Work together or perish.

Do I feel guilty for performing a role that might otherwise go to someone younger?

Absolutely not.

[The question was posed in the article “Our Take: Blaming the Victims” on Jul 31 2009 - http://news.efinancialcareers.com/Blogs_ITEM/newsItemId-20509 and "Stepping Aside" on May 2 2009 - http://www.newsweek.com/id/195657 the article which kick started the debate.]

First, even the brightest and most energetic gen x,y or z's, can and do benefit from the knowledge and experience of older colleagues which makes them more marketable in the future. Second, the right to be productive does not diminish with age, concept that in the U.S., is sanctioned by law.

At any event, this cross-generations anger is misguided. Much of the problems being faced by the boomers and younger generations alike is rooted in the unchecked greed and corruption of the past decades in the private and even public sectors. The private, political and educational leaders have all abdicated their social roles and responsibilities, creating the mess which we see all around us. The American voters have recently reacted to the current ills, but the pressure on the leaders to do the right thing must be kept. Our social responsibilities do not end upon leaving the voting booth. The challenge is to restore high ethics and the sense of social responsibility to our leaders. That, ethics aside, is also good business.

Is it a tall order? Perhaps, but I, for one strongly believe in it. And fear not, this does not have to contradict with our capitalistic system, as the fear mongers like you to believe and turn to socialism. In my mind, only the government and education sectors are in dire need for change. The private sector already does what they do best, which is make money. Only their self-destructive conduct needs to be kept in check.

So, boomers, x, y and z gens, set aside your anger and frustration and focus your energies on the real issues. United we can effect meaningful changes to address our social ills. Divided, we all lose.

This I Too Believe - "All Men Are My Brothers"

While driving this afternoon and listening to NPR, as I always do, I was taken by this short essay by James A. Michener. I was familiar with at least one of this Pulitzer Prize winner’s work, but it is this essay, “All Men Are My Brothers”, that I probably not forget as it is a lifting message. I looked around and found the essay and a recording of the same reading I heard on the radio. I like to share it with you. You can listen to "All Men Are My Brothers" here or read it below.
The http://thisibelieve.org/ site I discovered today is a gem, from what I read so far I can tell you I will be doing some reading here from time to time.

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I believe that all men are brothers. I really believe that every man on this earth is my brother. He has a soul like mine, the ability to understand friendship, the capacity to create beauty. In all the continents of this world, I have met such men. In the most savage jungles of New Guinea, I have met my brother, and in Tokyo, I have seen him clearly walking before me.

In my brother’s house, I have lived without fear. Once in the wildest part of Guadalcanal I had to spend some days with men who still lived and thought in the old stone age, but we got along together fine. In the South Pacific, on remote islands, I have sailed and fished with brown men who were in every respect the same as I.

Around the world I have lived with my brothers and nothing has kept me from knowing men like myself wherever I went. Language has been no barrier, for once in India, I lived for several days with villagers who didn’t know a word of English. I can’t remember exactly how we got along, but the fact that I couldn’t speak their language was no hindrance. Differences in social custom never kept me from getting to know and like savage Melanesians in the New Hebrides. They ate roast dog, and I ate Army spam, and if we had wanted to emphasize differences, I am sure each of us could have concluded the other was nuts. But we stressed similarities and, so long as I could snatch a Navy blanket for them now and then, we had a fine old time with no words spoken.

It was in these islands that I met a beat-up, shameless old Tonkinese woman. She would buy or sell anything, and in time we became fast friends and I used to sit with her, knowing not a word of her curious language, and we talked for hours. She knew only half a dozen of the vilest English obscenities, but she had the most extraordinary love of human beings and the most infectious sense of this world’s crazy comedy. She was of my blood, and I wish I could see her now.

I believe it was only fortunate experience that enabled me to travel among by brothers and to live with them. Therefore I do not believe it is my duty to preach to other people and insist that they also accept all men as their true and immediate brothers. These things come slow. Sometimes it takes lucky breaks to open our eyes. For example, if I had never known this wonderful old Tonkinese woman, I might not now think of all Chinese as my brothers. I had to learn, as I believe the world will one day learn. Until such time as experience proves to all of us the essential brotherhood of man, I am not going to preach or scream or rant.

But if I am tolerant of other men’s prejudices, I must insist that they be tolerant of me. To my home in rural Pennsylvania come brown men and yellow men and black men from around the world. In their countries I lived and ate with them. In my country they shall live and eat with me. Until the day I die, my home must be free to receive these travelers and it never seems so big a home or so much a place of love as when some man from India or Japan or Mexico or Tahiti or Fiji shares it with me. For on those happy days, it reminds me of the wonderful affection I have known throughout the world.

I believe that all men are my brothers. I know it when I see them sharing my home.

James A. Michener wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Tales of the South Pacific, during his naval service in World War II after seeking a transfer from a desk job in Washington to the Pacific theater. Michener’s literary career spanned 50 years and 40 books.

Are Data Executives Salaries Under Pressure?

On June 25th at the FISD General Meeting in NY, Dale Richards, CEO, Lakefront Ventures presented preliminary results of the “Data Management & Financial Information Professional Salary Survey”. While it is difficult to draw conclusions from the data collected, it creates a baseline for future year’s comparisons. We will need more data before we can extract trends and have a big story to tell. But it is a great start. If you have not already done so, go to http://www.lakefrontdatajobs.com/salarysurvey to participate in the survey and register to receive future results.

There are interesting observations based on current events which may be supported by this sampling. Due to past consolidations, outsourcing and the busting of various bubbles, there has been a definite downward pressure on salaries. But the ground lost does not appear to be great and I would venture to say there will be a bounce back relatively soon. In my mind the reason for a quick recovery is simple, as for every action there is a reaction.

Consolidation - now economists and governments are assessing the dangers of too-big-to-fail organizations. There will be room for spin-offs and divestitures which may benefit the employment in the low to mid level in technology, analytics and data management space. Most of it I expect to be voluntary, a strong motivation being to focus on core business and keep regulators at bay. Nevertheless job losses are expected and consequently downward pay pressures will exist but probably felt most acutely in the high end of the pay scale. In the sell side and data vendor space we have examples of consolidation such as JPMorgan-Bear Sterns, Barclay-Lehman, Wells Fargo-Wachovia and Thomson-Reuters where top jobs were eliminated. The boutique organizations or other areas will not be able to support the previous compensation of the laid off managers. Consequently we will see an impact on the over 100k ranges.

Outsourcing - probably the biggest downward pressure on salaries on the lower to mid of the scale is also being re-evaluated. You will hear lots of talk about the cost and difficulties in managing these relationships. Onshore or nearshore is the new focus. The benefits are clear: improved cost in communications and access to new local or near pools of talent. Let's not forget political pressures to limit outsourcing. Some form of outsourcing will continue albeit more cautiously and to new near locations. Opportunities will be available to some low to mid experience managers who retain extensive knowledge of the business.

The Bubbles - The reaction to the economic, speculative bubbles and the unchecked excesses of the past dozen years has been taking shape over the last few months and will be likely to produce results -- not only in the financial industry but in the whole US economy. Economists and regulators are focusing on creating new tools to recognize and prevent future bubbles. With the promise of greater oversight and, to some extent, re-engineering of the economy, this task will rally heavily on IT and data professionals. So the new development in these areas should cause the salaries to trend up.

By the way, go to the Inside Reference Data site and read the Majority of Data Executives "Earn $100,000+" story where I was quoted.

Recession Haiku – a cost-cutting measure [of syllables]

How appropriate that in these belt-tightening times we should use Haiku to discuss or find expression for our economic predicament.
Here is a sample:

Fred, Sallie, Fannie,
Betrayed me and took my dreams
Today, I don't sleep.

And

Unregulated
and unfettered avarice....
what were they thinking?

Read hundreds of others Haiku about the economy at this NPR site.

A Great Feel Good Story

Finally I saw the video of Susan Boyle’s performance at the Britain’s Got Talent 2009 everyone is talking about. Once in a while you run into a story which makes you feel good at the same time it provides you of a few basic lessons. For those with talent who have not yet made it, and I do not mean just those with singing talent, don't give up. Believe in yourself, work hard at it and your day will come. If nothing else, enjoy the journey.
For those who judge the book by its cover, or a funny lady with double chin, messy hair, and peculiar disposition, here is the proof of how wrong you can be. I am happy she had her chance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Obama's Inauguration

Amazing technology. You can zoom-in to almost anyone in this picture. Click on the picture.

The Subprime Mess Explained

The Subprime Mess Explained... it is a laughing matter.

IRD Virtual Roundtable on Data Governance

[...Inside Reference Data gathers leading industry professionals to discuss the most successful strategies...]

Stay Aware - A Brain Teaser

Go to BrainDen.com for more brain exercises. Have fun...

You've Come a Long Way, Baby! OR Not All is What it Appears to be?

I must say, when I received the picture from a friend in 2004, I thought, "isn't it amazing that even scientists and visionaries in 1954 could not have predicted that in 2004 we would be wearing more computer power in our wrists and pocket devices!" So I filed the picture away. Today, I was about to delete the picture, but I decided to take a minute and check for any follow-up on this story. So I did a Google search on "Scientists from RAND corporation have created a model" and did find the truth.
The original story: Scientists from the RAND corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "Home Computer" could look like in the year 2004. However, the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the FORTRAN language, the computer will be easy to use.
Now for the true story, as far as you can trust the web:
["... tracked down Troels Eklund Andersen, a sales and tech support technician for a Danish hardware and software distributor, who originally entered the image in an online photo-manipulation contest. He took a photograph of a mock submarine maneuvering room and added a 1950s-era Crosley Ridgewood TV, a 1970s Teletype, a hardware store owner from Ohio and a pseudo scientific caption. "I wasn't intending to create a believable fake," he says."]
The moral of this story of course is... don't automatically believe everything you read on the internet, or for that matter on any medium. A little skepticism can be healthy; if it is too amazing or too good to be true, you can always verify.