Today is the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City  Bombing.

I was a senior in college when the bombing happened and can still remember the first image I saw on TV of the building smoking.

I knew a few folks that worked in the building and am still quite saddened when I think about this tragedy and loss of life.

I visited the bombing site before demolotion and was absolutely overwhelmed with the sites I saw….I can’t imagine the horror that occurred in that building during and after the bombing.  The things the rescuers saw cannot even be imagined (and I don’t think I want to try to imagine them).

Even though I spent 4 years in Oklahoma after the bombing (finishing grad school, etc), I never revisited the site.  In fact, it took me fifteen years to visit the memorial and was only able to do so because my wife was with me…not sure I would have visited alone.

Here’s a few photos from the visit:

Next time you’re in Oklahoma City, please stop by the Oklahoma City National Memorial and spend a few minutes in this powerful place.

15 years later… is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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You also may be aware (or maybe not!) that I had been working for the Boy Scouts of America’s National headquarters within the marketing group.

Looking back

I started at the BSA as a consultant in September 2007 and provided project management & technology strategy services on their Sitecore Content Management System project.  The initial tasking on the project was to implement Sitecore, migrate the main BSA website (scouting.org) and introduce the concept of Content  Management throughout the enterprise.

Shortly after starting on this project I met a good friend (and someone that you should get to know too) Gene De Libero.  Gene was the Project Manager for the vendor that the BSA had hired to implement and provide custom development services.  I do have to say that meeting and eventually working with him on a few things, most notably our side project CIO Essentials.

During my time at the BSA, I saw the organization move away from flat-file HTML websites and migrate into Sitecore CMS as the platform of choice.  There were some hiccups during the implementation and subsequent usage of Sitecore CMS but none were too terribly bad and are par for the course for most CMS implementations.

I learned a great deal about myself, people and bureaucracy while working at the BSA.   I’ll leave it at that.

Moving Forward

So what will my new role be?

I’ll be the Director – Central Region for an Intellectual Property Litigation Support & Consulting company - Silicon Valley Expert Witness Group (SVEWG).  I had previously worked for SVEWG in 2005 to 2007 and kept in touch with my ex-boss Rick over the years.    One day a few months ago, Rick asked if I’d be interested in coming back to work…and I was.

In this new role, I’ll be responsible for driving new business for the Central Region of the US (Houston to Minneapolis) and managing current region business.  In addition, I’ll be bringing my marketing and social media experience to the organization to help improve marketing for the organization.

My IT experience will come into play at SVEWG but since the company is a Small Business and has few IT assets, the IT aspect of the job will be minimal – which isn’t a bad thing.

So…I’m moving on.  The BSA is behind me. Sitecore CMS is behind me.   I think the new role is an excellent fit for where I am in my life right now and one that I’m grateful to Rick to have the opportunity to take on.

So…if you or anyone you know work in the Intellectual Property space, drop me a line and let’s see if there’s a way we can work together.

On to Greener Pastures… is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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The New CIO is a weekly article about the challenges facing today’s CIO as well as what can be done to prepare for future challenges.

Do you know the full capabilities of your team?

Sure…you know what their resume’s said.  You think you know their backgrounds and their experience…but do you really know your team?

Do you have a developer who, in their free time, is extremely active in the blogosphere and the social media world?  Do you have a project manager who really wants to make a lateral move into service management?

Do you really know your team?  If you don’t, you may be leaving a lot of talent, skills and passion on the table.

Dangers of Hidden Talent

Leaving talent untapped is unforgivable to me and should be unacceptable to you. We live in a world where we’re expected to do more with less and rely more heavily on people’s knowledge & skills to make our businesses work.

Knowing this is the case, why do we hire a person, train them (do you train your people?) and then forget about them?  Why do we ignore the idea of talent management and human capital? Read more of my thoughts on those topics here and here and if you’re looking for a great book on Talent & Competitive Advantage, check out Talent : Making People Your Competitive Advantage (amazon affiliate link) and/or Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (amazon affiliate link).  Both of those books are excellent.

Do you have regular meetings with your team?  Do you talk about their careers?  Do you know that your star programmer is a widely read blogger?  Can you use the talent and passion of that programmer to more than just develop the next application?

Hidden talent doesn’t just sit within your front-line teams.  Did you know that your Director of Technical Support is working on her Masters of Fine Art in Creative Writing?  Are there things she can do to provide more value to the organization than just leading the service desk?

Hidden talent is hidden profit, hidden revenue and hidden advantage.  Hidden talent can also be the death of your team if it isn’t uncovered.

Uncovering Hidden Talent

Do you know what drives each of your team members? What really gets them excited in the morning?  I’d bet there are a few people on your team that aren’t that happy in their current role and who are looking for something else to do.  Rather than lose them to another company, why not help them find something more interesting within your team and/or organization?

What can you do to help them become happier and more engaged? Could you get your programmer / blogger to work on more projects where he can use his writing skills?  What could your Tech Support Director provide to the organization now that you know she’s extremely interested in creative writing?

Of course you can’t make everyone 100% happy all the time.  People still have jobs to do…but if you take some time to talk with your team about the career ambitions and do what you can to help them reach their goals, you’ll be amazed at the response you’ll receive from them.

What can you do to uncover hidden talent?  Simple…talk to your team.  I mean really talk.  Try to understand their aspirations and what drives them.  Look for their hidden passions & skills.  Work with your team to uncover the hidden talents and you’ll see new vigor from your team.

Finding the Talent – A New CIO skill

So…time to add one more skillset to The New CIO’s job requirements…that of Talent Miner.  Of course, this role can be fulfilled by any member of the IT staff (and anyone else in the organization), but as the top dog in IT you’ve got to lead people in this area.

The New CIO needs to get things done with the resources given to them…but those resources might be able to provide  more value than originally thought…if you look for the hidden talent. “Doing more with less” is the mantra these days…find those folks on your team who are passionate about something and find ways to let them bring that passion to their job.

Uncover the hidden talent within your team/organization and watch the growth that occurs.  Fail to uncover that talent and you’ll fail to reach the potential of your people and your team.

Join me next week for another article in The New CIO series.

The Dangers of Hidden Talent – New CIO Series is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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2. Can you do it all? – The New CIO Series
3. Leading by saying No – The New CIO Series
4. The Future of IT and the CIO – The New CIO Series
5. Defining "Right" – The New CIO Series

Today’s CIO is having a tough time. They’re being asked to do more with less.  Budgets are being slashed.  Projects are being canceled.  Tough times indeed.

What can the CIO do to make it through?  Well…many are working their staffs harder and longer.  Because, you know its time to do more with less, right?

Wrong.  Well…actually it is right…but Doing More with Less doesn’t mean you’ve got to cut your staff to the core, work them to death and ignore their personal development.

So what can The New CIO do to keep the IT staff happy, engaged and working hard?

First, understand the type of people that seek out careers in IT. Then understand what drives them.  Once you understand what drives them, give them the opportunity to work on those things that excite them.  Maybe your IT Operations guru really wants to be developer…find a way to make that happen. If your technical support lead wants to move into project management, find a way to let her work her way into a new role.

Keep focusing on personal development, listen to your team and lead your team. Do these things and you’ll have a happy & engaged IT staff who will work hard for you in good times and harder for you in the bad times.

Let’s take a look at what drives IT professionals (and perhaps many other non-IT folk).

Dreams

Many IT professionals are inquisitive and love the idea of their job.  They got into IT because they love technology and they love finding creative ways to solve problems.

Then…they get a job in ‘the real world’ where they are asked to ‘do more with less’ and worked harder then ever.  For the most part, these IT pro’s are happy working hard. They like their jobs.  They like a challenge so they do whatever it takes.  Until they realize that they aren’t appreciated.

The IT employee (and group) takes a beating from the organization when things go wrong.   The email server crashes?  You hear things like ‘those IT guys can’t do anything right’. People within the organization can’t understand why it takes so long to get anything done in IT.  They don’t realize that the IT staff is way understaffed and overworked…those things don’t cross their mind.

The IT Pro wants to do the best they can but for various reasons (overworked, stressed out, disengaged, etc) they can’t.

Disappointment

IT folk are a fickle lot.   When they feel under-appreciated (or not at all), they can get defensive and morose.  It doesn’t take long for a happy IT professional to be disappointed.

The dreams of the ‘fun’ they thought they’d have while doing what they love soon turns into a nightmare of disappointment.  They don’t feel as though they get to have any ‘fun’ because they’re so busy doing more with less.

The IT Pro is disappointed.  They are struggling to keep up with current technology.  They have to sneak some time to try to pick up new technology.  They buy books at the bookstore and try to learn new programming languages.  They try to keep up…but without a strong focus on personal development from IT leadership, the IT Pro is left alone to toil on their own.

Disengagement

Disappointment inevitably leads to Disengagement.

The IT professional has worked themselves till they are bone tired.  They don’t feel appreciated by the organization.  They feel overworked and underpaid (even though they make decent money). The IT professional has put their heart and soul into their job and, in their eyes, they’ve received nothing for their effort other than a big ol’ shiny turd landing on their desk.

Now…you’ve got a highly trained & extremely technical IT professional who’s heart isn’t in their work. They don’t feel loved.     They feel overlooked, overworked and tired.  They are on the verge of disengaging from their job…and that isn’t good.

What can The New CIO do to make a difference?

First, understand your staff.  Understand what drives them and what excites them.  Then, let them spend some time doing just that.  Push personal development & training as a top priority. Follow Google’s example of letting their folks work on personal projects for a percentage of the time.  Let your team pick up new technologies and see what they can do.  Don’t be afraid to sniff around the open source world for your next big platform or project.   If you’ve got to cut costs and projects, look at the open source world as a way to cut platform costs and let your team loose on the challenge of integrating open source into the enterprise.

Second, communicate, communicate, communicate. Oh…and don’t stop communicating. Communicate to the top of the pyramid and communicate even more to the individual contributors.    Talk about what’s being worked now and what’s being planned.  Talk about the successes and failures. Discuss your plans for the short- and long-term.  In other words…talk to your team and the organization constantly. Tell them what you are thinking…be open and honest and you’ll get some great feedback…if you listen.

On that note, the Third thing The New CIO has to do is Listen.   I capitalized that on purpose BTW.  Listening is a skill that must live within The New CIO.  You’ve got to listen to your team’s needs and to the organization’s needs.   Work on your listening skills and not just the skill to hear what people are saying…you’ve got to listen intently to what your team members & the organization are not saying.  You’ve got to understand the real issues at hand…not just what comes out of someone’s mouth.

Fourth, The New CIO must understand the business.  Truly understand the business.  What does this have to do with keeping your team engaged?  Lots.  It’s hard to provide technology for an organization if you don’t understand what the organization does.  Understanding the business, and communicating that understanding to your team, will help you craft your vision and strategy for technology services.   By understanding the business and building the information technology strategy for the organization, you and your team will have a full understanding of why things are being done and where you are headed.

Lastly, The New CIO has to lead. Leadership is a key factor for keeping your team engaged. There’s nothing worse than a CIO (or any manager) who can’t make a decision and/or back their team up.  Leadership is more than ‘being in charge’…it means standing up for your staff when things are tough.  It also means that The New CIO is the person in the organization leading the charge to find better, cheaper and faster ways to get things done.

Conclusion

The New CIO has a lot on their plate.  In addition to the old standards of running technology teams, setting strategy and keeping the lights on, The New CIO has to focus on the softer skills.  Selecting the right people and keeping those people engaged in their work is a difficult job but must be at the top of the list of priorities for The New CIO.

The mantra today is ‘do more with less’…..don’t let that creep into your mind when it comes to your people.  Keep developing them, keep them happy and you’ll be amazed at how much an engaged IT team can do even in the tough times.  Keeping them engaged during the times of ‘less’ will provide an amazing advantage when the ‘good’ times come back around…you keep your team happy today and watch the exponential increase in output when the budgets come back.

Join me next Thursday for a new edition of The New CIO where I’ll be talking about the chasm between Strategy & Tactics and what we can do to close the gap.

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Keeping your IT staff Engaged and Happy – The New CIO Series is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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1. Leading by saying No – The New CIO Series
2. The Dangers of Hidden Talent – New CIO Series
3. Can you do it all? – The New CIO Series
4. Minding the gap between Strategy and Tactics – The New CIO Series
5. Defining "Right" – The New CIO Series

Check out some of these Blogs for great content:

• Amber Naslund – Always writes quality stuff that makes me think.
• Chris Brogan – Nuff said.  The man can make you think using fewer words than many (check his latest post for an example – 12 words and only five were in the post)
• Valeria Maltoni – Great. Stuff. Always.
• Bas de Baar – Great blog. Focused on Project Management but has relevance to all areas.
• Beth Kanter – Great Blogger writing about Social Media and Nonprofits.
• Alexander Muse – The Texas Startup Blog is a must read for any Texas Entrepreneur.  Although I don’t always agree with Alexander, I respect what he has to say.
• Tim Walker – Although new to Tim’s writing and thoughts, I’ve found he has a great voice.  Check out his work on Hoover’s Business Intelligence Blog as well as his personal blog.
• Micah Baldwin – if you want to be entertained and forced to think, check out Learn to Duck.

OK…now that I’ve placed these folks on notice, they have to keep the great work going

These folks aren't boring is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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I found myself bored with Seth after reading his “You’re Boring” post.  In the post, he writes:

You don’t get unboring for free. Remarkable costs time and money and effort, but most of all, remarkable costs a willingness to be wrong

Well Seth..I agree with you but haven’t you been saying this for years?  Where’s the new stuff.  Have you become boring?

Of course this probably isn’t the most popular sentiment in the world.  But…I’m willing to be wrong here.

Seems as if everyone is enthralled with Seth. His book “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us” still gets a lot of play on the web. You know what?  I thought Tribes was kind of boring and didn’t really say much that hadn’t been said before.  The book actually felt very repetitious. I had a hard time turning each page.  Dare I say I was bored reading the book?

Now…don’t get me wrong…I’m pretty boring myself.  Have I said much on this blog that is unique?  Not really.    But I haven’t made my career telling others they’re boring…Seth has.

Seth – I love ya man but how about something new?  Like you say in your post, “Remarkable is a choice”…make a choice please…start saying something remarkable. I don’t want to shrug my shoulders after reading your blog.

I wonder though…how many shrug their shoulders after reading my blog?  I’ll be thinkin on that one.

Seth Godin – You're Boring is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
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Glad I’m on the list but I see a lot of great blogs on that list that are much better than mine.  Go check out the list for some ideas on great blogs.

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NOOP.NL – Top 100 Blogs for Developers (1Q 2009) is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
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The system is the Autofocus System by Mark Forster is a simple and consists of a simple process of capturing and keeping track of your tasks.

Rather than me try to describe it, read how Mark describes it:

The system consists of one long list of everything that you have to do, written in a ruled notebook (25-35 lines to a page ideal). As you think of new items, add them to the end of the list. You work through the list one page at a time in the following manner:

1. Read quickly through all the items on the page without taking action on any of them.
2. Go through the page more slowly looking at the items in order until one stands out for you.
3. Work on that item for as long as you feel like doing so
4. Cross the item off the list, and re-enter it at the end of the list if you haven’t finished it
5. Continue going round the same page in the same way. Don’t move onto the next page until you complete a pass of the page without any item standing out
6. Move onto the next page and repeat the process
7. If you go to a page and no item stands out for you on your first pass through it, then all the outstanding items on that page are dismissed without re-entering them. (N.B. This does not apply to the final page, on which you are still writing items). Use a highlighter to mark dismissed items.
8. Once you’ve finished with the final page, re-start at the first page that is still active.

Jump over and read the rest of Mark’s description and outline of his system.

I’ve picked up a couple Mole Skin notebooks and started using them to keep track of the tasks I need to track (and do) and use one notebook for the office and one for home/school.  I’ve found that since I’ve been using this system, I’ve been able to keep on top of more things more easily.

If you are a fan of Steven Covey or David Allen, you may not like the Autofocus system…it may seem a bit to simple for you.

But…if you’re like me and can’t bring yourself to spend part of  your day trying to remember how to organize your life and another part of the day trying to use your system, you’ll like Autofocus.

This system is straightforward and is really nothing more than a simple to-do list.  The power comes in remembering to go back and read through the list regularly and actually do something with the tasks listed.

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Having trouble getting things done? is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
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In the past, I’ve posted some pictures on this blog (and will continue to do so occasionally) but going forward, I plan to use my new photography blog, One Four Photography, to host most of my photography blogging as well as reviews and discussions related around photography.

If you’re interested in photography and/or just want to see how lucky I can get when taking pictures, jump over and check out the new blog or subscribe to the One Four Photography RSS Feed to get regular updates.

One Four Photography – My Photography Blog is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
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Knowledgeable Workforce Requires Knowledge-Filled Workers by Steve Roesler on All Things Workplace

Twitter: It’s About People, Not Technology by Fred Wilson on Silicon Alley Insider

Do More with Less by Mitch Joel on Six Pixels of Separation

What is the Business Purpose? by Jay Deragon on Sociallutions

Aligning Social Media Within Companies by Chris Brogan on ChrisBrogan.com

Ten Reasons Why “Enterprise RSS” Has Failed To Become Mainstream by Mike Gotta on Collaborative Thinking (Note: Look for a quote from me!)

Differentiate to avoid being a “me too” by Jeff Lash on How to be a Good Product Manager

lead:ology – Leadership: Whence It Came, Where It Went by Michael McKinney on LeadingBlog

Your Brand is what you do by Jeffrey Phillips on Thinking Faster

Leading with Agility by Steve Neiderhauser

Secrets of a Well Run IT Department by Simon Stapleton on SimoneStapleton.com

Linking SaaS Software Pricing to Value by Jason Rotherbart on ReadWriteWeb

Links for Jan 18 2009 is a post from: Eric D. Brown.
About Eric Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based Technology Consultant, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com. Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at Photography Minute and on his flickr photostream.
Read more about Eric...

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1. Links for November 15 2009
2. Links for Oct 11 2009
3. Links for April 5 2009
4. Links for March 8 2009
5. Links for December 6 2009