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Make your job bigger
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...
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective IT Professionals
What do exceptional IT pros do that makes them so special? 1. They know the business. Sure, they’re IT geeks, but they like to know how the place works. They want to know who’s who and what makes the...
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Confounding Variables
We have a tendency to over-simplify problems. After all, every math class and scientific study has taught us to isolate the variables we want to understand (and influence). We break a situation down...
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Decisions about decisions
The first thing to decide is how the decision is going to be made. If you can pull that off, you’ve overcome one of the biggest obstacles in project planning. Too often we rush into discussions of...
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Good IT Budgeting Is Essential
Budgets are not as sexy as technology, but running a tight budget is crucial to running a good IT operation. The more carefully you’ve built the budget, the better plan you have. If you simply took...
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Are you an active learner?
We learn the most powerful lessons by observing the clash of ideas against reality and refining our understanding of both. But only if we’re open to learning, if we’re pursuing knowledge, if we’re...
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Curiosity kills cats, but helps IT Professionals
If there’s one trait you can embrace, one habit you can develop, one method for lurching forward in your work that will help you more than any other, it may be curiosity. At least for IT professionals....
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Productivity and innovation
We structure much of our work and lives in order to be efficient. We want to gain productivity. That’s how we are able to get more stuff done. That’s how we can continually make ourselves more...
View ArticleCIO IT Leadership Interview – Nick Morgan
Communications is a crucial part of leadership. In this interview I speak with Dr. Nick Morgan, an accomplished communications theorist and coach and author of three books on the topic. He offers some...
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Dancing Without The Stars
It’s obvious that we need to dance our best dance when we dance with the stars, when the spotlight is shining brightly, when all the attention is on us. But we also need to dance when there are no...
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The IT Reflecting Pool
IT is shaped by the business context in which it operates. Industries, business models, and governance play major roles, as do culture and context. And more. In a way, looking at IT is like looking in...
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IT Foundations Are Different
Everybody understands that a strong IT foundation is crucial. Ultimately, your ability to deliver value will be a function of how strong, stable, and robust your foundation is – both in technology and...
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Do What You Say You’re Going To Do
This simple technique will help you stand out in a crowd. Simple, but not necessarily easy. People who follow through, people who follow up, people who can be counted on offer an increasingly rare...
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Make Your Own Luck
Luck is the intersection of opportunity and preparation. Good luck can spring you forward when the right opportunity arises and you’re well-prepared. Bad luck can set you back when a challenge emerges...
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A Better Response
We can see more, if we’re patient. Resisting the urge to react and respond immediately to everything often leads to better results. A little patience can draw in more information. A little patience can...
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Competence Is Not Enough
Having the skills to deliver on time and on budget is not enough. Meeting spec is not enough. Doing it right is not enough. These are the minimum requirements. And minimum is not enough. We spend a lot...
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Good Work
Do good work. It matters. And people will notice. There’s a lot of bad work, sloppy work, and late work out there, so good work stands out. Not good as in good enough. Really good. Finished, polished,...
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The Wild West of IT
It can be difficult for people to think about IT. They think of the self-contained function of all that stuff in the back room that is known to be important but is not well-understood. They think of...
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Learning To Cook
When you’re learning to cook, there’s nothing like a good recipe to guide you. Being walked through each step is both reassuring and immensely valuable. Even though you’re moving tentatively, you’re...
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The abstract and the practical
Each is essential and together they are powerful, yet neither is very valuable on its own. Practical is where work gets done. Tasks are defined, schedules created, items purchased, emails typed, boxes...
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