Posts By Jack Gates

Techies, Parties, and Success

Peter Corbett is the founder of DC Tech Meetup – a monthly meeting of the local community of techies and startups – to encourage demonstrations of latest technology and what’s up with the entrepreneurial community. It is soundly build on open source principles – sharing and advancing good ideas. DC Tech Meetup attracts over 1,000Read… Read more »

Scope Creep

Herman Wouk, at age 97, has written a new book – The Lawgiver – the story of a film project about Moses. It is also an insightful study in the dynamics of a project. In the book, the character Wouk is the advisor to the ‘money guy’. He is to read and offer his approvalRead… Read more »

Leadership, Technology, and Change

Change is everywhere. Change happens at breakneck speed – BUT it takes time to recognize and adopt/adapt. Recall the typewriter return at the end of each line – and how long it took typists to stop using it in word-processing. We unconsciously cling to the old models and cite them as ‘rules.’ The Information InterviewRead… Read more »

Planning Strategically or A Strategic Plan?

What’s the distinction? A strategic plan is a project, initiated by others – e.g., the CEO, the Board, Department Head – with some input from the originator but little participation. Planning strategically is a team project, initiated by the leader of the team, with the leader’s input and participation. First thing to determine for eitherRead… Read more »

The Privacy Paradox

At the Verisign Distinguished Speaker, Vint Cerf, one of the founders of internet technology, told us that privacy is impossible on the internet. It is a huge copy machine with multiple copies of everything ingested, and a quest for increasingly more information. There is a strange paradox about privacy. One the one hand, there areRead… Read more »

The Babel Effect

Transmitting what’s in our mind into the consciousness of someone else is tricky at best. Individuals process new information by comparing to what they’ve experienced and know. Think a child asking is ‘this’ like ‘that’ when exposed to something new. We offer examples to help others understand, but since we are unique – no oneRead… Read more »

Teaching Leadership

Some individuals are thought to be ‘natural’ leaders – they seemingly step into the role fully functional – such as George Washington. Some individuals develop as leaders once in the role – Steve Jobs, for example. Some individuals learn leadership by opening their mind and soaking up the rich material provided by other leaders, coaches,Read… Read more »

Focus and Goofing Off

Recently, I was talking with Dick about keys to successful results. We identified focus as an important element contributing to superior outcomes. Today was one of those rare balmy January days in Washington, DC, hovering around 60 degrees, so Dick and I headed to a nearby course for a round golf. While returning to ourRead… Read more »

New View from the Big Chair

The World Is Changing Future Shock in the ‘60s said we could only accommodate so much change before a melt-down; many believed Toffler but does it still apply? Change happens at a breakneck speed, however it takes time to recognize and adapt. The Information Interview, a mainstay of job transitions, doesn’t work anymore. Thought Exercise:Read… Read more »