Author: Mike Sisco

As a former IT manager and CIO of more than 20 years, I have devoted my company to, "helping IT managers of the world achieve more success". Since 2000, the IT Manager Institute has delivered books, articles, tools, training and video content to help IT managers be more successful.

Friday FUN #2

Friday Fun

Dead Chicken Award

dead chickenI’ve shared the “Dead Chicken Award” idea with IT Managers all over the world, and I have yet to find anyone who knew what it is all about. I’ve used this principle a couple of times, , , in both cases it was with a younger team. It won’t go over as well with a senior or older group of employees.

This is one of many motivational techniques I’ve used successfully in my corporate days of managing IT organizations. Working in IT is challenging and can be stressful for your employees, , , and you.

This is why we need to take a break from time to time and find a way to have fun at work. Trust me, your employees will appreciate you and it will set you apart when you work at making your work environment a more fun place to be.

The “Dead Chicken Award” may not be the one for you, , , you need to do things that you are personally comfortable with and that’s appropriate for your particular team. But whatever you do, it’s important to introduce a thing or two, , , or three that lightens things up and helps your team have some fun. You will discover it helps motivate people.

CLICK HERE to watch the 8-minute video that explains it all.

dead chicken video

Tuesday TIPS

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TIP #2 – Time To Start Thinking About 2024

It’s hard to believe 2023 is almost finished. It has flown by and it’s time to start wrapping up the year.  I hope it has been a good and successful year for you.  think-3

This is also a great time to start thinking about next year – 2024. For me.  I have always spent some time at the end of the year (usually the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day) to reflect and try to map out some goals for the next year. Some call this developing New Year Resolutions.

I’ve developed New Year Goals my entire career, started when I was with IBM at the beginning of my career, , , notice the THINK pad image. I can tell you for certain that much of what I accomplished was because I gave it some thought and wrote it down to achieve.

Anyone can tell you that you are much more likely to achieve something when you write it down. Why is this the case? I believe there are several reasons:

  1. You give it thought
  2. It’s a commitment to yourself
  3. Helps remind you when you see it
  4. Helps you focus on things you want to achieve

I’ve always created two lists, , , one that is business focused and the second is for personal things. And once again, I will tell you that doing this has helped me achieve many things I wanted to achieve in my life because of the commitment I made to myself.

That’s really the important thing, , , making a commitment to yourself! 

I can look back at the New Year Goals I wrote down over the years because I kept them all in a file folder. It is easy to see many of the things I wrote down were accomplished. Would these things have been achieved anyway without writing them down? Possibly, but I’m confident many would not have been.

So, take an hour of your time between now and the end of the year and write down the key things you want to accomplish next year, both in your business and personally. Planning creates definition which leads to focus and results in achievement! You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

PLANNING –> DEFINITION –> FOCUS –> ACHIEVEMENT

Mike_Signature

2023 Sisco Christmas Letter

eddie-2CLICK HERE to open our 30th Edition of the Sisco Christmas Letter.

2023_xmas_Letter

It all began in 1994 in a very simple 1-page letter with our Christmas card to update family and friends on our son’s progress after spending all of 1993 in the hospital and an acute rehab facility. Eddie was in an auto accident on January 2, 1993 and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He had to learn how to do everything all over again.

For 29 years, we sent paper Christmas Letters with our cards. This year, I decided to put the Christmas letter online for several reasons:

  • Much easier to prepare and distribute
  • Reaches a larger audience
  • Provides more options over paper
  • No cost
  • Allows the reader to zoom in for larger text or image

CLICK HERE to open our 2023 Sisco Christmas Letter.

2023_xmas_Letter

Hope you enjoy this year’s Sisco Christmas Letter, , , and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We appreciate your LIKE, SHARE, or COMMENT.

Welcome to Friday FUN

Friday Fun

IT Managers have the most difficult manager role in a company. There are many reasons for this that I’ve written about, , , maybe I’ll post this article again in the future. IT management can be stressful as well as just “plain hard” at times. For this reason, we need to take a break and HAVE SOME FUN !!.

This is what Friday FUN will be about – Hope you like it!

FUN #1 – My First Presentation

presenterI’m pulling this one out of the archives because it can help you in the year ahead. I wrote this article almost 10 years ago and it is posted on this site but most of you have not seen it.

Presenting and communicating well can be a tremendous advantage in your career development. I’ve presented “live” in front of hundreds several times and thousands over the years in the classes and training I do. Today, I don’t get nervous!

But, you need to read the article to truly understand how difficult this was early in my career.

Gaining an appreciation for what took place in my first presentation can help you overcome your fear of presenting and boost your career, , , it certainly did this for me.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

first presentation

 

Harold Estes

Harold EstesDecember 7, 1941, , , “a day that will live in infamy”. That’s what President Roosevelt said after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Dorine and I lived in Hawaii our first year of marriage in 1971. It was wonderful.

We had a connection to Pearl Harbor that we didn’t realize at the time, , , and that was Harold Estes.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Estes as we called him was a retired Navy Chief Boatswain’s Mate, , , a senior enlisted rank. I met him while stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Base in a golf match set up for some of the players on the San Francisco Giants baseball team who were touring in the fall of 1970. The foursomes included one of the Giants baseball players, a senior officer of our base, a retired military man, and a member of the Hawaii Marine Corps golf team.

My group included Juan Marichal (Giants Hall of Fame pitcher), the General in charge of our base, Mr. Estes (retired Navy) and me (Hawaii Marines Golf Team). We had a great day and Mr. Estes and I became great friends almost immediately. The Giants players who were there included Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey, Hal Lanier, and Bobby Bonds. I didn’t get a photo but I had the foresight to buy a baseball and get it signed. I gave it to my brother who was in Little League at the time, , , he still has it.

Our Connection with Harold Estes

harold b estesFast forward a few months, , , Dorine and I get married on December 26, 1970 and she joins me in Hawaii the following February. Mr. Estes was great in helping us get started in so many ways:

  • Gave Dorine a temporary job until she could find “more permanent” work.
  • Helped me find an apartment in Waikiki – happened to be in the same complex as his 80-year old Mother. Mrs. Estes was a joy, , , she worked a kiosk in the International Market in Waikiki.
  • Helped me find a car and a great deal – a 1967 convertible Ford Mustang, , , perfect for Hawaii.

The photo above is how we knew him. Mr. Estes was a “make it happen” man and knew how to get things done. Plus, he was an excellent salesman after his military career. For example, he was instrumental in getting the USS Bowfin (a retired submarine) brought back to Pearl Harbor to become a museum.

Because of this, he was asked to be a key part of the team formed in 1994 to bring the USS Missouri back to Pearl Harbor to become a museum where it is docked today, , , near the USS Arizona that sank in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. The Missouri (shown below) is the battleship where the Japanese surrendered to end World War II. It’s a significant part of American history just like the Arizona.

uss_missouri

Interestingly, the Missouri is visited by many Japanese as they associate the Missouri as representing a new beginning. It turned the rhetoric of democracy, freedom and prosperity into reality for Japan.

Mr. Estes and his wife, Doris, were good to Dorine and me in our early days of marriage, and we had lots of laughs with his Mom who I remember loved ice coffee, , , never been able to get my head around that. Mr. Estes and his wife are resting at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Every year at this time, I think of Harold Estes and the good times we shared. Rest in peace, Mr. Estes.

Welcome to Tuesday TIPS

Tuesday_TIPS

Today is the first post of Tuesday TIPS where I’ll post practical IT manager tips, insights and more to help you achieve more success. NOT JUST FOR IT Managers, , , many of these posts will be useful outside of the IT world, but the focus will always be on helping IT Managers, , , so let’s get started, , ,

TIP #1 – FAST START  For A New IT Manager

Gaining credibility quickly in a “new IT Manager position” is critical. First impressions are long-lasting and hard to change, , , you want your first impression as your company’s “new IT Manager” to be one that says you are proactive and know what you are doing.

Nothing does this better than methodically and proactively focusing on the key things you need to do to achieve IT success! I’m going to give you a simple process and tools to make this happen.

There are many situations where you might find yourself in a “new IT Manager position”:

  • First time manager
  • New management assignment
  • Inherit an additional IT organization
  • Join a new company
  • New CIO position

I’ve experienced all of these. In fact, I’ve encountered over 60 “new” IT Manager situations, , , many of them because our company acquired over 45 small companies, each with an IT organization. As the CIO, I had to manage their transition into our company.

Also, in my early IT Manager career, senior management kept adding additional IT organizational responsibilities to my plate. With each new success, I received more responsibility.

I experienced all five of the “new IT Manager” examples listed above, and what I can tell you is that in all cases there are similar issues, albeit different and unique circumstances with each situation.

The similarities in any “new IT Manager” situation include the following:

  1. You have a new team to work with and manage.
  2. There are new responsibilities.
  3. Your clients will be different.
  4. There will be new challenges.

WATCH the Practical IT Manager Training Series video below to learn more and how to get off to a FAST START in any new IT Manager situation. In this video, I give you practical fundamentals that guarantee you will achieve a fast start in any new IT Manager situation, including:

  • The dynamics that take place in a new IT Manager situation
  • 4-Step Process to help you get started quickly
  • A 4-Week detailed To-Do List that helps guarantee your fast start and quick success
  • BONUS  IT Manager – Fast Start Checklist

VIDEO_Fast Start For a New IT Manager

Some of you may have seen this video on my YouTube Channel. It’s always worth revisiting or being aware of in case you need it or know someone who is encountering a “new IT Manager” situation.

I hope you enjoy the Tuesday TIPS section and will benefit from the practical information I’ll deliver from many years of experiencing the IT Manager role first hand. Best of success!!

I also hope you will “LIKE” this post and share it with your colleagues. Feel free to leave your comments.

Dorine

As I refocus my efforts in providing content and tools to help IT managers achieve more success, I think the first post should be about my wife and best friend of more than 50 years – Dorine Louque Sisco.

Dorine

CLICK HERE to open and scroll through the PhotoBook I created for family and friends after losing Dorine on July 29, 2020 after a month-long battle with COVID-19.

Losing Dorine unexpectedly took a huge toll on me. I could barely function for two years, isolated myself from friends and focused on taking care of our son. Eddie had to be hospitalized 7 times in 2021 and 2022, and I had a challenging back problem, , , it was a difficult two years. I’m just now starting to do real work again after a 3-year lapse.

Not wanting to give you a sob story but more of trying to explain how much Dorine meant to Eddie and me. She was our rock, , , always happy with a smile on her face and doing things simply to make life fun. She took care of the home front while I took care of the business side. My business would not have succeeded, and I would not have achieved the success I attained without Dorine’s support and encouragement.

Dorine, or “Do” as I often called her, was the most positive person I’ve ever known. Everyone loved her and she was so easy to get to know. Many of my IT Manager Institute training students met her at our class dinners, , , she was always the highlight of the evening.

class dinner 2

Dorine was also the smartest person I’ve known. She didn’t have a college education, but she could do anything she set her mind to do and she could solve pretty much any problem or puzzle. She was very creative and loved painting, drawing, sewing, arts and crafts and decorating our home. She was fantastic in so many ways. And did I mention what a great cook she was? Her gumbo and lasagna was world class.

CLICK HERE to see a PhotoBook titled Art by Dorine and you will see a sampling of her artistic talent.

Photobook_Cover

I miss Dorine terribly, but I love and appreciate the great times and experiences we had together for 50 years. Memories are never lost, and I’m in a good place now so I’m excited to start working again.

CLICK HERE to watch the video below if you are interested in the thoughts I put together and recorded for Dorine’s funeral, , , I think it sums up who she was and how much I loved and appreciated her.

Mike-Video-image

Thank you for visiting, , , your comments and sharing this post are appreciated.

ART by Dorine

Dorine Sisco, my wife and best friend for over 50 years was a talented artist. She had a realistic and impressionist style and loved to paint and draw in virtually all mediums. The PHOTOBOOK I created for a few friends and family is available below for you to enjoy her work. CLICK HERE to view a selection of Dorine’s art.

Happy Birthday USMC

Today, November 10th, 2019 is the 244th birthday of the United States Marine Corps (USMC). I was in the Marine Corps from April 1969 to April 1973. In looking back, I can truly say that these were important formative years for me and I’m proud to have served my part.

I met some great people and a few truly unique characters to be sure. Our son Eddie was named after Eddie Hunt III, the son of a Master Gunnery Sargent Dorine and I knew when we were stationed in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt became close friends and we had some great experiences with them during our first two years of marriage.

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

MDE Enterprises, Inc.

I created my company, MDE Enterprises, Inc. on September 1, 2000. In the beginning, I didn’t know what I really wanted to do other than I wanted to do something with the Internet and probably avoid consulting work.

At the very start, we were a consulting company with a 3-month contract with my last company where I had been their CIO. This eventually went for 11 months before we parted ways for good. It was good revenue for us in the beginning and allowed me to focus on developing the real MDE company for the future.

During this first year, I decided to write a book and try to sell it on the Internet. So, What To Look For in a CIO was written. Mid-way in the development of this book, it dawned upon me that I really needed to write a series of books to discuss how to do things that an IT manager needs to be able to do to achieve success.

What happened was that I had an eye-opener, , , what I needed to do was to do what I had been doing for my entire career, , , teach others how to manage an IT organization successfully.

I still remember doing the “all nighter” when I drafted the Table of Contents of 9 more books that I thought I needed to write. All of a sudden, I have an immediate road map and I’ve sort of settled into what would become my company’s mission, “helping IT managers of the world achieve more success“.

After a year, I completed the last of the 10 books I had set out to write. Once completed, I embarked immediately on creating the IT Manager ToolKit to give to “early buyers” of my full series of books. After completing the 2nd book, IT Management-101: fundamentals to achieve more, I created a web page and started selling the entire series (10 e-books) for $179.00.

Yep, I started selling all ten books even though only two of them were completed. What was amazing is that by the time I completed all ten (about 10 months later), I had sold 104 sets of the unfinished full series. I call these people “early buyers”.

When I completed the IT Manager ToolKit, I sent them all an email message with a download link for a free ToolKit, something I hadn’t envisioned creating until I was working on the 8th book.

I gave them more than what they paid for because of the good faith and trust they had placed with me. It felt really good.

In addition, I immediately increased the price of the full series of e-books including the ToolKit to $279.00 which is what it is today, 17 years later.

I went on to write 5 more books and develop a considerable amount of training that has taken me around the world, , , posts for a later date. Nine years after publishing the full series of 10 books, I rewrote them and changed the covers to reflect that they are all part of a series.

The “full series” of the Practical IT Manager books