While making coffee this morning I was thinking about theory, experience, and knowledge, and how all three work together.

If I want to become a pilot I need to enroll in a flight school to learn the “Theory,” of flying a plane.

After completing ground school I qualify for training with a flight instructor.   A flight instructor provides hands-on training in taking off, flying and landing a plane.  At this point I”m a novice pilot, I know theory and have some hands-on skill; however, I need more experience to become skilled and licensed pilot.   Finally with a sufficient combination of theory and experience I am knowledgeable enough to qualify for a pilots license.

Theory is not enough to successfully fly the plane.  If I have experience flying a plane then I can fly, sort of, but not safely, nor will I ever become a licensed pilot.

Knowledge is the result of successfully combining theory and experience to learn a new skill.   A knowledgeable pilot has all of the skills to fly the plane safely, solve problems, and avoid danger.

I make coffee every morning with a french press, this ritual is not for everyone because it takes more time.  First I grind the beans in a grinder, then I carefully measure the right amount into the french press. Once the water is at a rolling boil I pour it on top of the ground coffee and set the timer for four minutes.

While making coffee this morning  I was thinking the coffee grounds are “theory” and the boiling water is “experience.”   Artfully combining them together in just the right way, results in “knowledge.”

I’m not saying drinking coffee can make you smarter, or help you learn to fly a plane.  A cup of coffee after all, is just a cup of coffee.

Strategy is about business planning and management of  resources such as:  supply-chain, logistics, quality, finance, sales, and customer relationship.  Ideally there is a clear understanding of the metrics used to measure progress against goals.  Achieving success is a continuous iterative process of planning, organizing and optimizing.

Tactics exist because there is there is no perfect world. Best laid plans change and unexpected things happen.  Schedule changes, equipment break downs, supply-chain interruptions, risk management, conflict resolution, and day-to-day problem solving.  Tactics  require quick and effective decision making to ensure minimum impact to top and bottom line business goals.

The IT crowd will want to pickup a copy and test drive Windows 7 with the latest version of MS Office.  I”m betting businesses will hesitate to make an early investment due to budget concerns and the economy.

As for me, my primary home computer is running XP Professional with office 2003 and OpenOffice 3 for XP. My second computer is running Ubuntu 9.04 server with OpenOffice 3.

I have always been a fan of opensource software http://www.osalt.com/ and Linux ditributions http://distrowatch.com/

With Linux live CD’s all you have to do is download and burn an ISO, load the CD and test drive Linux. In the old days installing and configuring involved some tech savvy skills these days everything works just as well as Microsoft if not better.

I have started reading Peter Senge’s book on building a learning organization. This is a topic close to my heart as I am learning to re-focus my skills and experience to fit the needs of the current economy.

Customers are the life blood of every business. A large number of businesses are looking at Web2.0 technologies to retain and acquire new customers. Effective CRM strategies are critical to ensure products and services are in alignment with changing customer needs and expectations.

Typically CRM is viewed from a sales perspective; I believe it should also be studied from a strategic business perspective.

Our rapidly changing economy is re-defining how we all do business. Customer relationship management provides real time feedback enabling an agile business culture to adapt to the new economic normal.

Every interview is a networking opportunity. If you are not hired never fear, you may be in line as the number two candidate. This recently happened to someone I know. About a month after the company told him he didn’t get the job, they called and made him an offer because the number one candidate did not work out.

A big part of the hidden job market is people retiring, moving, etc.. A company would much rather hire someone they recently interviewed then go through the process all over again.

I spoke with a person last week who was called two months after interviewing for one position and accepted a job offer for a different position, which had not been advertised.

Think of it as a tennis game. It’s about keeping the ball in play, keeping the conversation going as long as possible, back and forth until you finally win.

Protect yourself from headaches and lost working time with a one-time investment in a good UPS. A good one would be APC from www.apc.com. I am in no way affiliated with APC, just a believer in their products, documentation and customer support.

If you have not experienced a power outage at your house or place of work, you may be in the minority.

Several friends have had their computers and other valuable electronic equipment/components damaged beyond repair due to lightning or tree branches hitting power lines during a storm. While I have not experienced this first hand, I have experienced power outages, brown-outs or brief drops in voltage.

If you work in an older building or live in an older home (older electrical panels have low amperage fuses instead of modern circuit breakers and may not have grounded outlets) or in an area prone to thunder, lightning and wind storms, you have a higher risk of power outages.

Few people like the challenge of replacing hard disks, re-installing operating systems, applications and recovering lost data.  A good UPS with an auto-shutdown application will protect your computer hardware, operating system and data from damage.

Training in martial arts and competition sports teaches many valuable lessons.  It’s about the journey not the destination.  There is always someone better to learn from and someone with less experience to train with and mentor.

I was recently thinking about customer relationship management and instant feedback.  Customers are the life blood of every business, how well do you know your customers?  What strategies are you using to align your products and services to your customers needs?

A sports team knows in real time when the offense or defense is weak and can adjust accordingly.  Does your companies CRM solution provide current and relevant feedback so your business can adjust to the new economy?

Yesterdays wind and rain took down power lines and tripped underground breakers.  Boy was PG&E busy.  We were lucky until this morning at 7:45 when the house went dark.  No problem, I had already cleaned up and had a hot cup of coffee.  So I exercised then went outside with the cats.

They had been inside all day yesterday and they really wanted to go out but the ground was wet.  A squirrel flew by on top of the fence catching the watchful the eye of Ravi and Dimitri.  The squirrel was briefly cornered until it figured out how to jump from one tree to the next and finally onto the fence out of reach of  the cats.

Still no power so I finally pumped up the tires on my mountain bike headed down the street.   Around the first corner was a large tree across half the road.  About a mile farther was another tree that had fallen in-between two houses, landing on both houses and the fence in the middle.

On the loop back to the house I spotted a PG&E truck so I stopped and asked if he was working on the power.  Turns out he was from Fresno, they dispatched him this morning after four hours sleep to help out with power outages in the Stockton area.   He was almost finished repairing an underground line which had shorted due to moisture.

Power was restored about 15 minutes after I returned home.  Now back to the job boards.

Since I have been working at home I have realized how much effort goes into cooking a meal. Take my advice, don’t wait until you are hungry. By the time you have setup and prepped the food, warmed the stove, cooked the food, sat down and ate, put everything away, cleaned up, wiped down the counters, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, it’s time to do it all over again.

First rain of the season rolls into northern California. It’s a great day to be inside drinking coffee and searching the net for the next job opportunity.