EPM Conversations Episode 24 — A Portrait in Leadership: Women in EPM with Sharon Wang

This one is different

EPM Conversations has been lucky to have a variety of Performance Management guests:  vendors, people from other places and tongues, fantastic players in our little technological space, and of course the Women in EPM series.  All of them are great (even the ones where Yr. Obt. Svt. is a guest), insightful, interesting, and often quite funny.  In short, they are the stuff that technology podcasts dream of.

What we have not had is a consultant who does not primarily have a technical bent.  By that I mean, EPM Conversations is a technical podcast, it is presented by four consultants (although our participation switches round as our guests’ background dictates) who (mostly, although as you’ll hear in this episode that isn’t 100% true) are techies first and foremost.  This episode’s guest, Sharon Wang, has an element of a technologist’s perspective, but at her core she is a management consultant focused on organizational change within the context of technology.  Without – hopefully – sounding like a hick from the sticks, I find that utterly fascinating.  It also opened my eyes about yet another professional path not taken in my so-called career because of the breadth that this dual focus brings to work, but such are the fortunes of war and of life.

Empathy.  Consultants with a sense of empathy, said hardly no one ever.

Oh dear, that makes consultants sound like monsters who care not a whit for their poor clients.  Of course that cannot be true lest said consultant wants a very short time in the workforce, but regardless putting oneself in someone else’s shoes can be difficult, particularly if you haven’t walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.  Yes, two idioms referencing shoes in one sentence but they work.

Sharon has that experience in industry and so understands the needs and goals of both sides of the project table.  Consultants work with clients during project implementation but then, if the Good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, they leave at project end.  The customer then owns the application.  What happens then?  Unbridled joy?  A casual insouciance?  Unrelenting terror and despair?  Deep and abiding satisfaction?  All of the above?  A good consultant, a consultant who understands the customer’s world – in other words, an emphatic consultant – understands these potential outcomes and their likelihood.  In my (gasp) 28 years of consulting I’ve sometimes been witness (surely never party) to a distinct lack of empathy; pain ensues.  A consultant that understands the other side of the conference table never lets that happen.

Organizational change through Performance Management, or is that Performance Management through organizational change?

We technologists often view technology as the lever to move the organizational world and we are often successful in that approach.  However, in my (gasp, yeah, again) 28 years of consulting, I have seen (alas, this time sometimes as party to, but always against my better judgement and will) projects that only focus on the system and not the people.  Sometimes clients need only a better mousetrap, other times they need a wholesale change in the way they think and work.  Sharon (and I might note Natalie does as well) sees that gap and how to fill that.

There’s more, much more

I could go on (please, Cameron, don’t I imagine you’re thinking), but I think I’ve spilt enough digital ink without covering the nature of Performance Management over time, mentoring, the role of AI, and the role of the humanities in technology.

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversations Episode 23 — A Portrait in Leadership: Women in EPM with Oracle Barbie aka Kate Helmer

A doll by any other name

Kata Helmer, aka Oracle Barbie formerly known as Hyperion Barbie, Oracle Ace Director, and oh yes ODTUG board member is just one person, but oh my, what an accomplished one. 

I’ve always been intrigued by Kate’s alias:  she’s quite obviously a professional of some import and yet names herself after a child’s doll.  Why?

Subversion vs. celebration

Barbie (the doll, not the guest of this episode in the Women in EPM series) – or at least I thought so before recording this episode – sort of has a not totally awesome reputation.  How wrong I was (again, Cameron, again?) and, having been the host (and listened to the episode eleventy times during the edit), how sure I am there can be real difference between a man’s and a woman’s perspective.  Or I was just wrong.  Or why not both?

Kate views Barbie as an exemplar of a woman that can do anything.  Beyond the popularity of Barbie as a doll and the success of the recent Barbie movie, there are any number of academic posts on the subject.

So is “Oracle Barbie” a sly flip of an incorrect impression or an overt embrace of a powerful woman?  Listen and find out.

NB – I was strictly a 12 inch GI Joe (surely the only real one – those Wee Willie Winkie ones are sort of an action figure abomination) fan and they taught me that camping is fun, which although a nice leisure activity, was not a transformative life effect.

The path to master data management

Kate’s journey from the defense industry to Hallmark to consulting with an ever-increasing emphasis on managing the data that defines data is interesting.

What I also find interesting that Kate was introduced to Essbase in a manner similar to mine:  her manager asked her to take a look at Hyperion System 9 and the rest is history.  Performance Management has many branches but its roots are the same.

Just who is your favorite serial killer?

EPM Conversation episodes have a “rule of 3” where the guests tell us what their favorite three books, movies, and people in history are.  Nowhere in that list is the subject of serial killers although I suppose opening it up to “people in history” could include them.  Don’t believe me?  Go to about 52:25 to hear the immortal words. “You’re not a true crime junkie until you have a favorite serial killer”.  All I can think of is this song.

The rest of the story

There’s more, much more than the above précis.  The only way for you to know is for you to listen to Kate’s episode.

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversations Episode 19 – A Culture Clash Conversation Or Our Kith and Kin Across The Sea Explicit

It’s a Book, It’s a Podcast Episode, It’s Kismet

A bunch of geeks (native born, immigrants; Americans all) interviewing an Australian and a New Zealander/Australian/American (it’s complicated) set Yr. Obt. Svt. to immediately think of the title of this podcast (eh, I need to get more than one hobby), who then looked up the phrase and found that…it’s a travelogue of a New Zealander’s view of the USA, circa 1888.  Seriously, what are the chances that the Mind of Cameron (often non compos mentis, invariably kind of wacky) and reality and a not half bad title smack up against each other?  This podcast episode was destiny realized.

The point behind this (I have finally managed to get round to that) is that the ties between the Antipodes and the Americas are long standing.  This may make our Cousins wince in recognition, but in my travels to their lands, I’ve been markedly struck by the similarities.  Yes, of course different origins (although related), and different emphasis in politics and society, but not unrecognizably; culturally in outlook and aspirations, we are awfully alike.  Okay,  I think so, but do they?


What then is the value of a Culture Clash episode where people-who-are-practically-Americans (ahem) are interviewed by-people-who-are-practically-Aussies-and-Kiwis?  I have noted that those who are closest and yet different are often the best observers, for they are alike enough to understand nuance but separate enough to not be blinded by a common mindset.

Richard (the man of a million or so legitimate passports) and Pete (just the one country, but Godzone)  have lived/worked in the States.  Just what are their perceptions?  What are two very different (from the US-of-A) EPM markets like?

I should note that Pete got me the 2017 Best Kscope Essbase co-speaker award that I have always, always, always wanted.  My oh my, did I want that, did I ever think I deserved it – yes, cruel ego as it was always unfulfilled – and I never did get it till Pete and I did a presentation on Hybrid Essbase.  I will note that Pete has won multiple best speaker awards at Kscope, so I have a sneaking suspicion our joint award is 20% Cameron, 80% Pete but no matter, a win is a win.  I should also note that Kscope 2017 was my last Oracle conference as a speaker, so it made the reward all the sweeter.

Richard graciously was my host at Flinders Uni way back in (I think) 2012 as part of an ODTUG conference tour of the Antipodes and facilitated (orchestrated?) an ODI/Essbase presentation at NZOUG.  My primary memory of that trip (I was in a constant state of jet lag) was dinner with Richard and a bunch of attendees and being stared at as a Real Life American geek, not commonly seen in the wild, sitting there eating his plate of spag bol, feeling more self-conscious than usual were that possible.  Oh well, I like to provide entertainment to all, no matter the cost. 

Having the two of them on the show was and is a special treat.

Not For The Faint of Heart

For those of delicate disposition, easily offended by adult words, mortally insulted by honest, open, and frank conversation, I fear you must put on your big boy/girl pants and buckle up.  We Americans, cultural descendants of the Puritans, beseeched our guests to tone down the language lest you, Gentle Listener, get a case of the vapors.  They mostly complied, but You Have Been Warned.  That takes care of the North Americans; the rest of the world won’t care.

Sensitivities aside, as always our guests are witty, insightful, and extremely interesting.

EPM Conversations Episode 18 — A Culture Clash Conversation or Fro and To and Fro Again with Kishore Mukkamala and Sumit Deo

Why is Yr. Obt. Svt. not part of this podcast? Aren’t you glad I’m not?

The Culture Clash series has – from the feedback we’ve heard – been well received. Thus far it’s been Americans talking to our comrades in performance management arms about their experience in their home country and in North America. What we’ve not had is someone from another country talking to his countrymen. This podcast deviates from that model because my Objectively Younger, Taller, Smarter and Subjectively Better Looking Brother From Other Parents is from India and is speaking with two of his Indian friends, Kishore Mukkamala and Sumit Deo. It was – and this was quite difficult for someone who has figuratively kissed the Blarney Stone – my idea to redact myself and Natalie and Tim from the podcast as we simply don’t have the background to do justice to this episode, thus, Celvin as the host.

C:\Users\cameronl\Downloads\th-3520471478.jpg

Not Cameron

One of the things that makes this such an interesting episode is that Celvin really understands the immigrants journey – all three of them have had very different experiences and yet all three have had ones that are awfully close. Because of this, I think you, oh Gentle Listener, will find nuance and understanding in this episode that may very well be unique.

They came for opportunity. They left for family.

One of the things that I found so interesting about this podcast (your hosts and our guests listen to all of our episodes before they go live, the former for OMG-is-this-any-good and the latter for OMG-am-I-going-to-get-fired-over-this-content) is the effort and challenges Sumit and Kishore underwent as they came to the States and built a life only to return to their homeland. Their reasons differ slightly but commonly share the threads of family ties and duty. One cannot but admire their undoubtedly hard (have a listen to what they had to go through to get into this country and work here – it ain’t easy) decisions, for this is what real men (and women but c’mon, they are quite literally guys) willingly sacrifice for their families.

Their paths here (and I include Celvin) are interesting, their careers varied, their love of Essbase similar. They are inspiring stories and (for once) I as a listener was quite moved. I am sorry they left the States as I would very much like to meet them in person.

A couple of key things to listen for: guns, sports (American sports), movies (Hollywood is more accurate than one might imagine), personal space, Americans’ openness and friendliness, and just where are the servants.

A world united by Enid Blyton

At the end of every episode we (well, Celvin this time) ask our guests who in history they’d like to have dinner with, what they like to read, and the movies that they like in an attempt to know the real person.

I am as a native born American, somewhat taken aback by the well-read nature of our guests in this series. Kishore and Sumit are from their answers, people whose interests go far beyond just work and sports (I fear I do a disservice to my fellow Americans but let’s be real: how many philosophers does your average USAian list in his I’d-like-to-have-dinner-with-this-person) . But most importantly, how many Americans are fans of the Famous Five? Hah! I am. Well, I think the Secret Seven were better, but the Famous Five are just fine as well.

I’m not an Indian, I’m not even an Honorary Indian (there are many times I wish I was), but I am a huge Enid Blyton fan, courtesy of my father’s USAID­ contract in Guyana. From the Cameron Lackpour library, photographed on his office desk:

I’m not sure if listening to this podcast will convince you to dive into the really quite magical world of Enid Blyton, but if you have children, I urge you to dip your toe into the metaphorical water of Peter, Janet, Pam, Barbara, Jack, Colin, and George and of course listen to our two fascinating guests. It really is a superb episode.

Join us, won’t you?

Episode No. 1: Introduction with Tim German, Celvin Kattookaran, and Cameron Lackpour

Introduction

We (Tim, Celvin, and Yr. Obt. Svt.) are thrilled to announce our new endeavor: EPM Conversations. If you’ve made it to this page you are about to experience the joy that is the three of us – and many more of our fellows in the EPM/CPM world.

What

What is EPM Conversations? It’s a forum for you to hear your peers as they discuss why, what, and how they exist and thrive in our little corner of the software world.

You will hear opinion, advocacy, a fair amount of skepticism when it’s deserved, and always a keen curiosity. What you will not hear is any negativity from the interviewers or the interviewees. This isn’t gotcha journalism but a collegial place to share ideas. NB – every guest has final say over content to preclude personal embarrassment/potential unemployment/likely lawsuits.

You are not going to hear one of us (Tim and I personally think this will be Celvin and we will do our utmost to dissuade him from reading Groovy or VB.NET or MDX aloud) go on and on about detailed code and (beyond the basics) techniques but we will always cover the considerations, approaches, and philosophy that make us who we are in the EPM world.

Who

Who will you hear? People just like you: customers, consultants, software companies, and even people who just might drive you in a new professional direction (never fear, this is not NSFW and definitely all about W). We currently have 12 guests who were foolish gracious enough to agree to be our guests.

Why

Why will you listen to EPM Conversations? You’ll listen and care because we’re going to bring the human – the connection, really – that a blog or a book or an article can never really convey. Think about why technical conferences are so valuable: yes, of course, technical content is key but so are the people you meet, people that you’d never even hear of within your formal job. EPM Conversations will bring home to you the person behind the name, the presentations, the message boards.

When

When will you hear new podcasts? Look for new content every three weeks or so.

Where

Well, right here. We’re also on Apple Podcasts and Google Play.

Join us, won’t you?

The very first episode

That was all prelude – let’s get on with the show.

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