This week, Jonathan Trappe attempted what would have been a first – crossing the Atlantic with a ‘balloon cluster’ – essentially a bunch of balloons tied to a rubber lifeboat. Sort of like the movie “Up”, but without a house, cute kid, funny dog, or even grumpy (but lovable) old man. This isn’t the first time…
Back in high school, I wanted to be a radio personality. In order to get a full-time job, however, you had to pass the FCC 3rd Class Operator exam. I was a decent student in high school, but a little cocky. I perused the book, but didn’t work all that hard at it, figuring that…
Some days, I wonder what I’d do without technology. Other days, I wonder who’s in charge. Every so often, I have to streamline what tech tools I’m using – some applications have become too intrusive to manage, some no longer add the same value, and some, I’ve just lost interest. That’s true for most shiny…
It’s getting close to Fall, so it’s back from vacation, back to school, back to work. It’s also time for Apple to make yet another game-changing product announcement (and for us to try and guess what it is). As we get ready for the seasons to change, I got thinking about how technology changes, and…
As in instructor in my company’s PMP (Project Management Professional) boot camp, I’m sometimes asked why certifications are so important. I have more letters behind my last name than are actually IN my last name (which is kind of hard to do, if you think about it). Certifications are generally used to demonstrate knowledge, set…
After getting in better shape recently, I had to buy some new suits. While it was nice to get some newer, nicer (and smaller) clothes, it got me thinking about making technology investments. I think there are some interesting parallels. As the title says, one size does NOT fit all. If it did, we’d all…
I’ve often wondered about the title ‘manager.’ While it conveys a certain common meaning to most, is it the best term to use when looking at how to get the most out of your team? When you treat people as needing to be ‘managed’, that implies that if not managed, they’ll disintegrate into chaos, going…
“People learn nothing when they’re asleep and very little when they’re bored.” – John Cleese The other day, I was sitting in a project management review, and thinking about how many people were held prisoner for over an hour…with nothing really accomplished. Have you ever been stuck in a long meeting, wondering why you were…
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) seems to be on many companies’ minds these days. With the deluge of smartphones, tablets and other personal devices, it’s almost impossible to avoid it. Is BYOD an essential tool in the CIO toolkit, or just the next flashy trend to catch the end-user eye? I think that BYOD is…