Articles from September 2017

6 Thinking Hats

Last week, I shared my 6 Thinking Hats understanding with my team. Initially, I had no clear idea of what I will talk. I just got started knowing it for a while. I love sharing my thoughts, my understanding even I have not had a strong knowledge about them. I just, well, do it. It turns out the presentation went well. The team loved the idea, loved the way I shared with them. I can feel it. At the same time, the 6 Thinking Hats idea is more visible in my mind.

Here comes the story. My wife usually mentions about the tool. She loves the idea, the principles. She has trained the tool to his co-workers. She told me to check it out. At the same time, I have read other tools, such as Mind Map, Visual Thinker, … I, well, did not check the 6 Thinking Hats. One day while driving to work, I viewed it on youtube from the author de Bono. I highly recommend you view it. And you should view it many times, at least twice. The video fits well with my driving time. By the time I got to the company, the video ended. I got the idea. I loved it.

I will write what I understand about the tool. Warning: I do not claim what I understood is correct. Each has their own understanding, own translation of the tool. If you are reading this post, please use it as a reference. If you think I misunderstood something, please write in comments. I highly appreciate. Thank you! Let’s get started.

Agenda

  1. Why? Solve problems?
  2. What?
  3. How to remember?

Why?

Why do we need 6 Thinking Hats? What kind of problems does it solve? I consider those are crucial questions.

The meeting

What were your last recent meetings? How were they going? More important, How did they end? When there is a problem, a team holds a meeting to discuss, to find a solution. They think that more heads are better than one. In terms of mathematics number, it is correct. The reality? Not so much as expected. There are many good meetings with good outcomes. I am aware of that. However, at the same time, there are many meetings with

  • Not many people involved. They are there but not there.
  • Everyone speaks their own way, their own language.
  • When an idea comes up, one person agrees, the other disagrees, … and so on.
  • People keep talking.

I wish you have good meetings

The personal thinking process

We learn many things technologies, culture, art, … How about how to think? Have we ever considered learning how to think? We often heard about *logical thinking*, *system thinking*, or *critical thinking*. Those are wonderful terms and techniques. However, looking back to the daily problem that people face, what are they? Does anything below ring any bell?

  • I do not know where to start.
  • I got stuck.
  • How do I know if I miss something?
  • ….

People, I meant many not all, are trapped in their thinking in a circle.

What is 6 Thinking Hats (6-T-H)?

Wikipedia has a full definition. For things like this, I usually have had a hard time to digest those definitions. I created my own version of understanding. At least, I can understand them in my way, thus, I can remember and use them.

6-T-H is a TOOL. It is crucial that you must see it as a TOOL. They are not some kind of magic hats that when you put on you get smarter immediately. No, it does not work that way. Just like any tool, you have to PRACTICE. Keywords are TOOL – PRACTICE.

6-T-H is NOT a labeling system. There is no such a thing like: you are a black hat person, I am a white hat person or vice versa. The hats are not used to label people.

In a meeting or discussion, everyone must wear the same hat at a time.

Each hat with its color is a metaphor. The chosen color allows the metaphor to intercept the brain-default-thinking habit. The color plays the trigger role. When a color is named, a right thinking process is triggered.

Blue Hat: Managing, Controlling. When you start using 6-T-H tool, you wear it by default. Whenever you say to yourself “hey let’s try 6-T-H” you already wear the Blue Hat. Congratulations.

White Hat: Information. Just like a paper or a whiteboard. Collect the information.

Red Hat: Emotion. Express your emotion without judgment.

Black Hat: Danger, Risk, Alert. Such an important hat. You might want to ask yourself this question when wearing this hat: What can go wrong here? What am I missing here?

Yellow Hat: Value sensitive. The color reminds me of gold. Find the value, as many as possible. For everything, every situation, no matter how bad they are, there is always a good value out of it. Find it and you will see.

Green Hat: Opportunities, Possibilities. Explore all the possibilities. Sometimes, we are so focused on one thing. We are missing the many of others.

The common questions are

  1. How do I know when to wear what?
  2. What are the orders? Is there any specific order to follow?

Because there is no simple, single answer for them. They are holding people back. I would suggest that you should go with White Hat first, btw you have a Blue Hat for free when you decide to use 6-T-H. Next, you might want to use either Black, Yellow, or Green. Most of the time, I do not think that we need to use all of them.

The most important part is not about what/where/how to use them. The most important part is getting started, is to practice it. As you practice, you will define and build your own version of 6-T-H. The more you practice, the more natural it becomes to you. With time and dedicated practice, it becomes a part of your brain, of your thinking. And that is how you are thinking, that is how you are solving problems.

“It is not going to work“, some might say. No, it does not. Unless you actually do it. If you are looking for ways to improve yourself, I highly suggest you try. If you think it is not going to work, or just a bullshit method, look up on the internet. You will see what people are saying about it. Still in doubt? Maybe you should try another method, maybe 6-T-H does not suit you.

How about using 6-T-H to decide if you should practice 6-T-H? That might be a cool idea.

How To Remember?

To practice anything, you have to remember them first. It must be a deep understanding, not a high school lecture. Back in the school, I was taught to learn by heart with sentences and bullet points. It works. I can do that. I can cite when someone asks. But

Back in the school, I was taught to learn by heart with sentences and bullet points. It works. I can do that. I can cite when someone asks. Problem? Think about it for a second. You are about to apply 6-T-H. Then your brain is interrupted by recalling those memories. By the time you remember them, you have lost your moment. The focus has been shifted. This remembering method is used for schools only where you learn knowledge, not skill.

Then I have had a chance to meet Mind Map. It is such a powerful tool. However, I do not feel it fits my need to remember 6-T-H. I find Mind Map is wonderful for creativity, exploring ideas, and taking notes.

Finally, I come to Visualization Thinking. I am not sure that term exists or there is a method for it. What I meant by Visualization Thinking is that I build an image of 6-T-H in my mind. The fastest way the brain can access information is by images. So instead of remembering sentences, remembering definitions, I remember images.

I built my own unique image of 6 Thinking Hats in my mind

Take an example of Yellow Hat. One might want to remember the definition in text. Or remember the keywords such as *value sensitive*. How about an image of a 9999 Golden Ring? When using an image, it allows you to explore the meanings. It is more powerful in that way.

That is just one hat. The problem is that I have to remember all hats in a connected way. Each hat is a dot. You have to connect the dot.

Here is how I built that image. I hope it can help you in some ways.

When I was listening to the video, when came to the Green Hat, the golf field came to my mind. Well, because there is a golf field in front of my condo (of course the golf field is not mine 😛 ). I took that scene, encoded, and visualized in an image.

White: A big empty paper. Imagine that I was about to paint a picture. Let’s put some information in.

Black: Draw a curly line in the middle of the paper. Black is the hell underneath. It means watch out, there is something underneath that you have not known yet.

Green: The grass on the field. Because the grass is green. There are plenty of them. They represent for opportunities, for possibilities.

Red: There is an in-love couple standing on the field. Thinking of a red face of an in-love girl. We are talking about emotion.

Yellow: Oh the man is proposing with a big golden ring. That is a good thing. Gold is value.

Blue: The sky. The sky is covering the whole picture, over the golf field. If the weather is good, the couple is still there, the grass is growing, looking good. Otherwise, things might tear apart and the picture must be re-drawn.

The image looks funny. Sometimes, it does not make sense at all. But that is the whole point. I created my own, unique image connecting everything I need to remember. I created that image weeks ago. I can access it anytime without losing a single small detail. The beautiful part of this approach is that when retrieving the image I can add more detail. It allows me to explore more.

The approach can be used in many areas of our life when we want to remember something when we are learning something. Imagination is a powerful tool. It helps us to connect the dots and put them into our long-term memory.

Final Thoughts

This is my first attempt with 6 Thinking Hats. The more I think about it, the more I like the approach. It is so simple that I can practice. The most important thing to remember is that it is a tool and has to be practiced a lot.

It is also super easy to get started. Here is how I do it. Notice that I do not apply it in every thinking or problem-solving. When I have a problem to solve, I will self-talk/self-ask:

  1. Ok, let’s apply 6 Thinking Hats to see what I can do. At that moment, I got the blue hat by default. I have started the thinking process
  2. Put on White Hat: What information do I have at hand? I write them down on paper. This is very important. If you do not write them out on a paper, you will have a problem with processing that information. Most of the time, you will be trapped in your thinking. Well, unless you are an expert.
  3. Put on Black Hat: What am I missing here? what is the real problem? Again, I write down on paper everything I can think of.
  4. Put on Green Hat: Ok Good. I have information. Let’s connect them. And find some possible outcomes – the possibilities. Sometimes, I use the Green Hat to answer the question “what is the real problem?”.
  5. Yellow Hat: What have I learn from this? This is where I extract the value from problems I have solved.

I have been working on improving my thinking pattern. Practice makes perfect.

I hope the post gives you another perspective when looking at 6 Thinking Hats. If you give it a try, I would love to hear your feedbacks on your progress. Otherwise, thank you for your time. I am very appreciated your reading time.

Setup a Full Federation Scenario with Web Application, Web Service, Windows Client, and ADFS Server Development Environment – Part 1

As a developer, we participate in many projects. In each project, there is a kind of Framework-Ready. By having framework-ready, developers just need to focus on developing business functionalities. It is a good setup, a good environment. Each person focuses on their best.

I have been working in Federation-Business-Application where the interaction is complicated, secured. And it needs a lot of environment setup. Most of the time, there is already Framework-Ready setup; I just use it.

So far so good, except I have not had enough skill in those areas. What if I have to setup a full environment locally for my sake of testing/experiencing? I felt pain just thinking about it.

5-4-3-2-1 GO! I decided to give it a GO.

Scenario

The common scenario is that there are 3 components

  1. WCF Web Service: The central service taking care of business application/logic. This service is secured and not exposed to the outside world.
  2. WPF (Windows)/Console Client: A UI application that will allow users to do their jobs internally. This client will connect to WCF service. Most of the time, users used this client has a lot of permissions.
  3. ASP.NET Web MVC Application: A public web application that allows public users to interact with the WCF Service. This application supports a subset limited of functionalities.
  4. ADFS Server: User management is done by AD FS Server.

The implementation of those applications are out of the scope, and not that interested either. The interesting part is the communication between them in a development environment.

I want to setup something like this

Scenario
General overview of components

I want to have

  1. A local AD FS server
  2. https communication between services
  3. Use Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) to manage login

Ask Google

I can explain the whole thing in words, in my mind, in the logic. I would have thought that I googled and get the job done. Reality? Google gives me so many information. All the information I need is out there. The problem is when you actually start to read them and apply in your job.

Why? Because Google can give you pieces, but you have to connect them. Google cannot help you connect the dots.

That said, I will use those piece and write the way I connect them. You might have your own way.

AD FS Server

Sounds a trivial task. Sounds like I can google it and follow the instructions. But, hell NO. Problem? Because I do not have System Administration background. Therefore, I have had a hard time understand the relationship between components. I could not draw a mental representation of them.

Googling around, I know that I have to setup things called: Domain Service (AD DS), Certificate Service (AD CS), and Federation Service (AD FS). Unfortunately, none of them knows me 🙁 I do not know them either 😛

So instead of following the instructions, I decided to make sense of them first. I have to draw a picture of them, AKA mental representation.

At the minimum, I need 3 things: Users, Certificates, and Login.

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

Less than a second, I can find this useful document from Microsoft Docs.

A directory is a hierarchical structure that stores information about objects on the network. A directory service, such as Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), provides the methods for storing directory data and making this data available to network users and administrators. For example, AD DS stores information about user accounts, such as names, passwords, phone numbers, and so on, and enables other authorized users on the same network to access this information.

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

My take:

ADDS allows me to create and manage users. That’s it! That is all I need to know.

Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)

Now that I have users. I need certificates to setup https communication. ADCS allows me to generate certificates that use in my lab environment. It does so many other things. However, all I need is some valid certificates to use for development purpose.

Turn it on with the instruction from Microsoft Site.

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

And finally, I need to setup ADFS. There is a perfect instruction here. If you are a developer, you should check out the Microsoft Docs. At the highest abstract level (at least to my understanding), what it does is that it gives you a nice login form. It manages users who consume your service.

My ADFS Local
My AD FS Local Server. 3 services in a computer

With very little knowledge about Administration, Server, I manage to install just enough for my needs. Once I know what I have to install, it is rather easy to do. Because most of the information you need is already there, for free. The most important thing is to figure what I need, and how to make sense of them.

In my development environment, I decided

  • Everything is in one single Virtual Machine (Hyper-V from Windows)
  • Computer name: DC01. Because I might want to have other servers later on.
  • Domain: tad.local
  • AD FS: adfs.tad.local
  • Windows Server 2016 Data Center (trial version for 180 days)

The main purpose of this post is to document what I understood about them. I do not write the detail of installation processes and other problems I have had while doing it. I did that for 2 purposes

  1. Those instructions are already there, well-written, on the internet.
  2. After 6 months, when the trial is over, I have to reinstall everything again. That is a good test for my understanding. The more I do the more skill I get.

 

Next

I want to take advantage of the setup by exploring various scenarios

  1. A website uses AD FS for login.
  2. A WCF Service which serves the requests from the Website.
  3. How about a Windows Client application consumes the service? Oh yes, there is.

Again, one can easily find those topics on the internet. Nothing is new in here. I just try to write it in my own way, my own understanding.

The more I write, the better I am.

Tips to Improve English

No matter what your native language is you know how important English language is. I am a Vietnamese. I have had so many difficulties with learning English. I have studied English since I was grade 8. However, to be honest, I did not do any good before I got my first job, after my first year at the job. Even at that time, I was not that good either. I was not bad.

I can spend a whole day to give a long list of reasons why I did not do good. But just like any finding good excuses process, most of the reasons for not doing good are from outside. It is so easy to blame someone or something. Fortunately, 2 years ago, I discovered that the most important reason for not doing good was ME. In particular, here are some

  1. I did not actively learn English.
  2. I did not practice much (not mentioned that NONE)
  3. I did not look for ways to learn English.
  4. I was lazy to pronounce words.
  5. ….

Oh! they are common reasons. And they are vague and general. Which also means that they are useless. Because I cannot go anywhere with them. How do I know where to start with that list?

Fortunately, from Mr. Jim Rohn, I knew that I must start from the Fundamentals. I trust that principle. I applied it. And It works for me.

Here are some small tips that have helped me better at English every day.

Stupid Driver

I have spent lots of time on travel, either motorbike or car, from home to work and back. I decided to take advantage of those wasted hours. Instead of complaining about the road, the traffic, I practiced speaking English on my own.

The process is simple. I do not need to learn any new word. Therefore, I do not lose focus on driving. I knew that I usually forget the final sound, such as pronouncing “is”, “wish”, … Those are words I have known for years. But I have ever never got it right in speaking 🙁 While driving, I will pronounce them in the best way I can. Of course, I know how to pronounce them. The problem is not about knowing, it is about practicing. And I want to kill my laziness of moving my mouth while speaking.

The key point here is that you must speak. Do not whisper in your head. I repeat “Do not whisper in your head.” By speaking out loud, I can overcome the fear of *someone else judgment* To make it more fun, I made sentences. Many bad, careless drivers on the street, when I saw them, I spoke: “he is a stupid driver“. Well, It was not nice to say that. But who cares. I speak for myself, not in a public or pointing fingers to someone.

I have become a stupid driver since then. I have spoken to myself as a way of practicing the pronunciation. Oh yes. It works pretty well for me.

Passive Youtube

Most of my time is in front of a computer. I am a software developer. I do not have the time nor interested in taking English classes at night. Instead, I decided to take advantage of Youtube, passively.

There are a number of Authors that I want to learn, Mr. Jim Rohn is the best one. While working, instead of listening music, I listened to them. I did not pay much attention to what they were saying. I did pay attention to when I viewed the first time. Which means I already knew the content (I do not understand everything I listen to of course). But I have had an idea of what the talks are about.

For each talk that I like, I listened to them many times passively. Amazingly, I could capture their voice, their tongue, their words. Just keep listening and the brain will take care of the rest.

Active Reader

To grow in life, I need to read more books. I decided to read English books. There are many benefits of using English books. However, here is the tip that I use to improve my English. For the first 20 – 30 minutes (usually in the morning), I will read the books out loud. Usually, we read by eyes or whispering in the head.

I read the books with voice and rhythm. After 30 minutes, I feel tired, then I read as normal. One stone, two birds!

Write and Write

One of the reasons for this Blog is to practice writing. Which improves my English tremendously. Whenever possible, write in English. I have built a habit of writing everything in English, of course, as far as I can 😛

The biggest issue with writing is this: Oh man, my English is terrible. I do not know how to write. People will laugh at me. They will make fun of me …

Stupid! Everyone has their own share of mistakes. No one is perfect. So who cares! I took a deep breath and moved on.

Final Thoughts

There are so many ways to learn English. But if you wait for having a right class, to have a right teacher, to have someone teach you, you will miss the train of life. Those people, those movements will not come.

Instead, look deep into your current circumstances, find a way to tweak around, and start with smallest possible actions. I am sure you will realize that you can do lots of things, that you are not in a bad situation as you thought.

Those tips work for me. They might also work for you. Who know until you give it a try.