Who Killed the Digital Nomad?

Kjetil Moløkken-Østvold – Conceptos ConsultingXP2010, 2.-3. June, Trondheim

The rise of the digital nomad

• A trend much hyped in the nineties

• A new modern work-force was facilitated– Powerful laptops– Ubiquitous high-speed

wireless connections– Modern work-patterns and

the war for talent

• Mike Elgan (2009): “Is digital nomad living going mainstream?” www.computerworld.com

Is digital nomad living going

mainstream?

Not in the NorwegianIT-sector

• Most places, people have to show up for work:– Each day

– In a designated work-area

– In a designated timeslot

This is unnecessary and counter-productive

Horrible open space solutions

• People are stuffed like sardines

• Hot, humid and low quality air

• Noisy, with phones ringing and people talking

The cubicle life ridiculed in Dilbert is luxurious by comparison!

Employers are command-and-control

• Core time is mandated

• Lack of flexibility• Immature view of

telecommuting

Traffic = waste!

• Moving persons around twice a day is a waste of fuel and time

• The Norwegian infrastructure is crumbling (try bus #37)

• The situation is getting worse, and we are on a trajectory to Tokyo conditions

The irony

• An industry developing communication systems and collaboration platforms

• So reluctant to take their own medicine and practice what they preach

Who actually killed the digital nomad?

The culprits:Old fashioned managers

• Some can only “control” those they can see

• No knowledge of communication solutions

• Hours of work more important than outcome

The culprits: Immature collaboration technologies• Virual Reality, Second

Life etc. has been oversold

• Collaboration software has been less than user-friendly

• Quality conference systems have been expensive

The culprits: The “daily stand-up” fanatics

• ”ScrumMasters” justifying their existence with pointless routines

• Lack of understanding triggers fundamentalist reflexes

• Please see: – “Daglige stand-up møter

er destruktive”– http://tcs.java.no/tcs/?

id=55A02830-1508-4690-8321-B7CAA32C9337

Opportunities for digital nomads

• Acceptance: even medical surgery is now performed remotely via Telemedicine

• A new breed of managers, emphasizing trust and performance

• Evolving and cost-efficient tools like Tandberg, Skype and collaboration platforms– (see my talk tomorrow on

“Distributed requirement handling.”)

The benefits

• Personal freedom• Better quality results• Cost-reductions

What I am not advocating

• Bossnapping• Blowing up your

corporate HQ• Utter despair

Key message: deliver customer value in a cost efficient manner

The unimportant stuff

• Time and location of work• Artifacts like yellow notes

and whiteboards• ”Daily stand-ups” and the

likes

The important stuff

• Frequent deliveries• Daily communication with

customers and users• Continuous improvement

(act on your retrospectives!)

Thank you!

• Contact information:– Presentation: http://www.conceptos.no/– Email:

• No questions allowed here, but remember Kenny Rogers: “…so if you don't mind my sayin',I can see you're out of aces.For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice.“”