Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Wiki, wiki. Smooth and sticky.

Just read Bren’s post on wikis and, as usual, it fit in well with discussions I’ve been having with customers recently (Bren and I tend to hear similar siren songs at the same time, it seems). 
I have been recommending the use of wikis for internal projects and cross-functional collaboration within IT operations teams, and had just read the same article Bren did on Lifehacker about using wikis for business.

If you are a wiki fan, check out Bren’s post for some good ideas on preventing obsolete or stale information.

If you are unfamiliar with what a “wiki” is, it’s a web-based platform for dynamic, open collaboration.  People can invent new topics, add to / mark up / correct other people’s topics, and do all sorts of cool things to share information.

Where I work, we use it for a lot of things, but the highest leverage we get is to share information about the software we create.  This includes everything from feature discussions, design collaboration, sharing of customer use cases, collecting information about products and platforms we integrate with, and a whole mess of other topics.

We also use it to track development cycles and product release status, so that everyone can have a unified view of the successes and challenges at every step of the way.  Pretty cool (and empowering) stuff.

As Bren mentions, wikis can seem pretty arcane (I sometimes hear descriptions like ugly, clunky, geeky, or Spartan).  When you first jump in, it can feel like the wild, wild west.  The goal of the wiki is not prettiness – it’s to offer an efficient, effective way of presenting, sharing, and interacting with information in a multi-user environment.

That said, wikis can be pretty, too. If you want to see some good examples of wiki done right, check out:
• Wikipedia
• GTD Wiki

If you're considering using a wiki for your business, PC Magazine has a great feature on "Working Together With Wikis" that is worth a read.

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Emergency medical information

I’ve read a number of blogs recently where the authors have discussed the importance of keeping emergency contact numbers available and organized “just in case” (for example, Bert’s post “In Case of Emergency,” which he was inspired to write after reading about this topic on Lifehacker.com).

As you may know from my blog posts, I’ve been involved in (or affected by) quite a few medical emergencies in the last few weeks.  Through these experiences, I want to add some additional information about emergency preparedness.

When medical emergencies occur, even the most level-headed among us can become addled and anxious. When this happens, we tend to forget things, like the phone numbers of people we know, important medical details, and other pieces of information that can be useful in a crisis.

Here are some ideas that may come in handy.

A Medical Information Packet

This can be a plastic folder that is the “hub” for copies of medical information.  Decide on a “permanent home” for it, and make sure everyone in the family knows where to look for it.  This folder should include things like:

  • Medical insurance coverage cards
  • Summary of any medical conditions
    • Include recent incidents that may be of interest or relevant to treatment
    • Include food, drug, and other allergies or sensitivities
  • List medications (substance, dosage, and frequency) being taken by people in the house
    • particularly valuable for older people in your family, or others who may be taking quite a few medications
    • you may want to have copies of the pharmacy labels
  • Emergency contact information including:
    • friends and family you may want to notify (home, office, and mobile numbers)
    • Doctor’s names, contact number, and role (e.g. “Pain management” or “Cardiologist”)
    • Attorneys
    • Clergy member contacts
  • Copies of any special instructions (Do Not Resuscitate / DNR instructions, for example)

Keepin’ the joint running

If the primary “house manager” is incapacitated or unable to communicate for any length of time, someone else will need to step in.  With this in mind, it’s a good idea to have a few people “trained” on how to keep the house running.  This can include sharing information on:

  • Where medical and life insurance policies and related information are kept
  • How bills are paid (including information like where checkbooks, ledgers, etc. are kept) so someone can step in and pay bills
    • Include information on where account logins can be found for electronic banking and other online resources used to manage the household
  • Know where extra keys are, and who (neighbors, for example) may have copies in case you need someone to take care of things at the house or retrieve something to bring it to the hospital
  • Where financial records and similar information are stored
  • Location of any safe deposit boxes, contents of them, and location of keys

These lists are by no means all-inclusive, but I hope they get you thinking of some things that might help you prepare particularly if you have family members with health issues, or who may be getting on in years. 

Like many uncomfortable topics, human nature is to put them off until later.  Unfortunately, if that’s your strategy, they may come back to bite you.

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Back up or pucker up - the choice is yours

I just read a post by Skip regarding a computer crash he just experienced, and the painful rebuild process he's about to go through to get things back up and running (reinstalling lots o' stuff on his system).  Why?  No backup.

Been there many times myself. Spent many hours reinstalling stuff, re-registering iTunes, Audible, Anagram, ActiveWords, and other stuff that requires license keys. Not a fun process.

I'm getting better, though, with a new process I follow.  Last week I had to rebuild my system (I got a little frisky editing my Windows registry, so it was self-inflicted).  It took me under an hour, and I didn't lose more than 20 minutes of work.

How?

  • I regularly (once a week or before a long trip) make image copies of my hard drive using Symantec's Ghost, which I got as part of their Systemworks Premier suite.
  • I keep a copy the drive image in several places:
  • I carry a Ghost boot disk (CD) in my bag in case I have to restore my computer
  • I make additional file-by-file backups of my My Documents folder using Iomega's QuickSync software, which I got with my external hard drive (this ensures that I capture changes since the last Ghost snapshot).  This is simple, since I did the setup once, and the software automatically synchronizes every time I plug into my docking station.

All of this works pretty well when I have a system crash or I shoot myself in the foot.  I simply:

  • plug in my USB hard drive
  • boot from the Ghost boot CD and follow the instructions to restore the image (by the way each of my external hard drives has a copy of the .ISO image for the boot CD so I can create another one if I need to)
  • reboot after the image is restored, at which point QuickSync automatically copies any newer files back on the newly restored drive

This process puts my system back exactly the way it was when I took the Ghost "snapshot."  Since I'm on a domain at my office, another handy thing this achieves: It stores (and restores) all the credential information necessary for me to rejoin the domain.

If you want something a bit less techie, check out this article about a gadget called the Fastora ExBoot drive, which claims to do a lot of this sort of stuff for you automatically.  I have never used this product, but it sounds pretty cool.

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GTD and another meaning for "zero peer pressure"

In a couple of weeks, I'll be at David Allen's seminar "GTD | The RoadMap" in San Jose. I'm really looking forward to it, but I feel a bit like people I know who have maid service, but they always clean up before the maid comes over - so nobody will know how messy they really are.

I have started to brush up on the old "Getting Things Done" techniques (some of which have fallen by the wayside for me). What does brushing up mean? I'm doing things like:

  • Purging my reference files to reduce clutter (makes them fresher, and gets the drawer less squinchy so it's easier to get things in and out)

  • Purging all my context lists and getting brutal with the question: "Is this item really 'someday / maybe', or is it actually 'never, get out of denial,' buster?"

  • Reviewing my lists to make sure my 'next actions' are not 'next inactions' pretending to be actionable

  • Blocking time this weekend to do a real weekly review (I totally blew this in July due to all the chaos in my life, and I am feeling the effects in my stuckness)

  • Doing a mind sweep, complete with the triggers in the Getting Things Done book

  • Listening to "Getting Things Done Fast" again [note: this program is no longer available from Davidco.com, but David tells me there are other helpful tools coming soon, and I should stay tuned]

  • Getting "In" to empty, and my email Inbox to zero

That last one is the one that's been taunting me the most lately, since it's just plain in my face all day every day. Since I've been without internet access quite a bit in the last month, the old Inbox stacked up pretty high. I know what I should be doing - I'm just not doing it.

So, this week, I set my self up for discipline by public shaming - a co-worker of mine is also a GTD practicioner, and we've agreed to ridicule each other if our Inboxes are not empty each night (beginning Monday - gotta get a running start for this one). With this new approach, "zero peer pressure" is taking on a new meaning for me.

If you want less vindictive assistance in getting right with GTD, you might want to check out a special typr of virtual book study Rosa is running on Talking Story, as well - great stuff. She calls it "MWA3P" and it merges powerful concepts from her own book "Managing with Aloha," as well as concepts from David Allen and Stephen Covey.

Note: The terms and concept in "Getting Things Done" (aka "GTD") are the killer mojo of David Allen, and he's got rules to keep people from messin' with his flavor - check them out here.

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Breaking the silence...

Well, after a week with no internet access, I'm breaking the silence.  As I mentioned when I was posting from England, last week I rushed to Louisiana where my father-in-law had a dismal health prognosis (viral encephalitis, with recovery very unlikely).

First, I want to thank all of you who sent me your wishes, prayers, and supportive messages during the last week (I did have access to email, thanks to my Crackberry).

I'm happy to report that my father-in-law is doing much better than anyone predicted.  He's breathing on his own, talking, recognizes the family, and expected to leave the ICU after the weekend. 

There is still a long road ahead of him and it'll be weeks (if not months) before they can accurately gauge the long term effects of this bout with encephalitis.  But he's still with us and he's getting better.

Never underestimate the power of the human spirit.

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