May 2009
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| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
Ah-Ha! Moment – Having successfully founded and led a technology consulting practice for nearly 20 years, I have had to change the focus and service offerings of the firm over this period, as new technologies and techniques have supplanted older ones. During this period, I have held fast to one hiring rule – I always hire smart, hard-working, nice, reliable people because I know they will never go out of vogue. When technologies and service offerings change, I am confident in my people – confident they will work hard, master the new technologies and techniques, and apply them to new service offerings.
MJ Ryan summarizes all this incredibly well in her new book, AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For, where she writes:
"The name of the game is staying relevant, and the life cycle of relevancy is getting shorter and shorter." (page 178)
Recognizing the need to stay relevant, I had one of my consultants in May begin to reskill himself on a new set of technologies – doing this gives my firm flexibility in assigning personnel to different projects, better matching availability and domain-specific knowledge with specific client needs.
