Monthly Archives: June 2011

June 17, 2011 · 5:01 am

If you are really accountable – you resign

Phil Baker….what the hell were you thinking? For anyone vacationing off planet this week, the Canucks lost and Canada’s reputation for education lost as well. Philip Baker – the dean of the University of Alberta’s medical school was caught plagiarizing someone else’s convocation speach.

Funny how that works, Phil. You see, I’m not a Dean. I’m just a part time instructor at a couple of universities. And cheating is a real problem for me, anyway. This year I made a speech to my class – I wrote it myself. But I fully confess to stealing the ideas from a number of my professors years and years ago — probably about the time you took your undergrad, Phil. My profs said what I said at that class.

They said – if you cheat and I catch you, the consequences will be severe. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Ethics

June 1, 2011 · 3:15 am

Strangers in our midst

“There are strangers among us.” The lady was referring to the consultants that her company’s executives had hired.

The phrase hit me like a brick.

I’ve been a consultant for over 15 years – half of my career. It’s funny, you don’t get into this game unless you have some desire for feedback. Given how competitive consulting is, you also have to be a bit of an over-achiever.

I confess. Yes. I was that kid in school who had all the answers — the one the teacher eventually stopped asking, or looked vainly to each side of hoping for someone else to raise their hand, eventually returning defeated to reluctantly accept the offering of the impatient know-it-all in the front row. For anyone who worries about my social status, you can rest easy — I got over that part. In university I became the guy sitting at the backs. Still an over-achiever, but now a rebellious one — I learned to be cool and disdainful. But I still knew the answer. At least that’s my perception. Continue reading →

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Filed under Change, Organization, People

Tagged as Change, Consulting, People

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About Jim

I’m back. I can’t believe it’s been almost four years. Between a book, a new album, a hit podcast and a lot of other writing, I’ve found my way back to this informal blog. I’m back, I hope, to the semi-regular rants and occasional moments of insight that I wanted to express on these pages.

A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same.

I’ve been in IT and business for over 40 years instead of 30. I still worked my way up, literally from the mail room and I’ve done every job from mail clerk to CEO.

I still started and will probably end my career as a musician. Despite a business career that has had its share of accomplishments, I’m most proud of my family and a small canon of music that I have written and performed . I still have the gold album and Juno nomination I shared with friend and co-writer Pat Silver and friends proudly hung on my wall. You can still find some of my music on CBC’s Radio 3 thanks to my loving wife who encouraged me to get back to song writing.

My twitter account describes me with a line from the Steve Miller song — “I’m a picker, I’m a grinner, I’m a lover and I’m a sinner.”

Lastly, I’m a blogger…and this is my personal blog.

I write this blog because believe that we have the potential to achieve the extraordinary. This is our potential as humans. Bit by bit, for many of us, what is eroded is not the potential — we don’t lose that. What we lose is our ability to believe in our potential. Instead of looking to the extraordinary, we learn how to “play the game”. Without passing judgment I just have to say, that’s not for me. I don’t want to play the game. I want to change the game. And I want to celebrate the people and concepts that are out there changing the game every day.

This blog is about that. It’s about people, process, technology and strategy. The things that have to be in place to get great results.

But it’s more than that. It’s about ideas. And sometimes — it’s about dreams. But that’s okay, too.

It ranges from professional musings to intensely personal matters. It’s where I “live out loud”. It will be as open as I have the courage to be. It will be as insightful as I have the wisdom to be.

Every extraordinary accomplishment starts with a dream. The difference is that some people are content to dream them. Some have to live them. Some are driven to pursue the extraordinary. No, you don’t always win. If you did, what would be the challenge? Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you change the game.

You can reach me at this link.
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