Posted by Robert Merrill on October 14, 2008 under Concepts | 
Even though I’m on a near total news blackout (in order to conserve my emotional strength for things I can do something about), over the last couple of months I’ve learned a little bit about derivatives (the financial kind) and credit default swaps.
What were they thinking?
It reminds me of a story my father told me. My father is a Depression kid, and was a lawyer in Houston, Texas. Many of his clients were successful small business owners and investors (and probably also Depression kids). When Enron imploded, my father asked one of them, “How much money did you lose?” Read more of this article »
Posted by Robert Merrill on October 3, 2008 under Concepts |
I’m a regular Seth Godin reader, and today he really struck a chord with his post When You Stand For Something. His trackbacks led me to What You Don’t Stand For by David Rendall.
In Gerald Weinberg’s Secrets of Consulting, I read, “If you can’t fix it, feature it.†So here goes.
- I don’t like telling people what to do, and I’d rather build people up than take them down. (Though I’m learning that sometimes that’s the most loving thing to do for them in the long run). So I’ve avoided management as it’s commonly structured, and that has kept me from advancing to a position of leadership that I can put on a resumé. But just because I’ve never been a king doesn’t mean I won’t be an effective royal advisor.
- I’m not very assertive. Because of that, sometimes people are surprised by my strength of conviction when it comes to Things That Matter.
- I’m not competitive, or driven to win for winning’s sake, but that doesn’t keep me from seeing what it will take to win.
- I don’t make a very good first impression, or form a very accurate first impression of others. That has made me persistent in relationships, and careful not to jump to conclusions. Hypotheses, yes. Conclusions, no.
- I don’t handle stress well, so I have avoided the heavy travel, do-or-die projects, conflicting demands of middle management, and other things you need to do in order to get ahead. So I haven’t gotten ahead, at least not on paper.
That’s who I am not.
Here’s who I am. I am probably as intelligent, insightful, teachable, and compassionate as anyone you have ever met. I learn quickly and deeply. I’m not afraid of a blank sheet of paper (you don’t emerge from a Ph.D. program if you are). I’m also not afraid of a complex, convoluted situation of people and software (provided you don’t start screaming at me to solve in a day what has been five years in the making). I’m not afraid to walk away from something when it’s time, but I’m no opportunist or quitter, either (I’ve never been less than 10 years with any organization).
If you invite me into the executive circle of your software-intensive business, you will probably find that I am different from most of you.
That’s precisely why I will be useful.
Posted by Robert Merrill on September 18, 2008 under Concepts |
I’m a recovering perfectionist, and it’s not by choice.
I started out a great student, became a pretty good scientist, and was then a good software developer.
Now I’m a software management consultant and aspiring bioinformatician. I don’t have to network much (and I’m a mediocre networker on my good days) to meet people who have better training and more relevant experience than me. On paper, I don’t stand a chance, and sometimes that really gets me down.
Then I remember two things.
First, prospective clients aren’t choosing between me and perfection. They’re choosing between resources they already have, me, and whoever else they know about.
Second, I don’t have to be perfect, or even the best option, in order to be useful. What’s more, I’m more confident of my usefulness to clients than ever, because now no one else is placing me. If I’m not sure I can be useful, I don’t write a proposal. So far, I’ve always been useful. Every time.
If any clients are reading this, please tell me otherwise. But if I did have a client who found me useless, I doubt s/he is reading my blog.