I remember early on in my marriage, my wife and I lived out in the ‘burbs and did a lot of driving. For a given destination, if my wife drove, the route was always the same. If I drove, it was guaranteed to be completely unique. Traffic slow on the main highway? I’d exit and […]
My wife and Unreasonable Hospitality Read More »
I’ve started reading “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara this week. I committed to a mentor and friend I would read at least a chapter a week and post my learning and reflections on my blog and social media. He’s going to fine me an as yet un-agreed upon sum if I don’t. In the interest
Stop treating Humans like Machines Read More »
Back in my early IT days I made a shift from a small company to a large one and I was quickly surprised by the amount of waste in IT at the large org. The IT staff was enormous and yet consistent asks for tools to automate and streamline were rebuffed. There were well known
Penny-wise, Pound Foolish Read More »
My last post was about the tyranny of quick fixes. Over the last week, my work has put that stance to the test. While SSL is an SMB, we are nonetheless global. We’ve recently added some folks outside the US, and getting computing resources into their hands has put me to the test. I tried
Resisting the easy path is hard Read More »
Over the past few months at SSL, I’ve been reminded of something I’ve seen in every environment I’ve worked in: Quick fixes feel efficient in the moment, but they quietly create long‑term drag. Here’s an example: The new guy starts Monday. Run down to Best Buy and grab them a PC – whatever is on
The Hidden Cost of Quick Fixes Read More »
Some customer accounts are zombies. They’ve been around forever. They never add any new features or show any excitement about your product. They just suck your energy and maybe your brains. I had a customer like that. They represented a significant chunk of the ARR I managed and they were a complete dud. Early on
Take care of the zombies, they are not dead yet. Read More »
There are few things more terrifying than taking on an account 2 years into a stalled project with an upcoming renewal. My customer had been the poster child for modern Windows management in its infancy. But now, two years later with no more than 1,000 devices under management, the poster was faded and covered in
Winning the battle. Losing the war. Read More »
A former colleague is building out a SaaS start up and has asked me to help out with making sure the initial customers become raving fans. So I met with a mentor for lunch yesterday and that sent me down the MVP (minimum viable product) rabbit hole. I did a lot of reading about wildly
My day started at 5:30am yesterday, November 4. I had 4 polling locations I was covering and I began the day with rounds, checking that each location’s voting machines were working and had all the supplies they needed. I’ve voted numerous times throughout my lifetime, and it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized how much
Keeping the Polls running Read More »
Other talents include … scaring folks and eating brains. Last night I worked a great gig with my friend David LaDuca. It was a big Halloween celebration for a large corporate client here in Houston. We had a great crew of a dozen Zombies of various flavors at the Armadillo Palace. As you arrived, you
Scaring folks and eating brains Read More »