Well over six years..
It's one of those days when I decided to browse through the good ole DirTeam blogs. It happens sometimes, as an urge I cannot resist. One of the articles I noticed was that of Sander Berkouwer, musing happily upon his five years as a blogger. Curious, I decided to check my own start date and was even more surprised that I have officially been a blogger here at DirTeam for over six years. Considering the amount of articles I have written, however, it could as well have been three months.
Now, as I was driving to work this morning, my mind started wandering on DirTeam and my place as a blogger on it. I have to admit that I am somewhat of 'the odd one out', as my working life for the past years has been focused on projectmanagement and, as of late, management itself. After a few years as projectlead for OGD and a few more as projectlead at my present employer (a mental healthcare institution of some size), I have taken up the challenge of IT manager at the same company. With a department of 15 (myself included), responsible for providing the IT services to well over 2100 employees, that is a wonderful opportunity indeed.
I recall once muttering to Sander that I had no idea what to write about. All that I had to share seemed common knowledge and obvious as a bunch of bananas in the fresh white snow. 'That may be so', I remember him saying, 'but people will still want to read it'. A bold statement perhaps, but it seems to have worked out for him. It is with that in mind that I decided this morning to slowly and carefully take up blogging again. The subjects at hand, however, may be very different from what one normally encounters at DirTeam. I shall be the first to admit that in-depth knowledge articles on Active Directory and related matters are beyond me these days, and whatever I would be able to produce would immediately pale in comparison to those of the excellent specialist bloggers that I am surrounded with on this site. Therefore, I shall be the odd one out even more and regale you with musings, stories and wondrous adventures about projectmanagement and more of that stuff that, to be honest, has very little place here. Nevertheless, I do hope that my fellow bloggers will forgive me my follies.
The first article I shall be publishing will deal with a combination of psychology and everyday work. 'Unfitting!', you might scream and wave the indignant banner of objection in my face. Perhaps so. However, allow me to point out that technical knowledge alone is not enough for the modern professional. A sense of organizational skills, understanding of the self and a certain sensitivity to business needs are crucial for any serious consultant, in my not so humble opinion. Feel free to prove me wrong and not read the articles. The choice is entirely up to you.
Though I have, in past moments, announced my return to this site more often, only to falter swiftly after the first article, I strongly feel that this is to be a permanent return as, for once, I see clearly as to what my contribution will be. Whether or not it can have a place in this excellent collection of specialistic knowledge, shall remain to be seen.
For now, I bid you adieu, and hope to welcome at least some of you back later when you read the first article.