My new role at Elcom Technology

Some of you might be aware that Elcom's Technology Director and my friend Craig Bailey is leaving Elcom Technology - in fact his last day was last Friday. As our Technical Director he was inspiring, motivating and a great encourager - he let us know we had his confidence and trust, and backed that attitude up with his words and actions when under stress.

I will be stepping into Craig's shoes, and taking on the role of Technical Director for Elcom and helping guide our development, sysadmin and helpdesk teams. Whilst we have some similarities, I have more of a focus on Agile development and software craftsmanship (as Craig has mentioned). I will probably be taking a more hands-on approach to the role - simply because I have contributed to the dev work I will now be managing.

Craig and I have been discussing this role over the last month or so, and he got me interested in the hedgehog concept. That last link explains it pretty well, but basically it is all about helping you focus on what you could be best at in the world, how you can add (money) value and what you are most passionate about. The point where you will be most effective, rewarded and fulfilled, lies in the region where those three overlap.

After thinking about these, and discussing them with people that know me, my (current) take on these three is below:

I had followed a similar process many times in the past, but without the emphasis on coming up with a "simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection" of these three circles. Or as my Dad put it to me, something actionable and concrete.

Being Technical Director at Elcom offers me a chance to move closer to that intersection point, and I hope that in my first few months I can work on those things that might currently distract me from that focus in order to generate some very tangible results for myself and Elcom's owners.

I am a firm believer in servant leadership and am honoured that I have some of the best technical people it's been my pleasure to work with in our development, sysadmin and helpdesk teams. With great people in the team around you, it certainly makes my job easier, and more pleasurable. Like a good scrum master I am aiming to remove obstacles in the way of our technical teams and act as force multiplier for the whole team (the OODA Loop has some interesting parallels with the Agile principles).

It should be an interesting journey ahead!