See you can do it!

As part of the Joyful Jubilant Learning Network (JJLN), that was just launched this month I posted a pair of entries; one written and one audio. I created them Monday night and actually pushed them to production early Tuesday morning before going to work. At work that morning, going through email, I come upon this item in the IWDaily newsletter: Tom Olzak is unusual among today's 390,000 IT managers in the United States. The director of IT security at HCR Manor Care goes out of his way to share his knowledge about IT security to anyone who'll listen. Olzak blogs, writes security technical papers, podcasts, and earlier this year self-published a book, Just Enough Security: Information Security for Business Managers. Olzak's outreach crusade, in turn, puts him in touch with others in his field who share their insights on IT security. "One of the most valuable things I get is those interactions I have with people who respond to something I've written," Olzak says. "Maybe I didn't think of something, or maybe I didn't see it the same way they did. That helps to enrich my knowledge about whatever I wrote about." Olzak is taking charge of his own career in a changing business environment. As described in our lead feature coming up on Monday, IT management positions are replacing staff jobs. IT managers are spending more time managing projects and other people, and less time managing technology. IT management jobs in the U.S. have jumped 44% since 2001, while programming and support jobs have declined 19%. Yes, this is one of the prime reasons behind my involvement in the JJLN effort. I have for the past 25 years worked in IT in one role or another. I have no desire for a book. I would prefer to collaborate, creating a sharing and learning environment. There is so much that each of us can bring to the table. We need to be able to feel comfortable in sharing. We need to be willing to learn. Creating that kind of environment is what I'd like to help do with JJLN. Oh, and apparently one of the side benefits is (bold for my emphasis): Sharing information with others is a key technique to advance an IT managerial career, says Gerry Crispin, principal of career management firm CareerXroads. It's a sign of a leader. Read the full IW posting by Eric Chabrow here. Then come on over and join us at JJLN! Technorati Tags : JJLN, learning, IT, sharing, collaboration, environment