All posts by HWMS Production

We Read It So You Don't Have To

We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Industry 4.0

hwms.coverart We Read It So You Don’t Have to. There is so much new information published every day that one person can’t possible read it all much less get any perspective on it. Take Automation, Autonomous Cars, Machine Learning. All of these technologies pose new challenges to the organization and at the same time, they represent forces that are quite old. In this episode, we take a look at a new book on these topics, Industry 4.0, and an old one Automation. [17605] Cast:

Sullivan from the Policy Office: Josh LaForce

David Alan Grier

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Agile Management

A CEO Prepares for Her Board

hwms.coverart Ok. Maddie is a bit unusual in the world of CEOs but she still needs to be ready for the politics of her Board. They’re not going to agree with her just because she has a clever tech idea and good presentation. You have to be ready. You have to think. [17218] Cast:

Vinny the CTO: Geoffrey Grier

Penelope the Principal: Debbon Ayer

Maddie the Entrepreneur: Zoe Anastassiou

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Agile Management

Cybercastles & Cyberdefense

hwms.coverart We think about the future in terms of the past. Star Wars, after all, takes place a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. When we think about cyberdefense, we find that we are still think in terms of the static defense of physical infrastructure. We try to defend mobile data with references to earth and stone works from the 8th century. Our Intern, Anna, attempts to explain the basic model of cyber defense as a metaphor of castle defense.  Her description, though completely accurate in argument, has a few errors of fact, errors which should make us rethink how we use metaphor to describe cyberspace. [17218] Cast:

Anna The Intern: Sarah Corbyn Woolf

Evelyn the Business Manager: Margaux Amie

Sullivan from Policy: Josh LaForce

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Agile Management

Big Problems with Big Data

hwms.coverart Big Data. It gives you facts. It tells you what is really happening. It has Volume, Varity, Velocity, Veracity and, of course, Vexation of Spirit. Vexation can come with the data, no matter how much you have of it, tells you more about the structure that gathered it than the truth of any matter. When you have that, you have a problem called Simpson’s Paradox – the bane of Big Data. [17210] Cast:

Evelyn the Business Manager: Margaux Amie

Rohit from IT: Noah Masur

Anna The Intern: Sarah Corbyn Woolf

Chuck of Acme Products: Ron Bianchi

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We Read It So You Don't Have To

We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Jugaad Innovation

hwms.coverart We Read It So You Don’t Have To. We regularly look at new books on technology or organization. Today, we look at an Indian book on Jugaad Innovation and ask “How is it really different from an American book?” Jameela, our Bangalore Office Manager, as always, has ideas. Lots of ideas. [17122] Cast:

Jameela from Bangalore: Sonam Powar

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Agile Management

The Agile Board

hwms.coverart Agility begins at home. Or more to the point, it begins with the board. Too often, companies are organized conventionally and then the CEO tries to make the Agile by applying various tricks and procedures. As Vinny argues in today’s episode, you really need to start at the top, think of the company as a whole, and start by understanding the claims and obligations of all parties. It is a little crazy, we do admit, to build a company for an 8-year-old Entrepreneur. But it is not crazy to ask how your CEO will grow into the leadership demands of the organization. [17135] Cast:

Evelyn-the-Business-Manager: Margaux Amie

Sully-from-Poliy & PR: Josh LaForce

Vinny-the-CTO: Geoffrey Grier

Penelope-the-Principal: Debbon Ayer

Maddie-the-8-year-old-Entrepreneur: Zoe Anastassiou

Delores Payne-Perkins: Margaux Amie

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We Read It So You Don't Have To

We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Hidden Figures

hwms.coverart Do you see the talent that you have in your organization.  The movie Hidden Figures brings some welcome attention to the forgotten  human computers who did the calculations for the manned space program.  However, as much as we might like to think that the story of Katherine Goble Johnson and NASA’s West Area Computers was an isolated anomaly, we quickly discover that it is not.  All organizations have hidden, unappreciated workers, as the book When Computers Were Human shows. [17115]  

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Agile Management

It’s called “Brexit” but It’s not About Brexit (Series I)

hwms.coverart There was a reason for this title.  We talked about it in the writers room. But that reason is gone.  It was just another step towards Audio Drama. You want to be innovative do something new and think that you can just change directions on a dime. But that’s the problem. Novelty is not innovation. Without a structure to support it, a new idea won’t advance your goals. So we turn the cast loose to wrestle with this problem. Some success. Some problems. A couple of hosts disagreeing about a new idea. A little CEO who may be realizing that contract is not enough. [16430]

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