Ramon Padilla Jr.

If you polled managers and asked them to list the things they have the most difficulty doing, somewhere near the top of the list would be “saying no.” I can already hear many of you saying, “Well, my boss tells me no all the time.” But it is, in fact, a difficult act for more …

I must confess that my title this month is a bit misleading. I should have said ‘Best productivity aid’ because the aid I am referring to is not a piece of software, not a piece of hardware, nor is it the newest “Day-Timer” or other paper based organization system. The aid I am talking about …

At some point in your management career, you have or will come across a personality test/inventory known as the Myers-Briggs. It is usually associated with career/management training/counseling as a tool to better understand yourself and your tendencies. Without going into a great amount of detail, the test breaks your personality down into four dichotomies: Extraversion/Introversion, …

If you are like me, you probably pass a number of signs on the way to work each day that offer “words of wisdom” for all travelers to see and reflect upon. I passed one such sign this morning in front of a bank that read: “It takes someone who can see the invisible to …

“Failure to innovate on your part will lead me to innovate with you (by force), without you, in spite of you, in lieu of you.” – Credo of a disgruntled end user, former IT resistance leader, and former and current CIO (namely me) I just finished reading an article on how IT should manage “rogue” …

I spent a lot of time this week dealing with project management and work planning issues, and as I worked with a variety of people, it became clear that even if they understood the planning process, there was often a breakdown regarding what a successful project looked like. Let me give you some examples of …

A close friend of mine told me about a recent experience she had in the workplace, and I thought it was worth sharing. My friend, who is a senior manager in her organization, needed a new admin assistant. She decided–with her manager’s approval–that she would pursue the temp-to-hire process, as the position paid a minimal …

Face it, you have known each other for awhile and the honeymoon is over. While you may still be integral to each other’s lives, the spark and energy that was once there is gone, and now it’s strictly business. With Valentine’s Day next week, do something to rekindle your relationship.  If you think I am …

I completed a questionnaire the other day regarding whether the IT employees in my organization are fingerprinted at the time of employment and furthermore, did I think it was a good idea to do so? The answer to the first question is no; we perform a thorough background check, but currently do not fingerprint IT …

I took a vacation last week (first one in over a year) and although I didn’t go anywhere I made the decision NOT to pick up my Blackberry or VPN in to my work PC. I left instructions that if there was an EMERGENCY, I should be called – otherwise I’m not available. It felt …

At some point in most organizations, the decision is made to centralize and/or standardize Information Technology Services. This need for centralization and standardization arises from the complexity that comes with increasing size and the difficulty of managing an environment that has multiple moving parts—many in different directions. The desire to take control of an environment …

I read a blurb in my local paper this weekend that stated that 70 percent of all baby boomers plan to work past retirement age. Whoa! That’s a load off of our collective minds, right? I can breathe much easier now knowing that the impending brain-drain is no longer a reality—let those geezers work until …