"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
-- Bilbo Baggins, on the occasion of his eleventy-first birthday, in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings.
When I started this column, I hoped to complete a full year without running out of topics. Fifty columns would be a respectable accomplishment, I thought.
More than six years and 300 columns later, it appears I've run out of space before running out of strongly held opinions. InfoWorld is changing direction. This column isn't part of its future.
Change sneaks up on you. Six years ago, when I first challenged the conventional wisdom of "internal customers," I wrote heresy. Now the cracks are showing. And when I promoted a strong working relationship between IT and marketing, most considered it an unholy alliance. Now it's routine.
I flatter myself that this column had at least a bit to do with both trends.
But that's the past, and as the legendary Sam Goldwyn once said, "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be." Still, I do have a few regrets.
When I first recommended you take Linux seriously as a desktop OS, it led one reader to describe me as a "suit extraordinaire." I've had worse compliments. I should have followed up. For the record, Linux is a serious desktop OS -- for some organizations. And yes, I'm putting my money where my mouth is ─ my company, IT Catalysts, will soon offer a service to help companies determine whether Linux is a fit for them, and if so, plan the migration.
Microsoft hasn't imploded yet, despite my occasional suggestion that it do so. I'm withdrawing the prediction. My focus was on its products; I should have focused on its leadership. Gates, Ballmer, and company successfully focus their employees on beating the competition. So here's a question for you: Are your employees' competitive urges focused on your company's competitors or on the department down the hall?
I haven't yet mentioned Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs, a remarkable book -- highly readable, with wonderfully relevant insights into leadership, government, and the coordination of complex operations. Read it and you'll reach an inescapable conclusion: Grant beat Lee because he was the better general.
There's lots more. So I'm just going to have to keep writing this column for a while. IT Catalysts is opening a publishing venture. You'll find it, and my columns, on ISSurvivor.com. Drop by for a visit or to subscribe to my column via e-mail.
Finally, I'd like to thank InfoWorld for providing such a wonderful soapbox, and the succession of fine editors who have helped me look good while standing on it.
It's been a privilege.
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