career

What does Excellent look like? Improving Performance Appraisals

by

What does Excellent look like?  I have been doing performance appraisals over the past few weeks for my IT team at  the American University of Sharjah.   In the past, there was no guidance or standards for how to evaluate our team members’ performance consistently.   Previous appraisals were done more to make people feel […]

The post What does Excellent look like? Improving Performance Appraisals appeared first on Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education.

Think Different!

by

 “If you do what you have always done, you’ll get what you have always gotten.” This quote is variously attributed to the self-improvement guru, Tony Robbins, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Mark Twain, and perhaps others. The fact that it is so often quoted points not to its truth but to its implication – we struggle […]

The 60/60 Rule of Compromise

by

When I was a relatively new manager, I would occasionally get into disagreements with my peers. My CIO would call me into his office and tell me I should go fix the relationship. Being the good employee, I saluted and said, “Yes sir.” The third time this happened I pushed back. “Why are you always […]

When Doing Less Gets You More

by

Booze&Co recently published an interesting article as part of their strategy+business series. The title of the article is Six Secrets to Doing Less, written by Matthew May. It is an excerpt from his new book: The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything. I haven’t read the book […]

Should Shouldn’t Matter

by

An overly large focus on the way things “should be” is one of the biggest inhibitors to innovation and productive action. A focus on what should be rather than what can be inhibits new ideas and siphons off a tremendous amount of energy. Though this is a problem throughout most organizations, it seems to be […]

The Architect’s Transformation: From Master Technician to Business Strategist

by

We are now well into the fourth era of information technology evolution. Along the way IT professionals have been challenged to evolve their skills to keep pace with advancing technology as well as evolving business expectations. Here is my skills view of the architect’s transformation:  Mastery – For the first 25 years of business computing, […]

Reflecting on Management

by

Five years ago today, I moved from being a senior staff member (Enterprise Architect)  to the Manager, Business Application Services and Enterprise Architecture at BCIT.  Over the past few weeks, I met with many colleagues and friends that I work with for a farewell coffee or lunch.  (See my earlier post: My New Adventure)   […]

The post Reflecting on Management appeared first on Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education.