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The key to getting ahead is doing more. More than is expected. More than you think you can do. More than you think you should do. Pushing at boundaries to make your job bigger, and yourself bigger as you grow into the expanding role. Waiting to be asked or simply working only to the letter of your job description is wasting your time. You can make bigger contributions, starting today. And you should. For selfish reasons, if none other. Help…
IT professionals know a lot of details. We understand complexity. We appreciate nuance. We see lots of variables. We live in a world of changing dynamics. The challenge in communications, however, is all about simplicity. Deciding which details are important in the context of a particular discussion, presentation, or report is essential. And sadly for those of us who appreciate the wonder and possibilities of the world of detail, most details are unimportant to clear communication. Rather, we’ve got to…
Written in 1939 by an accomplished ad-man of the early 20th century, A Technique for Producing Ideas survives the test of time because it taps into insights we know intuitively but find difficult to articulate, understand, and therefore, to fully leverage to our advantage. We’re all in search of ideas, of new and innovative breakthroughs for the myriad of challenges before us. An in that search, we’ve experienced the process that Young describes, which gives weight to the simple but profound…
If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s hard to plan the best route. A goal is a prerequisite to strategy. Too often we delve into solutions at the outset of technology project discussions or any sort of planning exercise. We rush into this because the goal seems clear and obvious. But when you take some time to define and discuss the goal, lots of questions arise. When initially stated, most goals are vague. It’s great to have a good…
We always want to be clear. Sometimes we want to be precise. When we’re discussing low-level, concrete issues like technical specifications, we need to be precise. Most of the time, though, we need to read between the lines. We need to understand what’s not being said explicitly, what’s not being well-articulated, what’s motivating someone to try and shape an outcome. Illogical and irrational The world is not a logical place and it’s not filled with rational people. This is the…
In my keynote presentation at the CIO Perspectives event earlier this week, I tried to provide insight into what slows down CIOs and IT folks in general from being more active on social media, with the hope that motivation could be found through this insight and more people from IT would get “out there” and involved in these new platforms. Two years ago, I wrote a post on why CIOs should get hands on with social media. The reasons remain…
Big, systemic change doesn’t happen in on fell swoop. Nor does it happen overnight. Nor can you do it alone. Rather, little change is the path to big change. And “my boss won’t let me” is no excuse. Take a few minutes to watch this video clip from an interview with Seth Godin entitled “How do you change the system when you don’t have the power?” The video is embedded below. You can also get to it via this link.
Reboot your business. Reboot Your life. Your future depends on it. So argues Mitch Joel in his new book, Ctrl Alt Delete, a follow up to his earlier work on the world of new media, Six Pixels of Separation. Where Six Pixels of Separation showed you the new world order emerging, Ctrl Alt Delete is a wakeup call to help you recognize that it has arrived. Joel says we’re in a sort of business purgatory now, so it’s crucial that…
Leadership is not about you, it’s about them. And it’s not about them being led by you. It’s about them being great. A leader sees greatness in other people. You can’t be much of a leader if all you see is yourself. -Maya Angelou Leadership is about possibilities. It’s about a better future, built together by using everyone’s best effort. A great leader will bring to the table a compelling vision of the future that serves a greater good and inspire others to…
Leadership is not linear. It’s not what they teach you in school. Case studies are artificially neat and clean. Rather, good leaders have honed situational awareness skills that constantly absorb, process, and adjust to changing dynamics and variables. They recognize the complex system of politics, individual motivations, group dynamics, external forces, and technical matters as well as their ability to react to and influence those variables as situations develop. We bring clarity to things by setting goals, understanding and communicating…