Blogging

I mentioned early in this blog that my purpose in starting was as an intellectual exercise. Based on a couple of months of posting and tweaking plus my own sense that this is starting to come together - I'll give my self a solid C on an admittedly low set of expectations.

I've taken the time to understand the basics of the technology. I've improved and tweaked my initial layout. I've looked at how the technology and the application are being used and I've looked at the pro's blogs.

I've continued to read as much as I can on both Leadership and Technology (as it applies to I.T.) and I've had fun. Each post gets a bit easier - I find interesting subjects in many areas. So while the overall blog is not quite as cohesive as I would like it is gradually coming together.

Comments help and not just those at the end of a post. Suggestions such as Monty's to "watch the grammar and spelling" were very timely. Note: correct grammar's still a problem when I'm in a hurry but I did find the Blogger spell checker. I've also read other blogs and tried to build on the good ideas of others.

I believe that consultants, job seekers or those trying to get ahead should use this new medium because blogging, like any form of writing, forces the writer to learn - it add a new dimension to any career.

10 Trends - Center for Creative Leadership

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is an organization focused on leadership education and research. I went through their Leadership Foundations Series 15 years ago and still remember it as the best educational experience of my career.

CCL has many great publications including white papers and articles in addition to their education services. One recent study is similar to the PWC CEO survey that I discussed in my 3/3/2008 post "PWC Survey and Change". That study "10 Trends - A Study of Senior Executives' Views on the Future" is a very good read.

I'll let you read the study but the trends reviewed in the document are:

Trend 1: The Rise of Complex Challenges
Trend 2: The Innovation Revolution
Trend 3: The Art of Virtual Leadership
Trend 4: Collaboration Nation
Trend 5: The World of Interruption
Trend 6: Authenticity Is the Next Celebrity
Trends 7 & 8: The Fallout from the Baby Boom
Trend 9: Leadership for Longevity
Trend 10: What’s Next?

As with the PWC Survey - talent, innovation and collaboration are themes. But there were differences - the PWC Survey was a survey of CEO's - the 10 Trends survey was Senior Leadership (31% CEO or President) with most of the remaining participants being Vice Presidents or Directors. The difference in input resulted in a few interesting differences in output.

Where the PWC Survey showed a frustration on the part of CEO's with "buy in" to plans on the part of senior and middle management the CCL Study showed an interest in "Authentic" senior leadership. The CCL study indicated a concern with the change over in leadership as the baby boomers retire and organizations loose the continuity of this large group of executives. The PWC Study expressed an interest in more effective government involvement.

The focus of these studies had many overlaps and many differences - but both are very good reads.

To consult or not...

As noted in my early postings - I've been in and around I.T. for a long time, almost 30 years. I can honestly say that I like I.T. and I like leading and being part of I.T. organizations. For the past 6 years I have been both an employee (Vice President Information Technology) and an independent consultant.

I've been asking myself lately which I like more and what do I want to do next. I enjoyed my last "real job" - great company, great people (just in a place that ultimately didn't work). In fact I've enjoyed virtually every real job that I've had (a couple of exceptions which we won't get into now).

I have also enjoyed every consulting "gig" that I've had over the past 6 years. I've "unplugged" a business unit from one company and helped plug it into the acquiring company and in the process helped build a small I.T. organization to run I.T. for that business. I've developed a survey instrument designed to quantify the cost of storage for a small advisory service. I've helped integrate a major acquisition for one of the biggest printers in the country and along the way helped refocus the I.T. Field Service organization. I've done an I.T. assesssment for a really interesting small division of a large pharmaceutical company.

Contributing to a business by bringing an "I.T. Toolkit" to bear on company systems, processes, issues and opportunities is the goal. It can be done in either a consulting capacity or as a permanent employee. I'm now spliting time between the search for a permanent role and looking for another consulting assignement. I've got good people helping me in each pursuit. I've got a good (maybe great) network of people who I trust. I've got a supportive family.

Perhaps the only real issue is uncertainty - consulting is by its very nature uncertain. But permanent roles/jobs are now more uncertain than any time in the past. Jobs bring benefits (health care, vacation time). Consulting brings flexibility. I'll meet great people either way that I go.

The journey continues...

IT Infrastructure as a service

My final comment on Gartner's '08 predictions.

This will come to pass just as purchasing software as a service is becoming more common place. This change will impact how we run I.T., how we deploy our resources and who we hold accountable for service.

By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times. Enterprises believe that as service oriented architecture (SOA) becomes common "cloud computing" will take off, thus untying applications from specific infrastructure. This trend to accepting commodity infrastructure could end the traditional "lock-in" with a single supplier and lower the costs of switching suppliers. It means that IT buyers should strengthen their purchasing and sourcing departments to evaluate offerings. They will have to develop and use new criteria for evaluation and selection and phase out traditional criteria.

See all of Gartner's prediction in my earlier post (Gartner's 10 Key Predictions) or at http://gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=593207.

Traveling workers - more changes

The next Garter prediction (below) is a bit more mainstream from a technology standpoint. Many of us were experimenting with Citrix and other server based remote desktop technologies in the early part of the decade. But this is a final push to acceptability of these technologies - outside of the firewall.

As a consultant (at least in my current incarnation) I will truly welcome this if I can find a workable solution from a service provider (inexpensive solution - please). I have used blackberry's for years but am not interested in a $50/month solution if I can find a workable answer that uses hotspots securely and can grab my mail off my providers web site. A friend - James Lee - is experimenting with an iPod touch as an answer to this problem and if successful I may go the same route at least for a time.

As a CIO I would welcome the opportunity to provide users with access to services inside the firewall without the burden of hauling a laptop on their regular excursions. The added benefit being the lowered possibilitiy of the loss of that laptop and the information it contains.

Gartner's second prediction.

By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems.

Personal Change

I've talked about changes that we, as senior I.T. leaders, have to make to our own organizations but what about more personal changes. Like when you find yourself looking for new opportunties. Anyone who has found themselves in a job search knows how difficult (on every level) that process can be.

Here are some things that those of you who have not been on a job search need to think about - network, network and network. I was fortunate to work for a boss who was a natural networker - he built his network without thinking about it and taught many of us by example. I'm not a natural networker. I have to think about it - but I do it. I do it because that network is now a background for many things that I do professionally. My list now numbers slightly over 1000 contacts (I went through it recently and deleted duplicates - people who I've lost track of and a few that are no longer with us).

I use that list if need a technical opinion, have a leadership question, when I'm helping friends look for jobs and when I've looked for a job.

We all have networks - we're just not very organizated about it. So first bit of advice. Gather all of your contacts in one place (electronically). If you need it in multiple places - join Plaxo - which will allow you to synch that list to multiple computers. Then take the time to put all of your contacts into that list. Take your business cards (suppliers, peers, friends, etc) into the list, add those friends who's numbers you know by heart. If you are on LinkedIn - use the vCard function to get the people in that list into contacts.

Once you have a good start - send a message, call or write to 5 contacts a week - just say hi - forward an interesting story, make a plan to meet for lunch. Build your network now - you'll find that you use it often and you are going to need it some time - when you find yourself in the middle of a change.

In the beginning..

Any job that isn't fun isn't worth keeping!

I've met many I.T. professionals over the years who enjoy their jobs, enjoy their collegues and make an effort to keep it that way. I've met quite a few who can barely drag themselves through the day. A few of those are senior people, with many years of experience, who should know better - know that it's time to move on.

This blog is dedicated to finding ways to make the job fun.

I've been in Information Technology for longer than I care to admit (since 1979 - you do the math). During that time I've worked for company's that I liked (GE, ARINC, Lucent/Agere, Ames True Temper) and a few companies that I disliked (Black & Decker, USF&G). I've worked for myself (I like myself so I guess that qualifies as a company that I liked). I've had jobs that I disliked while working for companies that I liked.

I was fortunate to have friends / mentors who didn't counsel me to "hang in there" - they counselled me to move on when the situation was not right.

So my first rule is; if you are having fun - stay. If you are not having fun -figure out what you can do to make it better. If you can't make it better - move on.

This is true for you and it's true for the people who work for you. (It's also true for your friends and family)..