The story begins from a violation warning on Yahoo! Answers. I strongly believe that I do not violate the community guidelines. The asker post a 5-word question “Can you jtag without soldering?” on Yahoo! Answers under the category Science and Mathematics > Engineering. I researched Wikipedia.org and posted about 300 words on JTAG in manufacturing test in the electronics industry which is the primary objective of JTAG. However the asker was talking about hacking xBox with JTAG and therefore angry with my answer and reported me for abuse.

Then I posted a question describing the case and seeking comment from other users whether I was violating the rules. I felt disappointed because the majority of answerers thought that I was violating the rules. I rewrote the question and posted again but it did not receive any answer. I think of answering myself with a different ID. Therefore I sign up with Yahoo! for a new ID.

Unlike the writer’s experience, I feel that Yahoo! detects my double registration (maybe because of the same IP address or something else) and asks for my identification with sensitive credit card information. I am shocked immediately. It may be Yahoo! effort to prevent multiple registration by the same person for account misuse. But it reveals that Yahoo! is tracking every detail of user’s activities and able to make automatic decision on some cource of action. What if the information is misused or abused?

It should come as no surprise that when you build six big silos and encourage a few more (either explicitly or otherwise), that what you get is six big silos and a few more smaller ones. Back each of those silos with a Director, Dean, or other interested individual, and you get the University of Waterloo. This is both our strength and one of our greatest weaknesses.

One of the keys, as (I think) in many large organizations with tons of factions, is for individuals within those factions to informally gather. We’re not given many opportunities to do so formally, as you point out. I’ve used the various campus mailing lists as a startoff point for discussion, meeting with interested individuals at places like Tim’s, the Grad House, and so on, both during and after work hours. As I move around on campus (I’m in my third job now) I meet more and more people as well, and this, I believe, fosters strong inter-group ties, as well as putting faces on names.

Part of this is my managers have given me the freedom to do so. I know that not all managers would agree; they should, and should be told to not just allow, but to encourage this.

I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right: “the proverbial ‘wheel’ is being constantly re-invented on campus.”

The staff conference was good for disseminating useful information and generating some positive feelings — but if anything, for me, it brought into sharp focus how isolated we all are from each other at the end of the day.

I had to agree (reluctantly) with your observation in your comment on my post the other day: “communication channels at uWaterloo are often ad-hoc and ineffective … Staff at uWaterloo are very busy due to the hiring freeze, do they have time to participate in social communication? My hope is they will make time if a better format exists, we just need to discover it.”

After having a full day of meetings today (six, to be precise!), I am more convinced than ever that, as you say, “staff at uWaterloo are innovative and always asking how things could be made better in their own areas.” But the reality of our disconnectedness across the organization — despite some well-intentioned attempts to bring like-minded people together (e.g., Communications Council) — means that too many really smart people are working in total isolation from each other, and not benefiting from the collective intelligence of the broader staff community.

Surely, at the “most innovative university in Canada,” we could find some creative ways to facilitate better cross-pollination of innovative ideas and brilliant solutions!

In comparison, I have been pleasantly surprised by the high level of maturity of the last three co-op students I have hired at uWaterloo.

I don’t think I made any sense there, but whatever. Yo, it’s hella cool. :-P