I recently dropped a glass outside while at lunch.  I spent a moment picking up the larger pieces and foot swept the remainder off the main path into the bushes. I fully expected someone to clean up the mess I had made. It is, after all, a maintained business campus. This is what now passed in my life for ‘good enough.’

That is until a few nights ago. I was lying in bed thinking about what a great father I was becoming. Reading about things to one day teach and share with my son. As I laid there contemplating all the adventures the future held for me, I was struck by a strong memory from my childhood. When I was around 9 years old, soda still came in glass bottles and it was still safe to send a young boy to the corner store. My mother had sent me; and everything went fine until I dropped the glass on the sidewalk. I picked up every shard of glass. As I was picking it up a neighbor came out with a broom and dustpan to commend me for picking up and to provide me with the right tools to finish the job. I finished up and she sent me back to the store with enough to replace the soda.

Why did this memory come back? Obviously I had been armed with more than just the right tools for the job that morning. I was provided with community assurance that doing the right thing would be noticed, and rewarded. Not so much with money or accolades, but with a sense of community fulfillment.

So here I am, more than 20 years later, sweeping my responsibilities off the sidewalk. Leaving the cleanup to someone else. Where had I gone wrong? What had life shown me in the last 20 years that so fully contradicted my core belief at 9 of doing the RIGHT thing?

It doesn’t matter what distracted me then.  I have a responsibility to win back my sense of community. Isn’t that one of the things I should pass along to my son? Of all the things I can share with him, the most important things he will learn from my example, and I refuse to let that be complacent apathy.

I went back today and cleaned up every shard of glass on the ground from my bottle. While I was stooped over, someone asked if I work for the campus. My reply was no, but I would not want my one year old son to pick this up. And I meant both the physical glass and the figurative statement. He reaffirmed my sentiment and provided a bit of reassurance that I was on the right track with a thank you and a god bless you.

Lately there has been a lot of discussion at the office about annual reviews and salary adjustment. This time, however, there seems to be an equally strong emphasis on career advancement. How to grow in the current position, and what skills are necessary for the next one.

Looking around through different articles and such online there seems to be an even stronger trend towards mentor/mentee relationship building than there has been for a long time. Oh, sales people have been doing it for years, and the concept of junior/senior worker is not new either. What is new would be the relationship with the mentor is likely not at your current place of employment. in fact, it is just as likely to not be in your current career.

So lets think about it. Is it in fact easier to transition to a new career at a new place, or stay where you are and grow with your company. In many instances, there is no room for growth. You already wear quite a few hats, and any small company is happy to have you take on another, but is that really advancement? With a new company you are likely trading away a lot of good things for what seems like a great opportunity, only to find it is the same job with a little extra cash.

So now back to a mentor. What is it a mentor can do for you? For starters they have been in the business for a while and can teach you how to get from where you are now to where they are. I mean they have already done it once, and they are likely looking to groom their replacement anyway. They have industry contacts and inside information, as well as worldly knowledge. Sounds great right? So where do I find a mentor you ask? There in lies the rub. Most mentors do not yet know they want to be a mentor. You need to approach finding a mentor the same way you approach a career search. Interviews and discussions with folks who have the job or jobs you are looking for. There are a ton of associations and link to online resources, but few are free and most are sites to help you grow not teach you what you need to know to gt there.

So, I encourage you to get out there and find a mentor. No one climbs the corporate ladder anymore, instead we hike the career mountain. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a guide? Good luck.

So I have been asked to blog about Bronto’s API and how our customers might decide if it is for them. At first blush this would seem a simple task. Then it hits me, how do I demonstrate that the API is a good solution, but may not be the right choice for some?

You see, if the API seems intuitive and simple, everybody will clamor to use it, a great boost to sales of the API, but a support nightmare. Integrating to an API can be a tedious and arduous process. Not everyone is prepared to take the leap and commit the resources it really takes to implement one.

So here I am wondering what direction to take my work blog: brutal honesty or a candy coated enticement. I would like to say I will strike a happy balance and all will be well. And yet everyone know that when it comes to our jobs, our professions, we err on the side of caution. We talk it up and make the best of it.

So look forward to my post, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

When you have your own site, you have an opportunity to reinvent yourself and decide what it is you are all about. I am not sure what this all will mean, but for the time being I plan to ramble about this and that. Some politics, some social development and community, some design and software development. What you will not find here is… is what? I am not sure. I suppose you should be prepared for the unexpected

Welcome and I hope you enjoy. Lets get this conversation started

Jason