The logic that if you are not the lead "dog" the view does not change, is refuted here. If in business the suggestion is that you must be number 1 in the dogsled team to create a compelling experience flies in the face of common sense. Being the lead dog is a celebrated position, and should be the result of consistently and persistently delivering a compelling value that people want to produce, deliver, and consume. Being the front dog, is the reward, however not the endstate, for once becoming the lead dog, there is the issue of how to maintain that position.

This week I reflected on what it takes to be one of the Best Places to Work in IT. ComputerWorld does this annually, and as part of my style, I study the attributes of what makes a company "best". The answers differ depending on your point of view, but the "best" companies are "best" at staying in touch with the talent they have, the problems they need solved, and the opportunities that must have innovation to solve them. "Solve" means not to complete a project, but to contiually deliver a product with the right resource, time, and output that the customer requires. What happens in the environment comes from being "best" regardless of the view.

I choose Sun IT as one of the Best Places to work for it's innovation and dedication to introspective action. leadership, drive, and flexibility. I choose Sun as a best place to work in IT because I truly believe if there was a better place, I would be there now. I choose my environment and my partnerships and Sun has the best mix of compensation, recognition, challenge, vision, and balance for a person like me, for a group, like I happen to work with, and for the world of diversity that I have come to enjoy as a benefit of being part of someething way larger than office cubicle work!

Sun is not the best because they are the lead dog. We have had our share of celebrated Successes, and World Class Defeats. It was how we played the game that is compelling. Sun creates a culture where talent and people matter, and their contributions are tied to the end state-- present and future. As Global Warming and environmental concerns heat up, it feels good to know that I am working for a company that cares as much about the earth we live on, as the products we make, and are constantly striving to improve THEIR personal best. Sun is not the Best Place to work with in IT because we are one of the leading technology companies, but because regardless of what happens, great news or bad news, we will prove that what business does is adapts, adjusts, and continues to earn the trust that has been given us. When bad things happen to good companies, you get to learn a bit about that, and I feel it was not because good or bad things were happening that we were the best, but that we maintained a focus that regardless of what is happening outside, we will accept that extraordinary results come from extraordinary dreaming, inspired vision, and tactical execution.

I am Dawn, named this because I was born very early in the morning when the sunlight was crossing the walls of the hospital. Over a decade ago in March, I cam to work for Sun by choice. My choice was based upon the belief that I felt Sun was not one, but the singular best place to work in IT in Silicon Valley. Now I had plenty of time to form that opinion... It was based upon years of studying, experience, interviews and successes of others. If you want to know about "best" ask someone who is already doing and feeling that feeling of best fit for them.

I was working in the marketing department of an IT company in San Jose when Sun began actively looking to hire someone like me. My experience at work was making the process easy to consider alternatives. It would have been the second quarter of "active layoffs" and rumors of our company being sold were getting louder. On days when our beautiful expansive lobby with the friendly receptionists were replaced with 2 security guards with arms crossed, we knew that this particular day was probably not going to be a great one for many people in the building, if they needed 2 guards to replace the 1 very nice receptionist that greeted us every morning with a smile.

Of the companies in the Valley, my best option was either a start up that had not been launched yet, or Sun Microsystems. From the time I had identified them as compelling, interviewed people that worked there and contrasted that realistically with my experience, I could see myself really enjoying and appreciating what it would take WHEN I achieved my goal of working for this great company. I had placed numerous people when working in staffing out on the Sun accouunt and for many of them, it would be the last temporary job they worked before being hired on regularly... everyone I knew who went to work for Sun, loved it.

I chose Sun because their desire to dream, strive, and be better was not only complimentary to mine, it scared me a bit when I wondered if I was "good enough" to cut mustard. Two of my mentors at the time, advised me not to leave Sun for this company because Sun was too big a company to care, and you could never get noticed. I valued their opinion, but then I remembered the security guards in the lobby.. That would become an important metaphor for my career because the day I set my sights on Sun and accepted the offer in Sun, those guards were in the lobby. IF I had taken the advise of my mentors, we all would be looking for work later the afternoon that I chose to leave.

I have been fortunate in always working for great companies, and always having exactly the resource I needed to take care of my families needs while giving my personal best to my job. My opinion of BEST places to work is personal and professional. The universe has always given me that gentle direction I needed to be able to stay associated with companies that challenged me and required me to grow, but most of my growth and learning has happened in the last decade of continuous process improvement of my own career in Sun IT.

It is about the freedom to grow and challenge yourself, work on great problems that need solving. It is about working in an environment where your colleagues are equally capable focused and inspirational. That has been my experience for the most part at Sun. We are working on technology AND towards the present with an eye on the future--- also attributes I find compelling.

I have telecommuted, giving up my office and worked from home as part of this larger team that is Sun Information Technology and that is Sun Microsystems International for 7 years. When doing this, I was told that people who telecommuted ran the higher risk of redundancy, however one of the things I valued most, and probably Sun valued for me, is my workstyle to deliver results regardless of where I lived. Telecommuting is not easy-- for management or the individual contributor, but it's mastery plus networking makes one invaluable in their industry. Imagine the overhead and savings that could be recognized if people did not need an office to "go to", and a car and gas to "get there". My proximity to the office has no comparison to Sun's proximity to my work environment. I love Sun because of all the reasons I loved it over a decade ago. Coming up on my anniversary month in March, I think today Sun has become what I hope will be my lastt and best Corporate Experience. Most of my career at Sun was in IT, which surprised me because I thought I was a marketing person. What I was able to learn in IT, is that there is an art to Information Technology, there is a logic to problem solving, and there is a complexity that must be masked and marketed to delivering IT Service. What a joy that discovery was. It's liberation comes from being able to write and deliver a proposal with simplicity, vision, and sweet resolve that creates a win win environment