Tag: Technology

Can Peer Feedback be Your Best Influencer?

Have you ever had that one friend who was always “down with the trends?” He/she would also have the designer clothes, newest kicks, or best hairstyles before any of it even came into your radar, or better yet before it even hit stores. You would, in some ways, look up to them for advice on where to get these items for; where was the best deal or bargain; and what was coming out next so you could try and prepare yourself for it. They were, in a labeling sense, your “influencer.”

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February 9, 2015

How to Balance Your Consulting Life Without Going Crazy

A long time ago I started a family and after taking some time off work completely, I was ready to get back to into the game. However, being a mom, I did not want to have a typical 9 to 5 job because I needed to be available to take my kids to school as well as continue to be the main caregiver.  I eventually took a job doing consulting work. Consulting, to me, makes me think of having some freedom within your schedule and not the typical 9 to 5 hours. (A testament to this statement is that it is currently 9pm on a Monday and I am writing this. The down side is that I left my house to go to work at 7am this morning and am still working.) But I do enjoy my job. It consists of new implementations, software upgrades, training, and support. Something new that challenges me everyday. But the question still remains (and sometimes, I still struggle with) is how does one handle the process of juggling the demand of multiple clients, multiple projects, and a family life outside of work?   

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November 24, 2014

Responsibility vs. Blame

In the many organizations and projects I have been through, I always hear someone saying these words, “We must have more accountability around here.” But, in reality what they ‘really’ mean is, “I want to know whom to blame when something goes wrong”. We assume that by early identification of a scapegoat you have put the fear of blame in you or at least the fear of consequences related to that blame and further assume that fear is an effective motivator.

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October 28, 2014

KTL-etc: Your Cloud, Your Way.

Over the last several years we have heard a lot about the cloud: How easy it is to move business applications to the cloud; how IT departments are making this part of their strategic business plans; and the different initiatives coming about on how to save companies money and gain efficiencies.  IT is now able to off load hardware and software administrative and resource overhead to hosting providers.  This is empowering them to not only concentration on, but to be a PART of, strategic technology planning efforts for their organizations.  This is an overall benefit to the organization, and I believe an unexpected but welcomed result of the cloud movement.  

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October 22, 2014

Integrative Technology Improvement – Diagnose Before Prescribe

From the time the innovative General Hannibal implemented new technology (elephants) to enhance his ability to wage war, technology improvements affect the way we do things.  Unfortunately, some technology adoptions have had piecemeal, rather than strategic approaches.   To quote a new colleague (discussing a recent company who is looking for a new accounting system), “they currently have a Franken-system”, a monster of mish-mashed technologies that absorb vast resources and lull an organization into thinking that technology is addressing its real needs.

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October 10, 2014