As my career has progressed, I’m spending more time mentoring, coaching, and guiding others. Where I once was the naive fresh out of college grad, I’m now the experienced. These are my five key principles that have guided me in my career. As a career consultant, I have worked for five different firms and consultedContinue reading “My five principles for work and career”
Category Archives: Thoughts
First impressions of the Surface Pro 2 as an alternative to laptop and tablet
When Microsoft first announced the Surface, it caught my attention. Here is an opportunity for a new approach to tablet computing. Unfortunately, after a week with the Surface RT, I returned it. I knew that it wasn’t going to be popular and really quickly there will be many for sale on Craigslist. Microsoft later reducedContinue reading “First impressions of the Surface Pro 2 as an alternative to laptop and tablet”
Traveling with the Yellow Book
I used to be a government auditor. The audit bible was the Government Accountability Office (GAO) book on Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). It was also known as the Yellow Book for its yellow jacket. Shortly after working at the California State Auditor’s office, I got married and went on my honeymoon in Jamaica.Continue reading “Traveling with the Yellow Book”
How I use Shoeboxed to scan all my documents
I still remember my first flatbed scanner I got back in the 90’s. It was big, connected via parallel port (remember those?) and took a long time to heat up and a long time to scan one page. The world has changed significantly since then. OCR technology has advanced to the point where it functionallyContinue reading “How I use Shoeboxed to scan all my documents”
The end of better, faster, and cheaper
Have you noticed that the world is getting faster and faster? Exponential growth keeps me up at night, with terrifying night sweats. Unlike regular linear growth, where each year we see the same change, exponential growth accelerates. Take the recent Apple presentation on CPU performance increases. I owned the original iPhone when it first releasedContinue reading “The end of better, faster, and cheaper”
Taking down the chimney
Next on my home improvement projects was taking down the old chimney that went from the basement up through the attic. It was previously used for the coal stove in the basement and for the wood burning oven in the kitchen. The previous owners had boxed it in and then capped it off in theContinue reading “Taking down the chimney”
Jumping out of a perfectly good plane
I force myself to be uncomfortable. It keeps me on edge, on my toes, and agile and ready to go. Just recently, I checked off skydiving off my life bucket list. It was a perfectly clear day, with 360 views. With the weather so nice, we were able to go up to 13,000 feet. WeContinue reading “Jumping out of a perfectly good plane”
Change Management through Nostalgia
To effectively manage change, we must know what we want people to feel. Watch the 90 second video intro by Apple at WWDC 2013. “What do we want people to feel? Delight. Surprise. Love. Connection. Then we begin to craft around our intention.” Making something “stick” requires more than simply throwing everything at them and hopingContinue reading “Change Management through Nostalgia”