Who's got talent?

Today is a day of mixed emotions for me. As my company StudioNorth grows we strive harder and harder to "hire tough". To reach the long-term goals set by our senior leadership team we can't afford to do any less than get the best possible talent. But how can we be sure we are getting the best and brightest? Yes, our company is growing, but is that because of something else? Maybe the industry is causing it? Maybe Web 2.0? Maybe adding new disciplines like strategy to our offerings?

Well today is confirmation to me that we are on the right track with the talent we are attracting. You see today Adobe told me so. They have reached into our operation and stolen one of our Senior Interface Architects. How do we know when we have the right people? When other people want them. And not just "any other people" will do. I mean when folks like Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Google want them.

I'm mixed about the whole thing for several reasons. I come from a big company background. I know that StudioNorth is a better place to be. We have a top notch health insurance plan, a constantly growing and changing environment, a family like and giving culture, and anyone can walk in and talk to management whenever they want, including the CEO. Working at StudioNorth now is more like working for Macromedia right before they bought FutureSplash Animator. Yeah, it's the place to be.

Another reason I'm mixed is because now we have a new challenge. We are attracting and attaining great people, but now we have to figure out how to keep them. At this point in time we don't have the big money net to swing through the market so the younger less experienced folks will have a hard time not seeing the seemingly greener grass. We are maturing though, dare I even say becoming sophisticated? Holding on to them will come with time.

Finally an open note to Adobe, Microsoft and Google. I've been a staunch proponent of Flex, AIR, .NET 3.5, LINQ, SQL Server 2005, Google Apps, Google Analytics and more. StudioNorth has been key in introducing them into the enterprise of Fortune 500 and even Fortune 100 companies. Yes, each and every technology product I just mentioned and more. SO LEAVE MY PEOPLE ALONE, or else I'll take my ball and go home. ;)

Technology Leadership Redshift

Time for a physics flash back. Who remembers what "redshift" is? Hint: it has something to do with speed and light. Remember? Yeah, me neither. Wikipedia to the rescue!

If a source of the light is moving away from an observer, then redshift (z > 0) occurs

and as that observer approaches the speed of light the observer experiences what's called Time Dilation. Time appears to be moving faster for the observer than it is for others around that observer, relative to that observer.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift

From my experience, as the observer, the same thing has, is and will continue to happen in the technology fields. My interest is specifically in how it occurs using technology for interpersonal and business communication.

I hear people say that we are moving into another "more controlled" dot com boom. The truth of the matter is we are just constantly experiencing technology redshift. All the time, in almost all technology related fields. It's when we forget that time is constant and redshift is only a relative observation that things begin to come unraveled.

As we become involved on the edge of new technologies sometimes it appears we are moving faster than everyone else. Adopting things sooner... being innovative. Sometimes we are, sometimes we are not. I use that manifestation of the redshift phenomenon to check and re-check myself and my company to be confident we are positioned correctly. When things loose their redshift I need to re-evaluate. I've found one thing to be true, if I am not experiencing redshift then it's a guaranteed that we are not innovating. Also, by the same context, if things ever begin to appear to have a blueshift I need to re-evaluate and re-engineer immediately.

I love change so living with redshift is very comfortable to me and I can recognize it well. It's not for the faint of heart, but it keeps me on my toes!