It’s no secret that the United States is experiencing one of the most politically divided periods in modern history. The disagreements between Republicans and Democrats often dominate our headlines, our social media feeds, and sometimes even our family gatherings. Too often, we define one another by our differences rather than our shared purpose. Yet, beneath …
Reframing Visibility, Trust, and Influence in a Distributed World The shift to remote-first operating models has not diluted leadership presence, it has fundamentally redefined it. In a distributed enterprise, presence is no longer anchored in physical proximity or executive visibility. It’s constructed through consistency, intentionality, and digital fluency. Leaders who struggle in this environment often …
The conversation around generative AI in enterprise IT has moved well beyond experimentation. What began as a productivity tool for drafting documents and summarizing content is now evolving into something far more consequential. Generative AI is increasingly embedded within IT operations itself. It’s shifting how teams document, analyze, and ultimately make decisions. For IT leaders, …
Returning to Keystone College for the All-College Honors Convocation this year was meaningful and deeply personal. I came back to campus to accept the Edward G. Boehm, Jr. Award for Service Learning on behalf of O.P.E.N., an organization that has always represented something larger than a student group. O.P.E.N. (Opposing Prejudice, Ending Negativity) has represented …
The Credential Illusion Certifications have long been treated as a proxy for competence in the IT industry. On paper, they offer structure, standardization, and a measurable way to validate knowledge. In the right context, they have real value. They can establish baseline understanding, support early-career professionals, and signal commitment to a discipline. At the same …
The Reality Beneath High Performance High-performing IT teams are often positioned as the engine behind enterprise stability and innovation. They maintain uptime, respond to incidents in real time, and deliver against an endlessly expanding set of technical and operational demands. At a glance, these teams represent what every organization strives for. However, beneath that performance …
Within the many disciplines of IT leadership, the concept of vengeance is seldom addressed explicitly. It often presents itself under more acceptable terminology like accountability, decisiveness, or corrective action. However, in practice, vengeance emerges in response to high-pressure events like system outages, failed deployments, security incidents, or contractual scrutiny. In these moments, the natural inclination …
You’ve heard the phrase. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It gets repeated so often it’s almost lost its punch. But in technology organizations, there’s a more specific version of that dynamic worth paying attention to. It’s not culture in some big abstract sense. It’s the quiet, everyday norms that engineers follow when no one’s watching. …
Twenty-two years ago, I helped start something at Keystone College that I honestly assumed would fade after I graduated. OPEN began with a simple goal. A faculty advisor, another student, and I were just trying to create a sense of community in a world that often told us who we were was wrong. We wanted …
Understanding Technical Debt Beyond Code Technical debt is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s worth being precise about what it actually means. It’s not just messy code or the shortcuts your team took during a crunch. It’s the accumulated weight of every architectural compromise, every dependency that didn’t get …