Assignment 1 (Due: before November 14, 2009, 13:00hrs)

Progress in information technology (IT) has been remarkable, but the best truly is yet to come: the power of IT as a human enabler is just beginning to be realized. Whether the nation builds on this momentum or plateaus prematurely depends on today's decisions about fundamental research in computer science (CS) and the related fields behind IT.

Information Technology is committed to the values of

• Reliability
• Professionalism and integrity
• Efficiency and effectiveness
• Innovation
• Excellence
• Collaboration and teamwork

I see myself as a systems analyst or an IT consultant 10 years from now is an IT consultant.

IT Consultant

It works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organization’s IT systems.

IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development.

Strategic Plan

Organizations that want their information technology (IT) Training and Education programs to be successful must carefully distinguish between the two concepts. Training is the process by which people gain tangible skills that they can start applying immediately. Education, on the other hand, is process by which people gain knowledge and understanding. Training and education can occur in class room settings, in mentoring sessions, or through apprenticing. The point is that we need both training and education to help round out the skills. This approach is comprised of six activities:

1. Assess
It is critical that you get IT professionals the right Training and Education at the right time, and the only way that you can do this is through regular assessment of their skills. To do this successfully you must:

a.Directly involve the staff member. Minimally, you need to find out what their goals are and where they think that they need to improve their skills. Better yet, they may have a very good idea as to what training that they need, opinions which they gained through talking with the colleagues and their own research.

b.Assess regularly. Although many organizations will update a person's skills as part of their annual staff review, this often isn't sufficient. It's unlikely that you'll identify the training courses that someone will need on a project starting in August during their annual review in December of the previous year. Good points to assess someone's skills include: during their regular staff review, at the beginning of a project, and when they think that they need an assessment done.

c.Keep the assessment simple. The best way to do a skills assessment is to simply have the staff member sit down and have a discussion with one or more experienced people that understand both the person's current skills as well as what is needed to do their job successfully.

d. Go at it from different angles. An experienced team lead may be able to give someone good advice for what Training and Education then need to become a better Visual Basic programmer, but may not be able to provide good advice when it comes to communication skills. Remember, there are different categories of IT skills.

2. Specific Introductory Training
IT professionals need specific, introductory training, on new subjects. A serious mistake that many organizations make is that they assume that because someone is in a senior position that they don't need introductory training. For example, an experienced Java programmer could very likely benefit from a two-day introductory course in user interface design and a senior executive an introduction to Extreme Programming (XP).

3. Mentoring and Hands-on Experience
Once the initial training is complete, you are ready to begin applying their new skills. It is at this point that many organizations run into trouble because they mistakenly believe that their staff now has the necessary skills to do the job on their own. Often, nothing could be further from the truth.

Mentors should participate as active members of your project team, not just as teachers. For a mentor to be a productive member of the team you will need a ratio of one mentor for every two or three novices, anything more and the mentor will be too busy mentoring to get anything done on your project. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as there are other experienced people available to develop the complex portions of your application. Project teams consisting of one expert and a large number of novices are likely to fail.

Mentoring is in addition to training and education, not a replacement for it. One of the roles of a mentor is to help your project team to see the big picture and will need to refocus the team occasionally by explaining how new methods can be applied to solve development problems. Mentors should be involved throughout the entire project, especially at the early stages of it, so that the learning process gets off on the right track.

4. Advanced Training
After several months of hands-on experience, developers should return to the classroom for advanced training. The experience that developers have gained gives them the knowledge that they need to understand and absorb the material presented in the advanced courses. For example, an advanced modeling course is likely to concentrate on analysis and design patterns and an advanced programming course will convey a series of programming tips and tricks. Advanced training courses often combine both training and education aspects.

5. Support the Learning Experience
There is far more to the Training and Education process than formal classroom training. To support the learning experience you can promote:

a. Learning teams. Learning teams are small, cross-functional groups of people who are given the task of working together to learn a particular new technology or technique. Learning teams are often asked to produce a small application for the company, perhaps something for the human resources or marketing departments. They are usually asked to spend between 20 and 50% of their working hours on the mini-project, devoting the rest of their time to their current responsibilities. Members of the learning team will still need initial training and mentoring, otherwise they are likely to flounder.

b. Reading groups. A common technique is for a group of people to choose to read a book together and then to get together and discuss it on a regular basis.

c. Bag-lunch training. These are one-hour mini-lessons held during the daily lunch break. The sessions are typically given by an expert in the subject, usually but not always one of your mentors, and will cover a wide range topics. Successful bag-lunch training programs typically involve 2 or 3 sessions a week with each individual session being given several times so that everyone has an opportunity to attend, minimally you should try to give a session once a week. Bag-lunch sessions are easy to do and really give a boost to the learning process.

d. Information access. Get people access to the Internet, magazine subscriptions, and books. There is a lot of information out there, much of which is free for the taking.

e. Mentoring.

f. Computer-based training (CBT). CBT is also a valid Training and Education approach, especially when combined with formal training and mentoring. Many organizations provide their employees access to introductory CBT courses before sending them on formal training courses, giving them a head-start on learning. Unfortunately, CBT by itself is of minimal value by itself. Most aspects of software development are simply too complex, and evolve too quickly, to be captured in a CBT course. Furthermore, when you have questions about something you need to talk to an expert to get them answered. A computer cannot do that for you, although a mentor can (mentoring and CBT are a powerful combination). In short, CBT is only part of the solution, albeit a potentially important one.

6. Training and Education Tips
Here are the several tips and techniques that lead to success in training and education:

a. Get your staff into the habit of learning. The rate of change in the information technology (IT) industry is simply too fast to allow someone to train once and then sit on their laurels.

b. Just-in-time (JIT) training is critical. Give your people training when they need it, not several months before or several months after. People will forget the majority of what they have learned less than a month later unless they apply their new skills immediately after training. Training typically occurs within the scope of a project, often at the beginning of it, so remember to include training in your project plans.

c. Educate as well as train. Training gives you the skills to do your job, education gives you the knowledge to understand your job. The most important thing that an educational program can do is to explain the interrelationships of the concepts and techniques.

d. Expect to train in a variety of skills. Software development is complex, and successful IT staff needs a wide range of skills.

e. Perform skills assessments for everyone. You need to understand someone’s current skills before you can develop an effective training plan for them. You'll also want to assess their skills on a regular basis to ensure that they are receiving the training and education that they need, many people unfortunately do not actively manage their own training plan.

f. Recognize that not everyone learns the same way. Some people learn best in the classroom, while others learn best by sitting down and working with a language, and others learn best through working with others. Because no training and education approach is perfect for everyone you will want to create an approach that can be modified to meet the needs of individual students. Flexibility is a key success factor.

g. Motivate everybody. Motivating junior developers is typically no problem: They are usually chomping at the bit to improve their development skills. Unfortunately some experienced developers aren’t so eager, perhaps they are afraid they will not be able to pick it up as fast as others. Given time and a flexible learning environment everyone can learn the new skills required in modern information technology shops, they just have to want to learn. A good strategy is to make the benefits of the new technique/technology, as well as the potential risks, apparent to everyone involved. If people understand what's in it for them, they'll be far more motivated that those who don't.

h. Expect to deal with bruised egos. A significant problem with transitioning experienced developers into new technologies or techniques is the fact that overnight they are go from being a recognized expert to a recognized novice. This hurts. Developers need to realize that if they apply themselves they can become experts once again, it just takes awhile.

i. Expect the “I’ve done it before” syndrome. For example I have argued for years that there is nothing new in agile software development, it's just a packaging of existing techniques which work really well. Familiarity with some of the underlying principles of a new technique makes it easy to convince yourself that you’ve been doing it all along. This problem is usually self correcting because as soon as someone starts to work on a real project with good mentors they quickly realize that there is a lot more to to the new technique than what they originally thought.

j.Recognize that you cannot retrain everyone at once. Except in very small IT shops you'll never transition your entire staff to a new technique all at once. It's too risky, it takes time to learn the ins and outs of new techniques within your environment, and frankly there are basic logistical problems you need to deal with. You need these people to keep your existing legacy systems up and running, but at the same time they want to be involved in the exciting new projects. My advice is to keep them up to date on what’s being learned on the project, let them know when and how they will be brought on to it, give them access to new tools on off-hours so they can learn on their own, invite them to bag-lunch training sessions, and give them access to books and magazines. Not everyone can be on the first project, but they can still be involved in the learning process. If you do not involve them you risk losing them.

k. Recognize that some colleges and universities are still not familiar with the new techniques that you want to adoptThe point is that traditional sources of training and education may not yet be available to you.

l. Getting people into training quickly. Once you have made the decision to adopt a new technology/technique get training in it as soon as possible. Although it is a very good idea to do some reading on your own, the bottom line is that it is too easy to misunderstand an issue and not realize it. Professional instructors can help you to learn the technique properly and to avoid gaining bad habits.

m. Teach from experience. Good instructors practice what they preach and that their hands-on experience gives them the confidence and the ability to address tough questions.

n. Recognize that people do not quit because they are trained. I'm often shocked to discover IT organizations that are unwilling to train their staff because they don't want to lose people to their competition, the implication being that they prefer to have staff that nobody else wants to hire. The reality is that developers quit because the money is not good enough, the work is not interesting enough, or because they do not like the people they’re working with. For example, agile software developers are paid more than non-agile developers (because they're worth it), and any organization that enters into agile software development had better be prepared to pay their people what they’re worth after training them and to provide them with interesting work. Agile developers are in demand and your competition would love to poach them from you. Treat your people well and they'll treat you well.

Reference:
http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/trainingAndEducation.html
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10795&page=1
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsp

Assigment 1

Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how do you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there?


It is really hard for now to see myself 10 years from now. I don’t know if I am worthy to be called an IT professional. It is very important to set goals and plan to achieve our dreams. Being an IT Professional should know the industry, bimonthly publication of the IEEE Computer Society for the developers and managers of enterprise information systems. Coverage areas include emerging technologies, Web services, Internet security, data management, enterprise architectures and infrastructures, software development, systems integration, and wireless networks.


Who is the IT professional?

For the purpose of this discourse, the key areas are those that relate to the Attitude, Skill and Knowledge of the IT professional. Interestingly these are the same areas of change that training focuses on. Training seeks to close or fill any gaps that an individual has in these areas. However, it must be noted that simply going for training programs does not make one a true and complete professional.
Are you meeting Expectations
To be a competent IT professional, you must know what the expectations of your colleagues, your industry, your clients and the general public are. Meeting these expectations is what qualifies you to call yourself a professional, and what gives you recognition as a professional.
In today's world the role of the IT professional is crucial. IT has become an essential resource for most organizations. The evolving scenario is one of a growing complexity of computer systems and businesses dependence on them. Qualified and competent IT professionals are needed to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of computers.
The Diverse Nature of IT
Professionals work in areas such as Programming, Engineering, Database Administration, Networking, Web development and E-Commerce.
IT professionals create, operate, maintain and program computers. An IT professional must have the skills and knowledge required to carry out specialized tasks in a recognized field of IT. This is the minimum requirement. But IT skills demand far outstrips supply. Current IT skills shortage worldwide is enormous.

Strategies

Knowledge, Training, Experience
Knowledge (intellectual and conceptual) can be acquired through formal education sources such as private training institutions, colleges, institutions of higher learning, as well as E-learning on the Internet. The focus is on the intellectual, i.e. understanding concepts, generating ideas. Skills however, can be acquired and improved from work experience and practical training. The most effective form of skill building is through practical exercises.
Training and certification assists in improving skills, increasing knowledge and gaining recognition. Certification exams identify the necessary skills for an individual to perform their job competently and most important, successfully. For example, A certifies the competency of service professionals in the computer industry. Anyone who wants an internationally recognized credential as a competent computer service professional can take the A examination.
Because Certification is becoming the vogue in the IT industry today, more and more potential and working IT professionals want to get certified. It makes sense. Certification gives an IT professional, a valued credential that is recognized in the IT industry. Not only that, it is a powerful tool for providing job and business opportunities and for meeting challenges on the field. Improved income and enhanced professional credibility are powerful motivators for becoming IT certified.
Popular certification programs are Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE), A , Oracle DBA, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and Sun Certified Programmer (Java 2).
Does having a popular certification make you a competent and recognized IT professional? Is certification part of your career development plan? If it is, this must be based on a solid understanding of what certification entails and how certification fits into your personal work / career goals.
But as noted earlier, certification is only one way of ensuring you have the required skills and knowledge for IT professionalism. Formal education and Work experience, i.e. practical and relevant work experience, are also essential for IT skill and knowledge achievement.
Ethics
However, does having superior IT skills, knowledge and certification make you a true professional? "Administrators and network engineers do not live by Windows 2000 alone. " I have personally come in contact with IT certified individuals who I cannot dare to call professionals. Or what would you call an individual who has no regard for ethics and is ever ready to sacrifice professionalism at the altar of money? As a professional what is your attitude to the public, your work, your colleagues, or your clients?
What is your attitude towards business ethics? In today's fast and slick business environment, how relevant is ethics when you can take the easy way out? Everybody wants to be "fast and smart". To a professional, money is important but it is not everything. Money should not be your master. To maintain this attitude can sometimes be difficult, with the attendant daily pressures. But that is no excuse. If you want to be a true professional that is the price you must pay. IT professionals need to ask themselves: "Am I in IT for quick, short profit or am I in IT for the long distance?" The choice is yours.
Is the CCNA certified individual who defrauds his employers an IT professional? What about those who use their skills and knowledge for anti-social and destructive activities? Are they professionals too? The most notorious are hackers and Virus developers. These are highly skilled individuals but what they use those skills for are not in the interest of society. The same goes for IT fraudsters. If you have all certifications in this world and you use your knowledge and skills to steal and destroy you are nothing but a thief.
The right attitude also extends to how you treat your clients or employers. Are you dependable and trustworthy? There are many examples of so-called professionals who talk down to clients, and who cheat their clients or employers.
Is it truly ethical, for example, for a professional to take longer than necessary to perform a job? To say that he/she is sick in order to take a day off for leisure? To fail to report rule violations by a co-worker?
The public expects the IT professional to be socially responsible and disciplined and should be a role model for the youth.
Lifelong Learning
IT professionals must also address is the issue of currency. Professionals must find ways of staying current on IT and IT related issues. This requires continuous self-development on the part of the IT professional. Simply because you are certified, or you have many years of experience, does not mean you should go to sleep. The IT field is one of the fastest developing fields worldwide. You cannot afford to be outdated or allow your skills to stagnate. You cannot serve your clients or employers well if you only have outdated ideas and information. As an IT professional, you cannot be relevant to your society if you are not current.
Luckily with the digital age, there are many information, and learning opportunities available for serious and career-minded IT professionals. The Internet can be used for education and continuous self-development. Other tools that can be utilized for staying up to date include: books, publications, training, software, etc. But the presence of all these tools is not enough; as a professional you must have the ability and desire to update yourself on a continuous basis. We must never stop learning. This is especially crucial in IT. There must be a readiness and hunger to learn. Yesterday's knowledge may not be able to handle today's opportunities and challenges.
Value, Principles
In conclusion, one can state that IT professionalism doesn't end with getting certified and earning a fat pay. It isn't simply about being a skilled expert. Just as professionalism is about skills and knowledge, it is also about responsibility and duty. It is about using your skills and knowledge in a responsible and humane manner. It is about using your privileged status to bring about positive change in society.
Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware."[1] IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.
Today, the term information has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems.
When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "infotech". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. Presumably, when speaking of Information Technology (IT) as a whole, it is noted that the use of computers and information are associated.
In recent days ABET and the ACM have collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards for degrees in Information Technology as a distinct field of study separate from both Computer Science and Information Systems. SIGITE is the ACM working group for defining these standards.
Very few business strategies today can be successfully executed without information technology (IT) to support them. In fact, market leaders acknowledge that IT is not really so much a separate function within their companies, as it is an integral and strategic part of their operating infrastructure. Yet, with traditional IT systems requiring large capital outlays and technical staffs, and taking too much time to implement and change, many businesses - large and small alike - have been severely limited in their ability to use IT to innovate, compete and grow. All of that is about to change. This session will share latest research and perspectives on new "cloud-enabled" IT models - that leverage software-as-a-service, "mash-up" application models, next-generation on-premise systems, and very large, global solution marketplaces - to "democratize" IT access, and finally allow organizations to out-innovate and out-execute their competitors, not based on the size of their IT budgets or skills, but on the power of their ideas.




As the dust begins to settle on the worst economic recession in living memory, attention turns towards the expected pace of recovery in 2010. Significant pent-up demand for IT spending has built up since the middle of 2008, as many businesses have delayed overdue upgrades to mission-critical infrastructure and postponed new projects or application purchases. Unlike 2001, there has been no fundamental change in the broad approach to evaluating new technology or a significant re-assessment of its importance to business operations and performance. In spite of this, however, the overall pace of IT market growth is unlikely to rebound quickly to the levels of 2006-2007.
In this telebriefing, IDC's IT market and macroeconomic analysts will explore the reasons why, answering questions such as:
• How will the recovery in mature economies differ from emerging markets in 2010, and why?
• What are the reasons that IT spending will grow more slowly in the next few years than in the period before the recession?
• Which market segments and geographies will rebound most quickly next year, and which will lag in their pace of recovery?
• What impact has the recession had on CIO priorities and vendor perceptions since the beginning of 2009?
• What are the macroeconomic wild cards which could yet derail the IT market recovery in 2010?
References:

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?sessionId=&containerId=CCFN2009_03
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/itpro/about
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?sessionId=&containerId=TB20091029
http://www.jidaw.com/article2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

you can visit my blog site http://rs-crezaharu.blogspot.com/2009/12/mis-2assignment-1.html

Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how do you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there?


So first of all let us take some research about how this some IT professionals make their strategies enable them to be success.

How to keep achieving your goals

By Earl Nightingale

I like to define success as the progressive realization of a worthy goal. The purpose of this message is to tell you of a wonderful way to keep realizing -- to keep achieving -- your goals, one after another, in the years ahead.

A goal sometimes seems so far off, and our progress often appears to be so painfully slow, that we have a tendency to lose heart. It sometimes seems we'll never make the grade. And we come close to falling back into old habits that, while they may be comfortable now, lead to nowhere.

Well, there's a way to beat this. It's been used successfully by many of the world's most successful people, and it's been advocated by many of the greatest thinkers. It's to live successfully one day at a time!

The building blocks of a successful life

A lifetime is comprised of days, strung together into weeks, months and years. Let's reduce it to a single day, and then, still furthermore, to each task of that day.

A successful life is nothing more than a lot of successful days put together. It's going to take so many days to reach your goal. If this goal is to be reached in a minimum amount of time, every day must count.

Think of a single day as a building block with which you're building the tower of your life. Just as a stonemason can put only one stone in place at a time, you can live only one day at a time. And it's the way in which these stones are place that will determine the beauty and the strength of your tower. If each stone is successfully placed, the tower will be a success. If, on the other hand, the stones are put down in a hit-or-miss fashion, the whole tower is in danger. Now this may seem to be a rather elementary way of looking at it, but I want to make my point clear -- and it's a good and logical way of looking at a human life.

Putting this idea into practice

All right, then, let's take it one day at a time, from the time we wake up in the morning until we drop-off to sleep at night, keeping our goal in mind as often as possible.

Now, each day consists of a series of tasks -- tasks of all kinds. And the success of a day depends upon the successful completion of most of these tasks. If everything we do during the day is a success -- that is, done in the best fashion of which we are capable -- we can fall asleep that night in the comfortable knowledge that we've done our very best, that our day has been a success, that one more stone has been successfully put into place.

Do each day all that can be done that day. You don't need to overwork -- or to rush blindly into your work, trying to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible amount of time. Don't try to do tomorrow's or next week's work today. It's not so much the number of things you do, but the quality, the efficiency of each separate action that counts. Gradually, you'll find yourself increasing the number of tasks and performing them all much more efficiently.

This is the way to really live!


resources:http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/SuccessDetails.asp?a=132

Want to be more successful? Develop an attitude of service

By Chuck Frey

According to the late self-help expert Earl Nightingale, our success in life is directly proportional to the number of people we serve and the quality of that service. While this life principle may seem to be so simple as to be-self-evident, it's surprising the number of people who don't seem to be unaware that it applies to them. But, like any natural law, it does apply, to everyone.

Let's take a closer look at the relationship between your service and your compensation in life, and then explore some creative ways that you can enrich others -- and yourself -- by increasing your service to them.

Measuring your service

Earl Nightingale was a fan of visual metaphors as a tool for communicating important principles and concepts. To illustrate the relationship between service and compensation, he used the image of an apothecary scale -- the type of measuring device once used in pharmacies in the early part of the 20th century. It consisted of two bowls, hung from a horizontal arm. In one bowl, the pharmacist placed the medicine to be weighed. In the other bowl, he or she placed precisely calibrated metal weights, until the two sides of the scale were in balance -- in other words, until the arm was perfectly horizontal.

What does an old pharmacy scale have to do with our comparison of success and service? Imagine that one of the bowls is marked "compensation" and the other is marked "service." According to Nightingale, we only need to focus on the quality of the service we provide and the number of the people whom we serve -- the service side of the scale. The compensation will follow, in proportion to the service we offer to others. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Focus on service, not compensation

Many people, Nightingale complained, are too focused on increasing their compensation, without providing a commensurate increase in their service. Many people fall prey to an attitude of, "My employer isn't paying me enough, so I won't do any more for them." Others may feel stuck on the same job, year after year, but never make a personal commitment to learn more about their job or profession, and therefore increase their ability to serve their employer, and therefore their value.

Many organizations offer credit for continuing education as part of their compensation packages, yet these benefits are often chronically underutilized by workers. In short, the vast majority of people who complain about the lack of pay, fulfillment and opportunity in their careers are victims not of their jobs, but of the attitudes they hold about their jobs. In other words, these people are focusing their attention on the wrong side of the scale.

In order to increase our compensation, you must develop creative ways to increase your service -- and in so doing, set in motion a positive "boomerang effect" of increasing returns to yourself. For those who understand this principle, life is a grand adventure. These unique souls focus on the service side of the scale, and superior compensation follows in turn, in proportion to their service.

Strategies for improving your service

So how can you increase your service, and therefore your compensation? There are many creative ways to do this. One of the best strategies is to engage in continuous, ongoing learning in your field of study as well as other areas of interest to you. By developing a mindset of continuous learning, you are constantly feeding the raw material pile of your mind, which it can then draw upon when you're brainstorming.

For example, one of my "occupational hobbies" has been business creativity and innovation. I read every book and article I can get my hands on, I subscribe to creativity newsletters and I purchase and use tools designed to help me develop more and better innovative ideas. The results in my career have been outstanding, and my expanded ability to think creatively has had a very positive influence on all areas of my life. It is also resulted in a launch of the InnovationTools Web site you are visiting right now!

People who engage in continuous learning naturally tend to outgrow their jobs over a period of time, often resulting in promotions or better job offers. Most often, people are promoted because they have outgrown their current position, not because they have repeated the same level of experience year after year.

Another way to increase your service is to cultivate what's called an "insight outlook." In other words, learn from your experiences and your ongoing education, but always with an eye toward how you can apply it or adapt it to your current situation. Companies are always in need of fresh ideas, insights and outlooks, and they will pay the people who provide them and who can solve problems creatively.

Align yourself with opportunity

In addition, Earl Nightingale believed (and I agree) that people who concentrate on the service side of the scale find themselves profiting from all sorts of unique opportunities that others dismiss as "luck."

To use another metaphor, opportunities and ideas don't come into your life dressed as shiny gems or diamonds. Rather, they tend to appear like diamonds in the rough, or as opportunities dressed in work clothes. In other words, it's easy to look right at a situation that contains a potential opportunity, and overlook it. On the other hand, if you know what you're looking for, you can uncover these opportunities, often right under your own nose. You must then use your creative thinking and problem solving skills to hone them and shape them into the successes they will one day become.

resources: http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/SuccessDetails.asp?a=115

River people vs. goal people

By Chuck Frey

The late self-help expert Earl Nightingale once explained that there are two types of people: river people and goal people. Both types of people can experience personal fulfillment and success in life, although in different ways.

Goal People

Most of us are undoubtedly familiar with goal people. They are the individuals who write down their objectives and timetables for reaching them, and then focus on attaining them, one by one.

By laying out a roadmap of future achievements in front of them, goal people give their creative minds a clear set of stimuli to work on. Their subconscious minds can then get to work incubating ideas and insights that will help them to reach their goals.

To use a football analogy, goal people need an end zone or a set of (what else?) goal posts, upon which they can focus their creative energies.

River People

River people, on the other hand, don't like to follow such a structured route to success. They are called river people because they are happiest and most fulfilled when they are wading in a rich "river" of interest -- a subject or profession about which they are very passionate. While they may not have a concrete plan with measurable goals, river people are often successful because they are so passionate about their area of interest. This, in turn, helps them to recognize breakthrough opportunities that may not even be visible on the mental radar screens of the more narrowly focused goal people.

River people are explorers, continually seeking out learning opportunities and new experiences. For river people, joy comes from the journey, not from reaching the destination -- exactly the opposite of goal people.

From the standpoint of creativity, river people are more likely to benefit from serendipity, because they tend to be more open to new ideas, points of view and insights than single-minded, focused goal people.
Recognizing both qualities in yourself.

Most people are a combination of these two personality types. I know I am. In my full-time job, I am expected to be goal oriented. I have specific personal and departmental objectives for which I'm responsible.

At the same time, however, I get the most "juice" out of being an explorer, learning new skills, collecting information and writing about innovation and technology -- and nurturing this growing Web site! So at different times, I embody characteristics of both a goal person and a river person. Likewise, most of you embody traits of both personality types at one time or another.

The important point is to recognize and nurture both aspects of your personality. Joyce Wycoff, in her new book, "A Year of Waking Up," tells a story that illustrates this in a memorable way. When she reached the age of 50, she felt curiously unfulfilled. At the same time, a little, persistent voice inside her was urging her on to explore new activities and experiences. She answered that call, taking art classes, keeping a personal journal, writing poetry and pursuing other artistic endeavors. It has been a marvelous, exciting, enlightening journey ever since.

"This journey has made me wonder anew how much there is to ourselves that remains undiscovered," she reflects. "Are we like a fractal (image) that, as we zoom in, reveals ever more patterns, each wonderful and beautiful?"

Indeed, there is so much to explore and so much to know that we ought to make time in our lives for both our goal and river personas. Both bring richness and fullness to our lives, like yin and yang sides of our personality.

If you're predominantly a goal person, why not slow down and smell the roses, as our friend Joyce Wycoff did? Take an art class, just for the fun of it. Try reading different magazines. Talk to different people, or go to different seminars or classes outside of your core competencies, with the goal of opening yourself up to new experiences. I think you'll be amazed at the richness these new inputs bring to your life.

If you're predominantly a river person, you may want to try brainstorming a handful of goals for yourself, to give yourself a bit more focus and direction. For example, you may want to jot down lists of books you'd like to read, knowledge or skills you'd like to acquire or places you'd like to visit.

Finally, be on the lookout for new experiences and learning opportunities on a daily basis. You never know when they're going to appear -- the key is to recognize them when they do!

resources: http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/SuccessDetails.asp?a=97

As I can see 10 from now for me

As I can see 10 years from now, my target in that range of time is to become an it analyst/database administrator/network administrator/a manager in a company.

As I read those strategies that we research there are lots of points of views that are really true enabled to be success. First of that enable you to be success it says that you should know your strength and weaknesses or measuring your service. In measuring yourself the strength and your weakness you will know how to take risk to avoid risk and the resistance to challenge those risks. Another strategy is improving yourself, it means that if we know our strength and weakness of course we know our limitations, so, from that we can also give some thoughts on how to develop ourselves enable to grow our self capability then from that we will be more competitive person. The third is determining your goal and focus on it and also make a strategic plan for your goal or ambition in life. Another is aligning yourself from opportunity, as what i said above knowing on how to take a risk to avoid risk and to challenge those risk, so from that seeking from opportunity is very important tool also to develop the right job for us, if you see you have a lots of opportunity to choose, make sure that you will choose the right job or opportunity for you enable you to be more competitive in that field you choose and also you can handle it well. If you think you have less opportunity make a way or some technique to find it, don't always wait for a chance but seeking the chance. Another is that where you belong like the term the river people and the goal people, where you want to be. The river people are those people i think that are don’t have a straight goal to have, if there where another opportunity that they will see in their way they will attempt to change their plan. Another I think those people are just relying where many people want to go , if the majority of their decision of the people they just follow it like a river flowing where as the goal people are those
people that don’t stop reaching their goal if they do not reach it. They are people who want to reach their goal one by one. And I think with the 2 kinds of people I want to be enable for me to achieve my goal I would prefer to be at the goal people because for me reaching your goal is truly a difficult task to do so you should be focus on it no other things
to mind but only how to reach that goal and after you achieve your goal that's the time that you think another goal you plan to achieve.

Everybody dream of having a good career. Most of us always look forward for a brighter future. We did not stop dreaming to reaching our goals and dream again. To be a professional… well… it’s not just to study hard and work hard! IT is a career like any other career that requires self determination in order to be part of it. It requires sacrifice to get there. If you’ll ask me what I will be in the next 10 years… honestly I don’t know. All I know is I am presently studying at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) Obrero and currently taking Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, In short BSIT daw ko! I know that this course is not easy and honestly a nosebleed course. I am also a working student part-time and sometimes a graveyard shifter as an encoder. For now I enjoyed what I am doing.

Everybody wants a good life- that is why most of us never stop studying until college and others try and finish their doctor’s degree “PhD”. For now my goal is to graduate in college… that’s it, so that I can work and have a career inclined to my course. 10 years from now? Well im totally bald on that time as in no hair, hehehe. Since I finished my high school years I always think to become a social worker or an agriculturist since I found myself in this elective very curious. But when I studied at ACLC and finished my 2yr diploma in networking and basic computer troubleshooting my plan has changed and realized that I like computer related course I want to be part of a career of computer network and communication! Why there is a communication? Because I took my OJT at PLDT Davao Business Zone at Ponciano, and the training was all about telephones and we were oriented by the officers how do telephones work! How amazing it is that computers are part of telecommunication industry. The fine officers of the PLDT trained us the basic protocol in dealing telephone problems and customer calls and period. After the OJT I was inspired in the training. After ACLC, I study again in USEP Obrero and take BSIT. But my friends told me to take ECE or take my BSIT in AMA. But I decided to study in USEP and to extend my knowledge in computers and networking. Maybe 10 years from now I’m a part of a computer network administration on any reputable organization. But for now I have to finish this course. Speaking of strategies all I know is to take the course seriously and embrace it fully. As a student I have to obey what the teachers said, carefull to my subjects and have a trust to myself. I have searched the internet and found an article below that discusses the twelve habits of successful IT professionals, I read it and found it interesting. I think this could help me to be succesfull with my career.


Twelve Habits of Successful IT Professionals
bhawkins@educause.edu.
In all positions, professionals must continue to develop their skills. The higher ed IT profession is no exception. However, many of these skills should be developed progressively. If IT professionals can start learning these skills early in their career, they will have a good chance of turning the skills into habits—and of becoming successful and effective IT professionals. Below I have identified twelve such habits, involving objectives or skills that I feel are key to the success of IT professionals.1
1. They Are Multilingual
Many years ago, I was interviewing for a CIO position at Brown University. Howard Swearer, the president of Brown at that time, asked me: “What is the greatest strength that you would bring to the position?” I contemplated for a moment and answered: “I am multilingual.” He stared at me for a moment, as if I had lost my mind entirely. I proceeded to explain that I was capable of effectively communicating with faculty, with students, with vendors, with trustees, and with other administrators. I was not trying to be flippant: the CIO needs to be able to interact effectively and be respected by a variety of quite disparate audiences.
Effectiveness of interaction, especially on campus, is based on whether or not an individual can understand the concerns and problems being faced by a particular user, as well as that user’s professional dilemmas. This is true on the academic side of the house, where one needs to understand the technology requirements and problems of a particle physicist, a classicist, or an economist. There are different needs for data files, transmission speeds, and many other IT issues that directly affect the scholarship of these varying disciplines. The ability to understand some of these scholarly requirements is essential to being perceived as a partner in the academic enterprise rather than just as some bureaucrat who has responsibility for the IT environment on campus.
The same is true on the administrative side of the house. If the IT professional has some working knowledge of the challenges facing financial aid, the auditor, or the admissions office, the sense of “being in this together” increases substantially. The problem is that gaining this working knowledge takes time—time spent listening to users and reading and following key issues in the Chronicle of Higher Education or other news sources—in order to become and then stay informed on current challenges. Trying to become an expert in all of these areas is completely unrealistic, but showing an interest in coming up to some basic speed on key issues and concerns provides an entrée that can set the stage for the IT professional—and the technology organization that he or she represents—to be perceived as a partner in the larger enterprise.
2. They Avoid the Unconscious Conspiracy
In the absolutely terrific book Why Leaders Can’t Lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues, Warren Bennis explains that leaders are impaired—if not prevented—in leading because they become consumed by the routine. He suggests that individuals with the full capability to lead their organizations often fail because they drown in the tidal waves of minutia, mundane details, and dailiness associated with their jobs, which take all of their time and energy. There is not adequate time left to think about the bigger issues, to do the necessary visioning for their organizations, and to look over the horizon. All of us have certainly felt that our jobs are a bit overwhelming, but if we succumb to these pressures and daily issues, and fail to do this thinking about the longer term and the strategic issues, we will fail as leaders and as IT professionals. So, how do we find the time and prioritize in a fashion that allows us to keep the “unconscious conspiracy” at bay?
Bennis provides a number of strategies for doing this, including designating the time to do this broader thinking. That means blocking time on the calendar and not just grabbing time when it presents itself. For me, this time is early in the morning, when nobody is around to drop in the office, when nobody calls on the phone, and when I am fresh and rested. Others will find their own times and rhythms for such thinking, but one thing is clear: it needs to be blocked time; if it’s not, other tasks will soak up all the available time.
Bennis also suggests interacting with people other than your closest professional colleagues, or what he refers to as the “palace guard”: those who may often think like you do, who may want to please you, and who may have a vested interest in things staying the way they are. This too necessitates time—time to have coffee or lunch or just to visit with members of various campus committees, with staff in administrative offices, and with faculty critics. But these discussions can yield different and potentially new perspectives, as well as increasing your knowledge of other areas.
3. They Read Broadly
Perhaps the most important strategy that Bennis suggests for leaders is to change their reading habits. What leaders read in many ways shapes their views on issues, and although reading also takes time, it is essential to understanding what is routine and what is strategic and to developing a broader view of the environmental factors that are affecting the technology, the campus, and higher education as a whole.
In many ways, the things people read define their worldview and the reality they use to define their professional strategies and directions. A person who aspires to a higher position or to a more responsible position needs to have a broader understanding of higher education, technology, and best practices in a variety of information resource arenas. Some suggestions are to find out what other higher education leaders are reading, review the new books in the Chronicle listing, and see what is new and relevant in periodicals such as Harvard Business Review, Change, Business Officer, and of course EDUCAUSE Review.
Keeping up-to-date with happenings in higher education means reading most if not all of the major sections of the Chronicle, not just the section or the articles in a specific professional area. To achieve the breadth needed for a successful IT career, one should have at least an awareness, if not a working understanding, of all areas in the college or university—including financial aid, athletics, and international concerns. Only by having this awareness can an IT professional more fully appreciate the myriad pressures that the senior administration is trying to balance, as well as those areas in which new technologies or approaches may assist the campus more broadly. A variety of electronic digests also cover key breaking stories and challenges and can be an easy way to keep in touch with the complexities of campus life and scholarship. In addition, reading the letters to the editor or participating (or simply lurking) on listservs or blogs about higher education issues can greatly assist in understanding higher ed issues.
Finally, a word about career planning is in order. Even if you are not currently looking for a new position, it is worthwhile to explore the relevant job postings in the Chronicle or on the EDUCAUSE Web site. Understanding the job requirements (and also the changing nature of these requirements) provides a better idea of what search committees are looking for in given positions. By reading these, employees are not being disloyal to their institution but are trying to get a better understanding of areas in which to grow and develop. Similarly, reading the “Gazette” section of the Chronicle reveals patterns of where people are moving from and to, leading to a better understanding of the boundaries that are capable of being crossed and of how career mobility is working in today’s environment.
4. They Educate Others about Information-Based Organizations
IT professionals need to actively help others understand the ways that the new technologies and new information flows are affecting the very essence of the college or university. This applies especially to the process of educating senior institutional officers. Today’s institutional leaders need to know that they are responsible for more than the financial and human resources. They also are responsible for the information resources under their control. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and it is one that needs to be embraced by all senior officers. The enterprise systems that so many campuses have implemented are beginning to redefine information assets, in that particular information is no longer considered (or at least should not be considered) “the registrar’s information” or the “admission director’s information.” Instead, such information should be looked on as the institution’s information.
Thinking of information as an institutional asset is critical to effectively managing today’s complex institutions of higher education. However, all too often, the senior institutional officers would like to keep the issues of technology and information off of their desks and to relegate these issues to the CIO or to other specialized professionals. To quote from an earlier article: “On most campuses, a significant amount of continuing education needs to be provided so that the entire senior team can assume these new responsibilities. The CIO must be integrally involved in shaping this education, but ultimately the campus strategy and the commitment of the executive team to work collaboratively will be critical. Although higher education has historically been organized in vertical administrative structures, technology is a cross-cutting function, creating horizontal interdependencies that require administrators to manage these campus-wide functions. This interdependent and nonhierarchical characteristic of information technology implies that campus leadership teams need to develop competencies within their own functional areas and need to work jointly in defining the strategic value of IT investments—in short, defining information technology in terms of its instrumentality rather than as a cost center.”2
Institutional leaders must understand that our colleges and universities are information-based organizations, that technology facilitates highly interdependent relationships between organizational units, and that the traditional stovepiped or vertical structures are inadequate to manage the information-based institution. This educational responsibility is an obligation that all IT professionals need to actively assume.
5. They Understand the Limits of Their Advocacy
Effective IT professionals need to make clear their understanding that the college or university has other priorities with which it must deal. Others at the decision-making table need to know that the IT professional has an appreciation for and understanding of some of their problems and issues. In trying to advance particular goals, the IT professional should consider reducing their importance if other campus needs take precedence. In the management concept known as suboptimization, a given unit of an organization advances as premier in an organization that is not fully achieving its overall goals. For example, an automobile manufacturer that has the best research and development unit in the world but that has marginal sales and marketing and is therefore failing economically is experiencing suboptimization. Maximizing a subunit at the expense of the institution is improper and foolhardy. In advancing a given IT effort or other initiative, the IT professional must do so fully in support of the primary goals and objectives of the institution and not just to advance the IT unit for its own sake.
Many in the campus community already perceive IT as a black hole that will potentially absorb all of the resources of the college or university. Careful thought must be given to each initiative and to how each can advance the mission of the institution. Then, and only then, will such efforts gain the institutional support that is essential. To appear to be (or, worse yet, to actually be) selfish in looking for resources from the institution is perhaps the quickest way to lose campus credibility. Certainly, one needs to be thorough and up-front about the resources that are necessary to advance a given project, but all proposals must be cast within the parameters of institutional goals. Discussing and building support for this goal of alignment is a critical part of being an effective IT leader.
6. They Are Cautious When Speaking Publicly
With the increasing dependency of colleges and universities on information technology and on accessing information electronically, there is often public interest in what campuses are doing with this technology and information. There also is a downside to this public interest. When campuses experience security failures or when confidential information has been exposed, IT professionals are called on to speak to reporters and other officials. These are often ticklish situations. Although most IT professionals have not been trained in this arena, it is often thrust upon them, and they need to be cautious that using part of their “fifteen minutes of fame” does not result in infamy.
If possible, the IT professional should tell immediate superiors and possibly other senior officers that he or she is being asked to speak to the press on a given issue, since the senior leaders may prefer to have someone else handle such matters. Sometimes this advance notice is impossible, of course. If caught in the position of making public statements, the IT professional should make sure these other campus officers know immediately. If sensitive information is involved and the reporter does not honor a request to go off the record, the IT professional needs to know which information can go public and should be careful not to volunteer too much information, especially if the issue involves a sensitive or potentially embarrassing circumstance for the institution.
Certainly, not all encounters with the press are highly volatile situations, but reporters are often looking to make a story rather than to educate the community. IT professionals need to proceed cautiously and should remember not to use too much jargon. The reporters probably do not know even the basics about technology, nor will they have done all that much homework on a topic. The IT professional needs to identify key highlights and principles and not make too many clarifications or get too detailed, even if the simplistic version isn’t 100 percent accurate technically. Reporters can be referred to particular policies or other documents that may be available electronically. On the other hand, they are not likely to fully digest large amounts of information and may select the wrong points unless the IT professional has carefully highlighted the most important issues.
It is also wise not to avoid reporters, since this will likely only motivate them to pursue the topic more vigorously. This is probably most true of student reporters on campus. They are part of the campus constituency, and it is wise to treat them with respect and courtesy. Remember that old adage by Mark Twain: “You should never pick a fight with a person who buys ink by the barrel.” Talking with the media is a skill that needs to be developed, ideally in an a priori manner, before a crisis arises. During nonpressured times, the institutional public relations professionals can explain the desired behavior for these situations. Also, in an informative EQ article, Kandice Salomone and Paul Gandel provide a host of useful bits of advice in this arena.3
7. They Cultivate Their Advisory Committees
Advisory committees can be extraordinarily helpful to and an enormous ally of IT professionals, but they can also be a nightmare if not managed effectively. As with the other skills noted above, there is no defined curriculum for learning to work with advisory committees. First of all, though called advisory committees, in reality these groups are more about governance than advice. Committee members are the designated voice of key constituencies, and they need to be heeded. When posing key issues and questions to such groups, the IT professional needs to be prepared to do something with the information they provide or, at least, to explain why their advice has not been followed. Otherwise, they will eventually cease to participate meaningfully and will drop out; or, worse yet, they may become active adversaries. The IT professional should consider consulting with the chair and perhaps also a number of key members offline, not just when an official meeting is scheduled. This may seem Machiavellian, but it is important to take advantage of the power of these governance structures. This means cultivating the relationships and making sure the committee members are well-informed emissaries for the committee’s function.
Generally, the advisory committee is not a working group. Its purpose is to help define direction and policy—not to do the work of the IT service unit or to act as the de facto manager of this unit. The committee members need to know what they are to do and need to have a clear mandate or charge, which probably cannot be repeated too many times. They need to know that governance is not management and that their responsibilities are directional, not operational. For the IT professional, this means setting some clear boundaries, without in any way intimating that the committee members need to mind their own business. Ideally such committees will reflect the breadth of the campus. All too often such groups are populated by zealots who may have in-depth knowledge but who are also likely to have particular axes to grind. Representation of the general campus and of the needs of various academic or administrative sectors is a much preferred approach. For more on this topic, William H. Pritchard has written an excellent EQ article that summarizes some very good advice regarding campus advisory committees.4
8. They Are Enablers
The goals of any organizational leader in a service role, whether in IT or not, should be to enable others to accomplish their goals. All IT professionals are ultimately in the “service” business—assisting students, faculty, and staff to achieve their goals, since IT is ultimately a means to an end and not an end in and of itself. The job of the IT professional is to help others on campus figure out how the information or the technology can allow them to better serve the missions of their units and, ultimately, the campus. This can be accomplished more effectively if the IT professional is perceived as assisting and acting in partnership with the end user. Many of the suggestions in this article are intended to assist the IT professional in better understanding and better appreciating the problems faced by these end users. On the other hand, the IT professional needs to be careful not to create the impression that he or she understands the problem as well as or better than the end users, who have spent their careers in a particular area of expertise. The IT professional needs to be a partner and to avoid stepping on the toes of those who are ultimately responsible for a given area.
9. They Don’t Whine
At one time or another, everyone has felt beaten down and frustrated by the demands, changing directions, and perceived injustices of the organizational existence. This is natural, not at all uncommon, and simply part of living and participating in the social organizational structure of the college or university. We may not agree with some new directions being taken. We may think a boss is stupid. We may feel that some things are not fair and should not have occurred. The challenge that all of us face is how we go about combatting or reacting to these situations.
An all-too-common method for dealing with such things is to whine. Whining diminishes the whiner and seldom accomplishes anything constructive. Whiners—who talk incessantly about how bad things are, why things aren’t fair, how terrible everything is, and how much better things are someplace else—do themselves and the whole organization a disservice. If things are bad and need changing, it is up to the IT professional to identify alternative courses of action, new directions, or different ways of doing more with less. If other options have been tried and these attempts rejected, and if the IT professional feels there is a greener pasture elsewhere, then he or she should go find it. Unfortunately, many whiners don’t want to create new options. Others cannot move on. But if they stay and continue to whine, they need to realize that they are hurting the credibility of their unit, and potentially the whole organization, since other people in the organization will come to discount the whiners (and their units) even if they had a legitimate point. Such behavior gives the impression—or, perhaps, reinforces the reality—that this person and his or her unit is not a team player and is not trying to help the organization do its very best in difficult circumstances.
10. They Are Generalists
One of the challenges that IT professionals must face is that they enter their careers as specialists, with much of their professional identity and self-concept based on the fact that they are highly skilled and knowledgeable about a given, albeit limited, area of expertise. As they mature in the IT profession, they must give up some of the security that this specialized identity has provided and become more rounded, more of a generalist, in order to tackle problems that cut across specialized and professional boundaries and silos. As the IT professional moves up the organizational ladder, he or she must develop the mindset, the worldview, and the skills of a generalist in order to be successful. This isn’t always comfortable, but it is essential. Being—and being perceived as—a member of the broader academic community, not just a niche player, gives a person standing and credibility in the decision-making process within any college or university.
In becoming generalists, IT professionals essentially blur the edges, making them less identifiable as a given “type” sitting at the table. If someone is perceived as a “techie” or a librarian and reinforces those stereotypes, that person is likely to be anticipated and potentially dismissed, since the other decision-makers may think that he or she is bringing a single mindset and perspective to the table. IT professionals need to break out of these stereotypes, drawing on some of the suggestions previously identified in this article, in order to enhance both their personal credibility and the credibility of their units.
11. They Redefine Themselves
When IT professionals begin their careers, they likely define themselves as a systems programmer, or a security specialist, or an environmental biologist, or a reference librarian. Over time, this may evolve into a somewhat more generic term, such as “I’m an IT professional” or “I’m a librarian.” But if we define ourselves in the silo of our technical or professional training, we are pushing an agenda in advancing that point of view or that particular solution or set of resources. Instead, we should all strive to be “people in support of the academic enterprise.” This self-definition suggests that IT professionals consider themselves to be partners in the overall mission of the college or university. It means that they work hard not as an advocate of a particular solution, but as a partner supporting those with whom they work in achieving learning and discovery goals. This will be reflected in the extent to which others see them as a partner, a collaborator, and a co-conspirator. And finally, if IT professionals have accomplished all of this without being (or appearing to be) selfish and greedy, working as members of the broader institutional team, then they will be perceived as responsible members of the academic enterprise—the ultimate objective!
12. They Maintain Balance
I am often asked my thoughts on whether one can be a successful professional in the complex and demanding field of IT and also still have a personal life. I firmly believe this is possible, but as with so many of the other habits or skills discussed above, doing so requires planning and prioritization. It is unrealistic to expect that one can be a successful IT professional, pursue all of one’s avocational activities and sports, have a full family life, and have time to watch all of the current television shows. It just doesn’t work that way. The CIO position can easily consume fifty-five to eighty hours per week, especially if one tries to keep up with professional reading, block out time for thinking and planning, etc. As in everything else in life, there are tradeoffs.
I can say from personal experience, however, that you can pursue a successful IT career and have a solid family life as well. I never missed my kids’ soccer games or felt they were getting short shrift, and I have been happily married to the same lady for closing in on four decades. On the other hand, I have had little time myself for sports or leisure. I am not advocating this choice; I’m simply saying what worked for me. Each person has to make tough decisions, because it isn’t possible to have it all. I also have found out that it is easy to start to slip and give work too much importance and time, rather than keeping this equation nicely balanced. Constant monitoring and adjustment is necessary.
Conclusion
The twelve habits presented in this article involve objectives and skills that seem apt for all IT professionals. Some of the skills are simple, but some take time and maturity to fully comprehend. Many of us who are current IT leaders wish we had picked up all of these habits earlier in our careers. We all need to work hard at growing constantly, no matter what age we are or what career stage we are in. Leadership occurs at numerous levels in a college or university, and everyone needs to develop personal-growth and professional-development plans to continue to improve as managers and as individuals. In addition, those of us who have been blessed with the job of supervising others in the IT field have the significant responsibility of helping those who work for and around us to acquire these skills, to turn these skills into habits—and thus to become successful IT professionals.

"The difference between a successful person and others is
not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge,
but rather a lack of will."
- Anonymous

Granted that I will be a worthy IT professional, ten years from now I will run my own IT Firm that showcase the skills of many IT professionals and we’ll gonna be partners in making large projects for the country and across the nation. Hoooh!!!!!! Wow, very rewarding! “Worthy IT professional”. The term can really paid off the years I’m going to spend in this college.

I was caught in a thought if why is it that there is this word “worthy”. I came to ask myself in silence, why such a “worthy” IT professional? Does it mean that some IT professionals are not worthy to be called IT professionals? Well, I just tried to examine the unnecessary question that pop up my mind.

As we try to see the reality, yes, there are many IT professionals that are not “worthy”. Simply because they never met the standard of this word, of being worthy to be called IT professionals. But why is it that there is a need to categorize those people? What makes a difference? The word “worthy” will sometimes taken for granted. Sometimes we believed that we are worthy because we did it! We believed that we are worthy because people around us believed we are. We believed that we are worthy because we surpass others, we are greater that others. But we never realized that being “worthy” to something means a lot of everything. The very life of a worthy, successful man is sober and dramatic.

When I was a child and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always had an answer. That answer changed significantly as time went on, that’s the reality I guess, but one thing never did — I always had a plan. May it change or will it stay, planning for our future is very important. One way in which we plan for the future is by setting goals. When you try to look its definition in the dictionary or when browsing through the internet, you will find a lot of definitions of what is a goal. But I like this one from Merriam-Webster Online that defines a goal as “the end toward which effort is directed”, very brief but concise.

What are my strategies to see myself what I wanted ten years from now?

Planning

Many of us people want to experience a much more enriched life than the one that is currently unfulfilling. We are not contented of what we have. We always want to go higher. That is why we don't have to continue with what we have if we really desire to change or alter it. Don't be stuck in doing the same old things which get you the same old things over and over again. It’s redundant and time-consuming.

One way in which we plan for the future is by setting goals. We actually set goals regularly when we plan what we want to accomplish that day, that week, or even that month. Those are usually fairly simple goals, like we clean the house, finish an assignment, do laundry, cooking and etc. We decide what we want to do and then figure out what we need to do to achieve our goal. Then we get into more complicated goals -- our plans for the future.

The career action plan describes steps that we will take to reach our goals. In this case the goal is usually a particular career objective. It can be a particular occupation, a rung on the career ladder, or an earnings level. It's fairly simple to say that in five years we want to be a such and such. Or in two years we want to earn amount of money. It's achieving those goals that aren’t so easy. Of course the actions we take to try to accomplish our goals will play a huge role in whether we reach them. But, the way we formulate our goals is extremely important too. We need to have a criteria inline to achieve our goals.

One question that is often asked, "Can setting a goal make you a success, can it make you a winner, an achiever?" Well, our experience shows that it will help focus you on areas in both your personal and professional life that are important and meaningful, rather than being guided by what other people want you to be, do, or accomplish. Goal setting has made a tremendous difference in my life. They have allowed me to achieve success, and to accomplish what I had previously only dreamed of, or wished for. And, for me, I consider being successful when I reach the objective I set. My goals kept me on track and, in some cases, they gave me hope. They allowed me to see not where I was today, but where I could be in the future. And, yes I faced challenges and obstacles, but I persevered, found ways around these challenges. I was determined. And when you are determined and when you stay focused it is amazing what you achieve.In can order to attain some of my goals meant learning and developing new skills. More importantly, this process has helped me to focus not on what someone else thought I should do or be, but instead, on what I wanted to accomplish with my life.

A goal can be set and achieved in all areas of your life. Goals are not just to be dedicated to work related thoughts or endeavor’s; goals are key to accomplish a new skill, enjoy the finer aspects of a new hobby, the attainment of education in whatever field is of interest, or in renovating a house. The old adage holds true everyday in that if you don't know where you are going any destination will do. By setting a clear and precise goal or objective, you know where you are headed, and in knowing that, you will be more able to avoid going off in the wrong direction, or taking inappropriate action, or expending wasted energy. No matter what success you are looking for, you will always have issues to overcome, but if you have a strong desire you will find a way. Setting a goal in your life can help you achieve all that you dream of. Take your dreams and turn them into a goal, push through the obstacles, persist, and achieve what you are dreaming of.
But, just setting a goal without knowing how to overcome procrastination won't work. Neither will goals without knowing and learning how to achieve goals. Moving on with life means that you have chosen to close a door behind you in order to open a new door in front of you. Byron Pulsifer

Recipe for Success

A phrase for a recipe for success goes like this:



Recipe for Success:

- Add what you want ( your goal)
- Measure correctly (be specific with your goal, make sure it is measurable)
- Mix in an action plan ( how you are going to get it)
- Combine time frames (when will each action plan be complete)

Put the ingredients in step by step. Keep stirring until you can see results - translated - do a little bit every day.

Don't be discouraged if it doesn't cook through first time around - translated - we sometimes hit obstacles and roadblocks, find a way around them.

Once completed take time to celebrate each action step.

Enjoy, your goal is achieved. Set another.

Now to get into the mixture in the success elements of goal setting.

Important distinction between a goal and an action plan.


To quote Bette Davis, "Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless."

Goals will help you to use your time both efficiently and effectively. People without goals usually accomplish much less than they are capable of achieving. Its not saying that they have no accomplishments. However, if they had set goals, they could have accomplished a lot more. They could have attained what they currently have with fewer detours, false starts, misdirected motion, wasted resources, and a lot faster.

Goals Need Action

Without a goal setting strategy, or series of actions, that you are going to use to work towards the goal, whether or not you achieve the goal you have set is just a matter of blind chance. And blind chance is no way to run a successful business! To be successful, you need to make things happen, not just let things happen.

Goal + Action = Success

Other people suggest you should categorize goals for all areas of your life: for example, career, family, financial, leisure, educational. You then set goals for each category. I would caution you in using this method initially because it may result in setting so many goals that you find yourself becoming overwhelmed. Other people suggest picturing how you want your life to look in 10 years, and then set your goals accordingly. This method can work as long as you break the long term goals into a series of smaller ones.

While all of these suggestions have merit, you must be careful not to set goals that are too numerous, or too complex, so that you become overwhelmed, and end up accomplishing none of them. Like anything else you learn to do, start by keeping it straight forward and simple. As you learn by achieving actual results, you can expand the number of goals, the complexity, the time frames, and your horizons.

The best way I have found to determine my goals is to ask myself a couple of very simple questions. The first and most obvious question is, “what do I want?".

Sources/Reference:

http://www.goal4success.com/goal-now/index.html
http://www.goal4success.com/
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/settinggoals/a/goal_setting.htm
http://www.goal4success.com/success-elements/index.html

Ten years from now, I see myself as an MIS Programmer in a large organization. To achieve this goal, one of my strategies is to acquire the top ten traits of a good programmer. These traits are:

1. Think! - This is the most important trait of a good programmer. I must never jumps into anything. Given a problem, I must first think over it. The more I think, the more ideas, questions and alternate solutions come to his mind.

2. Learn! - Learn Baby, learn! A good programmer has a burning desire to learn new things every day. I observed learning itself is so formalized and force fed that students are bored with it.

3. Help others! - This to me is the golden rule of programming. "Help other as you would want others to help you". The advantage of helping others was: immense experience in solving programming problems, various ways people see a particular problem. Also you come across interesting/weird/strange ideas!, empathy towards programmers. The difficulty they face in their day to day job. But sometimes, "Help others" is not something officially appreciated.

4. Lead by example! - Another important trait if you are a senior programmer or architect. If you are a technical lead or a lead programmer, lead by example. Write code in front of your team members. You will get more trust, respect and support from your team!

5. Know a bit about everything! - For example, If you are a core Java programmer, you should also know about SQL programming. It also helps if you know a bit of regular expressions or a scripting language.

6. Know basics of computer science! - There are many programmers out there who doesn’t have the basic knowledge of computers or their inner workings. This is very essential. Many of the programming difficulties that people face is due to the lack of knowledge of how computers work! If needed take a computer science course.

7. Perfect it as much as you can! - Nobody is perfect. You can’t write perfect code in the first iteration. Refactoring is the mantra. Analyse your code, find code fragments that can be reused and refactored.

8. Use tools! - Many programming tasks can simplied if you use appropriate tools. For example, in all my projects I use Adobe Dreamweaver to develop web applications.

9. Explore code! - If you want to improve your coding skills quickly, one thing I recommend is exploring code written by others. If I would have said this 10 years back, you would ask me- "Where can I find good code?" But now the scene is completely different. Open source movement has revolutionized everything. There is so much good open source code out there that I feel overwhelmed by it!

10. Be Humble! - Humility is the last of the top 10 traits a good programmer should have. But it is not the least! As you get more and more experience, it is very natural to feel arrogant. The moment you become arrogant, you loose the trust and respect of your fellow programmers. Being arrogant also shows how ignorant you are! Remember, no one is perfect. You can also make mistakes. If someone points it out, thank him and accept his valid comments.



Here’s my other adopted strategies:

Never stop learning

Computerworld's "40 under 40" are a varied group, but one trait you'd be hard-pressed to find among them is a willingness to rest on their laurels. IT professionals who have to be asked to learn new skills confine themselves to narrowly defined careers.
While it's essential to master a technical specialty, those who become leaders tend to broaden, not just deepen, their areas of expertise. Attending a conference on a topic that's outside your comfort zone is a great way to stimulate your thinking. In addition to traditional classes and seminars, seek out other ways to learn, like finding a mentor or taking on projects that stretch your abilities.

Keep track of blogs and Web sites in areas that interest you, participate in online forums, and attend trade shows and networking events, always with a critical eye on your future. What new technologies are most likely to shape the industry? By keeping up with changes in technology, you gain the ability to steer your career toward growing specialties (such as wireless security, to use a current example) and away from less marketable ones.

Soft skills set you apart

Keeping your technical skills and knowledge up to date is important, but if you want to help bring about change rather than just respond to it, you'll also need to take a look at how you work with others. In a survey by Robert Half Technology, CIOs cited interpersonal skills, the ability to work under pressure and communication skills as the top traits they seek in IT professionals, aside from technological proficiency. Soft skills may be trickier to assess and improve than hard skills, but they're critical to the impact you have on your colleagues, company and industry. It's a good idea to periodically assess your soft skills to determine where improvements should be made. Ask trusted colleagues for feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. When you identify a shortcoming, make a plan to address it. For example, if you think you could stand to improve your presentation skills, you might consider enrolling in an organization like Toastmasters or volunteering to give your team's status update at the next staff meeting.

Business savvy is another key attribute that requires deliberate effort. Whenever you're uncertain about the bottom-line "why" of an IT project, refresh your knowledge of the company's priorities and goals by talking to your manager. A big-picture perspective is a prerequisite to making meaningful contributions to your firm. In addition, understanding the big picture enables you to anticipate the needs of your company and your industry before those needs become apparent to everyone -- a major distinguishing characteristic of IT innovators.

Establish your leadership potential

For the most successful IT professionals, job descriptions are just starting points. When you take the initiative to expand your role, people start to think of you as a leader. Serving as a leader also means demonstrating integrity and selflessness. For example, the willingness to "own" a mistake or a failed project does more to establish your credibility than making sure you get your share of the credit when a project succeeds.

Your role as a leader should extend beyond the walls of your company. Joining a professional association, going to conferences and offering to speak or present at industry events are good ways to build your reputation and become an active part of the exchange of ideas. Many successful IT careers get stuck on plateaus not because of any shortage of ingenuity or persistence, but because they take place largely in a vacuum rather than in constant, creative interaction with others.