Articles for category: Initiative

December 6, 2016

Greg Thomas

Why do I do this?

I get these questions every now and again. Why? Where’s the value? Where do the posts come from? What’s it for? So here goes… Why?  I like to try new things, I like to challenge myself in new endeavors and I like to see where things can go if you put enough effort into them. Where’s the value?  I hope it’s in what I write and hope it’s how I get better each and every day. Where do the posts come from?  Oh everywhere, life around me.  I’ve written posts about how a cashier treated someone who had a problem, how a

December 1, 2016

Greg Thomas

When Everyone is afraid of Failing, No one Succeeds

Have you ever watched  a sporting event where one team is really playing it safe.  Perhaps they have the lead, maybe they need a tie, maybe they can’t lose by too much.  Whatever the reason, they are not playing to succeed, they are playing to not fail.  All this talent that has brought them to this game and here they are afraid that someone could make a mistake and they’d fail. Trying a new move or breakout is too much risk, the cost of failure to high. Sure sometimes you need to play it safe – but when you start

November 18, 2016

Greg Thomas

Measuring My Mark 2016

This is a copy from a post from last year for context. It’s that time of year again… Have I grown as person? Have I challenged myself? Am I proud with how I have conducted myself with others? Was everything I accomplished worth the sacrifice to other areas?  Did I choose wisely? Am I on the right path to what I want to accomplish? From a writing perspective… I’ve written 11 articles this year, 2 of which I was asked to do (so that’s cool) I’ve published over 4 slideshares I wrote 288 blog posts last year on Rambli I wrote

November 17, 2016

Greg Thomas

Asking for the Delay

It is always a tough moment when you need to ask your customer for an extension on a presentation/demo. You’re not ready – you know it – and now it’s time to be forthright with your customer and tell them to. Make no mistake – It’s the right call. So you tell them, you ask for an extension, get the delay and it’s time to take stock of what you need to do. Because when you ask for a delay in delivery from your customer, for them to push out their schedule for you, for them to wait for what is

November 7, 2016

Greg Thomas

Deliver the AHA

Years ago, I was in a training session with one of our trainers and an actual customer. I was the new developer trying to learn about the product and what the business mindset behind it was. I remember the trainer explaining a crucial concept in the software, waiting for silence on the other end of the call and then putting the call on mute. “Wait for it. This is when it clicks and they realize the value of what we’ve built for them.” And sure enough it did – you could feel their jaws dropping on the other end of