Post-Mortem

Despite the fact that I didn't get to present, the fact that I addressed audience questions smartly and in a well-informed way got me great exposure.

Have received quite a few emails from the field and BGs with kudos.

D did an excellent job in helping me with the approach. He's really good at this. I learned something from him. He doesn't present all the loose-ended evidence to the mgr and have them figure it out for him. Instead, he does his thorough thinking and then presents a proposal to the mgr. This way, he effectively manages the manager's time and focus on more strategic things.

Don't let your manager do all the thinking for you. Do all the thinking yourself and then present your proposal to get your manager's strategic views. D is really good.

Had a long week. Right now, I'm soooo tired.

Alexandria's on 2nd

Southern food. Not bad.

Evening was ok, a bit tired.

Guy is nice. Confirmed that he is indeed gay.

The 2 Program Mgrs together with their big boss do not seem to have good people skills. They are a bit oblivious and appear to be a bit inconsiderate and rude at times. But accordingly to Guy, these folks are strong and smart with technology and product dev. So at least that's good.
The 2 guys both wear trendy hairstyles and clothese. Behavior-wise, a bit young to me. Realize the maturity of the young folks on my team and I have to say I like my team persona better. I guess I'm probably not used to dealing with program mgmt folks.

The release mgr Charlie and his wife seem ok. Release mgr's got strong sterotypical views on Canadians, which I don't appreciate. You don't have the right to say others have inferiority syndrome, just b/c you think so. That comment from him left a bad taste in me. His wife seems friendly, but more reactive than reaching out to others. They are ok.

Elyn took a seat, not next to me, but a couple of seats away from me. Interesting that she did that. You observe how people behave around you and you'll learn where you stand on their perceptual maps.

The PMs all walk around a lot duing the dinner session. They apparently were trying to talk to folks they know. That is a good practice. I need to learn that.

Overall fine dinner. Busy but good day.

I helped bring Yvette up to speed big time. She acknoleadged that. It will pay off, although that's not why I was doing that. I wanted to build a good relationship with her and also the BG to help drive some of the key initiaitives.

I guess I can call it a day now.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Rampart Ridge. 1 hr drive away from Mercer Island. 4.6 Miles hiking trail. Took us 7 hrs.

Breathtaking waterfalls, serene lakes and cute creeks at every unexpected turn, colorful fall leaves, carefree clouds wandering at the middle of the cascades. What a great way to spend your weekend.

The sense of achievement is huge for me.

On the way back, G pointed to another equally high mountaina nd said she would never have thought she'd be able to climbe that mountain, but she did. Indeed, you can run faster than you think. You can climbe higher than you think.

Just do it.

Name it, Want it and GET it.