My favorite 7 questions

Great leaders seem to be able to get key information in a matter of seconds. But most can take hours to root out the same information — if they ever get it at all.

For those of you who can be lost for words when such opportunities arise, here are seven of my favorite questions for getting in touch with staff. Each one can provide more insight than a two-hour meeting with the entire team:



1. What’s the biggest issue on your plate right now? Most people will respond to this. Often it’s nothing more than a complaint or a status report, but it can lead to another question or two that will be enlightening.


2. If I could do just one thing to make you more successful, what would that be? This one often surfaces ongoing issues that are slowing progress. Usually a lower-level individual could resolve it, but that just hasn’t happened.
3. What’s the dumbest thing the company (or department) is doing (or working on)? Ask this question a few times to different people and you’ll soon find one or two things that should be put to death.


4. If you had my job, what would you focus on? Depending on the level of the person you ask, I assure you that you’ll hear some pretty interesting ideas that otherwise wouldn’t have surfaced. But “little” things can make a big difference to a group’s productivity and satisfaction.


5. What’s waking you up at night? This has two benefits: First it shows who is really thinking a lot about issues that need to be fixed. You should spend more time with them. Second, it can make it clear who treats the job as simply a paycheck. Do you really want them around?


6. Do you have the tools and resources you need to do your job in the best possible way? I’m always amazed at how a project can be stalled by something that is widely available elsewhere in the company.


7. How can I help you to be more successful? This is a great bonding question. If you really mean it and the team believes that to be the case; it can rally them. But don’t ask if you won’t deliver on their feedback.



Feedback is a big factor in the impact of the ongoing success of these hallway conversations. The best leaders get back to the individual who gave the ideas — if you can’t do it personally then send an email or make a call to show that you responded to their suggestion or comment.

Introducing the new Apple iCloud

Steve Jobs handled the iCloud announcement himself. iCloud is Apple's new cloud storage solution that handles everything from documents to media syncing.

iCloud will take over the syncing of mail, contacts, and calendars over multiple iOS devices.

Unlike MobileMe, iCloud will be free. 

Steve Jobs introducing the new iCloud icon, on the far right.

iCloud will offer wireless backup of all your phone's settings. This includes contacts, purchased music, apps, and books, camera roll, device settings, and app data.

iCloud offers 5GB of free storage for mail, documents, and backup. Purchased music, apps, and books don't count against the 5GB.

Steve Jobs introduces iTunes in the cloud, a service that lets you have access to all your iTunes music in the cloud on all iOS devices.

You can enable automatic downloads, that will automatically push new music to all your iOS devices once it's purchased.

iTunes Match will pair the songs up with the iTunes library, and upgrade them to 256kbps AAC DRM-free. However, iTunes Match will cost $24.99 a year.

5 insanely cool robots

The SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is a tactical mobile robot developed by 

iRobot and Boeing that gathers intelligence while humans are a safe distance away.

The 320SUGV at work.

The SeaGlider is a submarine robot that can work underwater for up to 7 months. It can be controlled from an iPad.

The SeaGlider measures temperatures, salinity, and other qualities of the ocean then uses 

a satellite phone to send in the data.

The configurable Warrior is basically a Lego Mindstorm for those with Bill Gates’s or Uncle Sam’s budget.

It can even be used as a plow. How would you like that for the winter in the north?

The PacBot has been around for a while - saving many lives in Iraq. It's thermal camera will provide images in complete darkness, smoke obscured areas and battlefields.

The 80-inch arm extender lets the operator examine potential dangers from a relatively safe distance.

The Negotiator is a smaller robot that can sneak into tight spaces.

Monitoring the progress of the Negotiator

Yuri Gagarin's historic space flight

On April 12, 1961, an almost unknown 27-year-old became the most famous man on the planet. Yuri Gagarin, in an 108-minute orbital flight aboard the Vostok 1, became the first human into space. Today is the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, and though the Soviets were very quickly outclassed in the space race, that accomplishment a half-century ago is one that will live forever in the minds of most space enthusiasts.

Riding a converted ICBM, Gagarin lifted off in the cockpit of the Vostok 1. His flight lasted just 108 minutes, and it was only a month before the Americans' first manned space mission, but on April 12, 1961, no one was riding higher than Gagarin and the entire Soviet space program.

This reprint of "The Huntsville Times" heralds Gagarin's accomplishment.

The Vostok 1 capsule, which is said to have been difficult to get to separate 
from the final stage of its rocket, nearly causing catastrophe.

Each year, Gagarin is remembered with a series of special events held at locations the world over known as Yuri's Night.

In this photo from 1965, Gagarin is greeted warmly by members of the American 
Gemini 4 program at the Paris International Air Show.

Here, we see Gagarin in his spacesuit.

This is the control panel of the Vostok 1.

According to NASA, "Dr. George M. Low, acting administrator of NASA, presented to the USSR on January 21, 1971, a plaque in memory of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who made the first flight into space on April 12, 1961. Accepting the plaque at the Moscow ceremony was Soviet Gen. Kuznetsov, commander of the USSR's Star City space base, where cosmonauts have been training since 1960."

Although Gagarin gets all the ink, much of the praise for the Soviet Union getting a man into space first should go to Sergei Korolev, the father of that country's space program.

2010 Smartphone Survey

Apple tops customer satisfaction; Motorola, HTC No. 2; RIM hits bottom


According to the smartphone customer satisfaction rankings, Apple remains top dog, but Motorola and HTC are nearly tied for the No. 2 spot. In other words, HTC and Motorola—two of the flagship Android brands—are improving. Here’s the scorecard:

A few items worth noting:

• Motorola and HTC are equals in customer satisfaction, which may reflect more on Android commoditizing hardware.
• Research in Motion is in trouble and at the bottom of the JD Power rankings.
• Palm is in the middle of the pack and that may mean HP could get a smartphone foothold.
• Samsung also rated near the bottom. That ranking is a bit surprising given the good reception for the Galaxy franchise.
• J.D. Power said the ability to use social media on smartphones was a key factor in customer satisfaction. Smartphone users that used Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook on their phones had satisfaction averages 22 points higher than folks that didn’t use their devices socially. 

Apple reveals the iPad 2

The dimensions of the iPad 2.

Jobs opens the event with Apple success stories from the past decade.

The iPad 2 is officially official. At first look, the iPad 2 doesn't look much different from the original iPad.

The iPad 2 will be  thinner than even the iPhone 4. Jobs says the new edge will be easier to handle.

The iPad 2 killer detail may be the price tag - same as the original iPad.

Here are some of the upgrades from the original iPad.

Jobs touts how the original iPad is already dominating the market

The smart cover is a bendable flip that sticks to the side.

the iPad 2 will come in white and black. The polyeurothane case comes in five colors and the leather case also comes in five colors.

Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software, takes the stage to talk about iOS 4.3. Improvements to AirPlay now include photo slideshows, and video and audio from apps to other devices.

Apple beefs up MacBooks

Apple updated its MacBook Pro line with next-gen processors, graphics and I/O technology dubbed Thunderbolt.

The new MacBook Pros have a FaceTime HD camera, a multi-touch trackpad, and a 7-hour battery.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,199 and features Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors up to 2.7 GHz.

The height of the 15-inch MacBook Pro is 0.95 inches and the width is 14.35 inches. It weighs 5.6 pounds.

The ports include a Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), MagSafe power port, Gigabit Ethernet port, FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), and Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps).

Apple also gave a "Developer Preview" of its next Mac OS X version named Lion.