Interests

• Sailing (Washington Yacht Club, Duck Dodge)
• Skiing (Steven's Pass, Crystal, Mt. Hood, Mt. Bachelor)
• Salsa (Salsa con Todo, Century Ballroom)
• Cooking (Epicurious, Food Network)
• Brewing

Photos

Favorite Websites

• PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor - my language of choice
• MySQL Database - the worlds most popular open-source database is really growing up
• Apple Computer - for those who like innovative computing; beauty on the outside, powerful unix inside
• W3Schools - free website for those looking to get an introduction to Internet standards like CSS and XML
• O'Reilly - hands down the best technical publisher out there. Period.
• A List Apart - quality HTML/CSS tutorials
• BusinessWeek - Business week is a great business magazine, which seems to do a fantastic job of staying on top of not only business, but technology trends.
• WikiPedia - find information about almost anything of interest to anyone
• Atlassian Confluence - the future of organizational collaboration

Colin Powell's Maxims (excerpts)

• “Don't be buffaloed by experts and elite's. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elite's can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world."
  Small organizations don't have the time for analytically detached experts. They don't have the money to subsidize lofty elite's, either. But as organizations get bigger, they often forget who "brung them to the dance": things like all-hands involvement, egalitarianism, informality, daring, risk, speed, agility. Policies that emanate from ivory towers often have an adverse impact on the people out in the field who are fighting the wars or bringing in the revenues. Real leaders are vigilant - and combative - in the face of these trends.
• "Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard."
  Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and partners. But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their learning and skills. Sometimes even the pros can become complacent and lazy. Leadership does not emerge from blind obedience to anyone. If you have a yes-man working for you, one of you is redundant. Good leadership encourages everyone's evolution.
• "You don't know what you can get away with until you try."
  You know the expression "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission?" Well, it's true. Good leaders don't wait for official blessing to try things out. They're prudent, not reckless. But they also realize a fact of life in most organizations: If you ask enough people for permission, you'll inevitably come up against someone who believes his job is to say "no."
• "Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find."
  ‘If it ain't broke, don't fix it’ is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. It's a mind-set that assumes (or hopes) that today's realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion. Pure fantasy. In this sort of culture, you won't find people who proactively take steps to solve problems as they emerge. Here's a little tip: Don't invest in these companies.
• "Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds."
  In a brain-based economy, your best assets are people. We've heard this expression so often that it's become trite. But how many leaders really "walk the talk" with this stuff? Too often, people are assumed to be empty chess pieces to be moved around by grand viziers, which may explain why so many top managers immerse their calendar time in deal making, restructuring and the latest management fad. How many immerse themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the best, the brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained and-most importantly-unleashed?
• "Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing."
  Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a workplace that ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you. In well-run organizations, titles are also pretty meaningless. At best, they advertise some authority - an official status conferring the ability to give orders and induce obedience. But titles mean little in terms of real power, which is the capacity to influence and inspire. Have you ever noticed that people will personally commit to certain individuals who on paper (or on the org chart) possess little authority - but instead possess pizzazz, drive, expertise and genuine caring for teammates and products? On the flip side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the perks and frills associated with high positions, but they have little influence on others, apart from their ability to extract minimal compliance to minimal standards.
• "Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it."
  Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job descriptions. One reason that even large organizations wither is that managers won't challenge old, comfortable ways of doing things. But real leaders understand that, nowadays, every one of our jobs is becoming obsolete. The proper response is to obsolete our activities before someone else does. Effective leaders create a climate where people’s worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs. The most important question in performance evaluation becomes not, "How well did you perform your job since the last time we met?" but, "How much did you change it?"
• "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."
  The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a gung ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist"; give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
• "Powell's Rules for Picking People" - Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done."
  How often do our recruitment and hiring processes tap into these attributes? More often than not, we ignore them in favor of length of resume, degrees and prior titles. A string of job descriptions a recruit held yesterday seem to be more important than who one is today, what she can contribute tomorrow or how well his values mesh with those of the organization. You can train a bright, willing novice in the fundamentals of your business fairly readily, but it's a lot harder to train someone to have integrity, judgment, energy, balance and the drive to get things done.

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