Rushing to Judgement

I have been so busy that blogging has not been happening much.  A couple of quick updates -

SMU PMBA Progress

First, my MBA at SMU is going well.  The part-time program is structured to fit well with the busy life of a working professional, but its still a lot to chew on!  Last night I wrapped up a presentation skills class, but I still have another few weeks of Decision Analysis and Financial Accounting II before spring break.

Like other schools, SMU divides up each semester into two modules.  So you have four classes per semester, although you only take two at a time.  The first semester I took these classes -

Financial Accounting I - This is a great intro but a lot of work.  For anybody else taking this class my advice is to do all the problems.  If you power through it  - and I know its like 6-8 hours a week of work - you will know the material and do well.  Its so important to get a strong foundation for future classes.

Managerial Ecoomics - A great class for getting the 10,000 foot view of economics in business.  Again, do the problems.  This class is a lot of work but not as much as Financial Accounting (at least it wasn't for me).

Managerial Statistics - I didn't care for how this class was taught.  It was basically a big Excel class with a little theory sprinkled in.  Unfortunately I don't feel like I learned that much - but I also think that is partially my fault .. this class made me realize that its not enough to focus on what is in the syllabus, and what the professor covers in class - you have to go beyond what is covered in order to really understand the material sometimes.

Organizational Behavior - This is the class I have enjoyed the most so far.  Great instructor who made the class engaging and fun, but even more, there's so many topics covered in the class that crystallized behaviors or problems I'd seen in the past in the workplace.  The materials and methods covered in the course are going to benefit me for the rest of my life.

Okay, enough about SMU ... like I said, great program, I have a great group of peers to work with, and am enjoying it all around.

New Job @ Gartner

What else is going on?  Well, I started a new job a few weeks ago.  Until recently I was working at the Fed in Dallas, doing web development on some interesting internal projects.  I have no idea how much I can say about them, so I won't go into detail!  Anyway, I had a great team and a great boss and the Dallas Fed was a great place to work.

Having said all that, working at the Fed I was getting broader and deeper with my technical knowledge (not a bad thing) but I was not really able to fill some of the holes in my resume - the "skills portfolio" was incomplete.  I did not get to do a lot of strategizing about technology, communicating about technology, presenting, etc.  While I could pursue some of this in my "free time" (I don't really have any right now), my core job did not involve expanding my skills into non-technical areas.

As of 1/19, I started at Gartner as a Senior Research Analyst, covering Web & Cloud Application Development.  Basically, this means that I get paid to have a defensible opinion ;)

All jest aside, Gartner is very serious about putting out the finest research possible in the area of technology.  We try to help our clients get the right technology-related insight to make the best possible technology decisions, every day.  (Yes that was taken almost verbatim from the marketing literature, but its the truth.)

I feel like I have stepped into a think tank surrounded by geniuses.  I'm on the phone a lot with my peers and these folks are all so smart, I'm just glad I have them fooled!

Yesterday I gave a short presentation on IT decision making and Gartner for my presentation skills class, so I will cover the points here - they make a good case for why Gartner is so important:

- technology is complicated and getting more so (you know this if you are visiting this blog, technology work is not getting any easier, just more and more complex)

- technology is important and getting more so (again, there's not a soul in any company today that can do their job without the tech working right - globally, we'll spend more than 3.3 trillion on tech this year!)

- technology decision making is really difficult because of the high visibility/importance and high complexity attached.  Most IT decision makers are pinned down by short-term tactical problems, and are not in a good position to make the high-level strategic decisions that they're really supposed to make.  Gartner is the partner in that situation that can help navigate the waters.

I had a hard time leaving the Fed because of the "total value equation" for me there - great benefits, great people to work with, and a great boss.  However, the opportunity to join an organization like Gartner was too good to pass up.  I am surrounded by smart people who are dedicated to helping our clients make better choices about tech.  I get paid to research and debate about tech, and ultimately once my research has been vetted, to help clients use it profitably.  I really believe in the product Gartner is selling, and I hope I can help carry on the tradition.

VinePix Project

Okay, enough about SMU and Gartner .. I am also working on a project in my "free time" (cough) called VinePix.  VinePix is a social networking site for wine lovers.  We have a pretty rough beta going right now with a few users, but its open to whoever would like to participate, so feel free to join.  http://www.vinepix.com

The idea behind VinePix is that we wanted a simple way to keep track of wines we've enjoyed, and be able to share them with friends.  Once you set up a VinePix account, you can use your handheld phone to send in pictures of wines that you're drinking, via email.  You can tag them with keywords and rate them - do it when you send them in, or come back later on and add your tags and ratings.  Your friends on the site can comment on the wines, and you can explore wines by tag.

Many of the other wine sites are difficult to use because they are so complicated.  I love wine but I am not a "true" expert so VinePix makes it easier for me to discover new stuff I might like, while sharing with my buddies the great bottle I may have had last week.

Okay, I think that's about enough.  Thanks for reading and catching up with me.

Eric