All too often, the focus of business is on the business... not on the people who work there.
So, I'd like to start this little meme about the people who do the work. Post the answers on your own blog and do a trackback here. If you don't have trackbacks, leave a link to your post in the comments. If you don't have a blog, shame on you! Seriously, if you don't have a blog you can answer the questions in the comments here.
- What do you do? - Business Analyst, basically a liason between business and IT folks
- What are the challenges? - putting up with people who want to rush off and solve problems without investigating why the problems exist
- How do you overcome them? - by reframing the problems and helping to set the context
- What is a typical day like? - loads of emails and phone calls
- How do you manage information? (Email, Blogs, etc) - I use bloglines for blogs, I'm embarassed to say that my email is a mess - I'm good at replying, but not storage
- What are your 3 or 5 favorite books?
- What are your favorite web sites/blogs? - I'd have to say Fouroboros is my favorite blog... I don't really have to many web sites that I check regularly anymore.
- What tools/technology do you use? - Toshiba Tablet PC, Motorola V505 cell phone, and an apple iPod
- What’s your favorite quote? - "In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance." ~ H. Jackson Brown
- What is your "secret to success"? - People don't care how much you now until the know how much you care!
- What are your greatest accomplishments? Personal? Professional? - I'm still thinking about this one...
- What are your hobbies? Or, how do you break the monotony and stay energized? - Music. Movies. Sleep.
I'll try to post my answers this weekend.
[Update] - posted my answers. Can't expect others to answer them without answering them myself, huh?
What about reading? You seem to do a lot of that...Sleep is for the dead. ;-)
Posted by: Aleah | February 19, 2005 at 01:18 PM
A Day in the Life of Troy Worman
Posted by: Troy Worman | February 20, 2005 at 10:44 PM
Nice idea! My answers are posted at my blog. And thanks Troy Worman for pointing me here!
Posted by: Emily Mann | February 21, 2005 at 11:11 PM
Great idea.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TERRY STORCH
http://www.terrystorch.com/2005/02/a_day_in_the_li.html
Posted by: Terry Storch | February 22, 2005 at 01:28 AM
Aleah, I'm not reading as much these days... I'm not sleeping as much either, the dogs seem to want to get me up at all hours of the night these days. Go figure... ;-)
Troy, Emily, and Terry - and everyone else you did this - thank you so much! I'm blown away by how much time and thought people have put in to this! Perhaps we should take everyones reply and make a book! :-)
Posted by: Jon Strande | February 22, 2005 at 06:34 AM
One more. From Cynthia.http://mamadunce.blogspot.com/2005/02/cool-meme.html
Posted by: Cyn | February 22, 2005 at 07:14 AM
Thanks for sharing your information Jon. I'm posting mine here as my blog is hopelessly out of date (sorry).
What do you do? - IT Help Desk Manager, which at my firm means managing a team of unique people, in addition to attending new project meetings to ensure the team stays on top of the latest and greatest.
What are the challenges? - IT people and "normal" people don't always play nicely together. More things to support with the same people require creative solutions for staffing, communication, and implementation.
How do you overcome them? - focus on what you can do, not what you can't. Set the example for patience and persevere to do better every day. Overcommunicate rather than undercommunicate. Work as hard as is needed to get the job done - but take time to relax whenever possible.
What is a typical day like? - 200-300 e-mails per day, tons of project meetings for new and exciting things, listening to any issues my team might encounter and offer troubleshooting assistance and direction.
How do you manage information? (Email, Blogs, etc) - I use bloglines to stay on top of my IT information (not enough). I have many archive folders in MS Outlook, and a Blackberry and a pager to stay on top of the most vital of communications.
What are your 3 or 5 favorite books?
Tom Peters - The Brand YOU! 50
Developing the Leader Within You - John C. Maxwell (and really anything by Maxwell lately)
Purple Cow - Seth Godin
What are your favorite web sites/blogs? - Bloglines gets most of my reading time, as does ESPN.
What tools/technology do you use? - Work: Pager, HP desktop, Nextel Blackberry
Home: cell phone, eMachines
What’s your favorite quote? - I have 2: "Your car is your university!" Zig Ziglar and "What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" George Eliot
What is your "secret to success"? - I treat each person as they want to be treated, and be sure to listen first and speak second. I focus on what I can do instead of what I can't and always lead with the can do!
What are your greatest accomplishments? Personal? Professional? - Personal - I finished a computer science degree at night while working full-time. Professional - Every day is a new accomplishment and a new challenge.
What are your hobbies? Or, how do you break the monotony and stay energized? - Read a LOT! I stay involved with my church and my community as much as possible. And I try to not do things that sap my energy.
Posted by: Phil Gerbyshak | February 22, 2005 at 11:15 PM
Geez, that was a successful meme-launch. Maybe you should get new business cards made up:
Jon Strande
Meme Launcher
Posted by: Bren | February 23, 2005 at 01:00 AM
Cyn & Phil - cool! Thank you for sharing!
Bren, thank you! But that should be your title! I noticed several people found it from your blog!
Posted by: Jon Strande | February 23, 2005 at 05:37 AM