We choose to go to Mars

On September 12, 1962 our nation came together when John F. Kennedy gave his speech “we choose to go to the moon”. In his presentation he acknowledged that we would need to innovate new materials necessary to achieve our goal of landing humans on our celestial satellite. Then, on July 20, 1969 the United States Apollo 11 was the first of several manned missions to land on the moon's surface. Like a family that becomes stronger when every member works together to achieve a common goal, each of the states within the United States became stronger when they worked together to achieve a common vision that, at the time, was on a massive scale.

Throughout the decades, the ongoing pursuit of space exploration continued to make progress. For example, in 1977 the Voyager I was launched and it continued on a path toward outer space when, on August 25, 2012, Voyager I exceeded the boundaries of our solar system. To put this into perspective, this one event alone was 45 years of ongoing technological achievements. Meanwhile, in 1998 the first of several components for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was placed into low Earth orbit and additional components were added until the ISS was completed in 2011. As a result of the ISS, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) have accelerated and innovation has afforded, not only the United States, but the entire world to advance technological applications. These advancements have prepared us to pursue a new vision; to take humans beyond the boundaries of our moon.

We choose to go to Mars. This vision is shared among many who are passionate about STEM, passionate about space exploration, or passionate about exploring the unknown. From space tourism to colonizing Mars, technological innovation, imagination, and our future in human space exploration has been set in motion. It is a competitive collaboration among entrepreneurs where both private and public sectors from around the world have come together. It is a partnership where companies like SpaceX, Boeing, and Virgin Galactic work in collaboration with NASA to advance innovation and opportunity. It is Elon Musk at SpaceX announcing his plan to support the colonization of Mars and Richard Branson at Virgin Galactic paving the way for space tourism, where we as a nation are once again coming together as family to achieve a common goal.

The benefits of space exploration and colonizing Mars are beyond the scope of simple measure. The journey itself is filled with technological and innovative opportunities with many of these advancements being incorporated to support education at all levels. For example, organizations like NextPhase Foundation are working in collaboration with NASA to stimulate the development of innovative technologies through the application of NASA’s Technology Transfer Activities. The technologies discovered by our nation’s ability to go to the moon, our nation’s ability to send technology that is exploring the outer limits of our solar system, and our nation’s ability to collaboratively construct the ISS continues to benefit the whole of humanity. By choosing to go to Mars we will take the necessary steps of developing and advancing innovative ideas and we will leap forward, developing and improving technologies that will bring about positive social change for all humankind not only during the years it takes us to reach Mars, but in the decades and centuries to follow.

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.

Monday Coffee, room for cream

Every Monday morning I am blessed with the opportunity to mastermind with a colleague over coffee. We meet at Peet’s at 6 a.m. - shortly after they open for business. Now that I’m writing about it, it kind of reminds me of that show “Cheers” with the exception that this is the place we go before the start of the work day, also we meet for coffee not beer. However, the idea is still the same “sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…” anyway, we say good morning to our extended family who are behind the counter grinding and preparing coffee. We place our order, I get dark roast with room for cream most days, and on occasion I’ll order a latte, and my colleague gets his coffee. We find a nearby table where we place our pens and notepads so they’re at the ready. With only one or two sips of that hot rich God given gift that breathes life back into our very souls and reminds the rest of our body to awaken to the opportunities that lie ahead, we begin our Monday.

Our meetings are filled with purpose. We share updates, insights, and we discuss our progress from the previous week. Then, after a brief discussion of last week’s success or character building days we roll into our plans for the weeks, months and years ahead. It could be considered a type of vision quest or a form of awakened meditation. Whatever you’d like to call it (mastermind), it’s an incredible experience. I highly recommend it for anyone seeking high levels of achievements.

This past week I was introduced to a new book called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. It’s a well written book that is designed to take less than an hour to read. It does not disappoint. I want to suggest that the concepts and philosophy of the author’s message helped to bridge the gaps of understanding life’s purpose, but instead I would suggest that its ability to bridge these gaps depends on where someone is at in terms of what they’re looking to understand. In either case, it was a good book to read and it helped to improve my vision of how the dots are connected, so to speak.

While many of us hold daily or weekly meetings at the office or with our colleagues, these meetings may not be the same as a mastermind meeting outside of the office walls. For example, the conversational topics of the meetings on Monday mornings are not limited and there’s no pressure to say the wrong or right thing. Also, we do not judge each other, but instead we offer perspectives and insight. The meetings help us to see and build something extraordinary in our minds eye and we guide each other by helping to work out the details. Step by step we work our way backward in order to bring about the vision into reality. It’s an incredible process that I would encourage others to explore.

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.

Dry Erase Office

Over the past few months my office has been under construction. That is to say, my team and I are looking for a larger office location that will provide us with greater opportunity to meet the needs of our clients. During this transition I have been working remotely out of my home office. The layout of my home office is great! On one wall there are five white boards. Each white board serves a purpose. One is for weekly goal setting, another for daily planning, another for reminding me of the mission and vision, and another for brainstorming and quick notes. This is where things have to change; I need a larger brainstorming wall. My home office is in need of a make-over! Well…at least one wall needs an upgrade.

I have a large stock pile of dry erase paint that I plan to use to convert one of my office walls into a brainstorming dry erase wall. When it’s finished, I will be able to throw up ideas on the wall. Since I’m involved in research, strategy and innovative solutions, the dry erase wall will be a fantastic tool for developing and conceptualizing ideas. It will satisfy my need to connect the dots, so to speak, between organizational needs and opportunities using abstract thought. Don’t start-ups use this concept?

The dry erase office reminds me of a movie, “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russell Crowe. Which is a bit unsettling. At one point in the movie when the film crew gets a shot of the professors office, the walls are covered in newspapers and miscellaneous clippings that make no sense. I often wonder if that scene was a cover up to make the professor look psychologically questionable… At least my dry erase wall will not have pieces of paper covering the wall, but it will have many abstract thoughts all connected by lines, words and illustrations.

In some sense of reality my dry erase office is an outside representation of my thought process. It surrounds me every day, it provides a road map for strategy and solutions, and it offers an opportunity to capture innovative ideas. I guess the next challenge is to incorporate some kind of technology where my home office is transcribed and duplicated at my soon to be new office. That way, all of my dry erase office wall thoughts can follow me to the other office without having to disrupt the process. Just thinking outside of the “office”…

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.

5 a.m. No Alarm

I remember when I was in high school and I had to get up at 6 a.m. to get ready for school. Every morning I would keep hitting the snooze button until 7 a.m. rolled around. Then, at 7:05 a.m. I would jump out of bed and was ready to go in 15 minutes. I lived with my mom and three brothers in the hidden hills of Sonoma County. I was the youngest. In order to make it to the school bus stop I had to run down the side of a hill that would cross the yard of two neighbors. Most of the time I would arrive early to the bus stop, but for some reason it seemed like the bus was always late except on the days that I was late, then the bus was on time and I had to find a ride to school. While back in the days when 7 a.m. required multiple snooze alarms just to get me up and running, nowadays I don’t even need an alarm. Something changed…

I was introduced to The Peoples Network (TPN) in my early 20’s. TPN was an amazing program filled with entrepreneurs, business advisors, motivational speakers, and wealth management experts. It was a resource that I used to learn more about how to increase success and how to embrace life. Unfortunately, when I was in my 20’s I had no idea what I wanted out of life. I knew a job was important, but I never really defined what I wanted from a career. Anyway, TPN is gone and the internet was born. Access to information, experts, and advisors became more readily available and so I continued to listen, read, and get involved in things of developmental interest. YouTube was and still is a great resource for finding motivational speakers and educators. Attending events and organizing events also because a great way to connect with like-minded people.

Today, I follow three basic daily principles:

1. Read what’s important to my field of study
2. Meet people who share the same interests
3. Execute a plan of action to achieve my goals

This may sound simple enough, but it requires consistent action. It also requires me to set high standards and expectations that pull me forward. The daily rituals that I aim to achieve are not just things that I want or need, they are things that I must achieve. It’s a do or die mentality. To remind me of my goals I have a daily schedule written down on a white board in my office. I read my action plan every morning and I mentally check off the list as I complete each task. This practice keeps my self-confidence high, it increases my energy, and it inspires me to do more. I also start my morning early. If you were to ask my friends what time am I get up in the morning they would probably tell you that I’m up before the rest of the world wakes up; it depends on which friends you ask. Essentially, I have been getting up at 5 a.m. for so many years that I no longer need an alarm. I naturally wake up at 5 a.m. Sometimes I’m up at 4 a.m., but that’s just crazy talk.

There is a point to all of this. Success is defined by what we do every day. Small changes that we do everyday will add up to long-term changes. Here’s what my day looks like; at 5 a.m. I start my day listening to Les Brown, Jim Rohn or Napoleon Hill. I open up YouTube and select something new in the area of personal development. While I’m listening to these experts of business, financial investors, etc., I’m stretching, running in place, and putting in the time for an early morning workout. Then, I get my newest member of the family, my Siberian Husky, and take her out for our morning run. When I get back I feed all the animals including the chickens, who aren’t even out of the coup because it’s too early for them. At 6 a.m. I work on my life goals, action plans, action steps, timelines and measurable outcomes for each area that I’m working to improve and achieve. By the time 6:45 a.m. rolls around I’m reviewing the stock market and getting a glimpse of opportunities. Then, at 7 a.m. I start my work day and I execute a plan of action for my employer. By this hour I’m full of energy and ready to take on the days challenges.

My daily routine helps me to expand my perspective and see things from multiple viewpoints. I’m able to identify opportunities, view difficult situations from a positive approach, and I am able to see challenging days as character building days. By the end of the day (3:30 p.m.) I complete my work day and begin family time with my wife and children. I will even take an hour to do some gardening; a little meditation (me time).

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.

Lunch with a Developer

I received an email this morning from a Developer I met last year through social networking. He asked if I wanted to meet sometime during the week while he was in town for a few days. We grabbed lunch at Hot Italian in Sacramento. Then, we shared stories about some of the technology projects that he worked on and I shared stories about some of the projects that I worked on. We both discussed some of the challenges we faced in different areas of development and the process we used to meet those challenges. Of course we also did a flashback to the days of DOS and VB. Then we went right back to today’s technology and explored where things are taking us in terms of BigData and IoT. We connected the dots so to speak. Toward the end of lunch he explained that when we first met online a year ago he had sent me his resume and requested feedback on how he could improve his resume presentation. After I provided feedback he applied the changes. Now, a year later he made it to California and he wanted to connect with me over lunch so that he could say "thank you" in person. Incredible!

While it’s not always possible to meet everyone for lunch and have a one-on-one in-person conversation, I do believe that it’s important that we make an effort to get out there and connect with people beyond the phone and computer screens. Casual meetings, a cup of coffee or a game of tennis are great ways for getting to know someone.

On that note, who’s up for lunch? I’m hosting a Free Lunch event on Tuesday, September 13 in Sacramento. It’s from 11:30 – 12:30 p.m. We will be having a guest speaker, Matthew Royal, MarkLogic Sr. Consultant joining us. You can RSVP by going to http://www.meetup.com/Technology-Leaders/

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.

Radio Guest Speaker

Good morning! Happy Tuesday!

Dr. Andy Jones, Academic Associate Director of Academic Technology Services at UC Davis, recently invited me to be a guest speaker on KDVS 90.3 FM in September. This will be my first radio appearance. I'm looking forward to the experience.
www.linkedin.com/hp/update/6166248811606859776

Inside the Mind of a Tech Recruiter

When I look back over the years I can see how the interview process has changed. For example, when I was searching for my first job it was more about my willingness to learn and whether or not I had reliable transportation to get to work on time. As time progressed the interviews began to include questions surrounding years of experience as it relates to the job. Nowadays there are online characteristic assessments, knowledge tests and certifications. Fast forward to tech recruiting...


So how does a tech recruiter put professional evaluations ahead of personal opinion in order to identify exceptional candidates during an interview? That is an excellent question!

Recruiters are often interviewing experts in their respective fields so we prepare in advance before the interview. We study the requirements by breaking down each of the skill sets needed and we ask the hiring manager questions to better understand the project. If we’re not familiar with a development language, we will make the effort to learn it and learn it quickly. We research its history, we compare and find common threads between other development languages, we get involved with meetups and dev groups and we attend classes. Yes, we will even download a Virtual Machine (VM) and examine and modify code. We also search online for tech blogs and we develop tech questions by considering topics from current technology discussions. We research answers to our interview questions and we consider other possible solutions. Then we began the interview process. One interview after another we evaluate the responses from multiple candidates as we distinguish differences from one response to the next. We carryout phone interviews, Skype interviews and in-person interviews (when needed).

The idea behind all the researching is to insure that we execute an interview process that will effectively measure a candidate’s many abilities and reduce the recruiters influence of personal opinion. Measuring a candidate’s abilities include gauging their knowledge of the technology language in question, their skills in finding solutions to language barriers, and their ability to provide examples that illustrate other skill sets like a candidate’s ability to recognize their limitations and their willingness to ask others for assistance (teamwork!).

Over the years interviews from Customer Service to Sales and from Quality Assurance to Executive Leaders has led to identifying different interview response patterns. These emerging patterns help in identifying exceptional and qualified candidates. For example, does a candidate provide clear examples of projects they've worked on and the process involved in its success or failure? Yes, it’s actually true that exceptional candidates have worked on projects that failed!

As organizations began to advance the recruiting process and apply more data analytics to the interview mix we are going to see an emerging trend that will require recruiters to understand even more areas of statistical data and research. As this trend develops we are likely to see tech recruiters responsible and accountable for assembling extraordinary teams that will consider every level of development and management. The recruiting process will move away from individual hiring and focus on team hiring.

Author: Dr. Eduardo Diaz, helping you exceed expectations.