Woe to the specialist who is not a pretty fair generalist and woe to the generalist who is not also a bit of a specialist. — Samuel Butler I referred to David Epstein’s book Range in my previous post about wine and tech. Mr. Epstein makes the case that the most effective “specialists” […]
I spent ninety percent of my money on wine, women and song and just wasted the other ten percent. —Ronnie Hawkins I’m fortunate to have come into “tech” after a 15-year stint in the wine business. I managed wine programs for several restaurants during my engineering studies and then spent a decade selling wine and […]
“In hell there is no retention.” —Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra It could be argued that Cervantes wasn’t referring to employee and customer churn. Nevertheless, the quote fits our context well. It’s well acknowledged that it’s easier and more profitable to service customers you already have than to go out and acquire new ones. How […]
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery I’m a minimalist (of sorts). I appreciate the elegance in simple things: the aroma of fallen leaves, a well-executed Manhattan, and pork green chili. Although far from simple, the Grand […]
Protection and security are only valuable if they do not cramp life excessively. — Carl Jung Do you remember the picture of the kid all bubble wrapped to protect him from everything? Sure, his mom is making certain that he’s least likely to sustain an injury from just about anything. She’s also ensuring […]
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. —Harold Wilson If you’ve read my previous post on change, you might have noticed that consultancy firms like to write about embracing change. Change this. Change that. At times, I find this advice a little […]
I was on a bike ride with an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in about 25 years. The obvious question was “what’s new?” Do you mean in addition to a generation of experiences? Marriage, kids, careers – same old stuff. Yourself? Turns out that there’s a lot that’s “new.” There’s a Facebook page […]
What is ideal? A long (4 or 5 hour) bike ride along the Colorado Front Range followed up with some of my favorite carbonated nourishment is an ideal day in my book. And apparently Wout van Aert had an ideal day too—at this year’s edition of Strade Bianche when he soloed in for the win in the final 13 kilometers. With a broken wheel and 5 punctures, Julian Alaphilippe most certainly did not have an ideal day. So what’s ideal when […]
Ah, change. It’s not just the late David Bowie’s manifesto for (among other things) the frequency of change in the world today. Change is something to be embraced and utilized for growth. The ramifications for not accepting change can be grave. Remember Borders? Toys “R” Us? Failure to embrace change and innovate has generated some serious, […]
Have you ever had one of those days when everything was aligned and went perfectly? Like when your team’s efforts are rewarded with a performance that rivals that of Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Believe it or not, this happens to me all the time… A great example was NetApp’s participation in […]
In the past few months, every event that I’m aware of has had to significantly change how it’s delivered to its participants. SAP SAPPHIRE NOW 2020 was no exception. Although day 1 will be remembered largely for technical glitches during the keynote address, SAP showed true resilience in the remaining days of the conference. Great […]
Freedom of choice isn’t just an old Devo video from 1980 — or any of its gazillion covers. Freedom of choice means having more than one path to follow, and it implies freedom to refuse. Freedom of choice looks like a pretty good gig — but is it always good? When it comes to […]
Dave Krenik