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理解CAP定理 - 分散式系統的平衡行為

在分散式系統的世界中,同時實現一致性、可用性和分區容忍性是一項具有挑戰性的任務。由電腦科學家 Eric Brewer 在2000年提出的CAP定理探討了設計和運營此類系統涉及的內在權衡。在這篇博客文章中,我們將深入探討CAP定理,其關鍵概念,以及它對分散系統設計的影響。

理解CAP定理

CAP定理指出,在分散式系統中,不能同時保證三個基本屬性:一致性(C)、可用性(A)和分區容忍性(P)。以下是每個層面的細分:

  1. 一致性(C):一致性指的是分散式系統中的所有節點在同一時間擁有相同的資料。換句話說,當客戶端讀取資料時,它將始終接收到最新的和最新的版本。對於涉及金融交易或關鍵資料的應用程序,實現強一致性可能是理想的。

  2. 可用性(A):可用性意味著分散式系統必須對每個請求提供回應,無論系統的狀態如何。即使有些節點無法正常運作或網絡出現問題,系統應繼續對請求作出回應並提供可接受的服務水平。高可用性對於需要優先考慮響應性並必須處理大量使用者請求的系統至關重要。

  3. 分區容忍性(P):分區容忍性涉及到系統在網絡分區發生時仍能繼續運作的能力,造成系統不同部分之間的通信失敗。網絡分區可能由於硬體故障、網絡擁塞或軟體問題等各種原因發生。一個具有分區容忍性的系統可以承受網絡連接的丟失並仍能正常運作。

權衡

CAP定理宣稱,當分散式系統面臨網絡分區(P)時,系統設計者必須在一致性(C)和可用性(A)之間做出選擇。 換句話說,在分區期間不可能同時實現強一致性和高可用性。

在選擇C和A之間,有兩種主要的一致性模型需要考慮:

  1. 強一致性:優先考慮強一致性的系統要求所有節點在回應任何讀請求之前同意更新的順序和有效性。實現強一致性通常涉及引入延遲的協調機制,並在網絡分區期間增加不可用性的可能性。

  2. 最終一致性:最終一致性放寬了強一致性的要求,允許節點之間存在臨時的不一致性。在分區期間,節點可以分叉,但當網絡分區解決時,最終將恢復一致性。最終一致性優先考慮可用性,而非立即一致性,並常用於需要關注擴展性和反應速度的系統中。

現實世界的例子

一些受歡迎的分散式系統體現了CAP定理內的不同權衡:

  1. 關聯性資料庫:傳統的關聯性資料庫通常優先考慮一致性而非可用性。當網絡分區發生時,它們可能選擇暫停或停止運行,直到恢復一致性,從而犧牲可用性。

  2. NoSQL資料庫:許多NoSQL資料庫,如Apache Cassandra, 優先考慮可用性而非強一致性。它們被設計來處理大規模的分散環境和分區容忍性,同時提供高可用性和最終一致性。

  3. Amazon DynamoDB:DynamoDB是亞馬遜的一種管理型NoSQL資料庫,實現了AP權衡。它優先考慮可用性和分區容忍性,讓用戶能夠以低延遲讀寫資料,但在網絡分區時可能會造成數據的臨時不一致。

結論

CAP定理作為理解分散式系統設計涉及的權衡的關鍵指南。系統架構師和開發者必須仔細考慮他們的應用程序的特定需求,並衡量一致性、可用性和分區容忍性的重要性,以做出明智的設計選擇。

雖然CAP定理提供了寶貴的見解,但值得注意的是,最近的研究和進步已經探索了放寬其假設並引入新的一致性模型。這些發展,以及新興的技術比如共識算法和分散資料庫,繼續推動分散式系統設計的可能性的邊界,為未來的創新提供了令人興奮的可能性。

使用Prometheus監控系統和服務

在現代軟體開發的動態環境中,有效的監控系統和服務在確保應用程序的可靠性、可用性和性能方面起著關鍵作用。近年來,憑藉其簡潔、可擴展和健壯的特性,一種名為Prometheus的系統在這方面獲得了大量的人氣。Prometheus允許開發人員和操作員深入了解他們的系統。在這篇博客文章中,我們將深入探討Prometheus的世界,介紹其主要功能、架構,以及監控系統和服務的最佳實踐。

1. 理解Prometheus

Prometheus是一個開源的監控和警報工具集,最初由SoundCloud開發。它採用了拉取式模式來收集度量資料,透過HTTP協議從目標系統搜集資料。有了Prometheus靈活的資料模型和查詢語言,使用者可以有效地收集、儲存和分析時序資料。

2. 主要特點和優點

a. 多維度數據模型:Prometheus允許高效地存儲和查詢時序數據,並允許用戶為度量資料定義標籤,並根據各種維度輕鬆切分和劃分數據。這種靈活性有助於細節監控和更好的故障排除能力。

b. 強大的查詢語言:PromQL 查詢語言使用戶能夠對收集到的數據進行進階的匯總、過濾和轉換。它使操作員能夠深入了解系統的性能和行為,並解答關於系統性能和行為的複雜問題。

c. 警報和通知:Prometheus內置了強大的警報系統,支持基於度量資料閾值和條件的警報規則。它可以通過電子郵件、Slack、PagerDuty或自定義的整合通道發送通知,以確保對關鍵事件的及時響應。

d. 動態服務發現:Prometheus與服務發現機制(例如Kubernetes,Consul或基於DNS的發現)無縫結合。這一特性允許自動監視新部署的實例,並確保在動態環境中的擴展性。

3. Prometheus架構

Prometheus遵循一個簡單和模塊化的架構,包含幾個核心組件: a. Prometheus Server:系統的核心,負責收集、處理和存儲時序數據。它提供一個查詢API並處理警報和規則評估。

b. Exporters:這些是部署在目標系統旁的代理,負責將度量資料以Prometheus兼容的格式輸出。各種技術的exporters都有,包括數據庫、web伺服器、訊息佇列等等。

c. Pushgateway:一個用於收集和暫存來自批次作業或短期服務的度量資料,這些來源無法被直接采集的組件。

d. Alertmanager:一個獨立的服務,負責處理警報通知,並管理警報的分組、去重複和靜音。

4. 用Prometheus進行監控的最佳實踐

a. 定義有意義的度量資料和標籤:設計可以提供系統行為和性能洞察的度量資料。有效地使用標籤來為度量資料增加層次和上下文。

b. 避免cardinality爆炸:添加標籤到你的度量資料時要謹慎,因為高cardinality可以影響Prometheus的存儲和查詢性能。在粒度和可擴展性之間找到平衡。

c. 利用exporters並儀器化(instrument)你的程式:使用現有的Prometheus exporters或創建自定義的exporters來從你的應用中提取度量資料。找出程式碼庫以提供針對特定操作或部件的詳細洞察。

d. 建立強大的警報和監視規則:基於有意義的閾值和條件定義相關的警報規則。定期審查和修訂這些規則,以確保可行和準確的警報。

e. 監控Prometheus本身:實施對你的Prometheus伺服器和exporters的監視和警報。這有助於識別任何與數據收集、存儲或性能瓶頸有關的問題。

結論

Prometheus以其簡單性、可擴展性和強大的查詢功能革命性地改變了監控系統和服務的領域。通過將Prometheus作為你的監視堆棧的一部分,你可以了解到你的應用的行為和性能的寶貴洞察,使你能夠主動地解決問題並確保最佳的系統健康狀態。抱住本文中列出的最佳實踐,充分利用Prometheus的潛力,提升你的監控卓越性。

揭秘創新 - 揭示進步的真正推動者

每個人都對蘋果最近推出的新混合現實頭戴設備Vision Pro感到興奮,但是這真的是創新嗎?創新是推動人類進步的驅動力,改變產業,改善生活,形塑我們生活的世界。然而,創新的過程卻常常被誤解和過度簡單化。在這篇博客文章中,我們將探討創新是如何真正運作的,揭露常見的誤解,並且為推動創新的關鍵因素揭曉。

1. 專利:不僅僅是創新的衡量標準

與普遍的看法相反,僅靠專利無法可靠地衡量創新性。雖然專利為知識產權提供法律保護,但它們並不能本質上捕捉到創新的真正精髓。專利只是允許發明家保護其想法和創造的工具,但它們不能保證該發明的質量或影響力。創新遠遠超越獲取專利的單純行為。

然而,專利在信息傳播方面確實具有價值。通過閱讀科技文獻,包括期刊文章和專利本身,公司可以獲得見解並進一步了解超出專利權保護範圍的基礎知識。這種知識起到溢出效應,激发進一步的創新和進步。

2. 競爭的角色

長期以來,競爭一直被認為是創新的催化劑,理由充分。與競爭窒礙進步的觀念相反,競爭其實起到推動作用。增加的競爭不僅驅使公司和個人更多投入研發,而且加大了這些投資的回報。競爭帶來的更大努力和投入往往引發更大的突破和進步。

在有競爭的環境下,個人和公司將努力超越對手,推動可能的界限。這種加大的努力和驅動力最終會帶來更高的回報,無論是在財務回報還是創新的整體影響方面。

3. 創新產出的基石

創新產出是多種因素協同工作,使創意落實並推動進步的結果。這些關鍵元素包括資本、勞動力、知識溢出和廣告。

  • 資本:足夠的財務資源對於養成創新至關重要。投資研發、基礎設施和人才獲取都有助於創造一個有助於創新的環境。

  • 勞動力:有技能、敬業的人才是任何創新努力的基石。專業技能,創新思維,以及優秀的團隊合作精神是把創新的理念變為現實的重要因素。

  • 知識溢出:創新往往在個人、組織和行業間的知識和理念交流中繁榮。當一個領域得到的洞見被應用於另一個領域時,就會產生溢出效應,從而導致想法的交叉滋生,並催化進一步的創新。

  • 廣告:發布信息和推廣創新產品或服務在其成功中起著至關重要的作用。有效的廣告宣傳可以創造公眾意識,產生消費需求,並促進市場接納,讓創新能達到最大的潛力。

結論

創新是一種複雜且多面向的過程,不能簡化為一個單一的衡量指標或公式。 專利,雖然對知識產權保護有所裨益,但並不能全盤體現創新的真正精髓。相反,創新是由多種因素促成的,包括資本投入、技術工作者、知識溢出,和有效的廣告。此外,競爭作為催化劑,驅使個人和公司突破其界限,達到更高層次。

透過理解創新的真正驅動力,我們可以創造出一個鼓勵創新、協作,以及持續進步的環境。擁抱這些原則將為破天荒的發明、變革性的技術,以及由人類智慧塑造的未來鋪平道路。

利用事件驅動架構解鎖可擴展性和靈活性

在當今快節奏的數位環境中,企業面臨著不斷地壓力,需要向他們的用戶提供無縫且響應迅速的體驗。為了滿足這些需求,傳統的單體架構被更靈活且可擴展的解決方案所替代。其中一種獲得了顯著關注的解決方案是事件驅動架構(EDA)。在這篇博客文章中,我們將探索事件驅動架構的基礎知識,以及它如何賦予組織建立高度可擴展、解耦和靈活的系統的能力。

理解事件驅動架構

事件驅動架構是一種以事件的產生、檢測和消耗為核心的架構風格。事件是一次重大的發生或狀態的改變,對系統具有意義。這些事件可以是任何事物,如用戶行為、系統事件或來自外部系統的訊息。

事件驅動架構的關鍵組件

  1. 事件生產者:這些是負責產生和發佈事件的組件或系統。他們封裝與事件相關的邏輯和數據,並使其可以供其他組件消費。

  2. 事件消費者:事件消費者訂閱他們感興趣的特定類型的事件。他們接收並處理事件,觸發相關的行動或相應地更新系統狀態。消費者可以是單獨的微服務、組件或外部系統。

  3. 事件匯流排:事件匯流排充當通信介質,促進生產者和消費者之間的事件交換。它提供了一種可擴展且可靠的方式來分發事件給感興趣的各方。事件匯流排可以使用各種消息系統實現,如Apache Kafka、RabbitMQ或者一個簡單的消息經紀人。

事件驅動架構的好處

  1. 可擴展性:EDA實現了橫向可擴展性,讓組織能夠有效地處理大量的工作負載和流量激增。通過事件驅動通信來解耦組件,獨立的服務可以獨立擴展,消除了與傳統架構相關的瓶頸。

  2. 鬆散耦合:EDA推廣組件之間的鬆散耦合,使系統更具靈活性並能夠適應變化。生產者和消費者彼此解耦,使服務的獨立開發、部署和維護成為可能。這種模組化增強了系統的靈活性並簡化了新功能或修改的引入。

  3. 事件源和CQRS:事件驅動架構自然地傾向於事件源和命令查詢職責分離(CQRS)模式。事件源將事件存儲為真實源,實現審計、可重播性和系統狀態的重建。CQRS將讀寫模型分開,允許為不同的使用案例優化查詢和擴展。

  4. 實時反應:使用事件驅動的系統,消費者可以實時對事件做出反應,從而導致響應時間更快和用戶體驗的提升。事件可以觸發即時的行動,例如發送通知、更新儀表盤或執行業務工作流,讓系統與最新狀態保持同步。

挑戰和考慮

雖然事件驅動架構提供了許多優勢,但也需要考慮到一些挑戰:

  1. 最終一致性:由於事件是異步分佈的,實現所有組件的強一致性可能是一個挑戰。系統需要處理最終一致性,並相應地設計數據同步策略。

  2. 事件模式演進:隨著系統的發展,事件模式可能會改變,這使得為了確保事件的順暢傳播和消費,計劃向後兼容和版本控制變得至關重要。

  3. 事件排序和重播:在某些情景下,可能需要按照特定的順序處理事件,或者為了審計、調試或系統恢復目的而重播事件。實現處理事件排序和重播的機制可能很複雜,並需要謹慎設計。

結論

事件驅動架構為組織提供了一種強大的工具,以建立高度可擴展,鬆散連接和響應性的系統。通過擁抱事件驅動的原則,企業可以在他們的應用中解鎖靈活性、可擴展性和模塊化。然而,考慮到每個項目的具體要求和挑戰以確保成功實施是至關重要的。隨著技術的不斷發展,事件驅動架構將在塑造現代軟體系統的未來中扮演重要的角色。

克服公開演講的恐懼 - 釋放您的內在演說者

我的一位團隊成員有一種恐懼,那就是對公開演講的恐懼。這對她的工作表現以及上級管理層的印象產生了影響。我一直在思考如何幫助她克服這種恐懼。公開演講一直是所有背景人士最常見的恐懼之一。僅僅站在人群面前發表演講的想法就可以引發焦慮、手掌出汗和心跳加速。然而,有效地在他人面前溝通是一種可以開啟無數門路並推動你個人與專業成長的技能。現在是時候克服對公開演講的恐懼,釋放你作為一位自信且有說服力的演講者的潛力了。

1. 擁抱準備

公開演講的恐懼常常源於對自己能力的不信心。建立信心的最有效途徑之一就是透過深入的準備。花時間研究你的主題,整理你的思考,並擬定一個清晰簡潔的演講稿。熟悉演講地點,練習你的演講,並在鏡子前或與一位支持你的朋友面前進行排練。你準備得越充分,面對你的聽眾時你將感到越有信心。

2. 從小處著手

從於較小、更親密的聽眾面前進行演講開始,或者在一個支持性的環境中,如本地的演講俱樂部,參與演講的機會。隨著你變得更加自在,逐漸增加你的聽眾規模。記住,每一位成功的公開演講者都是從某處開始的,從小處開始並一路努力是完全正常的。

3. 將緊張情緒轉化為興奮

與其將你的緊張視為一種負面情緒,不如將它轉化為興奮。認識到你在演講前的腎上腺素激增是你關心你的表現並對機會充滿活力的信號。擁抱這種能量並將其轉化為你的演講,將你的恐懼變為熱情和激情。

4. 想像成功

想像是許多成功人士,包括運動員和公開演講者,常用的一種強大技術。在你的演講之前,花一會兒時間閉上眼睛,想像自己進行一場自信且引人入勝的演講。想像來自觀眾的正面反應,掌聲,以及成就感。這個練習可以幫助調整你的心態,達到成功並舒緩焦慮。

5. 與你的觀眾建立連繫

記住,你的觀眾是由與你一樣的個體組成的。將你的焦點從你自己的恐懼轉移到你正在講話的人們。了解他們的需求、興趣和期望。通過具有共鳴的故事、幽默或引人深思的問題吸引他們。建立連繫將有助於你建立關係,並營造一個支持的環境。

6. 擁抱錯誤

即便是最經驗豐富的公開演講者也會犯錯。接受犯錯是學習過程中的自然部分。與其沉湎於錯誤,不如將錯誤視為成長和進步的機會。保持幽默感,保持鎮定,並繼續你的演講。觀眾通常是寬容的,他們欣賞真實和恢復力。

7. 尋求具建設性的反饋

在發表演講後,向值得信賴的朋友、同事或導師尋求反饋。具建設性的批評可以提供對需要改進的區域的寶貴見解。考慮加入一個公開演講小組或報名參加一個公開演講課程,在那裡你可以得到經驗豐富的演講者的專業指導和反饋。

結論

克服對公開演講的恐懼是一個需要耐心、練習和積極心態的旅程。通過擁抱準備,從小處著手,重新定義緊張,想像成功,與觀眾建立連繫,接受錯誤,尋求反饋,你可以逐漸建立信心,成為一位魅力四射且有影響力的演講者。記住,清晰而有說服力地表達你的想法是一種將在生活各方面,個人和專業方面賦予你力量的技能。因此,請迈出第一步,接受挑戰,並釋放你的內在演說者。

探索印度尼西亞的活力之心 - 雅加達

我上週末在雅加達旅行。印度尼西亞,這個由數千個島嶼組成的群島國家,擁有多元化的文化、令人驚艷的景觀及熱情的好客。在這個引人入勝的國家的心臟地帶,就是繁忙的首都和經濟樞紐-雅加達。雅加達以其傳統與現代元素的對比混合而聞名,為旅行者們提供獨特且深入的體驗。在這篇博客文章中,我們將深入探討雅加達的奇觀,探究其豐富的歷史、繁榮的文化及必遊的景點。

1. 文化的大熔爐

作為世界上人口最多的城市之一,雅加達是真正的文化大熔爐。在這裡,你可以見識到各種族群,包括爪哇、巽他、貝塔維等的和諧共存。傳統、語言和美食的混合創造出一個魅力四溢的畫面,反映出國家的多元性。探索像 Kota Tua、Glodok 和 Menteng 這樣的社區,將讓你體驗到雅加達的文化豐富性和建築遺產。

2. 歷史珍寶

雅加達有一段追溯至公元4世紀的迷人歷史。該城市見證了帝國的興衰、獨立鬥爭以及後續的城市發展。歷史愛好者可以參觀如國家博物館的地方,該處展示了一批令人印象深刻的印度尼西亞文物,或者可以參觀國家紀念碑(Monas),這是獨立的象徵。 Kota Tua,也被稱為老城區,帶你通過其荷蘭式建築和鵝卵石街道,重新經歷殖民時代的雅加達。

3. 現代奇觀

儘管雅加達擁抱其歷史根源,但它也是一座繁榮於現代性的城市。城市線條優美,鑲嵌著令人印象深刻的摩天大樓,其中包括像 BNI City Tower 和 Wisma 46 這樣的象徵性地標。這個城市擁有世界一流的購物商場,如 Plaza Indonesia 和 Grand Indonesia,為購物狂和美食愛好者提供了避風港。如果想要品味雅加達的繁華夜生活,可以去 Kemang 或 SCBD 這樣的時尚地區,那裡有眾多的俱樂部、酒吧和現場音樂場所。

4. 美食體驗

來雅加達的訪問不會完整,除非你沉醉於其令人垂涎的美食場景。這座城市提供了一個美食寶藏,從街頭小吃攤到高級餐廳,應有盡有。嘗試當地人最愛的食物,如炒飯(nasi goreng)、菜沙拉配花生醬(gado-gado)和烤串(satay)。如果想要獲得真實的體驗,可以在 Jalan Sabang 或 Pasar Santa 的美食攤位探索,那裡可以品嚐到各種美味的菜餚,價格也很實惠。

5. 大自然的療癒

在城市的繁華攝人中,雅加達以其天然美景的綠洲讓遊客驚喜。Thousand Islands 位於離海岸不遠的地方,提供了從城市喧囂中逃脫的寧靜之地。這些風景如畫的島嶼為浮潛、潛水和在原始的海灘上放鬆提供了機會。此外,還可以參觀 Taman Mini Indonesia Indah,這是一個展示國家多樣化風景、傳統房屋和文化表演的文化公園。

總結

雅加達,印度尼西亞的動感首都,提供了歷史、文化和現代性的沉醉結合。其繁忙的街道、多樣的美食場景和溫暖的好客,使其成為旅行者的有趣目的地。無論你垂青於其歷史地標、購物中心,還是天然綠洲,雅加達都將答應你一種深入的體驗,留下深刻的印象。因此,整理好你的行李,擁抱活力四溢的能量,並開始一段旅程,去探索在這個引人入勝的城市中印度尼西亞的心與靈。

介紹Grafana儀表板

在數據可視化和監控的世界中,Grafana已經成為一個強大且多功能的工具,它正在變革我們分析和理解數據的方式。無論你是數據科學家,系統管理員,還是業務分析師,Grafana都提供了一個直觀靈活的平台,讓你從各種來源可視化和監控數據。在這篇博客文章中,我們將深入探索Grafana的功能,了解其特性,並理解為什麼它已經成為數據可視化生態系統中的一個必不可少的工具。

什麼是Grafana?

Grafana是一個開源的數據可視化和監控工具,允許用戶創建互動和可自訂的儀表板來可視化時序數據。Grafana於2014年首次發布後迅速受到歡迎,其用戶友好的介面,豐富的插件生態系統以及對多種數據源的支持獲得了認可。Grafana已經成為組織和個人尋求以視覺吸引人且易於理解的方式獲得數據洞察的首選工具。

Grafana的主要特性

  1. 數據源的靈活性:Grafana支持許多數據源,包括如Graphite,InfluxDB,Prometheus,Elasticsearch等流行的數據庫。此種靈活性使得用戶能夠連接到他們喜愛的數據源,並無縫地可視化數據,無任何困擾。

  2. 交互式儀表板:Grafana的儀表板高度交互,提供用戶深入到特定數據點,縮放時間範圍並應用過濾器以聚焦最相關的信息。拖曳編輯器使創建和自定義面板,圖表和圖形變得輕易,以滿足個人需求。

  3. 警報與通知:Grafana的警報系統賦權用戶根據數據閾值和條件定義自定義警報規則。當這些規則被觸發時,Grafana可以通過各種通道例如電子郵件,Slack,PagerDuty或自定義webhooks發送通知,確保即時處理關鍵問題。

  4. 豐富的插件生態系統:Grafana的插件生態系統是其最大的優勢之一。有了大量的插件,用戶可以通過與其他工具集成,添加新的可視化選項,或連接到額外的數據源來擴展Grafana的功能。這種擴展性允許用戶根據他們特定的需求定制他們的Grafana體驗。

  5. 社區與社區儀表板:Grafana擁有一個充滿活力且活躍的社區,不斷貢獻新的儀表板,插件和增強功能。社區儀表板可供用戶導入和使用,節省了從零開創儀表板的時間和努力。Grafana的這種合作方面確保了用戶可以利用社區的集體專業知識創建有影響力的視覺化。

Grafana的使用案例

  1. 基礎設施監控:Grafana擅長監控和可視化基礎設施組件的健康和性能,如服務器,數據庫和網絡設備。通過與Prometheus和Graphite等工具集成,Grafana提供了對資源利用,系統指標和網絡流量的實時洞察。

  2. 應用性能監控(APM):Grafana可以集成APM工具,如Jaeger,Zipkin或Prometheus,以監控應用的性能和可用性。它讓用戶可以跟蹤響應時間,錯誤率和其他關鍵指標,從而有效地進行故障排除和最佳化。

  3. 商業智能和分析:在商業智能和分析領域,Grafana也同樣有價值。用戶可以連接到 MySQL,PostgreSQL 或者 Microsoft SQL Server 等數據庫,創建互動式儀表板,對銷售數據,客戶行為,市場活動以及其他商業衡量指標提供洞察。

結論

Grafana已經堅定地將自己定位為一個領先的數據可視化和監控工具,提供了用戶友好的介面,豐富的數據源支持和強大的可視化能力。它的靈活性和可擴展性使其適用於各行業的廣泛用例。無論你是監控基礎設施,分析應用性能,還是探索商業指標,Grafana都提供了一個強大和可定制的解決方案。隨著其活躍的社區和不斷生長的生態系統,Grafana不斷進化,使用戶能夠釋放他們數據的真正潛力。

學習有效溝通的技巧 - 與上司對話時,不要變成問題

在當今的專業世界裡,有效的溝通是一種至關重要的技巧,能夠決定你的事業成敗。當與老闆討論問題或提出解決方案時,以一種讓你被視為積極且有價值的團隊成員的方式進行對話就顯得關鍵。在這篇博客文章中,我們將探索一些策略,幫助你有自信地與老闆對話,提出問題卻不被視為負擔,並創造一個歡迎各種解決方案的環境。

培養解決導向的思維模式

不要只針對問題,而是採取解決導向的思維模式。每當你識別出一個問題,就投入時間和努力制定可能的解決方案。通過提供經過深思熟慮的解決方案,你能展示出你的問題解決能力和對組織成功的承諾。

選擇正確的時間

時間在成功的溝通中起著關鍵的作用。選擇一個適當的時刻,你的上司更有可能對你的擔憂保持開放的心態。避免在他們忙碌的時候或他們在處理緊急事情的時候找他們。找一個他們能夠給你全神貫注的時間,如安排一次會議或請求他們的幾分鐘時間。

準備和組織你的想法

在與老闆談話之前,花些時間準備和組織你的想法。清楚地說明你確定的問題和你提出的可能的解決方案。考慮收集相關的數據、實例或支持證據以支持你的觀點。充足的準備表現出你的專業度並顯示你尊重你的老闆的時間。

明智地選擇你的話

在討論問題時,使用清晰且簡短的語言十分重要。避免過於消極或批評,因為這將產生防禦或敵意的氛圍。以建設性的方式提出你的疑慮,強調解決問題可能帶來的積極結果。使用「我」來表達你的觀點而不是責怪,比如「我注意到」或「我認為」。

積極聆聽和尊重的對話

有效的溝通是雙向的。在分享你的擔憂時,積極地聆聽你的老闆的反饋和觀點。給他們機會完全表達他們的思想和擔憂。以尊重的方式對話,對他們的立場表現同情和理解。通過積極聆聽並尊重他們的意見,你可以創造一個協作的環境並建立強大的工作關係。

凸顯你的貢獻

在討論問題的同時,確保也突顯出你的貢獻和成功。簡短地提及你是如何嘗試獨立解決問題的,展現你的前瞻性和投入。這將表明你對個人成長和團隊成功的承諾。

持續的技能發展

投資於你的個人和專業發展是成為你組織裡有價值資產的關鍵。持續尋找學習新技能和擴大知識基礎的機會。通過顯示你願意成長和進步,你將成為一個能夠應對各種挑戰的有用的團隊成員。

結論

與老闆談問題和提出解決方案可能是一項微妙的任務。通過採取解決導向的思維,選擇正確的時間,組織你的想法,使用適當的語言,積極聆聽,並強調你的貢獻,你可以有效地與老闆溝通,而不會被視為問題。請記住,持續的技能發展和積極的態度將有助於你成為一個有價值的團隊成員,對你的個人成長和組織的成功做出貢獻。

棉花糖挑戰 - 揭示團隊合作、創意和創新的課程

在團隊建立練習中,棉花糖挑戰已成為一種流行的活動,該活動提供了有關團隊合作、創新和創意的寶貴課程。這種看似簡單的練習,涉及使用有限數量的材料建造最高的結構,已被從幼稚園學生到全球領先公司的高層經理人廣泛接受。通過審視這種挑戰的結果,我們可以洞悉不同組別採用的策略,並為我們自己的合作努力提取有價值的觀點。

棉花糖挑戰的規則

在僅有18分鐘的時間內,每個組別的任務是使用20根意大利麵、一碼膠帶、一碼線和最重要的,一個棉花糖,來構建一個塔。目標是設計和構建一個結構,使其達到最大可能的高度,棉花糖穩健地位於頂部。

對學習到的課程的反思

一個值得注意的見解來源是TED演講,題為“建立塔,建立團隊”。在棉花糖挑戰中的觀察揭示了成功和失敗的團隊表現,揭示了引人入勝的模式和行為。

表現差的組別:商學院畢業生

奇怪的是,商學院的畢業生在棉花糖挑戰中常常難以達到好的結果。這些團隊傾向於投入大量時間來設計一個單一的、精細的計劃。不幸的是,這種方法消耗了他們的大部分時間,使他們幾乎沒有執行的機會。因此,仓促的執行導致結構崩塌和不滿意的結果。

表現好的組別:幼稚園學生

相比之下,幼稚園學生在棉花糖挑戰中一直表現出驚人的技能。這些年輕的學習者體現了直覺性和有效的問題解決方法。他們並沒有花費過多的時間在規劃上,而是選擇了建造和瞭解他們結構的反覆過程。經過多次嘗試,其中有很多都導致崩塌,他們對手頭的問題有了寶貴的見解,並不斷改進他們的解決方案。

需要學習的重要課程

棉花糖挑戰是一個突出原型和迭代設計重要課程的有力工具。通過分析這個練習的結果,有幾個關鍵的要點浮現出來:

重大假設:棉花糖驚喜

棉花糖挑戰揭示了棉花糖的欺騙性質,這通常被低估。等到最後一刻才把棉花糖放在頂部的團隊,常常見證到他們的結構崩塌。這個意想不到的障礙突显出在每一個項目中都存在的錯誤假設,直到最後的時刻才潛伏出來。這提醒我們要保持警覺,時刻質疑我們的假設並考慮可能的潛在挑戰。

擁抱迭代設計

幼稚園學生在棉花糖挑戰中的成功突出了迭代設計的威力。通過擁抱實驗和從失敗中學習的心態,他們不斷改進他們的方法。新興公司也採用了這種方法來迅速進入市場。他們確定了最小可行產品(MVP),這是他們最初產品的基本功能。通過迭代設計,他們收集反饋,反覆嘗試,並逐步提升他們的產品。

結論

棉花糖挑戰已經成為一種流行的團隊建設練習,超越了年齡和專業的界限。其簡單性掩蓋了它關於團隊合作、創新和創意的寶貴課程。從商學院畢業生和幼稚園學生的經歷中,我們學到了擁抱迭代設計過程、質疑假設、並不斷煉製我們的方法的重要性。通過將這些見解融入我們的合作努力中,我們可以培養創新文化,並以團隊的形式取得卓越的成果。

Create An Innovation Strategy with Design Thinking

Thought Machine is a fintech company that builds cloud-native technology to revolutionize core banking and payments. The company was founded in 2014 by a former Google employee, Paul Taylor. Its mission is to eliminate legacy technology from the world's banks in a comprehensive and lasting way. To achieve this, the company is rebuilding the fundamental technologies of banking.

The current situation at Thought Machine is one of rapid growth, as the company expands its offerings and increases its global reach. Innovation is crucial not only for expanding beyond the tier 1 and 2 bank segments with complex deployments, but also for staying ahead of competitors who may develop similar products. To ensure the company's survival and prosperity in the coming decade, an innovation strategy is necessary. Adopting design thinking successfully is a prerequisite for sustained vitality

The innovation strategy involves using design thinking principles to drive innovation within our organization. This means understanding the needs and desires of our banking customers and using that knowledge to create products and services that meet those needs in new and exciting ways. Through this approach, Thought Machine can develop banking products and services that have the potential to disrupt the banking market.

The focus of this innovative initiative is on developing new core banking product features and functionality, exploring new use cases to meet customer needs and remain competitive, improving operational efficiency by reducing cloud hosting costs and CPU resources. As a result of that, we would be increasing market share by capturing a larger market share in APAC, including Singapore, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Japan, and expanding the number of clients from Europe to the new region. To develop an innovation strategy for my management team at Thought Machine, I would recommend the steps below.

Firstly, we need to identify the greatest pain points of banking customers that Thought Machine can alleviate. In a sales and client-facing environment, backend engineers can speak directly to banking customers and observe them in their offices, rather than sitting in the Thought Machine office and imagining what they want. By conducting user interviews, we can often shatter preconceptions. While our backend engineers may be technology-oriented, my experience of talking to business users in banks has shown that technology is not considered a competitive edge by them. The true pain point is their inability to provide new services to their customers due to the complexity of legacy technology. The focus is not on the technology itself, but on the ability of new technology to enable them to offer new financial services in the market.

After speaking with many banking customers, we have a better understanding of their pain points. Despite the proliferation of cloud infrastructure in the market, most of the world's top retail banks are still running on legacy systems, such as IBM mainframes. Banks are burdened by the old systems they are hard to maintain. Legacy stacks do not support the ways of working needed to rapidly deliver new financial products to customers. Significant time and resources are wasted because the old services are tightly coupled, introducing the risk of cascading issues. Moreover, the banking industry is highly regulated, and senior management of banks are often unwilling to take risks and make changes, as they are concerned about reputation damage.

After identifying the pain point, we can use divergent thinking to brainstorm ideas and apply design thinking principles for prototyping and testing. The best way to maintain momentum is to get code into the hands of banking users as quickly as possible. This will help determine whether the solution has potential or not and, if so, what needs to be done to enhance it. The goal of prototyping is not to achieve perfection, but to create something good enough to take to customers and gather feedback. For instance, instead of requesting a high-risk big bang migration of their existing core banking system, banks could conduct a parallel run and move only a portion of new products in our platform to test our solutions.

There are different types of innovation outcomes we could pursue, and the one we have chosen is radical innovation, which requires new technical competencies while leveraging our existing business model. In today's world, banks are still using legacy technology on mainframes in on-premises data centers, while our cloud-native core banking product transforms the infrastructure. Our innovations include product innovation, where we offer high configurability and a single source of truth for data and real-time reporting. The new features and functionality we explore will enable banks to achieve something new in the market, meet customer needs, and stay competitive.

Additionally, our new technology can provide process innovation benefits to the banks, including lower costs and higher levels of agility than legacy core systems using mainframe technology. The operational processes would be more efficient because the banks would not need to hire developers to write legacy programming languages such as Pascal or Cobol. Additionally, hosting costs would be much lower than with legacy mainframe systems. As for business model innovation, we can leverage our existing licensing model, and we are also exploring strategic partnerships to increase our market share. However, the extent of our expansion is constrained by factors such as regulatory requirements and legal compliance.

Furthermore, I need to foster a culture of innovation by encouraging experimentation rather than relying solely on PowerPoint presentations. I should create an environment where employees feel empowered to take risks and think creatively. Collaborating with partners in the fintech ecosystem could help us create innovative solutions that meet the needs of our banking customers.

I can measure the success of our innovation efforts by tracking key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction ratings and feedback on how easily our product accommodates most of the bank use cases and payment needs out of the box. I can also compare the number of new features developed and released to the usage and adoption rates for the client's implementation.

Another KPI would be the return on investment, which would be reflected in a low cost-to-income ratio compared to our peers. We can achieve this by leveraging our cloud-native architecture, for example, by reducing hosting costs and CPU resource usage. I should also track revenue growth by monitoring the number of high-quality banks that sign up with us, including the number of new clients acquired, the amount of license revenue generated per client, and our market share in the APAC region compared to our competitors.

To lead, manage, and inspire innovation in Thought Machine, I would recommend the following actions. Firstly, I would lead by example by fostering a culture of innovation and taking risks myself, such as open to feedback and conduct brownbag sharing sessions for failure lesson learnt. I would also empower other employees to take risks and think creatively by providing them with the necessary resources and support to innovate, such as using recognitions, rewards, promotion and bonus as the incentive. I would encourage collaboration both within and outside the organization to drive innovation, by breaking down the silos and conducting role rotation. I would recognize and reward employees who come up with innovative ideas and solutions, celebrate our successes and use them as inspiration for further innovation.

The implementation of an innovation strategy may face some potential challenges and risks, including employee resistance to change, with most employees unwilling to take risks or think creatively. Without a communication plan, employees would feel uncomfortable sharing their concerns and questions about the changes. Without explaining the why on a change is necessary, employees would be confused about the purpose of the changes. To make things worse, without proper training and support on change management, there are no effective ways to alleviate concerns and increase confidence in new processes and new technologies introduced. Change would fail to be implemented without buy-in and taking ownership of the changes.

Innovation requires resources, but there is a shortage of funding and other human resources to support innovation efforts. Additionally, undervaluing and underinvesting in the human aspect of innovation is another common barrier. Our top management often put the best technical people in charge rather than the best leaders. These technically oriented managers then mistakenly assume that good ideas will speak for themselves, so they neglect external communication. They also prioritize tasks over relationships, missing opportunities to enhance the team chemistry necessary to turn undeveloped concepts into useful innovations.

Moreover, teams dedicated to innovation initiatives often face conflicts with the rest of the organization. As a client engineering manager, I am responsible for my team's ongoing operations and sometimes may hear feedback about the innovation team as unproductive, while the innovation team may dismiss the operations team as bureaucratic. It is common to separate the two groups, but it is problematic when a group is asked to innovate in isolation. Nurturing a healthy partnership can be challenging. Conflicts between innovation initiatives and ongoing operations are normal and can easily escalate. Tensions can turn into rivalries, which in turn can lead to hostilities and office politics, ultimately leading to a negative impact on Thought Machine’s long-term viability.

To manage these challenges and risks, we could implement the following strategies. To overcome resistance to change, we should create a communication plan to explain the "why" and the benefits of innovation to all employees and help them understand how it can benefit both the organization and them. We should not neglect communication and relationship building outside of the team. Innovators cannot work in isolation if we want our ideas to be successful. We must build a coalition of supporters who will provide cover for the project, speak up for them in meetings, and sponsor the innovation to move into the next stages.

Furthermore, selecting the right individuals and establishing new working relationships are fundamental steps in building an effective innovation team. Having a diverse background, including outsiders, can be beneficial as outsiders naturally challenge assumptions since their biases and instincts are rooted in their previous experiences.

As a leader, it is important for me to address conflicts by continuously reinforcing a relationship of mutual respect. The differences between the operation team and innovation team may be significant. As a client engineering manager, the performance metrics for the operation team are focused on efficiency, accountability, timeliness, adherence to budget, and meeting client requirements. In every project, our approach is to make every task, process, and activity as repeatable and predictable as possible to ensure project success. However, the key performance indicator (KPI) for the innovation team should be the opposite. Innovative initiatives are by nature non-routine and uncertain. These incompatibilities can create conflicting dynamics. To manage these challenges, we should align our innovation efforts with the priorities of Thought Machine and ensure they are consistent with our overall strategy. Additionally, we should celebrate our successes and use them as inspiration for further innovation.

A proposed action plan for fostering innovation within the organization would be to establish an innovation team, where employees can experiment with new ideas and test new products and services. This would be staffed with a dedicated group of business analysts and engineers who can closely collaborate with banking clients to develop and prototype new ideas. The innovation team would be a sub-division within my client service department, with minimal overhead and more control and accountability within my team, allowing for investment in the success of the initiative. A senior engineer would take on a dual role as the subject matter expert, which would keep them engaged and challenged. As they have existing strong relationships within the same office as other teams, they can communicate effectively. The team would conduct user research on new core banking features, develop tooling to lower costs, and support the sales team in securing new deals in APAC. The team would also introduce design thinking culture to the wider company.

The team is sponsored by the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and led by the product manager who is responsible for communicating goals and priorities. The team consists of a cross-functional team with the following main roles: 3 Senior Engineers for product development who are responsible for the quality of its technical outcomes, 2 Business Analysts for requirement gathering, and 1 Architect for the design of the platform. The amount of time they dedicate in a year is broken down below (assuming 260 working days in a year): Product manager: 200 man-days (77% per year), Architect: 100 man-days (38% per year), Business Analyst: 250 man-days (48% per year per person), and Engineers: 400 man-days (51% per year per person). This would be a significant amount of time commitment and may require them to be fully focused and remove distractions.

In terms of funding, a total investment of SGD $1,566,250 is needed for these initiatives to cover the cost of resources for forming the innovation team. The breakdown is as follows: Product manager - 200 days x $1680 daily rate = $336,000, Architect - 100 days x $2100 daily rate = $210,000, Business Analyst - 250 days x $1505 daily rate = $376,250, Engineer - 400 days x $1610 daily rate = $644,000. Operational costs are not included because they will be taken from the normal budget and no additional funding will be required for this initiative.

There are several existing assets present in Thought Machine that we could leverage on. Firstly, we have technical capabilities on the product development team, with experienced developers and product managers. We have been building and scaling cloud-native core banking products for nine years. This technical expertise is essential for developing new features and functionality. Secondly, we have existing relationships with banks and our customer base, who can provide insights into their existing hosting costs compared to the new solution we provide. The financial resources from the bank are secure and significant, allowing us to support and invest in our product research. Thirdly, we have existing partnership engagements, such as Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, that can support our efforts to expand in the APAC region and leverage our brand reputation in the market. Implementation partners, such as Accenture, would also help us to attract new clients.

There are four phases of activities. In the first phase, a 2-week workshop will be conducted to define the scope and problem statement using "How Might We" technique, set objectives, brainstorm ideas with divergent thinking, and identify key target users. The team will conduct user research and interviews to understand the customers in APAC regions, create a user journey map and persona, and identify their needs and pain points. The insights gathered will then be synthesized to identify solutions.

In the second phase, there will be an eight-week proof of concept (POC) period. This involves exploring and prototyping new ideas for new core banking product features, as well as proving their usability. Real-world scenario testing will be conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of these new features.

In the third phase, it will take six weeks to build the minimum viable product (MVP). The architecture design will focus on finding ways to lower cloud hosting costs and CPU utilization. The team will analyze the data and identify areas of improvement. They will reach out to partners in the APAC region to explore sales opportunities with digital banks and traditional banks. The team will communicate with key stakeholders and select tools, such as chatbots, for implementing the new product features. The MVP will include a basic version of the product with essential features to meet customer needs and address pain points. The team will lower hosting costs by shutting down underutilized resources, developing tools for auto-scaling resources, and validating assumptions. They will open an office in the new region and actively participate in networking events with partners, focusing on feedback and improving with each iteration.

In the final phase, there will be a 3-month pilot launch. The team will soft launch the product features to a selected group of clients to collect user feedback for product improvement. The team will analyze the problems encountered by the clients and make necessary adjustments. The team will also recalculate the cloud hosting cost estimation using the new data, monitor performance, and reliability in the real-world environment. The team will then sign the legal contract for closing deals with new clients. Finally, the team will evaluate the success and desired outcomes of the pilot launch.

In conclusion, Thought Machine's innovative strategy outlined in this plan is aimed at addressing key pain points of customers and positioning the company for growth in the APAC region. With a focus on user-centric design and strategic partnerships, Thought Machine aims to build a cutting-edge core banking product that provides a competitive advantage in the market. The plan proposes a structured approach to innovation, with four distinct phases aimed at identifying opportunities, testing solutions, and launching a minimum viable product. By dedicating significant resources to this effort and actively engaging with key stakeholders, Thought Machine can create a product that meets the evolving needs of customers in the region, expand our customer base, and drive significant growth in the coming years. The management team should carefully consider the recommendations outlined in this plan and take the necessary steps to implement them effectively, which is the key to beating competitors. Disrupt or be disrupted.