In a Nutshell (part two)

I found that "something else" for myself in two parts. The first being Information Security. While a few might say that infosec is the reasoning behind the specializations that I dislike, segregation of responsibilities for security reasons really came much later (relative to I.T.), but I will save all that for another entry. What infosec did offer was the continued reason to learn and understand all of the systems within an organization. How each application behaves and relates to one another is just as important for security as the application itself, and for the record, it is just as important for the I.T. personnel who is an Expert in said application.

The second part of my solution was to step slightly away from the hands-on aspect of technology (at least in the work force) and push a little paper. Supervision and management became my primary new focus within the Information Technologies world. Although becoming a manager allowed a continued broad focus on technology and learning, it was not enough within many larger organizations as managers were department heads over specialized groups. Back to that again.

There was only one avenue to travel and that was Information Systems Director (similar titles included). Many groups, many specialties, many projects, many small pictures; one hat and a big picture view. My hands might not get so dirty, but they are definitely not manicured. With every project and every task I was able to explore the new systems and applications, and then have the luxury of taking a step back and seeing how it all relates. I was home.

As a good supervisor, I firmly believe I should understand everything my employees do, should be available to assist or provide information, and should never be willing to ask an employee to handle something that I, myself, can not handle. At least that is the stance I take and it is one that has allowed me to stay in touch with the technology I hold so dearly.

For my future, I can only see myself staying in the Information Technologies and Securities field. My soul burns for robotics, but I can never see myself inventing, designing or building someone else's vision or idea. It was the same, to a lesser extent, with programming and development for me. So I will continue to learn and grow in the I.S. industry, and devote my personal time and resources to fulfilling the whisper I heard when I was still so very young. And I will smile.