Periodic assessment time

[#1]

Every once in a while it is time to take a step back and look at your life, what you are doing, the impact it has and even your own value sys.... I had one of those moments thrust upon my family when HP offered me an early retirement option.

For me, I asked questions like:

1. How sure are you that you will be happy in the coming years?
2. How can you be sure that your relationships with your spouse and family will become an enduring source of happiness?
3. Are you having the influence on the company and industry that you should?

For technologists it can also offer an opportunity to think about how you are marketing your efforts to others. Fortunately for me, this was a career choice -- where decisions can be made.

Technologists should periodically take the opportunity for these kinds of personal assessments. I had a leader I worked for once who did this assessment  every Thanksgiving (for those outside the US, but this is a holiday focused on looking at the bounty available to us and actively being thankful for it). For whatever the reason, we should not passively accept the status quo, but actively ensure that we’re creating the future we desire.

I mentioned last week the changing role of the CIO. These factors are also a driver for all technologists to assess their future and can enter into the evaluation process.

[#2]

Charlie,

The key message is "but actively ensure that we’re creating the future we desire."

When the organization no longer supports cooperative innovation across dissimilar groups that can create synergies, then it's a fairly strong signal that we're going to have a very difficult time creating anything, let alone what we desire.

That was a very strong clue for me.

Best wishes for coming to a good decision for you and your family!