Sunday, January 28, 2007
Analysis: John Newton of Alfresco
If your day job is in the ECM space, you really should be reading John Newton as he is one of the smartest individuals in the ECM space...
For the record, my day job nor personal interests requires me to understand ECM yet I find his pattern of thinking interesting. In his latest blog entry he discusses his experiences in listening to the likes of Tony Blair, C.K. Prahalad, Bernard Liautaud, Shimon Perez, Sergy Brin and Larry Page and John Chambers. The opportunity to sit down with the most brilliant people in the world and talk about the most extraordinary things is something that most humans have a quiet desperation to experience. My life is filled with mediocrity and in many ways, my blog lives through the eyes of others.
I can say that serving on a panel with the likes of John Newton and Marc Fleury, as they are two of the few within IT that I think are brilliant. Sadly, I haven't personally met anyone outside of IT that I consider truly brilliant. I can say that I know several NFL players who grew up in my town, I met Gail King who is Oprah's best friend, and even met several US senators and other famous folks, but I can't really call any of these folks brilliant. I guess I can say that in my travels, I have been priveleged to discuss politics with the likes of Chuck D. of Public Enemy and KRS-One. I can even say that I was enlightened by running into Flava Flav on Houston Street one day when he was out in the street cursing because someone stole the battery out of his Datsun, but insight isn't necessarily the same as brilliance.
If it isn't too late for me to change my goals, I hope that this year I will be fortunate to talk with folks whom I find as truly brilliant. I would love to talk face-to-face with the following brilliant individuals: Michael Savage, Guy Kawasaki, Jack Welsh, Jacques Aigrain, Muhammad Yunus, Carl Icahn, Bill & Melinda Gates, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Hank Paulson, Rajat Gupta, Kenneth Chenault, Zhou Xaiochuan, Azim Premji, Bill Gross and William Haseltine as they could each shortcut the necessary mentorship the journey for things that I would otherwise struggle to achieve.
In the meantime, I hope that John continues to share his thoughts, his journeys, his rants and screeds with others in the blogosphere so folks like me can at least aspire for something better...
| | View blog reactionsFor the record, my day job nor personal interests requires me to understand ECM yet I find his pattern of thinking interesting. In his latest blog entry he discusses his experiences in listening to the likes of Tony Blair, C.K. Prahalad, Bernard Liautaud, Shimon Perez, Sergy Brin and Larry Page and John Chambers. The opportunity to sit down with the most brilliant people in the world and talk about the most extraordinary things is something that most humans have a quiet desperation to experience. My life is filled with mediocrity and in many ways, my blog lives through the eyes of others.
I can say that serving on a panel with the likes of John Newton and Marc Fleury, as they are two of the few within IT that I think are brilliant. Sadly, I haven't personally met anyone outside of IT that I consider truly brilliant. I can say that I know several NFL players who grew up in my town, I met Gail King who is Oprah's best friend, and even met several US senators and other famous folks, but I can't really call any of these folks brilliant. I guess I can say that in my travels, I have been priveleged to discuss politics with the likes of Chuck D. of Public Enemy and KRS-One. I can even say that I was enlightened by running into Flava Flav on Houston Street one day when he was out in the street cursing because someone stole the battery out of his Datsun, but insight isn't necessarily the same as brilliance.
If it isn't too late for me to change my goals, I hope that this year I will be fortunate to talk with folks whom I find as truly brilliant. I would love to talk face-to-face with the following brilliant individuals: Michael Savage, Guy Kawasaki, Jack Welsh, Jacques Aigrain, Muhammad Yunus, Carl Icahn, Bill & Melinda Gates, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Hank Paulson, Rajat Gupta, Kenneth Chenault, Zhou Xaiochuan, Azim Premji, Bill Gross and William Haseltine as they could each shortcut the necessary mentorship the journey for things that I would otherwise struggle to achieve.
In the meantime, I hope that John continues to share his thoughts, his journeys, his rants and screeds with others in the blogosphere so folks like me can at least aspire for something better...
