Gexbert

Change

2010-08-30T20:27:00.001-05:00

Right now I'm facing a change in my work world, and it's something I'm looking forward to. But it reminds me of the change in that very same world about three years ago that I wasn't so happy about. It took me a couple of weeks to get my head wrapped around it back then, but eventually I did. Looking back now I see that it was very good for me and at some point I embraced the change that was thrust on me and made it my own. I did more than accept it, I mastered it. I poured myself into making it the best thing I could.

Are you staring down a change in your life? Let that change be the catalyst to drive out the very best you have to offer in that area of life. Embrace change as the thing that renews us, makes us alive.

To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable

- Helen Keller

Sunflower Wallpaper

2010-08-20T13:27:00.001-05:00

Sunflower, originally uploaded by spkb01.

I wanted to start making some of my photos available as wallpaper for those who might be interested. The full res. version of this is available via Flickr. Just click on the picture and you should be taken to where you can save it for yourself. Enjoy!

Taken at the sunflower farm in De Soto, Kansas

Strategy & Vision

2010-07-24T12:57:00.015-05:00

Ever have a friend or family member explain their job to you and it didn't make much sense? Well, I have one of those jobs. My job is about strategy, and helping people define it.

Many people try to over think it, but strategy is simple. Figure out where you're starting from, where you want to be, and how you plan to get there over some period of time. It's a vision for the future, something that you can feel passionate about.

Many books have been written by "experts" and then read by "professionals" trying to figure this simple thing out. It's not that the concept of strategy is hard, it's that thinking about it is. Take yourself for example. Have you really thought about where you'd like to be personally or professionally five years from now? What do you see as different from today? What are you doing, how are you contributing in the future? Or does your future look very much like today with the same old routine?

Two things make strategy hard. First, we don't spend a lot of time thinking about the future anymore. Most people (including IT leaders) don't like to think about it. "It's too abstract" they say, or "there are too many urgent things to deal with right now" and they put it off. I think this is a sign of our times. We live in the moment only. We used to be a nation of dreamers who had a vision for the future. Everything comes so fast now that we've shortened our perspective. Kennedy's plan to land a man on the moon and return him safely? is a great example of what I'm talking about. In that speech, Kennedy said:

I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment. . . . .

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish

The second thing that makes strategy difficult is accountability. When you develop a strategy you put a stake in the ground, communicate a goal, go on record. It makes you vulnerable to criticism if you fall short. As a rule, we're not big fans of this kind of score keeping.

But I say we should hold ourselves and our leaders to a higher standard. Not setting a vision for the future should be viewed and much worse that setting a target and falling some short. We should demand this from every aspiring leader. We should demand it of ourselves.

When was the last time you heard anyone talk about some goal that is more than a year or two in the future? How 'bout you and I? When did we last think about longer term goals?

So join me. Let's think about the future and make some plans.

Photography Page Added

2010-03-09T08:17:00.000-06:00

I haven't been posting much to this blog since I've taken up a new hobby. I've got the photography bug. I spend all my spare time now looking at cameras and lenses, and learning how to use them.

Click on the link at right to check out my most recent work.

This is no way to debate healthcare

2009-10-05T14:34:00.000-05:00

I’ve been listening to the highly politicized debate going on about healthcare reform. The extremes on the right and left are preventing a good dialog from happening. It’s in these peoples best interest to cause conflict, not solve it. Almost all people would agree that the current system could use some reform.

So, if we’re not going to hear the truth about all sides in the media, what are we to do? I believe we need a leader who can bring some order to the discussion without adding to the extremism. The President is the obvious choice for this role, but there’s a problem. He’s not leading the debate, he’s only adding to the polarization.

Frankly, I don’t understand why our president isn’t leading this debate from a more neutral position. I’ve heard him speak many times about the evils of big insurance companies, look here for and example. And now today he was putting doctors out in front as the voice of reason that American taxpayers should look to.

Look, this is no way to have meaningful debate.

I don’t think the average person understands the complexity behind our current system. How would they? They’ve been insulated from the inner workings for far too long.

I spent an afternoon trying to map all the players in our current system. Since I think better in pictures than words, I made this list to start with.
(Thanks to Kris for the nice artwork.)

Our only hope of a well thought out, lasting reform is to think about what’s good and bad from each of these perspectives, and then work to keep what’s good and reform what’s not.

What makes me qualified to lead this thought process? I’m not a healthcare expert, but I have had the unique experience of working for Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice Insurance, and Hospital Systems in my career as an IT guy. I’ve seen from the inside what the problems are from these groups.

In the coming weeks, I’ll pick one of these “stakeholders” and blog about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I’m hoping you’ll join in. I welcome your input and rational debate.

What are your "words"

2009-03-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

I found this site that will take a list of words, a url address, or a del.icio.us user id and turn it into word ART based on the frequency of words in the source.

Check it out. Fun!
(This one was created from the contents of this blog)

http://www.wordle.net/create

Cranky Fred on the Economy

2008-12-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

A friend at work sent me this link, and I thought it was interesting. Since this blog is a destination of all things interesting I'm posting it here.

Fred Thompson has some good perspective, having been a senator and a presidential candidate. My question: What is he doing besides posting sarcastic videos? Fred, are you there?

[blip.tv ?posts_id=1536208&dest=-1]

You can find more from Fred here.

Voice your opinion about the bailouts

2008-12-07T08:16:00.000-06:00

[polldaddy poll=1174721]

Interesting ideas to consider - Auto Industry

2008-11-30T16:55:00.000-06:00

Ran across this Blogpost from Techcrunch today that got me thinking. Are we really interested in reinventing ourselves as a nation, or just keeping the same tired old industrial model? The easy path for any business in trouble is to accept bailout money and apply it their existing business model. I say, "don't do it." Think different. This is your chance to change your hand for the better.

Click the link and read the article. It's insightful (although admittedly not comprehensive) and if read with an entrepreneurial eye, contains tremendous opportunity. We need these kinds of ideas if we're going to pump up the innovation in America. I'll take innovation over bailouts any day. Stay tuned to this blog for more interesting ideas that will help us reinvent ourselves.

Bailouts bother me

2008-11-23T22:04:00.000-06:00

In short, I don’t believe in this strategy of giving BILLIONS to failing companies. The rationale that these companies are just too big to fail is flawed. Now, I’m not foolish enough to think that the impact of these companies going under wouldn’t be huge. It’s just that I think that rewarding the very flawed leadership that put these companies in trouble is the wrong move.

Why not start at the other end of this food chain?

Here’s my thinking.

Premise: Current management is responsible for the performance of these companies. Aren’t these folks the very ones that pick up huge bonuses when things are going well? They benefit from upswings in the economy just as they sometimes suffer the fate of a bad cycle. Either way, it’s their responsibility to prepare for and react to the changing tides.

Now I know that we are experiencing unprecedented times, but do we really think that giving these leaders more responsibility (in the form of managing our bailout tax dollars) is the right thing to do? I say no.

The argument for bailout is that the impact to jobs nationally would be too great if these companies are “allowed to go under.” There may in fact be some jobs lost, but where do we draw the line? Investment banks, insurance companies, auto makers, airlines. . .who’s next in line? Many of these industries are aging relicts that haven’t been competitive for some time or have been overleveraged and under managed for just as long. There are exceptions for sure, and they are the ones who will be punished when we bailout their inefficient competitors. Southwest Airlines is a great example. They’ve tooled their business to be profitable even in these hard times. Ford, GM, Chrysler? They have expenses that are unheard of by their foreign shore competitors. Their executive salaries are out of whack with their competitors. Recently, these same “big three Detroit auto maker” executives had the nerve to fly to Washington in three separate private jets to ask for handouts. That takes nerve.

Alternative: We could develop programs to have the bailout money go directly to people. That’s right, people not companies. I imagine a collection of programs that could cover a wide range of interests like public works, infrastructure, arts, technology innovation, retraining/education, small business startup loans, etc.

These programs would invigorate the economy from the ground up, and create immeasurable innovation in our country. This is just the thing we need. The American people are ingenious and resourceful and given this kind of help could create a modern day renaissance in our country. We could give preference to people who had just lost jobs due to plant closings and layoffs, but allow all to apply. Those that have jobs and leave them to take part in “the program” would open up a job for someone else.

Some our great accomplishments as a country came under similar circumstances following the great depression of the 1930’s. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) are good examples for us to follow. I’m sure there were flaws in these programs, but we have history on our side. We can learn from her and create a better program that addresses these concerns. Do some research and you’ll find some of our country’s best efforts came under funding from these two programs.

So that’s it. That’s my plan. Start from the bottom up. I personally am tired of bailing out companies that are too big to fail. If we believe in free markets, let’s let them work with less intervention. Write your congressmen and tell them you are against more money for bailouts.

Ignorance is NOT bliss.

2008-10-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

I’ve been astounded lately by my own ignorance. Those of you who know me will not find this surprising I know. The subject of my ignorance? The financial markets.

It all started when I heard the news about IndyMac bank being in trouble. This caught my attention not because I was concerned about an impending financial collapse, but because my brother-in-law works for them and I was worried about his career. I followed their troubles and eventual bankruptcy/FDIC take over via Google Finance. I asked myself how this could happen, and flashed back to the 80’s and the Savings and Loan failures of that time.

Wasn’t long after that there was further collapse of the sub-prime market and I happened to stumble upon an intriguing episode of This American Life (which is a great podcast by the way) entitled “The Giant Pool of Money.” What an eye opener! The piece chronicles the sub-prime market meltdown and examines it from various roles within the mortgage food chain. Warning! Listening to this may start a little bit of anger boiling deep down.

Next came the news that the big Wall Street investment banks were in trouble, then the eventual total collapse of the financial markets, and subsequent government intervention. To make sense of it all, I tapped into the Planet Money podcast on NPR. It’s very well done and has helped ease my ignorance a bit. Turns out, I’m not the only one who was oblivious to all this stuff.

So, why should you care? It’s because this crisis is fundamentally changing our world and it’s happening with your tax dollars. As we move into election season I encourage you to educate yourself about this situation. Don’t rely on the television to give you the information you need. You can’t understand this in just a couple of sound bites.

Educate yourself on the current crisis and let your voice be heard as we navigate the correction.

Debate: good. Divisiveness: bad.

2008-09-04T23:23:00.000-05:00

Election season is a good time for this post.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what the media likes to call the “American Conversation.” You know, the conversations we have with family and friends around water coolers, breakfast tables, lunch counters, and any other place people gather all across America to exchange ideas.

Often these conversations evolve to show that we have differing views on the same issues. It’s natural that thinking men and women would come to different conclusions. We all have different values, upbringings, and life experiences that influence this. I admit I will often try to sway others to my point of view, but what I enjoy even more is understanding the why behind their views. The reasoning behind ideas and opinions is always more interesting and revealing.

But I’ve noticed a change. Our “conversation” as a people has turned into a divisive competition. It seems that we move to taking sides & forming teams, attacking the opponent in order to WIN, rather than understanding first those that hold a different view.

It’s everywhere:

Red vs. Blue state

Democrat vs. Republican

FoxNews vs. CNN

Heartland vs. east (or west) coast

PC vs. Mac

I remember while I was a youngster seeing my parents and their friends freely exchanging ideas and different points of view. These conversations flowed with ideas that were all over the place. Even in disagreement, people could concede the merit in your argument. I believe we’ve losing our ability to do this.

Contrast that with today where much more energy is spent debunking the ideas of others than developing the substance of our own. We jump to attack, we talk over a thoughtful response. Our nation needs debate, not divide.

People say that those were simpler times, but the Vietnam war, woman’s rights, the sexual revolution, and changing economic times were some pretty weighty issues. Sound familiar?

The danger in this situation is that people can gravitate towards a position on an issue without thinking too much about the issue itself. Some form their opinions based primarily on what their affinity group believes. For example, “I’m a democrat, so I’m pro-choice” or “I’m conservative, so I must be republican.” Others form their views based on the latest titillating information available to them via pop culture. “I’m voting for Bill because he seems cool, he plays the sax.” I’m often surprised when I ask someone why they believe what they do, and they often can’t cite any. It’s as if they hadn’t thought about it. Many times we haven’t spent enough time thoughtfully thinking through issues and have no “real” reason for holding the position we do.

When we engage in this thought behavior we cheat ourselves out of the best that we have to offer. Powerful results come from the thoughtful exchange of ideas, paired with a desire to listen and understand the points of others.

I for one am going to work hard to change my ways. I want to understand your position and what led you to that point. If you’re a reasonably intelligent person you should be prepared to tell me.

Why this blog, why me, why now?

2008-08-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

I've decided to write this blog to expose the world to my viewpoints more efficiently. You see, I've been doing this for quite some time for the usual audience of family, friends and co-workers. With this blog I can reach these same folks and add the internet community as a bonus. Less work for me, more insight for you.

As for the why me part, who is better qualified? I've been around a while (mid 40's dude), I've got opinions on just about everything (there's your content), and I've worked in IT for my whole life (so I must be smart).

So there you have it. Welcome to the world of my opinions as fact.

Posting Ideas

2008-04-02T13:57:00.002-05:00

The "value" of outsourcing
The good/bad of management letters to staff
Security Topics:

why they aren't well understood by management

and the tendency to "check the box."

The ins-outs of IDM projects
Passionate Compet. -vs- order takers ---> taking care of people

Opening Post

2007-12-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

I created this blog to socialize some ideas that I've had for a long time. Ideas about life, the work place, and the world. I'm looking forward to you engaging with me on my journey here.