20 things 20-year-olds don't get

Original post:  Sep 19, 2013

I must be getting old. When you start identifying with this type of an article, the unmistakeable signs start staring back in the mirror.

That said, there is much of the advice that rings true no matter what your age. As I read through the list, I saw that there were some things I had always done. There were others I may have started on but still need to work on. There are still others that I have not yet put into play.

Here are the ones that resonate most for me:

• Time is not a limitless commodity

It sounds so simple but it rings true. Even when I was 20, I was very aware of the precious nature of time. Perhaps it is why I have this relentless desire to find the most economical way to do just about anything. As I've grown older, I've learned that things always take longer than you think they will. I've also learned that you can never quite accomplish as much as you hope you will, but that with enough effort you can be satisfied with the result.

• You're talented, but talent is overrated

No matter how insanely gifted anyone is, without hard work that talent is likely to be wasted. There is always someone who will be just a bit more talented. If it's not now, it will be soon.

• Pick up the phone

I always prefer a face-to-face discussion if it is possible. You can learn so much more than you can over the phone. While a videoconference is OK, I still prefer live human interaction.

Here is a link to the full article:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/07/23/20-things-20-year-olds-dont-get/

Which ones do you like? 

They get promoted for the class of problem they can solve

Original post on June 8, 2011

I recently ran across two separate quotes from high-powered IS executives that I wanted to remember.

The first is from a Senior VP in IS:

The problems you want your technical leaders to solve are too big for one person or one team.

These leaders must see the big picture, be quick studies, organize teams, break up finger-pointing,

use their broad and deep technical experience to guide investigations, and balance immediate

pressure to get systems back up at any cost while discovering and fixing the problems.

My role as senior VP over the application group was to provide political cover, “managing up”

and making any decisions the technical team didn’t think it could make.

My rule is, people don’t get promoted for what they know;

they get promoted for the class of problem they can solve.

The second is from a profile of a CIO:

The people I worked with at McKinsey during 1990-’94. They helped me transition from a techie

to being more well rounded. After one of my first meetings with a group of key client executives,

a McKinsey partner asked me what I thought. I outlined what I thought the best technical solution was.

He asked how I knew that was the right answer. The best I could come up with was,

it was intuition from my years of previous experience with similar situations.

He explained that without thoroughly understanding the client’s business and analyzing the data

around the various options, intuition could easily lead to the wrong answer.