability of an organization to identify and effectively manage risk, be compliant and be resilient.  Next month, we will talk about Managing External Relationships that plays into this topic very well.  Keep your eyes and ears peeled for our podcast on these and other topics coming soon.

We are considering naming the AppsJack Share Podcast "WonkTalk", "Community", "Communities of Purpose", "Practical Organizational Theory", "Building Communities of Purpose".  Do you have a preference in the name?  Plan is to have a podcast about the topic preceding the month's meetup.  The reason for it to be before the meetup is to prepare some, get a high level framework and understanding of the topic, get feedback from our audience on the most interesting areas.

We talked for over two hours.

At the meeting were Eric, Paul, Dominic Wong, David Slight, Fred de Boer, Chris Ingrao, Jean, Reba and Leland, Andrew Sengul.

June 2015 AppsJack Human Resources Meetup Held in Bellevue, WA

June 23, 2015
Lake Hills Library, Bellevue, WA

Last night at 7 PM the June AppsJack Business Services meetup was held at the Lake Hills Library in Bellevue, WA.  The event was attended by 12 guests.  Lively and interesting, entertaining, insightful conversations were had.  The topic was Human Capital Management and the subtopics were Recruiting and Retention.  The group focused some of its attention the issues of millennials.

This event represented the sixth curricula in the AppsJack Meetup calendar year.  AppsJack follows the APQC model to provide structure, value, and context to its meetups and to build knowledge and community around key business areas.  This meetup was the first of the AppsJack content areas to be in the realm of “support processes”.  The previous 5 sessions were on the operating processes from APQC.

Some attendees were repeat visitors and sum were brand new, many of whom had found the event via the AppsJack Meetup group page.  The crowd was a great mix of male and female, young and old, and across a variety of different industries and experience levels.  Among the repeat visitors were Eric Veal (host), Jehan, Hsuan-hua, Dave, and Meng.  The newbies to the group included Liat, Elena, Natsune and a handful of others.

What follows is a listing of the various topics and points covered.  Items marked in bold underline should be considered for future AppsJack meetups.  The next AppsJack meetup will be on Information Technology Management, Internet of Things (IoT) on July 28.

1. Employee education and training programs both on- and off-the-job were discussed.  The issue of training people on the job or after hiring vs. hiring the right people and having people be able to ‘hit the ground running’ from the start.
2. The benefits of diversity were covered.
3. The issue of searching organically (through network) vs. systematically was discussed.  There are pros and cons of each and culture is impacted by the choice in methods made.  Searching applies to both the recruiter and the candidate and both may share some practices.
4. Culture and its importance was discussed.  Someone shared that they wanted to find a company with “a culture”.  It was explained that all companies have a culture, whether they like it or not. Properties of culture were discussed:  was it positive or negative, what were its artifacts, rituals and ceremonies, was it strong or weak?  Learning organizations, per se, were not discussed conceptually and could be a point of subsequent conversations.  With respect to the retention, the notion of an employer’s preference to fire or lay off vs. an employee’s choice to leave was not discussed.  Work-life balance is an aspect of company culture within the context of freedoms and demands for the employee.
5. Someone who was a millennial wanted to discuss differences of the millennials.  Who they are, their traits, differences, and value were discussed.  We learned that millennials want to have a cause or purpose, may trust less in big systems and bureaucracies, expect a lot, need to have something in it for them (purpose), and enjoy life out of work with friends from work.  They want fun companies with good cultures.  “Fiefdoms” and barriers were discussed between roles, departments, levels, locations, age groups, etc.  All of this complexity makes up a corporate culture’s richness.  Age differences of all kinds were discussed.  Industrial and worker-class differences were not covered in detail but it was recognized that they existed and practices for white collar and blue collar industries or groups were thought to be different.
6. The role and importance of modern HR Information systems (HRIS) was brought up as a potential topic but was not covered in detail.  The topic of role-based systems: security, communications, and training was discussed in addition to the power of technology to enable new possibilities for people and businesses.  The importance of knowledge management systems was not discussed but is a critical part of a successful and growing, risk-avoiding organization.
7. The purpose and role of the HR department was mentioned.
8. We spoke about practices and differences between using in-house recruiters and staff vs. using outsourced services and agencies.  The issue of contractors vs. full-time employee labor was discussed but not fully explored.
9. The importance of compensation and pay was mentioned briefly by Dave.  He shared that he was having a hard time landing the right talent and believed that the cause was his employer’s low-pay policies.  Benefits, perks, and the value / prestige / reputation of the company was not really discussed other than one attendees interest in finding a company with a [good] culture.  Points were made about cultures within companies being largely dependent on a person’s immediate manager rather than the overall system and culture for the company, the local level remains very critical.
10. Differences between the HR practice of enterprises vs. those of startups (as well as those across industries and worker classes) were mentioned but not fully discussed.
11. HR business models were not discussed but should be further explored.
12. Ethics was not discussed.
13. The notion of requirements—both those for projects and products as well as those for human resources—was discussed in the context of hiring: hard requirements and soft requirements and how job seeking and landing is typically a gray area and not one that is cut and dried.  Wht also comes into play is personal relationships, biases and perceptions.  Younger professionals were encouraged to act confidently, ‘act as if’ and ‘fake it ‘til you make it’.  The ways that people are perceived as candidates and employees quantitative and qualitative methods, verbal, non-verbal and written communications.
14. Some brief discussions were had about creative hiring and interviewing practices.  This topic should be further explored.  The pros and cons of different interviewing and screening methods were discussed.
15. The importance of models such as Wexler’s 4 Faces of Capitalism and personality tests (Myers Briggs, etc.) were noted but not in detail and should be topics for further discussion.  One member shared that Microsoft leaders were selected who fit what he perceived to be extremely narrow and consistent criteria and types.
16. Other resource types such as financial, relational, reputational, and information were not discussed but could be fodder for future discussion.
17. The differences between needs and approaches to the management of individuals, small groups, and larger organizations was not discussed but should be a topic for another time.
18. Microsoft and AT&T were discussed as local employees and some of their practices were covered.  The issue of managed services vs. staff augmentation and the impact that those practices have on corporate culture and environment was discussed.
19. The question ‘what is organization development?’ was not discussed, but should be soon.
20. Labor unions, guilds, and organized labor were not discussed but could serve as a good topic for another session.
21. Conflict management was not discussed.

There is so much depth and richness to the topic of Human Resources Management it is incredible.  At the end of the event, Natsune promoted her event, which is planned for July 15th in the University District area of Seattle.  Also, Liat shared about a meetup event she is hosting as well.  Several members exchanged contact information and made promises to stay connected with one another.

The next AppsJack Meetup event will be held July 28th and will cover Information Technology Management.  The event may be sponsored by Neudesic Consulting and feature Ben Griner, their Director of Management Consulting.

AppsJack’s meetups are fun local community events that help businesses and business service professionals connect over interesting discussions and topics in comfortable environments.  The events are a great way to meet new people, share experience, and identify individuals within the community with whom you feel comfortable sharing your ideas and issues.  Each month is a different topic and the big events are typically planned for the 4th Tuesday of the month.  AppsJack’s vision is to create an organized network of meetups on business and other critical management topics for people, property and planet.  AppsJack is a knowledge management consulting company who has helped businesses such as Siemens, Microsoft and the US Forest Service manage and improve major initiatives that make communications more effective and efficient.  More info can be found at appsjack.com or by contacting Eric Veal, Founder and CEO of AppsJack Corporation.

Eric Veal, MSIS, MBA, PMP is a NW Washington Native who lives in Kirkland, WA with his wife and pets.  Eric has been consulting with companies on business, technology and growth issues since he first worked on his mom and dad’s businesses in 1996.  Eric is originally from Guemes Island, WA and attended Western Washington University and Foster School of Business, respectively, for his undergraduate and graduate degrees.  Eric received his Project Management Professional certificate in 2006 while working at Siemens Healthcare.  At Siemens, Eric was in their leadership development program and worked as a process improvement consultant and intranet architect.  His experiences at Siemens inspired him to start his own company, AppsJack, to pursue his dreams.

Learn who you are: Turn "them" into your recruits, customers, and partners

Sometimes networking feels like there are a lot of "them" but not a lot of us. I'm seeking to build a model that creates more of "us" and turns "them" into our recruits, customers, and partners.

Yesterday I wrote about meetups and talked about the importance of having role clarity.  The different roles I discussed yesterday as being involved in a "business services" meetup are:

1. Entre-ployee
2. B2B Service Provider - be this
3. Business representative - be this
4. Self - be this
5. Non-B2B Business Representative

Today I'd like to add the following roles to the list:

• Employee
• Contractors and consultants - be this
• Job Seeker

The employee is an important role of course.  The entre-ployee is an employee and many business representatives are employees as well, but not necessarily.  Owners are not typically employees but might sometimes be.

Contractors are an interesting breed.  They are B2B service providers but may think of themselves more like employees; it just depends.

Job Seeekers are another interesting dynamic in the crowd.  They are "looking" and might need to find something.  They are similar to the B2B Service Providers in that they are looking.

Together these roles  make up our model and network.  Understanding each of their types and needs helps us navigate in this maze.  Identifying the roles that we do and do not play or desire to play is also a part of this dynamic.  

Setting our objective on being business services professionals we must exemplify business representatives, B2B Service Providers, ourselves, and contractors/consultants.  Really, we are sales people who are confident and not stuck in a system or brought down by our employment.  

The other roles of entre-ployee, employee, job seeker, and non-B2B Business Representative are also important and we may want to see them as our customers, partners, and potential associates.