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Tag Archives: greater ibm connection
What’s The Buzz for July 2012
Here’s a quick snapshot of what YOU have been talking about for the month of July 2012. Top five discussions on LinkedIn and Facebook.
–Posted by Julie Yamamoto, Program Manager, The Greater IBM Connection
Africa: The Next Frontier for IBM Research Innovation
by Solomon Assefa, Research Scientist, IBM Research
The continent of Africa is emerging as one of the last great global growth markets and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a growth rate expected to average 7 percent annually over the next 20 years. Forecast this out and Africa will become a leading source of innovation and opportunity. As African countries prepare to advance their economic capabilities, IBM is committed to the region’s future with the opening of a new lab in Nairobi, Kenya.
IBM Research – Africa will be IBM’s 12th global laboratory and the first science and technology research lab on the continent conducting both applied and far-reaching exploratory research.
IBM has long had a foothold in Africa and its presence today spans 20 countries, including Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. IBM has also deployed several Corporate Service Corps groups, an employee volunteer program modeled after the U.S. Peace Corps, across Africa to make contributions to the communities in which it does business.
IBM’s new lab is a further nod and commitment to this important growth market. IBM has long recognized the possibilities that could be reached by research and collaboration, and IBM’s expanded presence in Kenya will encourage and strengthen innovation, engaging local entrepreneurs, universities, governments and innovators to develop solutions to the challenges faced by the people of Kenya and beyond.
Expanding in Africa requires a long-term outlook. Before IBM can do business throughout the region, it must aid in strengthening the capacities of Africa’s people and institutions— including knowledge, technology infrastructure, business sophistication and governance.
There is enormous growth potential across the continent, but that potential won’t
be realized unless the underlying physical, economic and societal infrastructures that permit markets to develop and endure are in place. Success will only come through a patient, long-term approach. An example of this is IBM’s plans to lay a foundation for skills and innovation growth in Africa by establishing a resident scientist program aimed at attracting top Kenyan and other African talent to work side-by-side with IBM researchers. These applicants will be top-tier scientists and researcher from pre- and post-doctoral backgrounds as well as from academia, government or industry.
As for research focus areas, one particular issue across Africa is the challenge of multiple government organizations to communicate with one another and share information. To that end, IBM Research – Africa will work on Next-Generation Public Sector solutions so that information is automatically collected and analyzed from various sources to improve planning, scheduling and tactical decision making within and between agencies. Armed with the right information technology, government agencies can reduce the cost of social services, improve efficiency and productivity, deter fraud and abuse, improve citizen access to services and enable digital interaction between citizens and the public sector.
Smarter Cities is another area of focus. As the world’s second most populous continent with more than 955 million people, Africa’s urbanization rates are the highest in the world and more than half of all Africans will live in cities by 2030. IBM scientists will work on improving access to and quality of city services, initially focusing on smarter water systems and transportation solutions for the region. For example, the use of predictive analytics has the potential to solve traffic congestion in Nairobi by using real-time insights to model and anticipate traffic jams. IBM’s recent global Computer Pain Survey of 15 cities ranked Nairobi as the fourth most congested in the world.
The goals of IBM Research – Africa underpin IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative where advances in sensors, networking, telecommunications and analytical software are enabling organizations to manage more complex systems. In fact, Africa may have a big advantage. Due to the current nature of the physical, governmental and economic infrastructures, Smarter Planet solutions have the potential to produce even greater impacts than they have in more developed countries. Indeed, Africa has the potential to leapfrog some of the world’s more advanced economies. African countries have the opportunity to include instrumentation and information-gathering capabilities from the start as they build out new systems and services.
IBM stands ready to collaborate with African governments, universities and businesses to work jointly on research that will uncover new breakthroughs in science and technology and that build the platform for Africa’s future.
Join the conversation on Twitter: #IBMAfrica
What are you talking about lately?
Here’s a quick snapshot of what YOU have been talking about for the week of July 11-19, 2012.
 DISCUSSION |
NUMBER OF COMMENTS |
| Transition to Retirement – Retirement Really? You are really going to RETIRE? | 21 |
| The 25 Best Tech Companies to Work for in 2012 | 14 |
| Are you creative? Check out this IBMer who is also a syndicated cartoonist | 11 |
 DISCUSSION |
NUMBER OF COMMENTS/ LIKES/ SHARES |
| Taken a beach vacation recently #IBMalumni? | 239 |
| Greater IBM Connection added a new photo | 211 |
| The world’s #1 fastest supercomputer | 136 |
–Posted by Julie Yamamoto, Program Manager, and Regan Kelly, Editor, The Greater IBM Connection
YouTube Channel of The Greater IBM Connection
Check out The Greater IBM Connection’s YouTube channel! We always welcome comments and video responses from fellow Greater IBMers.
Here, watch an interview with Greater IBMer Hansueli Maerki, former Chief Executive Officer of IBM EMEA and today a Senior Fellow of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, as he talks with Greater IBM editor Regan Kelly on his 35 years with the company, life after IBM, and what makes The Greater IBM Connection great.
YOUR GREAT IDEAS: How are they doing?
If we traced the path of GREAT IDEAS in the finest of organizations, we would probably all be astounded at the rate at which NEW THINKING is unintentionally squelched, squashed, smashed, stifled, smothered, misunderstood, ridiculed or just ignored.
Ever had this experience?
Ever felt like this woman looks?
This is what I wrote in an article a few years back. Around the same time, I was invited to speak at an ONLINE leadership forum with a focus on How to Get Buy-In for New Ideas. Over 550 leaders and innovators showed up to explore this topic, representing twenty countries. They came from major companies from every industry, as well as entrepreneurs, government, military, education, health care, and community organizations. I discovered the group was a cross section of CEOs and senior leaders, managers of every type, as well as educators, business owners, ministers, and consultants. Imagine all this diverse talent coming together, peer to peer, meeting on common ground, because they were brimming with NEW IDEAS to bring to their respective organizations. Following the online session, I conducted some follow-on dialogues. Three key themes were identified as BIG BARRIERS standing the the way of introducing the participants’ NEW IDEAS:
- Culture isn’t open to new ideas.Resistance to change. There is a lack of interest in change and innovation. Everyone sees the need; no one wants to take the risk. New approaches aren’t welcomed.
- Gender, race, and age still play a role in acceptance of new ideas in our organization. If you think differently or ask too many questions, it leads to losing the respect of senior leaders.
- Senior leaders/managers take ideas and present them as their own. The focus from our leaders is on execution of strategy; they’ve forgotten people are leading it for them. It would be great if they showed more interest in what people have to say.
This begs a question…
What are the chances that you or other leaders in your organization might be leaving similar impressions about sharing NEW IDEAS? No one would purposely want to have members of their teams or constituents thinking this way. But perception is everything and this kind of breakdown in communication isn’t uncommon. It erodes trust and impacts all organizations ability to put differences to work to generate new thinking, creativity, and INNOVATION. At this time in our history, we can’t afford it. Too much is at stake.
A CONTINUING SAGA
What is alarming is that this reality doesn’t seem to change — at least in the perception of many of those with the GREAT IDEAS. I remember these same barriers coming up now and then throughout my career too. Last week, I partnered up with futurist and filmmaker Joel Barker to teach a professional development class on this topic. It focused on examining resistance to change, providing detailed guidelines, examples, and a step-by-step process that demonstrates how to get ideas accepted. Interestingly, we again discovered a similar result in a poll we took. A new issue did surface — 23% identified “information overload – breaking through the noise as a major barrier. However, a whopping 84% brought up issues similar to those noted above as standing in their way of introducing and seeding NEW IDEAS in their organizations.
Even before my time at IBM circa 1969, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., wrote in one of his well-known Management Briefings: “There’s an old saying that when you talk — you teach, when you listen — you learn. There are a lot of ideas worth listening to in this company. Let’s be sure we’re paying attention — we are never so rich in ideas that we can afford not to…” It should be noted that this quote was preceded by him sharing a personal leadership story where he hadn’t listened to an employee’s idea to solve a critical business problem. “…Because I was frustrated and tired, I gave [the employee] a short interview and a non-sympathetic rebuff. …Later that evening, I began to worry about the area which he had pointed out, and by morning, I realized that at least constructive and appropriate attention to his idea was the minimum he should expect from me.” Hmmm…Big leadership at work!
What about YOU?
What is the #1 ISSUE you face when it comes to introducing NEW IDEAS?(answers)
For those of you who never have this kind of experience…
What best practice can you share to help others who do?
I look forward to listening your points of view…
Best…
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Contributing author
Greater IBM Connection Blog
Co-Founder, GIBM Women’s
International Network for
Leadership (GIBM WIN-L)
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance
IBMer 1970 – 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco
Twitter:@debbekennedy @onlinedialogues
LEADERSHIP and DIVERSITY Gathering Review
We continue to prove the value of the Greater IBM Connection each time we find a way to gather across the world. Last week, we did it again!
Over 490 IBMers past and present from 28 countries signed up to meet each other ONLINE at an appointed time and place to participate in a conversation with IBM Vice President of Diversity & Workforce Programs, Ron Glover. Our purpose in meeting was to explore the topic of LEADERSHIP and DIVERSITY in a CHANGING ECONOMY.
GETTING ACQUAINTED
We started the dialogue by first learning a little about who showed up. This seemed to create a sense we were connected in the distance. We had a chance to plot ourselves on a world map, shared why we were drawn to be there in a POLL, and got a glimpse of how we had described our unique roles in life and work. When each of us registered for the event, we also were asked to identify one DISTINGUISHING QUALITY we had as leaders or innovators. We shared the list with everyone. It had hundreds of unique expressions— a little peer-to-peer sharing across cultures and twenty-eight countries. Nice!
CONVERSATION WITH RON GLOVER
Ron Glover spent the first hour with us and generously offered his stories and insights. We had received hundreds of questions from participants at registration. Our Greater IBM WIN-L Co-Founders, Cécile Demailly (France), Shara Sokol (New York), and Jane Scandurra (New York), joined me to field the questions submitted. The questions covered four key themes: Ron’s LEADERSHIP JOURNEY, his thoughts on BEING A LEADER, the status of DIVERSITY at IBM in this changing economy, and Ron’s SEND-OFF for us. We hung out together for another thirty minutes or so to discuss questions, reflect on what we learned, and share stories and perspectives.
As a Greater IBMer, I admit I was honored to have the opportunity to welcome IBMers past and present to our Global Dialogue Center ONLINE Conference Center and experience the power of connecting in still another way. As someone reflected on the event: “This was a one of a kind opportunity to connect with IBMERS from so many parts of the world and with so many views.”
RECORDED HIGHLIGHTS, HANDOUTS, RELATED LINKS:
We captured the highlights of this global Greater IBM gathering at the Global Dialogue Center.
We invite you to share in the experience too…
Go here for RECORDED HIGHTLIGHTS:
http://globaldialoguecenter.com/events/gibm-june2009.shtml
It meant a lot to me be involved in this event. It was a special gathering that emerged through the Greater IBM Women’s Network for Leadership (GIBM WIN-L) from other online experiences we created together. It was produced in partnership with the Greater IBM Connection team. Together — Ron Glover, everyone who shared in this gathering, and our global team — we created a moment in time that would not have been possible at one time…a memorable one!
From the reflective writings of those attending…
“It’s very nice to have the opportunity to share ideas among all levels. It’s not very common in other companies to have this kind of opportunity.”
“…it is nice to see so many locations working to make the world and IBM a better place.”
Best…
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection Blog
Co-Founder, GIBM Women’s
International Network for
Leadership(GIBM WIN-L)
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
Video Book Review by futurist Joel A. Barker
IBMer 1970 – 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
Making the Greater IBM Connection Grrreat
Ever since I was invited to The Greater IBM Connection, I’ve been asking myself what I want or expect from this initiative. I’ve been trying to express those desires as specifically as possible, since abstract goals are a poor motivation to drive concrete investment.
Here are a few:
- Networking: meeting other local technologists, local meaning folks with whom I could grab lunch.
- Personal Marketing: increasing the readership of my blog, The Noisy Channel.
- Connecting to IBM: getting to know people at IBM (particularly in Research) with whom I could share ideas.
Note that only the third of these goals is specific to IBM. I don’t think I’m unusual in this respect: "Greater IBMer" is only one of many facets of our identities.
It’s important that we all realize this as we invest in making the Greater IBM Connection a success. Initiatives like these only succeed when they fit into a greater context.
How does that translate concretely? Let’s return to my three goals as examples:
- Events like the gathering at the Shake Shack are a great example of facilitating local networking. But we can do better, either with larger-scale social events (karaoke, anyone?) or more targeted professional ones (e.g., tech entrepreneurs). IBM could catalyze such events by providing a small budget, but the success of an event will ultimately reflect members’ readiness to invest in it.
- Personal marketing is, on the face, a completely selfish goal. But tell that to my avid readers, who see my ego-fueled diatribe as an act of selflessness. Or to the delighted viewers of Single who might not have heard about it had Jane Scandurra not zealously marketed it. Or to likeTribe‘s users who are thanking Nigel Beck as they hunt for bars and restaurants in the urban jungle. The Greater IBM Connection is a great forum for such marketing, and we would do well to encourage it while keeping an eye out for abuse.
- Of course, there should be some IBM in the Greater IBM Connection. Ideally, there should be a communication channel so that alumni can know what’s going on inside IBM and IBMers can know what alumni are doing. A small step towards this goal would be to invite alumni to attend non-confidential IBM events, and conversely to allow alumni to advertise events likely to be of interest to current IBMers.
I hope these ideas at least provide food for thought. To steal a line from Tony the Tiger, let’s make the Greater IBM Connection grrreat!
Re-Thinking ABUNDANCE
I guess this post started with this morning’s news. It seems that in whatever direction we look, there is so much need. Needs of every kind. Some caused by recent storms; some caused by neglect and indifference that has spanned decades; some by greed and self-interest; some far away; much right in our view…a neighbor, a friend, an unsuspected colleague. Need comes in a variety of diverse packages that don’t always look "needy" to a casual observer.
We’ve all witnessed that an "abundant life" can be devastated in what seems a moment’s notice with a lost job, an illness, a broken family, a financial crisis, a response from mother nature, a foolish judgment, or even an inner strength lost and not yet found.
It may seem funny for me to write about such a topic here at the Greater IBM Connection, but I know we aren’t exempt from these admissions or such troubles. As I look back at my own triumphs and tragedies, I am grateful for each one and the abundance on many levels that came from them.
The needs today in so many fronts are almost too much to comprehend, but I know the solutions reside within the lives, intellect, and hearts of each of us. It isn’t easy to change our ways; to think more about others; to expand our sense of connection and community. We certainly are on to something here at the Greater IBM Connection as we reach across our cultures and differences. This model has perhaps raised my consciousness about what is possible. I read once, "The biggest engineering feat is that of human will." Opportunity seems to be sitting in front of us, yes?
A while back, I had the chance to capture the wisdom for our Moments of Insight Collection at the Global Dialogue Center from the ground-breaking work of Lynne Twist, author and founder of the Soul of Money Institute. As I read the this morning’s news, I thought of her lessons. In her six mini-podcasts, Money, Sustainability, Abundance, and YOU, she offers insight, moving stories, a refreshing perspective, and ideas to help you re-think the notion of abundance and much more.
I invite you to listen in… Click here
What’s your view on need and abundance?
What lessons have you learned?
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
IBMer 1970 – 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco
Discovering Meaning in YOUR WORK?
There is something special about discovering that your life’s work matters — you love what you do — there is real meaning in it. I had one of these moments this week. It arrived like a gift after weeks of long days and overload. I admit IBM trained me well for this kind of reality many years ago. As I recall, the learning came from a continuous practice of the “learn while doing” approach to “leaping over tall buildings” to reach some new level of service – performance – contribution – excellence. Although it was never talked about much, I’ve not met an IBMer that doesn’t instantly relate and know the exhilaration of having all the hard work pay off — all the pieces falling perfectly into place — that moment when the meaning of it all takes on a new significance.
Are you having flashbacks about your own experiences?
So how can we discover deeper MEANING in what we do every day?
Many years ago, one profound influence on my life that began to help me answer this question came from reading, Man’s Search for Meaning by the famed psychiatrist, philosopher, and holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl. Later in a management development class at IBM, Dr. Frankl’s messages were again highlighted by futurist Joel Barker’s recount in his now classic film, Power of Vision. I can still repeat the closing statement: “There is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future, because that’s what gives meaning to life [and our work]."
Perhaps, this question today, at this time of transition and turbulence in business and society, needs to be re-examined more than ever before. Dr. Alex Pattakos, a student of Viktor Frankl and author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work, asks new questions for a new time: "Why do some people seem to have an easier time dealing with complex and challenging situations than others? Why do some people seem more capable of dealing with change than others?" Dr. Pattakos offers seven core principles. Below I’ve listed them and provided a brief summary, paraphrased from his book, highlighting what they have come to mean to me:
1. Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude.
Choose your attitude; it’s a freedom we all have.
2. Realize your will to meaning.
Commit to meaningful goals that you can actualize and fulfill.
3. Detect the meaning of life’s moments.
Look for the meaning at any given moment.
4. Don’t work against yourself.
Avoid becoming so obsessed with outcome; it can work against you.
5. Look at yourself from distance.
Keep a sense of humor as you look back at yourself and your actions.
6. Shift your focus of attention.
Learn to focus your attention away from a problem; see beyond it.
7. Extend beyond yourself.
Look at the bigger picture; the higher purpose of what you are doing.
Does MEANING have a connection to the Greater IBM Community?
As we come together at the Greater IBM Connection, transcending time, distance, and differences across the world, we have the opportunity to find a new level of meaning in this global community we are creating. It is hard not to envision the far-reaching possibilities that social media offer to us, as others, like Andy Piper, have written about on this blog. Imagine the power of all the unique ways we discover meaning in our work and our lives coming together. Imagine what we can do together. Imagine what we can learn from one another. Nice! So I ask you:
Whether you are a current or former IBMer…
What meaning have you discovered in your "work" however you define it?
What qualities in your life’s "work" mean the most?
I look foward to hearing your perspective and striking up a conversation!
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
IBMer 1970 – 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco
