Doing Tech

I’ve never really been a fan of New Year’s resolutions; well-steeped in the world of strategy and planning, I’m more of a goals/objectives kind of person.  As I’ve gotten older (officially now that I carry that AARP card in my wallet), I’ve leaned more toward defining yearly strategies; I’ve come to realize that my life is a lot more about the direction I’m headed and the velocity with which I’m moving in that direction, rather than arriving at a particular destination.

But I recently came across Chris Brogan and his “three words” annual practice, where one identifies three words that represent areas of focus and intended accomplishment in the year ahead.  It’s grabbed me, probably because I’m now at that life stage where holding more than three thoughts in my mind simultaneously is too difficult.  My challenge has been reducing each idea to a single word (had to cheat to accomplish that), and finding words that apply equally to my personal life and professional practice (because keeping two separate word lists is definitely more than my brain can handle now).  Here are the three words I’ve selected for 2017:

Why.  (Short for find your “why” and live there.)  On the personal front, a number of life events in recent years have pushed me to re-examine my core purposes.  Once I thought I was rock-solid in that area, but upon reflection I realized that I don’t really “own” some of those purposes, I’m still lugging around a few purposes that merely attached to me from authority figures.  So, in a kind of delayed mid-life crisis — or perhaps more of a “I’m now at the age where I care much less about what others think of me and more about what I think of me” state — I’m out to re-discover and re-embrace my core “whys” of how I live life and pursue my calling.  Professionally, I’ve learned that it’s very challenging to differentiate yourself based on WHAT you do – especially if you’re in an “idea” business like innovation consulting.  The differentiator is WHY you do the WHAT (that is, your guiding purpose), and WHY you execute in the specific fashion that you employ (values, vision).  WHY is your differentiating perspective and approach that sets your organization apart from others.  In the trio of “what, why, how,” WHY is the driver of both “what” and “how.”  Clients discover you based on what you do, but they choose to do business with you based on WHY you do it your particular way.  Being clear on WHY, and relentlessly focused on staying true to it, is essential in both professional and personal life.

Simplematize.  (My cheat, as I made up that word – short for simplify and systemize.)  The world, and life, is increasingly more complex and complicated.  The velocity of change is accelerating dramatically.  Technology has simplified some things and vastly complicated others.  Success is found in relentless pursuit of the fundamentals.  Simplify life and work to the core essence, and then adopt systems to make those fundamentals run as smoothly as possible, granting maximum odds for success.  Strive to make the non-enriching, but necessary, activities run on near-autopilot, saving precious time and attention for the areas that generate true value and satisfaction.

Celebrate.  (Short for celebrate what and who you love.)  After almost six decades on this planet, I’ve finally come to appreciate the necessity to celebrate the things – and the people – that I love.  This can be as important as celebrating my joy in my spouse and children, or as seemingly trivial as celebrating national pizza week because I truly love pizza.  Professionally, this means recognizing the successful work and accomplishments of my team, appreciating them as unique individuals, and building an organizational culture of recognition and celebration.

Can you identify your three core words/concepts for 2017?  And how they guide your practice of delivering technology services?  I’d love to hear your ideas.

Michael Dieckmann is Chief IT Strategist for the University of West Florida’s Innovation Institute, where he leads the Institute’s IT Strategy Lab.  He also serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the Florida Virtual Campus.