Oct 15, 2020General ManagementWhenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. — Peter Drucker In many things you do in life, there is an owner’s manual. Fix the sink; start by reading the manual. Learn to write code; take a course. In short, there is a path for beginners…Management8 min readManagement8 min read
Jan 23, 2020The Reversion of ITThe struggle between centralization and decentralization is at the core of American history. -Anthony Gregory Information Technology (IT) spending growth has hovered around 3% growth per year, over the last 20 years. There are cycles, but in aggregate, that has been a reliable metric. At the same time, IT as…Business4 min readBusiness4 min read
Jan 5, 2020Your Career: A New Years Resolution“Success- the real success- does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position.” -Theodore Roosevelt Careers are a funny thing. Sometimes people vault ahead for non-obivious reasons. Other times, obvious talent stagnates, short of their potential. Many times, I hear this chalked…Management2 min readManagement2 min read
Oct 17, 2019IBM Watson: Reflections and ProjectionsAI has gone through many cycles since we first coined the term “machine learning” in 1959. Our latest resurgence began in 2011 when we put Watson on national television to play Jeopardy! against humans. This became a cornerstone event, demonstrating that we had something unique. And we saw early success…Artificial Intelligence4 min readArtificial Intelligence4 min read
Sep 16, 2019Progress, Not PerfectionThere is no continuum in success. It’s an ongoing process. -Nick Saban When he was 7 years old, Yo-Yo Ma performed for two US presidents. As he is now turning 60, with 18 Grammy Awards, he practices not because he has to, but because of a continual strive for perfection…Leadership3 min readLeadership3 min read
May 8, 2019The Capacity to SufferCirque du Soleil was founded in 1984, reviving the circus in a modern form. Attracting, training, and retaining the best acrobats is essential, as the show is only as good as the talent. Interestingly, the biggest cause of attrition is injury. But, there is no obvious way to prevent injuries…Business2 min readBusiness2 min read
Mar 8, 2019International Women’s Day @IBMFor more than a century, IBM has believed that diversity and inclusion are business priorities — it’s woven into our values and how we work. In 1899, the first women employees were hired. In 1935, women were hired as Systems Services Professionals and IBM announced equal pay for equal work…2 min read2 min read
Dec 22, 2018GratitudeWhen you are driving from Elba to Dothan, you come across a town named Enterprise. Enterprise, a town in Alabama, was established in 1896, and quickly became major player in agriculture, specifically cotton. Cotton became the livelihood of everyone in the area. Whether you owned the fields, harvested the fields…Business2 min readBusiness2 min read
Aug 6, 2018Eliminate the GoodWard Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios in the 1930’s. He was on the team for the first full-length animated feature by the Disney studio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). He spent 240 days working on a single four-and-a-half-minute scene. In that scene, the dwarfs…Disney2 min readDisney2 min read
Jun 8, 2018Human Capital is the Only Capital“When people with real talent approach any endeavor, they look for a method, a process, that will lead to success. They follow that process every day. They set themselves up to succeed.” -Bob Rotella William Thorndike published The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success, in…Startup3 min readStartup3 min read
