In this post, we will discuss some of the core features of Splunk. In particular we will be discussing how the fields operator is different from the table operator. Both of these operator are something that can be specified in the search bar. So they work to project different fields or columns of the data. In the case of the fields operator, raw results are returned that are similar to the original search results but only that that are satisfied by the presence of the fields. If we wish to exclude the fields, we can specify the negative sign as the first argument before the fields.  The presence of the positive sign is optional as it is understood. The table operator works in selecting columns in the way just like any projection operator will do. These are based on enumerating all the available columns and selecting only a few of the columns for projection.  As you can see both the fields as well as the table operator are both similar in selecting fields specified by the user from the available list of fields. These fields have to be those available from the header and or defined by the user. The fields are not restricted in earlier versions to exclude indexed fields or reserved fields. But there is  an argument favoring their exclusion since the users sees the fields extracted anyways and there won't be any change in behavior otherwise. The presence of the indexed fields is different though. The indexed fields are different because they are used and should not be excluded from the search results. Again this means that there won't be any change in behavior to the user because these fields are automatically extracted and displayed to the user. Behind the scenes, how this happens in earlier versions is that the different  reserved fields are added to the operators during the search dispatch internally but just not handled within the processor of the operator itself. So the user doesn't see a change when we remove the explicit addition of some reserved fields when they could have become obsolete or replaced. They would have been better consolidated into the processor logic itself. The most important thing here is that the table and the fields operator have different output formats and a fields operator can specify the table operator to modify the results.

Today I'm going to cover a new book as discussed in the previous post. This book talks about fostering and maintaining organizational excellence. It's not only about executing in the short term but also about maintaining health over a long term.  To create a culture of continuous improvement,  the authors recommend a process with steps to aspire; assess; architect, act and advance. Health is defined in terms of nine elements.
Direction- where to head
Leadership-
Culture and climate-
Accountability-
Co ordination and control
capabilities
motivation
external orientation
Innovation and learning
To aspire, we can be leadership driven, or have an execution edge or build from market focus or have a knowledge core.
To architect, we need to identity the right set of initiatives and define each initiative with a compelling story.
To act we choose the right delivery model and define the change engine with a structure, ownership and evaluation. To advance we seek a continuous improvement infrastructure that is built on meaning, framing, connecting and engaging.

Today we will continue to discuss the book we started in yesterday's blogpost. Tomorrow we will discuss book Beyond Performance. In yesterday's post we discussed the five principles as : define the purpose,  engage multiple perspectives, frame the issues;  set the scene and make it an experience. We will review this in detail now.
When defining the purpose, it is important to design the session well so as to unlock the interdisciplinary solution.  If the participants are unfamiliar with the issue,  they may need an educative session first. If the participants are well aware of the issues but are spinning the wheels, they may need a making choices session.
When engaging multiple perspectives, it is important to find the right mix of people. Sometimes this can mean a dream team other times it could mean fresh blood
A common platform should be created to improve creative collaboration. This can be done with a group identity, a common target,  interactions and sharing.
When framing the issues,  it is a key practice to establish boundaries and scope.  The mindsets of the participants should be stretched but not broken by carefully keeping the contents and perspectives in balance.
When setting the scene, it is important to pay attention to every detail that can help with the collaboration.
When making it an experience, it is important to consider the whole person and his/her thinking inside box.

Today we review another book. In the book, Moments of Impact, the authors Ertel and Solomon explore how to design strategic conversations that accelerate change. With a whirlwind of activities, leaders have to tackle a variety of multifaceted challenges that require collaborations between groups.   However the standard way to do it is with meetings and they just don't cut it.
Strategic conversations lead to deep insights by combining the best ideas of people with different backgrounds and perspectives.  The authors suggest a simple creative process  that leaders and their teams can use to find solutions to complex problems.
The difference between a strategic conversation and a regular meeting is that the former has its own distinct type often engaging participants analytically, creatively and emotionally. Routine checkins,  formal board meetings, work well for a vast majority of meetings and they too require participants, objective and content but a strategic conversation is a little bit more.
The core principles are :
declare the objectives - define the purpose
identify the participants - engage multiple perspectives
assemble content - frame the issues
find a venue - set the scene
and set the agenda - make it an experience.
Courtesy : Summary.com

Today we discuss the summary of another book. In the book the 4 disciplines of execution, authors - McChesney, Covey and Huling discuss ways for an organization to achieve its goal. The 4 disciplines of execution (4DX) is mentioned as a simple repeatable and proven formula for executing the most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. The disciplines include focusing on the priority, acting on lead measures, keeping a compelling scoreboard, and creating a cadence of accountability. 4DX is a proven formula not a theory.
The first discipline - focusing on the wildly important goal (WIG) - helps channel the energy to the one or two goals that can make the most impact.
To get the organization to focus, the authors recommend that
1) No team focuses on more than two WIGs at the same time
2) The battles chosen must win the war.
3) Senior leaders can veto but not dictate.
4) Every WIG at every level must have a measurable result that can be said to be its finish line.
The second discipline - act on the lead measures - is a way to predictively measure the progress in closing the gap to the goal. A lag measure is one that talks about things that happened.  A lead measure is one that talks about how likely we can achieve a goal. The more we act on a lead measure the more likely we are to meet our goal. As an example, a lead measure for winning a game could be to get the most number of runs and suggest that those players be brought on board who could get to base more often rather than the costly power hitters. Another example cited was how the folks at the Savannah Morning News closed a serious revenue gap by hitting a certain number of new customer contacts, reactivation contacts, and upsell offers every week. The lead measure chosen should be simple and clear to all so that everyone feels inclined to participate.
The third discipline is about keeping a compelling scorecard. This is the discipline of engagement. If the lead and lag measures are not captured on a visual scoreboard and updated regularly, they will disappear into the whirlwind. Great teams must know at all times where they are with the game.
In fact when designing the scoreboard, an audience would want to know if its simple, if it can be seen easily, if it shows lead and lag measures and if we can tell at a glance whether the team is winning.
The fourth discipline is to create a cadence of accountability. This involves a frequently recurring cycle of accountability for past performance and planning to move the score forward. This is where the rubber meets the road.
4DX is not a set of guidelines but a set of disciplines. The way to go about it is to execute it in stages where the team first gets the WIGs clear, launches it and spends time on adoption followed by optimization and lastly by sharing the past success and taking on new ones as a habit.
When implementing discipline 1, we begin by brainstorming possible WIGs, followed by ranking its impact, testing the WIGs to see if it works, and then defining the WIGs with a verb, lag measure and the accountability.
When implementing discipline 2, we strive to identify those that are more predictive, influenceable, measurable and worth measuring and then spend some time defining it.
When implementing discipline 3, we choose a theme, design the scorecard, build it and keep it updated.
When implementing discipline 4, we demonstrate respect for the participation, reinforce accountability, and encourage performance.
The authors argue that 4DX works very well in aspects of life such as personal goals, be it running a marathon, finishing a degree, or learning a new sport.

In the review of the book power of habit mentioned earlier we covered the findings by the author on what it is and why we do it. We now look at some of the applications discussed in the book. The author gives examples from successful organizations. He describes habits that are important as keystone habits. He gives the example of Alcoa - an aluminium manufacturing giant that had been dwindling and brought on a new  CEO O'Neill. O'Neill was a former government bureaucrat who wanted the employees to focus on safety and touting it as a habit of excellence. Further, he wanted to make it an indicator of progress throughout the institution.His comment was initially perceived as totally out of context and relevance to the situation the company was in but within a year to the date from his speech, ONeill grew Alcoa' market capitalization to $27 billion and created record profits.  The value of the stock had risen five times larger than what it was. The key to his success was that he attacked one habit and watched the changes ripple through the organization. O'Neill observed that some habits were more important than others. They had the power to start a chain reaction. These are called Keystone habits. Keystone habits say that success is dependent on a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers. Organizational behavioral patterns are quite common. In fact researchers have found institutional habits in almost every organization or company they've scrutinized. What ONeill found was that the decision making was being ceded to a process that occurred without actual thinking. Consequently the workers were not nimble and the quality of the products was poor. When previous CEO had tried to mandate improvements, effigies of managers were burned. ONeill wanted something that everybody including unions would agree was important. By declaring safety as the priority with a metric as zero injuries, ONeill had brilliantly mandated that Alcoa be more streamlined. He used a simple cue : worker injury to institute an automatic routine where the unit president had to put in a place a plan to never let it happen again. And there was a reward, the only people who got promoted were those who embraced the system. The ripple that this created - unions embraced productivity measurements, workers were given more autonomy, faulty equipment were replaced, loss of raw material was reduced with upgrades etc.
The author says that studies have shown such chain reactions with habits even in family life. Families that eat dinner together seem to raise children with better homework skills, higher grades, greater emotional control and more confidence. Habits create a new structure that establish cultures where change becomes contagious.
Habits can be complex and old. Yet every habit is malleable. Its the power in remaking a habit that this book advocates.

The power of habit is a book by Charles Duhigg. The author explores why habits exist and how they can be changed. He includes anecdotes on companies and individuals who struggle to change and who seem to make the change overnight. The author argues that most of the choices we make today seem to be well considered decision making but are in fact just habits. By understanding how habits work, we can rebuild those patterns in whichever way we choose.
Researchers have found that an organ inside the brain is responsible for forming habits called basal ganglia  They studied rats running through a maze to form their opinions on how rats internalize the maze. Converting a sequence of actions into an automatic routine is called chunking. There are dozens if not hundreds of behavioral chunks and they happen because brain is trying to figure ways to save effort. The process is a three step loop involving a cue, a routine and a reward which when repeated becomes a habit. Some peoples habits are obnoxious. If we want to create new habits we should look at Claude C Hopkins who was in the advertising industry and had  a set of rules he coined to create new habits among consumers. Among his rules, he first created a craving to a power of habit. He illustrated this by making
America brush with pepsodent.  The cue he used was a tooth film which was universal and impossible to ignore. He was selling a sensation.To understand next how to change the habit, the author illustrates the golden rule with the example of Tony Dungy who as a coach wanted to change the behavior of the players. Dungy wanted to attack only the middle step in how habits form - the routine. The cue and the reward are kept the same but the routine is changed. When this rule is applied correctly, even habits can be reversed.