TuSK

Sean Rehder

Sean runs Rehder Talent Logistics (you can read his great blog here). I have said it before, and I will say it again: “Sean is the shortest distance possible between a great idea and software implementation.” For those of you who haven’t heard my glowing praise before, Sean is the guy who is our Salesforce / contingent workforce / process guru. Maybe I feel such an affinity for Sean because I hope that I share some of his same characteristics: visionary, hard working and solid as a rock. Most likely I am just deluding myself, because Sean never ceases to amaze. For instance, we have been talking internally about some really cool contingent workforce ideas. Sean overheard one of the conversations. Three days later he came back to us with a prototype of something that answered 80% of our problems. Part of this is the ease of configurability of Salesforce, but most of it was Sean pulling a couple of all nighters to get something done. Again – this isn’t something that we asked him to do. He was just excited about what he heard and decided to unleash his expertise and passion in the service of a client. Simply awesome. I have worked with Sean since October of last year, and I don’t think there is a month that has gone by that the guy hasn’t done something to impress me and the rest of the team here at EA. So I just wanted this to be a public thanks to Sean for all his outstanding work.

Michele Macready

I have been thinking about diamond mining recently. It seems the near-perfect analogy for the potential of people inside of large companies. Most managers operate as if the only way to find a diamond is to a jeweler (recruiting) or find one on the ground somewhere around where you are camping (most succession planning). It turns out that if you want to score the big diamond you have to dig for them.

Companies typically have more diamonds than they realize, but because of titles or corporate bureaucracy no one knows they are there.

I am reminded of this every time I think of my friend Michele Macready. Michele works in an IT job running a large implementation project. It's interesting work and she does a great job at it. But IT project work isn't very glamorous and doesn't get a lot of visibility, so Michele works in relative obscurity.

That's truly unfortunate, because it turns out that she is a diamond. Not just any diamond, but a really extraordinary one. Michele is so self-effacing and unassuming that I would have never known. But one day we were talking about the various problems with corporate strategy and Michele starts examining strategy through the lens of metaphor. The subject is really interesting and very complex, and so I ask her how she developed such a fascinating perspective. I knew she was smart, but the stuff she was discussing was at a whole other level.

That's when Michele casually mentions that she worked at the Sante Fe Institute with some of the greatest minds of our time. She actually ran the division that was responsible for monetizing these geniuses' deep thoughts. Then she went to the Boston Consulting Group and participated in their Advanced Strategy Group. Michele's husband (whom she met at the Institute) is a well known quantum physicist who is doing cutting edge work in developing quantum computers.

In other words, Michele is a diamond, and a spectacular one at that. She has participated in some of the most cutting-edge work around about how knowledge is created and valued. If she were still working as a consultant companies would pay good money to hear her opinions.

"Why?" you ask. "Why is Michele working as an IT project manager?" Because she wanted to live in a specific location and it was the best job she could find. She didn't want to live the travel-centric life of a consultant, and there were no companies in the area she wanted to live who were hiring "metaphorical thinkers." So she took an IT job.

You may think this story is remarkable. And certainly it is. Unfortunate then that it is not as fantastic as it sounds. The company where you work probably has some Micheles in its employ. Do you know who they are? Or are you just assuming that since they don't have the fancy title that they don't have a great story, a new and interesting way to add value  to you and your company?

Diamonds may be all around you if you are just willing to dig.

Welcome Michele!

Tom Cullen

I don't think it's any secret that people who are considered "corporate functionaries" are usually assumed to be second-tier compared to their business-line counterparts. If a person builds a great new web tool and sells it they are considered a genius, but if they build the same functionality and offer it to their company their "genius quotient" is not similarly enhanced.

I bring this up because I have been surprised at how many truly awesome people I have run into in corporate HR and IT departments. I don't know whether it was destiny or a personal choice to avoid all the baloney that accompanies the typical entrepreneur's journey, but I have met quite a few people who, had they decided to apply their talents in a business-line setting, would be people who you would know.

Today's TuSK post is just such an individual. Tom Cullen was one of the first people I met when I came to EA. I was instantly impressed with his depth of knowledge about really difficult IT / integration issues. In his even-handed, aw-shucks sort of way he described how he viewed integration architecture issues in a way that was at once both cutting-edge and common sense.

Since that first conversation I have had many other opportunities to work with Tom. It is always a pleasure. Tom continues to explore the leading edge of how corporations can integrate various data sources and point-applications into a cohesive whole that is dynamic and transparent. He is one of those rare individuals who has great credibility with the CIO, the vendors and the thought leaders at the same time.

I have asked Tom to be an author on Tusk because I think he has some exciting things to say about SOA and other integration concepts. In addition, Tom is a person whose judgment I trust implicitly, so I am hoping that he will introduce us to great people he knows.

Welcome Tom!