HWMS Audio Theatre: Recent Episodes
David Alan Grier
How do you measure the distance to death?
How close is close?
How can you possibly make a clear decision when the dark cloud passes by your door?
And how you possibly study it when its effects swirl about you?
Monologue from the upcoming production by HWMS Audio Theatre: “Your Results May Vary.”
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Zoe Anastassiou – Professor Alec Effusion
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager
[24300]
Full Show Coming Fall 2024
For any mental heal professional, one patient follows another.
When the walls are thin enough, (as they often were for Black doctors in the 1960s, one patient can hear the session can hear the prior session.
So now our psych faces a patient who objects to the advice given in the an earlier patient. He has “do no harm,” try to provide a little help to a patient in need, and make sense of his own thoughts at this time.
A second scene from the practice of a San Franciscan Black Psychiatrist.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Phoenyx Rose – Office Assistant, The Patient Amida
- Eric Ward – The Doctor
- Geoffrey Grier – Announcer
[24210]
This episode contains language that some may find offensive.
Produced by San Francisco Recovery Theatre and HWMS Audio Theatre
San Francisco
Once the Harlem of the West.
Once a city with a vibrant and exciting Black culture.
It then faces the Civil Rights movement.
The Black Power Movement.
And a pair of Black Psychiatrists trying to make sense of of this thing called racism
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Phoenyx Rose – Office Assistant
- Eric Ward – The Doctor
- Vernon Medearis – The Patient, Bill
- Geoffrey Grier – Announcer
[24205]
Produced by San Francisco Recovery Theatre and HWMS Audio Theatre
Rosy Fingered Dawn stretches her hand across the morning sky.
As least that is what one of Chorus believes.
(He’s kind of that way. The other is not so sure.)
A little snippet of a classic story in a modern setting about a timeless conflict.
“Life is a Dream (or at least a wee nap”)
New full-ength drama from HWMS Audio Theatre.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Kota Fudauchi – Chaos
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Old Night
[22675.p2]
What is real?
When we’re awake? Or when we’re asleep.
A Dublin business has spent twenty years carefully crafting her company, her position, her identity.
No one questions her role.
She gets the business. She gets the revenue. She pays the salaries.
She is in control of all, until a memory from the past appears and starts to ask a few questions.
A new approach to a classic story.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Kota Fudauchi – Chaos
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Old Night
- Debbon Ayer – Rosemary Hawley
- Zoe Anastassiou – Toggle Dwiggens
- Josh LaForce – Jamie Gavin
- Ron Bianchi – Calder Tulley
- Tehya Merrit – Bridget O’Malley
- Margaux Amie – Sophia Gavin-Coyle
- Geoffrey Grier – Gleason Byrne
- Anastasia DeLoret – Nuela Meade
[22675]
Dublin.
Rain.
Business.
Money.
Power.
Two lost souls wandering the streets and getting wet.
A first look at a new show on an old subject with a classic approach.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Kota Fudauchi – Chaos
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Old Night
[22671.p1]
Fancy Club.
Fatty Foods.
Formal Music in the Background.
This is where business is done.
Or where we believe business is done.
Or perhaps where we pretend that something like business might be done on a good day with a favorable wind.
Three investors try to out bluff each other.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager & Maitre D’
- Josh LaForce – Carl
- Kota Fudauchi – Goto
- Sahara Ale – Tangier
- Skippy – Governor of California
Written and Produced by David Alan Grier
Musical and Sound Design by Hilbert Space
Dramaturgy by Steve Harper of Theatre503
[23415]
Bread Crumbs.
Paths we find for ourselves.
Paths we leave for others.
The lessons we learn along the way.
The gratitude we find with each step.
A monologue of an African American Family history by Geoffrey Grier of San Francisco Recovery Theatre in collaboration with AfroSolo.
A Studio Version of the live performance at Potrero Stage, San Francisco, CA September 27, 2022.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Geoffrey Grier
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager
Written by Geoffrey Grier
Produced by San Francisco Recovery Theatre in collaboration with AfroSolo with hosting and additional production by HWMS.
[23412]
What holds friends together?
Common background?
Common history?
A common vision of what they are?
Three friends explore the different roles they have with each other. They are moving into adulthood. They are shaping their lives and their identities. They also suddenly realize how delicate their common bonds may be.
A New Audio Drama From Tehya Merrit.
Cast, in order of appearance:
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager, Marta Green
- Margaux Amie – Rosa
- Sahara Ale – Kat
- Anastasia DeLoret – Macy
- Ron Bianchi – Waiter
Written by Tehya Merrit
Music Direction: Mel O’Dea Studios
Music: Alibi Music, STKA, Atomic Music (used with permission)
Dramaturgy: Steve Harper, Theatre503
Graphic Artist: Ava N Garda
Produced and Directed: David Alan Grier
[23405]
We know the story.
Three women.
A London Office.
A missing colleague.
And a pandemic.
Three women wake one morning to discover that a colleague has vanished in the night. Gone. Poof. Not a bit of a trace.
The clue to the story lies in a play that has just opened in a London Theatre. The missing colleague has vanished into the world of that play and has become engaged in a grand debate about the roles of women in modern society.
But the three women in the office are not part of the debate. They are earning a living. They are caring for family. They trying to decide what they need to do today in order to be ready for tomorrow, while worrying about their friend.
A play about the world of George Bernard Shaw and Karl Pearson that takes no guff from either.
Cast: (22470, in order of appearance)
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager, Marta Green
- Debbon Ayer – Honoria Fawcett
- Anastasia DeLoret – Daphne Duvet
- Tehya Merrit – Inis Abbo
- Ron Bianchi – Jock Hodgy, Messengers
- Kit Kuksenok – Messengers
- Josh LaForce – Asa Pinchbeck
- Kota Fudauchi – Eldon Shannon-Marsh
- Skippy – Vivian Warren
Cast: (22471 in order of appearance)
- Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager, Marta Green
- Zoe Anastasiou – Honoria Fawcett
- Margaux Amie – Daphne Duvet
- Sahara Ale – Inis Abbo
- Ron Bianchi – Messengers
- Kit Kuksenok – Messengers
- Ethan Madds – Jock Hodgy
- Josh Wilson – Asa Pinchbeck
- Geoffrey Grier – Eldon Shannon Marsh
- Skippy – Vivian Warren
Sound Design: Hilbert Space
Music Direction: Mel O’Dea Studios
Music: Alibi Music, Atomic Music (used with permission)
Dramaturgy: Steve Harper, Theatre503
Graphic Artist: Ava N Garda
Written and Directed: David Alan Grier
[22470]
She could have been somebody. A real contender. If there hadn’t been a global economic depression. If the world hadn’t been engaged in a world war. And if she hadn’t been a woman. Through Fate or Good Fortune or the simple dedication of someone who was not discouraged by rejection, she came to lead the … Continue reading Add Subtract Unite Divide →
New Drama. New Story. And it’s about arithmetic. And work relief. And Organizations. And Power. And National Security. Plus it’s a Love Story. A short preview of what is going to come. Told as only the HWMS Audio Theatre can do it. We’re Theatre Like You’ve Never Seen. Cast: Zoe Anastasiou – Computer Ron Bianchi – … Continue reading Preview: Add Subtract →
A suitcase on the sidewalk. A weary traveller looking for an answer. A stage manager, looking for dessert. Introducing Kota Fudauchi to the audio drama Embisivle Friend. Cast: Kota Fudauchi – Himself Michelle Thomas Hanson – Stage Manager Skippy – Himself [21913]
A school. A slightly unusual school. (Business curriculum. Silicon Valley.) A principal, slightly stressed. A teacher. (ditto) Broken plumbing. A friend with a yellow car. A successful corporate leader offering advice to a young protégé while pulling the funds from another. And a little girl shall lead them all. Just another day … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: A Place for Innovation →
What’s to be done? Waiting at an old train station. Not for a train of course. But will she come? Does she ever come? To New Jersey. Deepest New Jersey. A peek into the Audio Drama Embisivle Friend. Cast Zoe Anastassiou – Zoe Josh LaForce – Josh Michelle Thomas Hanson – Stage Manager Skippy – … Continue reading Waiting for Lillian Moller Gilbreth →
Cermack Road, Cicero, Illinois Once it was the center of the high tech world. Now it is a shopping mall. A mall that is barely making ends meet. Not a promising future for Silicon Valley. But a useful place to introduce a new cast member. A peek into the Audio Drama Embisivle Friend. Cast … Continue reading Embisivle Work →
Every now and then you need to assess. Take a look backwards. Ask “who did that character become?” With this episode, we return to the world of the adult Madison Insullie and see her dealing with adult problems. The 11th episode of the Audio Drama Embisivle Friend. Cast Sahara Ale – Consuela Zoe Anastasiou – Maddie … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Playing the Role →
We’ve lost our faith in books. We’ve lost faith in texts. May may have even lost faith in problem sets. Learning by doing. Learning by interning. Learning by being mentored. It’s what you demand when you’re an 8 year old entrepreneur. And a plasma steel cutter, just for good measure. The 10th episode … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Additive Education →
Is a startup a startup if it doesn’t start up in a garage? That’s the myth. We start with nothing but our wits and a little empty space from our parents, or our aunt, or some unrelated person up the street. More companies have started in a garage than you might think. But at the … Continue reading Embisivle Garage →
“Don’t let your kids take capital from strangers.” It’s the warning that parents should give their kids in Silicon Valley. But parents may reason “if the kids get the investment, could things really be that bad?” Aravinda finds herself tested in the newest episode of the audio drama that puts our business future squarely in … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Securing the Future →
How does it feel? They made tup the first stair but not the second. And who is there to hold them when they fall? As we follow the story entrepreneurship and innovation, we start the story of a Investor’s Representative, a famous former CEO, who goes through the world doing the things that need to … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle →
The show is about the Stage Manager. Every show is. So our manager steps up to the microphone in the HWMS auditorium to explain this Audiodrama Embisivile Friend. Introduction to the next section of the drama Cast Michelle Thomas-Hanson – Stage Manager Skippy – Himself [21911]
Out Stage is Silicon Valley. Our actors are titans of Industry. Some titans. Fictional titans. And some kids who believe that they are titans and that the earth shudders when they walk. And a dog. And a school. And an actor who wants to give you a tour. Ana DeLoret talks about the audio … Continue reading The Embisivle School →
Career Management. But it’s more than that. Manage plans. Manage hope. Manage accomplishments. And here’s the part you didn’t anticipate: Manage Boyfriend before the boyfriend manages you. An ambitious Principal faces an unexpected development in the 7th episode of the audio drama Embisivle Friend. Cast Sahara Ale – Lyra of Silent Partners Debbon Ayer – Penelope … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: The Job Suits You →
What does it mean to help a friend? Listen to their problems? Give unwanted advice? Give them a ride in your yellow car? And what do you do, when they ask you to mentor a troublesome student? The 6th episode of the audio drama Embisivle Friend. Cast Zoe Anastasiou – Maddie, the 8 year old CEO … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: I Look Good in Yellow →
Where are Mom and Dad? Any drama that features independent kids have to answer that question. The reasons are not always pretty but with a little help, they can be “neatened up a bit.” “Neatening” doesn’t help here, as a friend of Maddie’s father tries to explain The story of independent kids on the 5th … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: The Picture Goes Everywhere →
There’s a deal to be made here. If only all the parties would see it. One is looking for a crown. The other is hoping to find the exit. The problems of finding a common ground and a common agreement on the fourth episode of the audio drama “Embisivle Friend”. Cast: Zoe Anastassiou – Maddie, the … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Where Deals Are Made →
Influencer A career that inspires the children of our age. Roughly equal in status to those of astronaut, video game designer, and ballet dancer. Tehya Merrit from our cast visits center stage of influence. The Twitter headquarters to explain our drama. A lovely lobby. A decent café. And a place where influence is born. A … Continue reading Embisivle Influence for an Embisivle Drama →
Ordinary Day. Not so ordinary school. Not much happening. Though the fifth graders… that’s another story. And an aspiring CEO decides that Adam Smith might have something useful to say about her arithmetic quiz. Crowdsourcing an exam on the Third Episode of our series on Maddie, the 8 year old entrepreneur. Cast: Sahara Ale – Vice … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Only Hire The Best →
Another day. Another chance for a Senior Executive Meeting. Held on the Playground of the Lillian Moller Gilbreth School for Disruptive Innovation. Another opportunity to fight over key resources. And one of those resources is the meeting table itself. Second Episode of our series on Maddie, the 8 year old entrepreneur. Cast: Zoe Anastasiou – … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Friends and Family →
Zeppelins. Silicon Valley was once the home of Zeppelins. Giant Airships would silently glide out of their hanger and rise into the sky, undertaking cutting edge missions for the U. S. Navy. It was a sign of the areas importance, a sign of its role in creating new technologies. And of course, that era is … Continue reading Embisivle Tech from an Embisivle Drama →
Your attorney is sitting next to your bed. You knew it was going to be a peppy day, but maybe you thought that you would at least have time for a shower? So begins the story of Embisivle Friend. Once upon a time, there was an 8-year-old girl named Maddie who dreamed of becoming a … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Angel of the Morning →
It was once a big part of Silicon Valley culture. It may someday be part of that culture again. For the moment, it’s merely a shuttered memory. Cast member Sahara visits the Bay Area Makers Faire to explain a new story for the Audio Drama “How We Manage Stuff.” It’s a story set on the … Continue reading Embisivle Friend at the Fair →
We’ll do many things to get an audience. Many things. Cast member Noah Masur takes the Caltrans commuter train into Silicon Valley and tries to recruit a few new listeners for our new audio drama. At least he’s gotten you. That’s a positive thing. The rest? They’ll be coming soon, when we start releasing episodes … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Noah Promo →
Ever tried to raise money in Silicon Valley? Our cast, led by Zoe Anastassiou, works the central intersection of the tech world – Page Mill Road and El Camino Real – while explaining the new series, Embisivle Friend. It’s a story about real places and real characters who are played by real actors. It’s Embisivle … Continue reading Embisivle Friend: Street Theatre with Zoe Anastassiou →
A new story is coming. And part of it takes place in the City by the Bay. Cast member Geoffrey Grier gives a quick tour of the landscape of the audio drama “Embisivle Friend” Cast: Geoffrey Grier – Himself Skippy – Himself [21906]
A little girl with big dreams. A hardened veteran of business who has taken his share of punches. And two actors talking about these characters. A little preview of our upcoming story line: Embisivle Friend. Cast: Zoe Anastassiou – Herself (& Maddie) Geoffrey Grier – Himself (& Vinny) Skippy – Himself [18804]
End of the line. The enemy is vanquished. The Office is packed. The Ship is riding on the outgoing tide. The Prodigal returns. If we may invoke multiple images to announce the last episode of this story. The final episode of the audio drama “What Big Tech Doesn’t Know About Washington.” Cast: … Continue reading Big Tech: The Prodigal Returns (Closing Episode) →
There comes a time. A time when you have to face the bull. You can’t have a corporate leader who terrorizes employees, makes policy in public, and cuts unauthorized deals. And when the time comes. Only one person can do the job The episode 28 of the audio drama What Big Tech Doesn’t Know About Washington. … Continue reading Big Tech: Bull Fight →
He’s a Tech Guy. He thinks he has something to tell the world, something the world doesn’t know. Little surprised that needs people to help him. Ed Kowalski, the CTO of the Tech Giant Talking and Shopping returns to Washington but discovers that no one really missed him while he was gone. And no … Continue reading Big Tech: Grand Alliance →
He’s trying to do a good thing. A good thing with a drone. A good thing with a drone in the nation’s capital. It was supposed to be good. But now he is sitting in the station house of DC Police District 1 trying to explain what he is doing. The … Continue reading Big Tech: All Go Kaboom →
Intimate Knowledge. It doesn’t mean what it used to mean. And it doesn’t make things any easier. As Abby Alton, CEO of Talking and Shopping, prepares to meet Congress, two of her aides grappled with the fact that one of them knows a great deal about the other. A slow dance of … Continue reading Big Tech: The Conversation →
There are so many moving parts. You think you have a strategy and then things fall apart. Successful coworkspace. Capitol Hill. A Center for women. Finally, a sitting Senator graces the facility with her presence but at the same time, a real estate agency makes a call. Episode 24 of the series What Big … Continue reading Big Tech: Woman Looking at Real Estate →
Can’t things just get better? By themselves. When there is a market to disrupt. And money to be made. Ed Kowalski, the CTO of the hapless Internet firm Talking and Shopping is back in Silicon Valley. Tired of Washington. Tired of things he doesn’t understand. Tired of trying to get along with people. Episode … Continue reading Big Tech: Control and Command →
A friend you support financially is a friend indeed. So you would think. Abby Alton, the CEO of the Tech Giant Talking and Shopping pays a visit a Trade Association, the National Information Market Brokers Institute. T & S pays their bills, so you would expect a little love. And love can be found … Continue reading Big Tech: Sign in Here →
Chad Dockerly of the Dockerly Report You run a big name podcast. You deal with important issues. You can get big name guests. Maybe. Chad Dockerly asks his guest, Former Congressional Aide Rebecca Vogelson, to explain the EARN IT bill to his listeners. Episode 20 of the series What Big Tech Doesn’t Know About Washington. … Continue reading Big Tech: We Let You Decide (The Dockerly Report) →
Do you want to jump into the fray? Life is good. There’s no reason to go help a bloated egotistical, self-destructive big-tech get out of trouble in Washington. None at all, right? You’re sure of that? Introduction to the last act of the Audio Drama “What Big Tech Doesn’t Know.” Cast: Margaux Amie – … Continue reading Big Tech: Nothing I Can See →
You must take the tide at its flood. That is the sad lesson of organizational leadership. You may like your colleagues. You may like where you work. You may even like what you do. But there are times when you must loose the ropes that bind you to shore and start the journey … Continue reading SidePocket: Closing Shop →
You see the need. You found a way to get the money. You make the move. You’re board doesn’t like it. But you’re ok, right? I mean, you did the right thing? And your board will come along, don’t you think? Afterall, you are innovating. But then comes the break. Sixth in our re-release … Continue reading SidePocket: Breaking with the Board →
Your face on the cover of a magazine. What does it matter? (Who knows what a magazine even is, anymore?) Success has come to Vinny but how long will it stay? Fifth in our re-release of the AudioDrama: SidePocket Cast: Sahara Ale – Jessie Margaux Amie – Violet Zoe Anastassiou – Narrator: Maddie, the 8 … Continue reading SidePocket: Early Success →
They make you work. They take your money. They expect you to like it. But sometimes. Sometimes. There is another option. A chaotic trip through San Jose suggests a new strategy. Fourth in our re-release of the audio drama: SidePocket Cast: Sahara Ale – Jessie Zoe Anastassiou – Narrator: Maddie, the 8 Year Old … Continue reading SidePocket: Profit Driven →
Blame the bosses. A tried and effective strategy. And some times, it is actually true. But grudges can blind our eyes, leaving us with a moment of self satisfaction and not much more. Jessie misplays her hand Third in our re-release of the audio drama: SidePocket Cast: Sahara Ale – Jessie Zoe Anastassiou – Narrator: … Continue reading SidePocket: Who is Represented? →
Things sometimes go well. Or so we hope. Our new tech entrepreneur is in a new city with a new company, a new investment and a new start. Maybe. Or maybe not. Vinny and SidePocket start operations in Silicon Valley. The second episode in the audio drama. Cast: Sahara Ale – Jessie Zoe … Continue reading SidePocket: Losing Friends →
It’s an ordinary story. And perhaps a bit of a fantasy. But perhaps our time could benefit from an ordinary story. A young African-American leaves Detroit in the mid-1980s to see what he might do in Silicon Valley and in the process, learns something about investment, governance and decisions (both good and bad). Revisiting … Continue reading SidePocket: Leaving Detroit →
Thomas Piketty? Don’t get what he’s saying? Not sure you care? Zach, who is back, and Maddie, who has never left tell us what is important about the writings of this economist Or maybe not. Dr. Piketty wrote one of the more controversial book of the past 10 years. Maddie will tell you … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Capital and Ideology →
Are you coming? Are you going? Do you have a place in this world? Or do you not? Roger. Yasmin. Existential questions. And the power of warm drinks. The nineteenth episode of the Audio Drama “What Big Tech Doesn’t Know.” Cast: Sahara Ale – Yasmin Zoe Anastassiou – Faith Ron Bianchi – Roger Geoffrey … Continue reading Big Tech: a Cup of Coffee →
Are you famous? Fame we court. Fame we try to wield (before it weilds us. But are you famous? Not the best question to hear when you are trying to understand what is happening. Even if you’re not famous. Not famous at all. The eighteenth episode of the Audio Drama “What Big Tech … Continue reading Big Tech: Famous Person →
He doesn’t visit often. When he does, there’s always trouble. Or he thinks there’s trouble. Or maybe heard that there might be trouble. The Producer comes to visit our Washington Office and faces a cast that thinks (or wishes or hopes) that things are better than they are. The seventeenth episode of the Audio … Continue reading Big Tech: He’s Not Here →
Life is busy. There’s no time to read. Or view YouTube videos. Or even listen to podcasts. So Maddie, the 8 year old entrepreneur an Bix, the Master Scrum Master, give you a thorough overview of Clayton Christensen’s masterwork, the Innovators Dilemma. It is perhaps the most influential business book of our age. … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Innovators Dilemma →
It starts with a pool game. It ends with a riot. And in the middle, there’s a guy who sounds a lot like Henry Kissinger. Except he makes tea. The plans have been made. The execution is proving hard. We’ve had to bring some extra talent to the project (and some time soon … Continue reading Big Tech: Act III →
Usual cast of characters. A tech bro who is a bully. A very smart CEO who just doesn’t seem to understand. A consultant who is finding her way in a lost, lost world. Plus there are a pair of coworkers who have great sport commenting on the situation, the owner of a woman’t coworkspace … Continue reading Big Tech: Act II →
They seem like such nice people. It’s just too bad that things didn’t quite go as planned. We have a young attorney advisor. And a director of public relations . And an mess they didn’t anticipate. The How We Manage Stuff audio drama tackles the issue of technology in government. The leaders … Continue reading Big Tech: Act I →
It was supposed to be easy. A way to build trust. A simple public talk at a sympathetic organization. But there were protestors. And a badly prepared speech. And a host who didn’t seem to realize what was happening. Abby Alton, CEO of Talking and Shopping, addresses the public and finds herself backed into … Continue reading Big Tech: All Gone Wrong →
IAD? IDA? What’s the difference? What is the import of the flip of one letter? The expanded team gathers in Washington. Vinny from Washington. Karine from Brussels. Time to get the leaders of the tech giant Talking and Shopping ready for a Congressional Hearing. But there is that little issue. IAD vs IDA. … Continue reading Big Tech: Best for All →
We’re an Audio Drama. We live on the Internet. We tell stories of work and tech and power and love and loss. Consultants in Germany. Artificial Intelligence in Seattle. A startup in Mountain View. Books that we read so you don’t have to. An little entrepreneur who knows things her elders never will. We tell … Continue reading Audio Drama →
Gravitas. How important is gravitas, social authority, to a tech organization? Afterall, they are the ones who claim that they are trying to disrupt society, to remove older barriers, to build new structures that are more profitable to all. If that is the case, if their power comes from forces outside society, then … Continue reading Big Tech: The Right Clothes →
“Is this you?” Never be in haste to answer that question Facts are never just facts. There’s always a value, a judgement, an opinion. So when you’re asked “Is this you?” you need to be sure you know who is doing the asking. Journalist Chad Dockerly confronts Victor Numerov of T&S and cast members … Continue reading Big Tech: I Know Who You Are →
It’s just physics, right? Set the ball in motion, it bounces off the cushion, hits another, falls into the pocket, just as you’d expect. Except it doesn’t The leadership of Talking and Shopping is frustrated with Washington and Washington is tired of them. There are problems on the horizon, balls on the table, and little … Continue reading Big Tech: Bank Shot →
The questions are simple. The answers? We don’t know. At best, we have a senatorial aide who doesn’t know how to type. Or is incapable of being sociable. Abby Alton of T&S is preparing for an appearance before the Senate. Her consultants meeting with key staff members but don’t exactly leave satisfied. … Continue reading Big Tech: By Any Other Name →
Every job is middle management. Everyone is caught between someone above and someone below. And that hook that captures you is always tricky. Sometimes that sharp little tine is friendship. Sometimes, its money. Sometimes it’s merely the image that we would like to claim for ourselves. For a moment, we see the CTO Ed … Continue reading Big Tech: Farming From San Francisco →
Not everyone presents themselves well. Not everyone holds to the company policy. Not everyone is good at working the room. What skills do you need when your client presents themselves in the worst possible light? The Senior Management, Vinny and Evelyn, think that they need a more experienced member of the team. … Continue reading Big Tech: The Dead Don’t Disrupt →
Hardship means different things at different times. Abby Alton, the CEO of Talking and Shopping, finishes a long day of meeting members of Congress. In place of a moment of rest, she is faced with an obsequious assistant, an aide who has yet to understand the invasive nature of modern retail, and a … Continue reading Big Tech: Mother Comes Home from the War →
Swapping Gossip. A pair of old friends meeting for lunch. What is Talking and Shopping trying to do in DC? Is Big Tech vulnerable? Is there some agenda that they don’t see? And then there is the reporter. Did I mention the reporter? What they do see is a little meeting between congressional aides, … Continue reading Big Tech: Today’s Special →
You’d think they’d be on the same side. Wouldn’t that be obvious? But the CTO has arrived in Washington and things that he should be the center, the center of attention. But that was never the plan. And not only will he have to convince his boss, he’s going to have to convince her … Continue reading Big Tech: Squirrel Dog →
There’s a reason. A senatorial aide who seems inept at social media? There’s a reason. A trade association director who seems to be speaking in tongues? There’s a reason. An administrative assistant who has a little too much data about you, about your roommate, and about the stain on the carpet floor? There’s certain … Continue reading Big Tech: A Pillar of Fire By Day →
Does this happen to you? Your Uber Driver knows more than you’re client? It’s embarrassing, yes? Big Tech spends millions, hundreds of millions, of dollars in Washington and what do they get for their money? A service. Nothing more. A service. That’s it. Why is that a problem you ask? It’s the … Continue reading Big Tech: The Kind of Mess →
Speed. Disruption. Innovation. Not Duty. Not Deliberation. Not Honor. Tech let us reordered our virtues. Policy, if taken thoughtfully, makes us examine that reordering. It may not solve anything but it makes us wonder if we’re doing things the right way. Policy is never “Us” versus “The Government”. It’s “Us” … Continue reading Big Tech: A Tongue Lashing →
Money isn’t everything Ideas are surprisingly important But people carry the ideas. And promote the ideas. And analyze, and dispute, and contradict, and accep,t and reject, and all the rest of the things that you do with ideas. In the process, the people find themselves carrying, promoting, analyzing, disputing, accepting and rejecting each other. … Continue reading Big Tech: A Busy Day →
Only rarely do you see the big picture. Most of the time, it is a nightmare. 15,000 people. Running through the tunnel that lie beneath the US Capitol. The share information, cut deals, plan strategies, and try to advance their own little agendas. Only once in while can they climb to the top … Continue reading Big Tech: Past is Prologue →
They don’t talk. They don’t write. They don’t really like dealing with each other. Yet, they need each other, need each other in a fundamental, all consuming way. We’re talking about Tech and Government, in case there was any question. And do you know how we know, how we know this? Because … Continue reading What Big Tech Doesn’t Know Big Time →
The end. It’s never quite what you expect. In part, it’s really a beginning, though the beginning may not include you. So we get only a hint of how the story will progress. A family has been reconciled. One troublesome employee has moved to the competition. Another is still in the offices. We have installed … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Epilogue →
We arrive in Hamburg. Port City. International City. World Headquarters of Coffee Logistics. Things start poorly for the team. They are tired. One of there number is perhaps a little drunk. There are some extra requirements and a dynamic that doesn’t make sense. The operations manager seems to have an unusual control over affairs and … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Act I →
Outside Tech meets Inside Politics. That’s the story. If you understand what it means, you can quit right here. But you’ll miss the story. And the lesson. With this episode, we start the complete presentation of our recent series on tech consulting. Two hours of drama in five easy episodes. There’s something for everyone. Good … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: The Prologue →
It never ends well. It really can’t There is an organization to renew. There are new tasks, new demands, new technology to install, new procedures to develop. So what do you get when a tech consulting job ends? You’re supposed to get a new company, but perhaps all you get is a trail of beans. … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Following the Trail →
It’s not the slides. It’s not the words. It’s not the clothes you wear. This doesn’t determine your success. Or at least it doesn’t determine it very much. The bigger issue: What do your clients know? And when did the learn it? In the consulting trip to Hamburg, our team is about to deliver its … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Delivering the Goods →
“Complicated” You don’t talk. It’s “complicated.” You don’t act. It’s “complicated.” You don’t know what to do. It’s… You can see the pattern. Our consulting at BKL Coffee Logistics has been strained. This owner had this grad idea to start the job and then vanish to a retreat in the Swiss Alps. He wanted to … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Confront and Advise →
When do they make the mistake? When do they make a decision that limits – radically limits – options? Our consulting team is working on a project that is only stumbling forward in the best of light. So what has happened, we ask. Has someone made a mistake? Has our team done something wrong? Has … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: The Fatal Mistake →
A young entrepreneur. A new technology. All the temptations to make bad decisions. In the series of on the startup SidePocket, we explored the challenges posed by organizational governance, the authority wielded by investors. Our central character, Vinny, walks away from a company that was unable to make a decision and forms a new company, … Continue reading SidePocket: A Series on Governance →
A business owner. A group of good friends. And an underlying controversy that simply won’t go away. Florian Bohne, the owner of Bohne Coffee Logistics is holding a party in the Swiss Alps while his friends believe that he should be back with his company. So we have a fight, a disagreement among friends. Yet … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Why did you do it this way? →
Consulting. You’re just giving your opinion. That’s it. Nothing more. Now, in theory, that opinion is worth something on the open market. It’s worth something for two reasons. First, you have some special training or knowledge. Second, you have data. Data about what is happening. And there’s the rub. In the modern day and age, … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Gathering Data →
When Kids Buy Bitcoin You think that buying Bitcoin is a grownup thing to do? Really? Meet Maddie, the 8 year old entrepreneur who will tell you otherwise. Maddie is played by Zoe Anastassiou, one of the most flexible members of the cast. Zoe has played executives, teachers, moms. But Zoe Anastassiou is most commonly identified … Continue reading Interlude: When Kids buy Bitcoin →
It’s a holiday for gratitude in the United States but a holiday for data in the rest of the world. Ok. They now call it the “Consumer Technology Show” but it’s the same old event. New technology. Lots of talks. Entrepreneurs desperately trying to move their ideas from intellectual conception to money making product. So … Continue reading Consumer Electronics Show Preview →
It’s a holiday for gratitude in the United States but a holiday for data in the rest of the world. A Holiday for Data? Three different groups have organized holidays for data and statistics: one for India, one for the continent of Africa and one for the world at large. You may think that they’re … Continue reading Interlude: A Holiday for Data? →
You don’t, and that”s the point. It’s the contract that holds you together. Not your history. Not your friendship. Not anything else. The contract. Offer. Acceptance. Consideration. That’s it. And what does that paper mean when things start moving fast, when you jump from one meeting to the next? And what does it mean … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: What does this paper mean? →
A quick review. Our crack consulting team has gone to Hamburg Germany. We’re dealing with the problems of consulting. Our client transports coffee. It sounds like it should work. A.terall our team likes coffee. They like it very much. The summary from our preview episode Cast: Chuck – Ron Bianchi Debbon Ayer – Herself … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: We’re talking Tech. We’re talking Coffee. →
You don’t, and that”s the point. We have a company. We have a consulting team. And we believe we have a client, though it would seem that the client is not sure that he would have us. Days after the HWMS team arrived at BKL, it’s owner decided to go hiking in the Swiss … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: When the Client Leaves the Premises →
You don’t, and that”s the point. None of know what we are doing when we going into a new organization. We don’t know the history. We don’t know the power structure. Sometimes, we don’t even know the goals. (And this will lead us to one of the key questions of this series: “Who are … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: Do you Indeed? →
How do you begin a consulting job? In thunder, lightening or in rain? It is chaotic at the start. You move to new offices, meet new people and start to appreciate new responsibilities. Our podcast has been hired by a German firm – a logistics provider to the coffee industry – to review their … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks:The Beginning is Chaos →
In an invited commentary, the CEO of Embisivile Frien’ addresses the problem of harassment. It is a general problem that needs to be addressed in the tech industry but it is a specific instance that Madison wishes to discuss. Cast: Vinny, the CTO – Geoffrey Grier Maddie the CEO if Embisivle Frien’ – Zoe Anastassiou … Continue reading Commentary: Harassment at the Workplace →
The heart of the matter. Do don’t know what it is until you’ve done it. You don’t understand why it is hard, until you’ve done it internationally. The crack cast of How We Manage Stuff prepares to depart for Germany. At one level, the problem is simple. A small German logistics firm needs some … Continue reading Kaffe Logistiks: A Story of Consulting →
Globalization. It seems to be a term of another era. Simpler. Less chaotic. Quieter, perhaps. Civil, if that remains a relevant concept. In this episode, we return to that idea as part of our recurring series “We Read It So You Don’t Have To.” Specifically, we look at the role of technology in linking … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: The Great Convergence →
You’ve posted your qualifications, got yourself a business license and are ready to start a new career as an independent tech consultant. What makes you think that you will succeed in a field where others have, well, not succeeded? This fall, we’re going to start a series that follows the crack How We Manage … Continue reading Kaffe Logixtiks: You Really Want to Be a Consultant? →
Things are never as clear as they seem. Never as obvious. Never as straightforward as you would like. It should be simple. You get an idea. You make a product. You take it to the market. Let your customers decide for good or for ill. But that simplicity masks the fundamental conflict. A conflict over … Continue reading SidePocket: Tech, Money, Betrayal & Bad Driving →
You’ve intended to read The Second Machine Age, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAffee but just haven’t found the time. It’s an important book, to be sure, and explains a lot about the future of work. But it’s fat. And it’s say on your Amazon wish list for what, three years? This is how we … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: The Second Machine Age →
Boards. Why do you need them? Just they don’t get in the way? The podcast How We Manage Stuff will soon start a new series that deals with technology, organizations and governance in a effort to help you understand how to bring new ideas to market. Cast Member Zoe Anastassiou and Geoffrey Grier Cast: Maddie … Continue reading Climbing the Corporate Ladder →
When it falls apart, it just goes. You think you understand something. You got the idea right. You’re ready to act, to executive. Then all of a sudden, you realize that your approach has a flaw, a fundamental flaw. It would work perfectly well, IF you could have an infinite pile of turtles. Turtles, Turtles, … Continue reading Assume an Infinite Pile of Turtles →
It’s not a question of smarts. It’s a question of how it got that way. A lot of the smart apps are fairly straight forward – classic computing ideas repackaged in a clever case. You start taking the p hone apart and you a lot of ideas that aren’t that clever experience t for the … Continue reading HWMS: How Smart Is Your Phone? →
A metal lathe. A 40 year old clasp. A playlist of unfortunate songs. Most unfortunate. A suspicious relationship between Henry Ford and Thomas Alva Edison. All of these point to questions about what we know about our jobs and know that knowledge can be captured by machines. Deep learning. Big Data. Capturing what we … Continue reading HWMS: Machines that Learn Our Jobs? →
Do smart machines help us understand smarts? More important, do we learn something about intelligence by working with artificial intelligence? The results are mixed. Current researchers regularly argue that their work is inspired by their understanding of the brain but that claim still begs the question, “do these machines teach us about through?” Some of … Continue reading HWMS: Searching for Intelligent Machines →
A series on smart technology technology and autonomous vehicles is running when a self-driving Uber car goes astray. It probably does not mark the end of the technology. However it causes us to remember the true nature of what we are doing and how the public may not forever sustain its enthusiasm for digital products … Continue reading HWMS: Smart Technology in the Intersection →
It’s rarely a direct replacement. Rarely do smart machines actually change the workplace as they were intended. It’s always a change to some side occupation, an occupation that you may not connect with smart technology. as Our series on smart machines and work considers the contributions of John McCarthy, one of the founders of … Continue reading HWMS: Do Smart Machines Make Sense? →
Are machines taking are jobs? Or perhaps more to the point, are you concerned that machines, smart machines, are poised to take your job? With this episode, we start an examination of smart machines as a substitute for workers. We put it in the hands of our intern, Anna. After all, more of her career … Continue reading HWMS: Your Job Taken by a Machine? →
Do young employees find it hard to finish tasks? Is it somehow difficult for them to bring a job to completion? So we ask the question and start to look for an answer. Our cast moves from the problem of finishing tasks to the problem of finishing MOOCS – Those Massive Open OnLine Courses that … Continue reading HWMS: Why Don’t They Finish? →
He is remembered as as the founder of the Electronic Freedom Foundation. Or, alternatively, as a lyricist for the Grateful Dead and link between counterculture and technology. However, John Perry Barlow was the writer that argued that cyberspace was a frontier and that settling that frontier would require more thought that we were prepared to … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Cyberspace as Frontier: John Perry Barlow →
We sent the cast to Bangalore. We went looking for an office. It was a hard task. Harder than any of them thought. There are a lot of choices for a small tech organization in india and a lot of opinions among the cast. So they ultimately resorted to numbers – not because they … Continue reading Data Driven Decisions and the Office in India →
Machine Intelligence is going to take over the world, right? We know this? Driverless cars. Computer bosses. All the information that you could ever know captured in a few silicon chips? Can the new generation of workers look ever look forward to having a satisfying career again? The Podcast How We Manage Stuff is … Continue reading HWMS: Machine Intelligence and the Future of Work →
Can Scrum Masters learn something from Sous Chefs? Or Sous Chefs from Scrum Masters? Both represent a kind of job that is being overlooked in this age. Skilled. Managerial. Professional. Disciplined. Yet not quite academic. Our Master Scrum Master, Bix, and the Sous Chef from Washington’s Green Rice and Natto talk about their … Continue reading The Scrum Master and the Sous Chef →
Not only does it have to be good, it has to be secure. That’s the problem. And it’s now the problem with everything. Everything including cars. It’s such an issue, that the ICCE, the Engineering Conference on Consumer Electronics, is devoting its entire session to cybersecurity. To bring attention to the important issues of automotive … Continue reading CES: Are You Taking Care of Yourself? →
A pair of guests. A Blue Screen of Death. The Perils of Live Podcasting. The time is rapidly approaching for the Consumer Electronics Show and its engineering counterpart, the International Conference on Consumer Electronics. Anna, our intern, wanted to give a preview to the show and talk about how it will be emphasizing cybersecurity but … Continue reading CES: Parents Preview the Consumer Electronics Show →
How do you fix a troubled startup? How do you mend a broken heart? When your startup is in trouble, you can look for solutions in every possible direction but the right one. Vinny considers the possibility of a simple technical fix for Maddie’s increasingly complex Watcher Dogz. Featuring: Zoe Anastassiou as Maddie-the-8-year-old-entrepreneur Geoffrey Grier … Continue reading Working in the Neighborhood →
Was the Internet designed to withstand a nuclear attack? Common story. Is it true? Rohit and Penelope Othmar explore the origins of the Internet when they review the book Imagineers of War by Sharon Weinberger, a book that discusses the history of ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The answer is not as straightforward … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Imagineers of War →
Is programming a skill unique to itself or can we learn some fundamental lessons from other fields. Cooking perhaps. In this episode, the podcast goes to one of its favorite restaurants – Washington DC’s Green Rice and Natto – to create an episode that looks at the different kinds of skills you need as a … Continue reading Programs and Cooking →
An innocent remark and a story unravels, a story the suggests some of the challenges that women face in trying to climb into the leadership ranks of high technology. It begins with Maddie, student at the Lillian Moller Gilbreth School for Disruptive Innovation, and the CEO of a new startup called “Watcher Dogs” and ends … Continue reading A Young Entrepreneur & a Mother →
So what’s so bad about Knowledge Engineering? You’re just systematizing what your company knows. Just trying to bring some order to the chaos of the corporate world. However, it always requires a compromise. Squeezing a 7 and a half foot into a 6 and a half Louboutin, as Anna would say. In no situation are … Continue reading The Knowledge Engineered Boyfriend →
Who better to review a book about Harvard Business School than two generations of Entrepreneurs? Vinny the CTO brings the expertise of success. He founded SidePocket in the 1980s and led it to a brilliant, albeit short, life. Maddie brings the perspective of hard experience. She is the founding CEO of WatcherDogz, which is her … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: The Golden Passport →
We Read It So You Don’t Have to. There is so much new information published every day that one person can’t possible read it all much less get any perspective on it. Take Automation, Autonomous Cars, Machine Learning. All of these technologies pose new challenges to the organization and at the same time, they represent … Continue reading Position, Function, Status →
We Read It So You Don’t Have to. There is so much new information published every day that one person can’t possible read it all much less get any perspective on it. Take Automation, Autonomous Cars, Machine Learning. All of these technologies pose new challenges to the organization and at the same time, they represent … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Industry 4.0 →
Ok. Maddie is a bit unusual in the world of CEOs but she still needs to be ready for the politics of her Board. They’re not going to agree with her just because she has a clever tech idea and good presentation. You have to be ready. You have to think. [17218] Cast: Vinny the … Continue reading A CEO Prepares for Her Board →
We think about the future in terms of the past. Star Wars, after all, takes place a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. When we think about cyberdefense, we find that we are still think in terms of the static defense of physical infrastructure. We try to defend mobile data with … Continue reading Cybercastles & Cyberdefense →
Big Data. It gives you facts. It tells you what is really happening. It has Volume, Varity, Velocity, Veracity and, of course, Vexation of Spirit. Vexation can come with the data, no matter how much you have of it, tells you more about the structure that gathered it than the truth of any matter. When … Continue reading Big Problems with Big Data →
We Read It So You Don’t Have To. We regularly look at new books on technology or organization. Today, we look at an Indian book on Jugaad Innovation and ask “How is it really different from an American book?” Jameela, our Bangalore Office Manager, as always, has ideas. Lots of ideas. [17122] Cast: Jameela from … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Jugaad Innovation →
Agility begins at home. Or more to the point, it begins with the board. Too often, companies are organized conventionally and then the CEO tries to make the Agile by applying various tricks and procedures. As Vinny argues in today’s episode, you really need to start at the top, think of the company as a … Continue reading The Agile Board →
Do you see the talent that you have in your organization. The movie Hidden Figures brings some welcome attention to the forgotten human computers who did the calculations for the manned space program. However, as much as we might like to think that the story of Katherine Goble Johnson and NASA’s West Area Computers was … Continue reading We Read It So You Don’t Have To: Hidden Figures →
There was a reason for this title. We talked about it in the writers room. But that reason is gone. It was just another step towards Audio Drama. You want to be innovative do something new and think that you can just change directions on a dime. But that’s the problem. Novelty is not innovation. … Continue reading It’s called “Brexit” but It’s not About Brexit (Series I) →
Not up on the current literature of technology and organization? Don’t worry. We read it so you don’t have to. This week, we look at David Weil’s Fissured Workplace, a book about what is happening to the workplace in the age of Uber, Taskrabbit and Mechanical Turk. [16425]
Every community should have tradition for the December Holidays. Our tradition comes the predecessor to this drama, the podcast “Errant Hashtag.” This is an adaptation the essay “Songs of Comfort and Joy.” Two notes, while this is dramatic, it is not technically drama. The event actually occurred at the Computing Center of Southern Methodist University … Continue reading Holiday Special – Songs of Comfort and Joy →
HWMS did not long remain a conventional podcast, if it ever was conventional. In the summer of 2015, we interrupted an interview by parading a French Army band through the studio. By the fall of 2015, we knew that we wanted to move another direction. We went looking for dramatic talent, hired actor Sarah Corbyn … Continue reading The Dramatic Turn →
HWMS began as conventional podcast. More or less. (Probably less but we wouldn’t admit it.) It followed in the footsteps of three successful podcasts: “Known World” (2007-2009); “Crowdpod” (2010-2012), and “Errant Hashtag” (2013-2015). All three had become books: Too Soon To Tell (Wiley 2009), Crowdsourcing for Dummies (Wiley 2012), and The Company We Keep (IEEE … Continue reading HWMS: A Conventional Start →