As the debate about the best approach to an economic stimulus package rages, I am reminded time and again of the conversations I’ve had throughout my career with non-IT executives when it comes to IT work. Coming from an IT background, of course, I have often found the conversations frustrating, unrealistic and short-sighted, which is [ Read More ]
Today is the 20th anniversary of my mother’s death. Every year January 27th is a day of reflection for me because of this, but some years are obviously a little bit more reflective than others. Predictably, the 20 year mark is one of those. Background: On December 30th, 1988, my mother got test results back [ Read More ]
As with most major life lessons, it has been many years of gradual recognition that have allowed me to finally begin to understand the full impact of growing up in a family-owned small business. As with most other major life events or conditions, the lessons I thought I was learning at the time often evolved [ Read More ]
I recently put my “Sex and the City” DVDs on while doing some work around the house, and was reminded of the two things about the show that — no matter how much else about it I loved (and there were plenty of things in that category) — that bother the daylights out of me [ Read More ]
The San Francisco Bay Area is a unique place. And like all unique places, it will leave its finger print on its natives — often so strongly that other natives will recognize the signs, even on the other side of the planet. What is always a bit unexpected, however, is when you venture away from [ Read More ]
Consider the following: The Soviet-style Economic Model: Profit-driven business cannot be trusted to do what is best for society at large, therefore all business should be owned by the state. State-owned businesses become a monopoly with no incentive to provide exceptional goods or services, or a reasonable rate. Taxpayers get screwed in order to subsidize [ Read More ]
The words every man dreads hearing from his wife: “Does this dress make me look fat?” I’ll skip past the endless stream of jokes that have arisen regarding this quintessential battle-of-the-sexes cliche, and cut to the chase: what are you looking for when you ask someone for feedback? And, just as importantly, what do you [ Read More ]
One of the questions I am most frequently asked is, “What do I need to do to make a career change into project management?” That question sometimes comes from people in similar or related fields, like IT Management, or from fields you might not normally expect, like teaching. Most often, though, this question is posed [ Read More ]
Throughout my career I have held roles with all kinds of titles, but in the end, at my core, I am a project manager. That is how I see myself and how I tend to identify, no matter what my formal title. And it’s for a very, very simple reason: there is one constant in [ Read More ]
As I look at job postings on Dice and Monster, I have been noticing a disturbing, yet unsurprising, trend emerge: an increase in the number of employers seeking candidates who can function as both project managers and development leads on projects. Naturally, difficult economic conditions demand a re-evaluation of spending habits. And, in cases where [ Read More ]
As I have been looking for new employment as part of our relocation to Austin, I have found myself having to explain (over and over and over again) why it is exactly that, after a decade of working as a project manager, I still have yet to be certified as a Project Management Professional. Unfortunately, [ Read More ]
I hate the phrase “work-life balance.” I truly can’t stand it. I think it’s a b.s. phrase that is one of those organizational design notions that sounds really, really good, but in truth is so vague that everyone has their own definition, leaving no consensus on any kind of standardized meaning. Implications of Being “Even” [ Read More ]