[01:00] What do the kids have these days that you didn’t?

Everything! I graduated in 1996. We had overhead projectors.

[01:35] Did you use the internet at all in high school?

No, not really. We had CD-ROMs. I have a memory of wanting one in Sears.

[02:33] How did you get into this role?

The thing that got me started was my time in the National Guard. Part of my training was in communications. I remember going through the stack of 32 disks to install Windows 95. After that, I knew it was what I wanted to do, and I went to college for computer science.

[04:00] I’ve noticed a lot of IT people starting with military backgrounds. What do you think is the reason for that?

The military is very good at teaching problem-solving. That’s what a lot of the training was. Break a problem down into parts and approach it, whether it was mechanics or computers.

[05:04] How do you look at breaking down a problem?

My first thought was the daily call you get that everything is broken. It isn’t, but from someone’s perspective, a slow browser is no internet. Going from the end user perspective to problem solving; taking the big picture and narrowing it down to where the issue is.

[06:30] Do you ever have to coach end users off the cliff?

I think that’s a daily activity for people in tech.

[06:50] How do you find the patience to deal with the level of calls you get?

I would say half of the tickets you get daily are ones that if you waited would resolve themselves. On the reverse side, that’s poor customer service.

[10:00] How do you get to the most important things? Do you have any tricks of the trade for communicating with end users?

Front-end training as much as you can.

[11:50] How do you make people care about IT?

You can train someone, but until it relates to their job, they won’t understand or even care all that much. One of the things I think I’ve always done well is trying to relate what I’m doing to the individuals’ understanding.

[14:50] How can the IT department make themselves the favorite people in the company? If you’re the favorites, you get more funding, etc.

Being interested in what they do. Whenever you help someone, ask them about what they are doing.

[19:44] What’s the main challenge of working for a school district?

Cyber security. Also, working out what our risk truly is. There’s also the issue of multi-factor authentication. I give accounts to kindergartners, so am I also giving them two-factor authentication? The insurance companies as well are a struggle because regardless of age, they have the same policy for everyone. We aren’t a bank; it isn’t the same.

[24:10] How do you go about road mapping in your job?

Being one year into the job means I’m still figuring that out; trying to figure out the low-hanging fruit first to tackle.

[26:20] What kind of low-hanging fruit have you discovered?

Scheduling meetings with other department heads to get everyone’s perspectives on what the issues are.

[27:30] How did you go about getting those meetings when you started?

I found out who all the department heads were and emailed them directly asking for a sit-down. One of my key things is just to be present. Getting out of the office and being around.

[30:00] What do you envision the future to be like in education and technology?

Through COVID, everyone got over their fear of video meetings. I think the future is pre-recorded video lectures and being able to watch multiple teachers’ views on the same subject to see what works best for you.

[38:10] What are your top pieces of advice for coaching an IT team?

Encourage their curiosity. Always ask questions about them and offer definitive answers to their questions. Try and make a real connection.

[40:07] What’s a common thing people in IT don’t have but need?

People skills.

[43:20] How do you develop your people?

Finding out what works for the individual whether it’s books, podcasts, etc.