The last few business development and planning meetings between my team and external third parties exposed an aggravating trend: The lack of a mutual understanding of taxonomies wasted time and both parties ended up talking over and thru over each other just trying to figure out what each other was really intending with their word choice. Seemingly basic words such as “provisioning”, “application”, “management console” and “entitlement” meant different things to each group.

Reminds me of this now famous quote: “It depends on what the meaning of the words ‘is’ is…”

This is because many organizations develop an internal vocabulary and slang for how they communicate with each other about their respective product/service. Externalizing this “internal” vocabulary is difficult.

In a typical two hour meeting with multiple people from each party a good one-quarter of the time is wasted because there was no mutually understood taxonomy. Usually the meeting is well underway before it becomes obvious that “we’re confusing each other with dual-meaning words”… “let’s start over and first focus on the definitions for [...each term].”

Maybe this is a natural process that has to happen, or maybe there is a better way. With foresight and homework meeting planners can anticipate the common words that might have dual meanings and establish the vocabulary up-front. I’m going to try this tact for my next external meeting.

I recently visited a new city for a few days. I had to stock up on groceries and the clerk attending to the “12 items or less” checkout asked me if I had a frequent shopper card to get a sizeable 50% discount on one of my items. I did not have a card, so right at the checkout, in the fast paced flow of “12 items or less,” the clerk used here POS terminal to enroll me in the chain’s loyalty program. In previous experiences I wouldn’t bother completing an application for a loyalty card because the process had too much “friction;” wait in line at a Customer Service counter, fill out paperwork, hand it back in, and in return get a plastic identity card assigned with a random number I would never remember. But this time was different. No paperwork, and I was able to choose my own unique identity code.

The store did not make me use THEIR (meaningless to me) identity to be tracked in THEIR system. This is good… If I visit the chain again, all I have to do is tell the clerk my mobile number and I’ll receive the benefit. (BTW… they don’t know this is a mobile number, to them it’s just my unique identity.)

Aside: US telephone numbers were engineered for easy memory.

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I understand why Yahoo CEO Melissa Meyer “pulled the plug” on remote team members. I groaned when the news broke, but it’s the right decision for Yahoo now. And it’s not an indictment against distributed teams. She needs to show the world a different Yahoo than the one we see today. Yahoo is trying to execute a make-or-break turn-around, which means everything about the “old” Yahoo needs to be questioned, including policies that once gave Yahoo an edge in recruiting against their Bay Area competition.

Until a few days ago, Yahoo, along with many other Silicon Valley tech companies, embraced the “work from where you’re most efficient” model. But now Yahoo no longer has the luxury of a robust stock price and gilded image, and if there can be a positive gained from this HR policy change, it has to be investigated. The “shoulda-woulda-coulda” post-mortem will not suffice if there is no happy ending to the Yahoo story.

Aside: Many pundits are speculating this is a calculated move to rid Yahoo of slacker “dead wood” employees. Or it could be that Yahoo doesn’t really know who in the ranks are “the makers versus the takers.” The real answer is probably all of the above. The thinking is filter out the slackers by forcing everyone to commute to the office.

Harnessing the power of a distributed team is a balancing act. Not all people can or should work physically separate, but some job roles, especially individual contributors, can actually be more successful if people are allowed to “create” in the environment most suited to their individual work style. Cracking the distributed team code isn’t hard to decipher. It’s one part awesome communication and one part mandating a company-wide collaboration style that treats the distributed folks as first class citizens. When everyone is distributed then there is no problem, it’s only when the “center of gravity” shifts toward a central location. Sometimes it takes more effort to work this way, but that is offset by the gains of an all-inclusive, productive, dispersed team.

I’ve been observing legacy IT behemoths like IBM, HP and Microsoft push their white collar workers into home offices. Steelcase, Knoll and others are redesigning office furniture systems for the teams of the future. It’s all about fluid designs that promote ad-hoc meetings, less about being anchored to a stationary desk. These designs all assume people are working remote to some extent.

If Yahoo seems “broken,” it’s not because remote people stifle innovation. There are larger systemic issues at play and lot’s of history to unravel. But who knows, maybe a serendipitous hallway conversation between two “Yahoos” that don’t normally see each other might yield the great epiphany that saves the day. Still, pulling people into the office feels like a knee jerk “austerity measure” that might cause more harm than good.

Expressing “gratitude” is one way to ensure “more goodness” continues to come your way.

Here is how my life is measurably improved because of iPad, Audible, Streaming Video, Google Services and Prezi.

iPad – 2nd Generation, WiFi + 3G model

The second generation iPad with 3G is a great tablet. Light, good battery life, and pretty good screen. The 4th generation models haven’t lured me to upgrade… yet.  The iPad is now my “go to” device for reading web content, blogs, Twitter, and watching video. And that’s how I realize many positive benefits. For example I use my iPad while exercising on the elliptical. With the abundance of streaming video for entertainment I have doubled my hours per week working out. The iPad is a great platform for giving a presentation. The pinch to zoom visual enhancement provides an interactive quality you don’t get slinging PowerPoint slides. Below are the five services that enhance my daily life routines.

Audible – Listen to the Written Word

I drive a 2+ hour commute several times a week. With Audible I listen to books for education and entertainment. Currently “reading” Walt Disney’s Biography. Without Audible, I wouldn’t be able to do much reading. With Audible, I am guaranteed at least 3-4 hours a week of reading time. And a recent cool factor enhancement is the ability to sync audiobooks to the Amazon Kindle. With sync, I can listen to a few chapters, switch to the Kindle and read a few chapters, and then resume in the audiobook.

Streaming Video Apps – PBS, HBO GO, ABC, Amazon Instant Video

The iPad plus many streaming video apps has improved my physical health. Because I am exercising many more hours a week. Previously my barrier to exercise was the boredom factor. With video, I am able to catchup on favorite television shows, discover new video content, and watch documentaries that I might otherwise miss. It’s amazing the amount of video content available just within a few apps. My favorites are PBS, HBO GO (you need to be a HBO cable subscriber), ABC, and Amazon’s new Instant Video app (you need to be an Amazon Prime member). I am never lacking “entertainment” while exercising.

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