“If work violates your values, quitting is an expression of integrity.” Adam Grant, Author & Organizational Psychologist February 27, 2023 This last Christmas, I was talking to a friend who didn’t understand Quiet Quitting. What my friend didn’t understand was…
Momentum
Today is my 60th Day with my new employer. My team asked me recently, “Why do you keep count like this?” I tell them that it’s to preserve momentum — forward movement. Coming into a new organization, with challenges and…
My Superpower
November 11, 2022 Periodically, post-pandemic (is it?), colleagues and former colleagues have reached out with some interesting career opportunities. Some have been local, and some have been back in the Pacific Northwest — place means less and less these days…
Enjoy the “Newness”
My very first full-time IT gig was as at the University of Tulsa, as the manager of campus computer labs (75-80% — which was essentially a specialized form of desktop support), followed by general campus desktop support (20-25%), not to…
The Fine Art of Surfacing Data
One of my roles as a “management consultant who happens to do tech” is to go into organizations and look for ways in which things can be streamlined and make information more accessible. Organizations of all stripes struggle with this,…
Watching the Detectives
As what some would call a “serial entrepreneur,” I have a soft spot in my heart for small businesses and those fledglings just leaving the nest. Armed with great ideas or better approaches, it’s an exciting time, and I get…
An uncomfortable book hits too close to home
The CEO (and CIO, and VP of IT) have resigned. The board president/former CEO has come back from retirement, to quell any potential stockholder revolt. In the last month, stock prices have fallen 30%. A Mid-level IT Operations Director has…
IT Makeover
It’s no surprise to say that for most of their 30-year existence, IT departments have not been held in high regard. Organizations grow over time based on perceived need. Every startup or small business I’ve ever known added a bookkeeper…
Redundancy = Resiliency
Recently I learned that one of my former employers was hit by ransomware, locking out access to a file and SQL server. They are one of a couple of higher education sites in the same state system that’s been hit…
The New (Old) World of Zero Trust
Everything old is new again. In Technology management we’re always pushing that boulder up the hill. At the same time, the hill is changing, our methods of pushing are changing, and our goals once we get to the top also…