Friends taking care of Friends

I am on vacation this week.  Opending time at 6,000 ft with good 4G connections.

A last minute trip from some NC data center friends making a trip Seattle left me at a loss for my inability to host the visitors.  Within minutes of texting my NC friend I am not in town I reached out to two other friends and see if they could join our visitors to Seattle.  For the next 10 minutes dozens of texts fly to coordinate schedules and locations.  My NC friends land in SEA the next day and within an hour everyone is together drinking beers enjoying a seafood dinner.

One of the simple pleasures in life is to host friends when they visit.  What even feels better is friends who will take your place to host out of town of visitors.

70 year anniversary of Skunkworks, secret of innovation is its people

June 2013 is the 70 year anniversary of Skunkworks.

In an interview the Chief Skunk

Chief Skunk, Dr. Alton D. Romig, Jr., PhD, is the vice president and general manager of Advanced Development Programs AKA the Skunk Works® for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. In this interview, he reflects on the rich history of the Skunk Works and discusses the unique culture that will continue its tradition of mission driven innovation and value added solutions for years to come.

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Another important characteristic of the Skunk Works is a unique management structure that empowers engineers. Even today we make it a point to follow Kelly’s rules for program management. Our workforce has a breadth of experience and system lifecycle engagement. We also have a willingness to take prudent risks.  In a technical sense, our culture encourages doing things that have never been done before.  For example, the SR-71’s predecessor, the A-12, went through 11 iterations before it met the design specs.

When you read the 14 rules & practices created by Kelly Johnson you can see the areas where people are a priority.

14. Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.

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12. There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor, the very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.

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5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.

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3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).

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1. The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.

Revlon and NetApp CIO's discuss Innovating in IT with a change of culture

At GigaOm Structure I moderated a panel discussion with Revlon CIO Dave Giambruno and NetApp CIO Cynthia Stoddard.  Here is a post on the presentation.

How lipstick maker Revlon turned around its business with IT

by Ki Mae Heussner

JUN. 19, 2013 - 4:01 PM PDT

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photo: (c) 2013 Pinar Ozger pinar@pinarozger.com

SUMMARY:

Five years ago, cosmetics giant Revlon’s balance sheet wasn’t looking too good. But after its IT overhaul, the company is one of the most successful in its category, said the company’s CIO.

One are I felt were one of the most important made are.

In addition to changing its infrastructure, Giambruno said technology has helped Revlon shift its culture and develop an environment that’s more receptive to risk-taking.

Cynthia Stoddard, SVP and CIO of NetApp, agreed on the importance of encouraging a culture that supports change and experimentation.

I'll write another post on how I approach panels.  Luckily I only had one at GigaOm, some of the folks have 3 or more.

Do you have the bad habit of trying to be the smartest in school vs. the smartest in the real world

Hitting the road is a time to meet new people and run into old friends.  I left SEA to SJC to go to GigaOm and start the networking.  And, as usual the networking starts as soon as I get to the airport.  I run into one of my old bosses, John Frederiksen who left Microsoft a year ago and is now VP of product management at NetApp. We chat about cloud and data centers.  I had an interest in chatting about NetApp since I am moderating a panel with NetApp's CIO Cyndi Stoddard in 8 hrs.  

Going to a hosted reception last night I chatted with some good friends and met new people.

One characteristic I find most interesting is people who are in a learning mode.  I enjoy the smart people who realize they need to try new things to learn.  Here is a post on Facebook page that is popular.

 

Robert Kiyosaki · 863,574 like this

November 4, 2011 at 7:00pm · 

• In the real world, the smartest people are people who make mistakes and learn. In school, the smartest people don’t make mistakes.

Do you find you are surrounded by smart people who have the bad habits from school of showing how good their grades are and how they make no mistakes.  Everybody makes mistakes.  To err is human.  I've been paying more attention to the mistakes I make.  Do you? Do your friends?

The more you trust someone it is easier to admit your mistakes.  If you don't trust someone, why would discuss your mistakes.  If you don't trust someone, why are spending time with them?  Life is too short to spend with people who you don't trust.

Some of the best data center discussions I've ever had are when we discuss mistakes made.

7x24 Exchange honors Ken Brill with Lifetime Achievement award

At this year's 7x24 Exchange, Ken Brill was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kenneth G. Brill is the Founder of the Uptime Institute and the Site Uptime Network.

Below are pictures from the ceremony.

The award is presented by Robert J. Cassiliano, President and CEO of Business Information Services and Chairman & CEO of 7x24 Exchange International. “7x24 Exchange International is honored to recognize Ken for his lifetime of accomplishments,” said Bob Cassiliano “It is a uniquely special individual that influences an industry with their leadership; Ken Brill is such a person with his significant and demonstrable contribution to the Mission Critical Industry. Ken has been a friend, a mentor and an industry colleague and for that, I am forever grateful.”

Accepting the award on Mr. Brill’s behalf will be longtime colleague, W. Pitt Turner IV. “I am honored to be able to accept this award on behalf of my friend and leading data center pioneer, Ken Brill,” said Pitt Turner. “Ken’s leadership in the data center space over the last thirty years has led to increased efficiency and operational excellence within the industry.”

Others that will pay tribute to Mr. Brill include David Schirmacher President of 7X24 Exchange International and Senior Vice President of Operations at Digital Realty, and Dennis Cronin, COO of Steel ORCA and one of the founders 7X24 Exchange International.

Photos by Convention Photography courtesy of Professional Images Photography Joe Rodriguez 2013.