Personal Knowledge Management Second Brain Methods and Madness

Thursday, 9:30 AM EST

We are knowledge workers and ultimately, we must own our growth and learning. Personal Knowledge Management is a process of collecting information that one uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve and share knowledge in their daily activities and the way in which these processes support work activities.

Despite taking notes, bookmarking web content, and highlighting passages in books; often we struggle to recall or rediscover these many insights we pick up daily in our work and life. This session introduces a tool and some process recommendations to never again lose discoveries and knowledge resources.

Michael shares the tools and workflow he (and many on the NFJS tour) use to write, organize and share your thoughts, keep your todo list, and build your own digital garden. These approaches naturally connects what you know the same way your brain does, and makes it easier to make everything you learn actionable and always at your fingertips.

You'll learn the basics, tips and tricks, and recommendations of these tools and practices; and leave armed to deploy these right away as you continue learning at the conference!

Managing Tech Teams: Rules, Tools & Insights

Thursday, 11:00 AM EST

Software projects can be difficult to manage. Managing teams of developers can be even difficult. We've created countless processes, methodologies, and practices but the underlying problems remain the same.

This session is full of practical tips and tricks to deal with the reallife situations any tech leader regularly encounters. Put these techniques into practice and create an enviable culture and an outstanding development team. At the same time, you'll avoid common management mistakes and pitfalls.

The Art of Innovation

Thursday, 5:30 PM EST

Statistically speaking, you are most probably an innovator. Innovators actively seek out new ideas, technologies, and mental models by reading books, interacting with a broader social circle, and attending conferences. While you may leave this conference with the seed of an idea that has the potential to transform your teams, products, and organization; the battle has only begun. While, as a potential changeagent, you are ideally positioned to conceive of the powerful new ideas, you may be powerless to drive the change that leads to adoption. Your success requires the innovation to diffuse outward and become adopted. This is the art of Innovation.

Fortunately there has been over a century of study on the topic of how innovations go from novel idea to mainstream adoption. The art of innovation is difficult, but tractable and this session illuminates the path. You will get to the heart of why some innovations succeed while others fail as well as how to tip the scales in your favor. You'll leave armed with the tools to become a powerful change agent in your career and life and, ultimately, become a more powerful and influential person.

Finding Signal in the Noise: The art of Execution

Friday, 1:30 PM EST

In tech teams it's a constant firefight. We react. Then we react to the reaction… the cycle continues. In all this noise, in all this chaos, how do we move forward. How do we remain proactive?

A great leader must be an enabler for the team. At times this means insulating the team from the noise. At other times it means improving the environment for the team. At all times, however, it requires setting clear priorities and conditions for success.

This session is focused on the art of moving forward in even the noisiest environments.

Effective Leadership - The Six Principles of Persuasion

Friday, 3:00 PM EST

Whether you want to effect culture change in your organization, lead the transition toward a new technology, or simply get more out of your team; you must first understand that having a “good idea” is simply the beginning. An idea must be communicated; a case must be made. Communicating that case well is as important, if not more so, than the strength of the idea itself.

You will learn 6 principles to make an optimal case and dramatically increase the odds that the other person will say “Yes” to your requests and suggestions, along with several strategies to build consensus within your teams. As a professional mentalist, Michael has been a student of psychology, human behavior and the principles of influence for nearly two decades. There are universal principles of influence that are necessary to both understand and leverage if you want to be more effective leader of change in your organization.