Passwords protect access to a myriad of  personal accounts, banking information, files, credit cards, the ATM,  your cell phone; yet the frustration of tracking separate passwords proves exhausting and time consuming. I freely admit my propensity towards defaulting to the same password for every account and access I need, and, yes historically created  something I knew well like the year of my birth and my initials, or, my grandfather’s name followed by the year I graduated from high school.  If you find yourself defaulting to the take the same approach; please don't.

1. Create strong passwords.

2.  Consider using a password manager. There are a wide variety of online password manager applications which allow you to view your passwords from anywhere you have access to the Internet  Online password managers allow you to have a multitude of passwords, protected in an encrypted environment accessible by a “master password.” Here are a few to applications to check out: :

3. Investigate a flash drive solution, i.e., an encrypted application on a flash drive.  Keep in mind, the flash drive must be carried with you :

Look for additional information regarding password creation  by searching “what makes a strong password” in your favorite search engine, or the following links may prove helpful as well:

Cloud Beauty

As technology advances  and as the  demand for collaborative, internet based platforms continues to increase, opportunities to explore the option of cloud computing follow suit.   This blog post is a quick look at a few advantages to using the cloud.  Next month we will take a peek at ways to evaluate if a cloud computing integration is right for you.

In brief, advantages include accessibility to your information and knowledge which essentially becomes "on demand".    All you need is an internet connection.  This facilitates connectivity on the road or after hours 24/7, globally.

Cost: Servers (as well as software) will always require maintenance, add-on's and upgrades. With the cloud, hardware costs are reduced as a large majority of the infrastructure is created and maintained by a third party provider.  Organizations can then  position IT staff to focus on developing other business forward projects.

Improved decision making and business execution as individuals, teams and companies are better able to  access real-time information.

Disaster preparedness and succession planning, whether a power outage, a catastrophic loss (fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane), organizational job shifts or the retirement of an administrative assistant.  With redundant, accessible well managed information systems everyone -  from individuals to enterprise wide users can be  up and running following a significant business interruption.  The on boarding of new staff to new positions flows smoothly and the knowledge created by a staff member who leaves the business enterprise is not needlessly neglected/ lost on a personally accessed PC.  

Finally, security, yes you read that correctly, security.  For the most part, SaaS options offer the highest levels of internet security available today with providers investing vast dollar and manpower resources toward that assurance. These measures are far more sophisticated than a majority of staff and subject matter experts can provide in-house.

The Lean Start-Up

As a proponent and consultant in Lean Office methodology, I (as you can imagine) thrill when a book effectively captures the essence of Lean and the power of its implementation.

The Lean Startup authored by Eric Ries does just that.

Now before you disengage, keep an open mind about the definition of "start-up".

This as a good read for most every business professional.  The principles and approach will benefit those we commonly refer to as the entrepreneur as well as what Mr. Ries defines as the  " intrapreneur".  If that term is unfamiliar,  think of it as the folks who  operate inside an established organization; those who are innovating, creating a new product, service or solution on behalf of their respective teams, organizations or companies.

Mr. Ries defines a start-up as " an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty"  Whoa; is that applicable for business large and small, new and old in today's economic landscape?  Absolutely.

The thrust of the book is the power and process of using continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. In that the author outlines a way to test, adapt and adjust the vision for a new product, service or value. He speaks candidly and clearly of lessons learned by personal experience with 3 start-ups and provides tools and approaches that are fresh and on-point.

Why We Sabotage Success

"The skills it takes to establish success cannot sustain it"; a direct quote from the book The Enemies of Excellence by Greg Salciccioli.  This observation caught my eye as I had not thought of it from that perspective before.

When we set out to accomplish something in life, we adopt or acquire a certain skill set to attain it and (as Greg Salciccioli observed) a separate skill set to maintain it. A common example; certain choices and skill sets allow one to lose weight, additional choices and skill sets allow one to maintain a healthy weight.

In the often frenetic, fast paced, ever changing landscape of life in the 21st century, it's not an easy task to balance life, health, family, finances and work.  Additionally, for whatever reason, success at work seems to have a stronger magnetic pull on our lives than other areas.  

Most of us are aware of the fact that a truly rewarding life mandates a skill set to find better life balance; a state (which in all transparency) I do not yet find myself.  In that journey and based on the insight garnered in this book, it may very well be I have not understood the importance developing two skills sets, initially one for attainment and then an additional skill set to maintain the balance I have managed to implement.

Great food for thought and an equally great road map towards that end can be found in The Enemies of Excellence.

What does 95 choices of potato chips have to do with task management?

As a child, choices available to me in regards to potato chips were pretty darn simple; regular, BBQ and "Ruffles".  Today, I'm faced with more than 95 options. Other food choices include in excess of 100  varieties of crackers, 285 varieties of cookies, and 223 juices (if you count the teas and vitamin water), not to mention, at the time of this blog post, it's August; 61 varieties of suntan oil/sun block vie for my dollar.

It's interesting  that all of these options have actually limited my ability to make quick choices, and I expend greater effort making what I perceive as the "right choice".  I'm guessing most of you can relate.

Extrapolate this same phenomenon over our individual obligations, email, phone calls, voice mail, blog posts, tweets, projects, tasks and to do's. Do you ever struggle with how to choose, how to prioritize, what methodology or technology to use?  Ever worry you will "drop the ball"? Task management can still be crazy after all these years.

I am in the midst of a re-read of one of the better business books I've read in the past five  years, Work The System, by Sam Carpenter. Being an advocate of Lean Office and lean thinking, I admire how Sam, in a very simple, straightforward manner laid out a step by step approach to creating systems in your business or personal life that offset the mindset which bogs us down in a myriad of choices.

If you're looking for a fresh approach to task and priority management, it's well worth the read, as is The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less, by Barry Schwartz.  Lastly, if you're interested in a short (free) task management assessment,  click through to this link.

Information Management; Technology or Policy?

When it comes to managing information, there is no debate that the need for better management and/or improved processes exist, nor debate that technology options abound to support us to that end.  Debate and confusion abound however, when it comes to determining  when and what technology to chose.

Technology chosen in haste results in expense, frustration and a disappointing outcome and face it while thousands of technology vendors offer great solutions; the myriad of offerings can be intimidating!

Yes, optimal success in information management integrates the use of vendor tools in addition to strong policies, solid training, well laid procedures and good decision making.  Individuals and organizations are encouraged to look at all these "pieces" of the information management puzzle to effectively manage the amount of information generated, shared and stored.

Prior to jumping on board with the latest and greatest technology tool; wisdom dictates an organization understand the tools they already have in place.  How could  those tools (if used fully and correctly) shape policies and streamline procedures?  Why invest in more technology when what you have might very well be sufficient?

I often witness an individual or organization invest tremendous time and expense on the implementation of a technology tool because they are convinced the tool will magically solve their information management challenge.  

Instead; start with an evaluation of the processes that are in place; zero in on the areas you believe can be improved, then move toward the evaluation of technology.

Looking for a starting place? Review a complimentary 45 minute recording called Records Management 101 at www.simplicated.com, or tungle me at https://tungle.me/tracyparks for a free consultation.

You may recognize the above quote credited to Henry Ford .  In its entirety it reads "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently".

It's interesting how common it is for most of us, (myself included), to fail to recognize and leverage this simple truth.  Instead, we protest and fight against even the most trivial of "failures".

Case in point, my father who is in his early 80's recently left a very nice jacket at a restaurant my family had frequented for the past 20 plus years as a "favorite". One which is located several hours from his home.  When he called,  the restaurant indicated there was no coat to be found. My dad then back tracked to where he had been earlier in the day, at my daughter's home and checked with her.  No coat.  Because my daughter lives within 30 miles of  this restaurant, and because she knew my dad had the coat on when he left her house, opted to double check with the restaurant; no coat.  Because I found myself driving near this town a few days later, I also called the restaurant.  Lo and behold; they did have the coat; fabulous!

The sad part to this story is upon reaching the  restaurant, an extremely grumpy gal who indicated she was the owners sister indicated..."no coat" as did two other employees.  My gentle  explanation that I had spoken with someone hours earlier, was met with a sign and a curt demand " Well, who was it?"  Fortunately,  yet a different staff member appeared on the scene and chimed in - "Oh hi! The coat is here, it's hanging in the office". Again, from my standpoint; fabulous!

Where I should have left well enough alone, I ventured to suggest, again very gently, and, emphasizing how appreciative I was that the coat was found, that perhaps the restaurant as a team might benefit from creating a communication method for lost and found items.

Whoa!  The fury unleashed by the owner's sister was astounding, insisting "they did have a process, a lost and found drawer by the cash register and a coat obviously would not fit in a drawer".   What surprised me was her inability to listen to the voice of the customer, in this case, me.

My parting comment was " Hey, that's great; sounds like you have a system! Maybe when an item is too large for the drawer, someone could just leave a note like "found a black suede coat, owner called and will pick up - it's hanging in the office". Based on the smile and respective nods from surrounding staff, there seemed to be agreement towards a new idea.

Based on the scowl from the owners sister, it's unlikely it will ever happen.

Here's this month's challenge to business owners and business professionals alike.  When you fail to meet a customer expectation, for goodness sake heed the words of Henry Ford and leverage it to an opportunity. In fact, how about a monthly challenge question for you or  each member of your staff.  What did you learn from your customers this month?

It's quite likely you can take what you learned and leverage it into a better process, service or value.