We are reaching the end of the first stage of our work supporting Wikimedia's strategy development process (check out the progress at http://strategy.wikimedia.org) and I hit my first soul-searching moment. The catalyst? An email from Wikimedia strategy project manager Eugene Kim a couple of weeks back sharing his thoughts on how to think and act in a wiki way.

He shared three principles:

1. Act first, think later
2. Be human
3. Fail early and often

In all candor, the email was a critique of our "traditional" working style - and I'd hazard to guess the working style of most managers and strategy consultants. We weren't getting the active partnership of the community that we wanted early on. My team was getting frustrated that no one was editing or discussing our wiki pages. Our first reaction: critique the technology ("maybe wikis don't work for strategy") and the community ("maybe they aren't interested").

However on reflection, I realized we were:

1. Thinking at the expense of acting (engaging) with the community
2. Trying to perfect the "imperfect-able"
3. Scared of having someone in the community find mistakes or disagree with our conclusions

I'll admit- we really struggled to find our footing in this open process. As "professionals", we see our job as delivering a high quality product that compels clients (shows we are worth the money) to action. This approach isn't always as collaborative as we'd like it to be, really. I hadn't really thought that though until we entered the wiki world, where collaboration isn't something that happens after the work is done. It is part of the work and that requires the work to happen in a transparent way, so people can really engage.

Once we got over ourselves, we started to experiment with Eugene's principles. I jumped on the Wiki on a Friday afternoon and wrote the top line summary of the strategic issues - online for all to see. No endless editing and revision. It turned out well, though not perfect. Here are two pieces of feedback from the community:

• "This is exactly the planning page and also the planning talk page we will need in the coming months. I will look at it closely." Art Unbound


• "Can you imagine any business, small or large, any NGO, any University, any Government, doing strategic planning, without having "where the enabling money is coming from" as a top issue. They would be regarded as very amateurish. Have a Funding Strategy is of very high importance, and should be raised from the present ridiculous low point in the ESP list."--Richardb

Is this the right direction? We need to wait and see whether the direction setting that this task force does is compelling and aligns with the sensibilities of the various stakeholders. Who is more likely to assimilate the wide range of data, values and viewpoints required to develop a good strategy: a small group of managers and strategists (with their homogeneous pedigrees) or a motley crew who can see issues from a myriad of viewpoints and aren't afraid to speak their mind?

Barry Newstead is a partner at The Bridgespan Group currently supporting Wikimedia's open strategy process.

The UK government could help both small businesses and individuals by more or less backing off, according to a new report.  The Federation of Small Businesses thinks a great many jobs would be created and saved if the government would stop introducing new business regulations and simplify the existing ones.

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Whether you work full-time, part-time, or for yourself, you probably have a nagging little Chihuahua that lies under your desk, behind your computer monitor, or maybe right in your lap. He's not a real dog, but he sits up to bark pretty often and has the potential to reduce your productivity or even ruin your whole day.

I'm talking about your #1 Pet Peeve -- the thing that, despite your normally measured approach to all things professional, just irks you to the core. Considerate person that you are, you suffer privately with that pet and clean up his mess all over your brain before your colleagues can catch a whiff.

Of course, others are to blame for inciting your pet, making him nag you just when that's the last thing you need. So you don't bother to train him, because it's really someone else's problem, not yours. Right? Well, that kind of rationalization only worsens your peeve's annoying habits. Believe me, I've been there.

My #1 Pet Peeve is a fairly common one: receiving something late when you haven't been warned in advance. It's usually a pet peeve that neat-and-tidy lovers of planning have, which is where I differ from the norm. My workspace is downright messy, and spontaneity stimulates me much more than meticulous preparation. Still, I've got this "lateness without warning" thing, and it can drive me crazy.

What have I done about it? Well, I decided long ago that a crusade against unannounced lateness would be just plain ineffective. So I picked up my little Chihuahua, took him out of my messy workspace, and gave him (well, me) some training. Here's where I am now:

1. I anticipate when my pet will nag me. I usually get warning signs, often as simple as a colleague's failure to acknowledge an e-mail reminder as a deadline approaches. Willfully ignoring such signs, and hoping that people will reform their ways before The Peeve gets riled up, would be foolish. Instead, I exert whatever polite influence I can on folks in advance, accepting the limits. Then I envision what a late delivery will require of me, make a quick mental sketch of how to face that when the time comes, and move on. If my pet knows he can't blindside me, he often doesn't bother to nag at all.

2. I laugh at my pet peeve. Sometimes prevention doesn't work, and PP is just the yappy little dog he is. If you give him the space to nag you briefly but step back to observe yourself in the moment, you'll see the comedy in it. The key is not to be irked by the fact that you're getting irked, for that makes it harder to be an observer. Don't be that guy on the street yelling at his unruly mutt as both man and beast get hopelessly tangled in the leash.

3. I reward my pet peeve for good behavior. When I succeed in not allowing my pet peeve to get to me, I throw myself a bone, usually in the form of a more rewarding, though still work-like, task that I've been saving up for the occasion. Writing this blog often does nicely.

4. I honor others' pet peeves. With a bit of reflection, it's usually possible to identify the little things that matter most to your colleagues and, by respecting those things, help your fellows to manage their own nagging demons. In the best of situations, you can even joke about it together as you walk your dogs.

What do you do to manage your #1 Pet Peeve? Training tips for all breeds are welcome.
Steven DeMaio

When you're working offsite, whether at a client's office or the local coffee shop, you've got to protect your laptop, whether from physical theft or the nosy cyber-snoop who's trying to flip through your iTunes library (or worse). While your company has probably provided you with a VPN to securely connect to their internal network, what about your personal passwords and local files? Let's take a look at a few good habits to get into for safe laptop computing, and then some more advanced tactics.

The Basics: Best Practices

Every laptop user should have a healthy paranoia about the possibility of getting their notebook stolen or hacked while they're using a public Wi-Fi network at the airport or coffeehouse. Stay circumspect and use some of the tools built into your notebook's operating system to keep yourself safe.

Turn on your firewall. When you're on an open Wi-Fi network, make sure you have your laptop's firewall on and blocking unwanted incoming connections. In Windows' Control Panel, click on Windows Firewall. On your Mac, in System Preferences, go to Security and click on the Firewall tab to turn it on.

Password protect — or unshare — shared folders. When you're at home, sharing a document folder with other computers behind your firewall is a fine idea. But when you're out and about, you may not want everyone to be able to see your collection of family vacation photos. Make sure your shared folders are password protected when you're not on a safe network. Even better, turn off all sharing when you're on a public network.

Use https (secure connections to web sites) whenever possible. When you're checking your webmail like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, or visiting any site with the option, make sure you're using the https:// (instead of http://) connection to encrypt any information you submit there, like your password. Most modern webmail and calendar programs like Gmail and Google Calendar offer an https:// option.

Don't save your web site passwords in your browser without encrypting them. Sure, if you save your web site passwords inside your browser, you save a whole lot of time. However, if a thief, co-worker, or relative uses your computer, it's also dead simple for that person to log into your accounts. Three weeks ago I ran down how to secure your browser's saved passwords with an encrypted master password — do it.

Lock down your laptop with an actual lock. If you work in a public place often and tend to leave your laptop unattended, invest $15 to $30 on a physical laptop lock to anchor your notebook to the desk. It's a simple way to deter thieves.

Always have a current backup of your important data. Backing up your computer will help you restore things in the event of theft or a hard drive crash or coffee spill. When your laptop is docked back at home or the office, use an external hard drive to back up your documents. If you're constantly on the go, a remote backup service like Mozy or Carbonite works over the internet in the background, and can restore your files from anywhere.

Run anti-virus and malware protection software. Like a backup system, this is a best practice for all computers, not just your laptop. Just last week Microsoft released their new and free Security Essentials software. Download that and scan your notebook on a regular basis.

Advanced Security

The super-paranoid and technically-inclined can use hacker-level techniques for locking down files and disks. Those include:

Encrypting folders and disks. Using free tools you can encrypt an entire hard drive or just a folder full of files. When you encrypt data, you use a secret key to scramble it into an unreadable format, which foils any thieves' attempts to read your private files. To decrypt it, you need a master password. On a Mac, you can create an encrypted disk image by using the Disk Utility application. Macs also come with File Vault (in System Preferences, Security), which encrypts your home folders' contents keeping unwanted eyes out. Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows 7 offers BitLocker, a data encryption application. Alternately, you can use a free utility called TrueCrypt to encrypt a folder or drive.

Securing your network traffic via an SSH tunnel. Another common technique among the tech elite is the use of an SSH tunnel, or a secure connection to an outside computer (like your home server or office computer) to connect to the internet. From the network you're already on, it looks like you're sending encrypted information to a single destination; in reality, you're using a trusted remote server as a proxy for all your network activity. Here's more on how to encrypt your web browsing session with an SSH SOCKS proxy.

What precautions do you take while you're computing on the go? Let us know in the comments.

Have you ever wondered why ballet dancers look so elegant when they move? For the longest time, I always assumed it was because they were, well, ballet dancers (I know, that’s circular reasoning) — but really meaning “just born graceful, a natural dancer”.  Do you think so, too?

As a swing…

This last week I attended the grand kick-off for the new customer service drive at Madison Square Garden, the Circle of Service Excellence. It was incredibly well done. Tim Hassett, head of HR at the World’s Most Famous Arena, made sure the message came through loud and clear to everyone of the expectation at MSG to provide legendary customer service to EVERY guest, EVERY time.

What I loved about the kick-off was how they leveraged every asset to make sure the right message got through. Communication is the key to a great program launch. Here is the check list: