Every now and again, I have a technology-themed “Marcel Proust Moment”… In the first volume of Marcel Proust’s ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ he dunks a cookie into his tea and immediately he’s transported back, into a reverie and remembrance of his…
Riding that White Stag, all the way to the DNA Sequencer…
November 29, 2017 This year and last, thanks to Ancestry.com, Google searching and Google translate, I’ve been able to fill in many bits and pieces in my wacky and far-ranging family genealogy. I’ve written here about some of the discoveries…
Laboratories of Democracy
Back in the mid-90s, I worked at Centralia College in Centralia, Washington. It was my second time moving away from Oklahoma, and the first time where the experience changed me and helped me develop into the leader I try to be…
Play to your Strengths
October 26, 2017 One of the best parts of my profession involves being a tireless seeker of truth, and by extension, information. It’s been a part of me forever. When I was growing up minor arguments would erupt at the…
P has a SIM card (so now OurPact really has to work)
October 25, 2017 Being the parent of a tween girl, I’ve written more than once about the travails of managing P’s diet of screentime. First here, and then here. A few weeks ago, when faced with the surly attitude that…
Tulsa: 2047
Over the last year, as we “digital bricklayers” of IT have set a good solid foundation here at the Tulsa Area United Way, it’s been fun to get back into the higher functions of technology planning and being the unofficial R&D…
You don’t know how it feels
October 3, 2017 RIP, Tom Petty… This week I’m at the United Way’s Finance, Talent, and Technology Management Forum in Dallas. It’s my first time here — the UW has recently added “Technology” to the roster of this conference, and…
What? And give up Show Business?
My favorite joke about working in Nonprofit Leadership. From the Vaudeville era: The circus comes to town, and everyone turns up for the grand parade down Main Street. There’s the Strong Man, the Bearded Lady, and Lions and Tigers in…
The Oaks of New College
September 26, 2017 In his talks, Tom Peters used to ask his audiences “What is the oldest continually operating organization you can think of?” The answers were (a) the Catholic Church, and (b) Medieval Universities, like the University of Oxford.…
Unintended Consequences
September 24, 2017 Like most of the U.S. (of a certain age anyway), I’m slogging my way through Ken Burns’ Vietnam on PBS. Since I was a youngster back then, it’s been educational to fill in the blanks of my…