Monday May 09, 2005

I noticed two small changes during my latest business trip to the Bay area.

First, when I paid for gas using my credit card at a Chevron station in Newark, I was prompted to enter my zip code at the pump. I'm hoping this was some sort of security check (either a local check using the info on my magstripe or a remote one as part of the transaction authorization) rather than just a demographic survey by the local gas station.

And, second, I was greeted by name when I got out of my car in the Avis rental lot. I correctly deduced that the check-in person had used his hand-held check-in device to access my record by entering my license plate number. It was a nice personal touch. When I asked him about it, he speculated it wouldn't be long before the lot would be wired to sense cars as they enter and automatically read their identity, mileage, fuel level, etc.

I attended our organization's quarterly in-person staff meeting on Sun's Newark, CA campus last week. We covered some of the usual things at the 2.5 day meeting, but spent a full 1.5 days on our annual TAP (Talent Assessment Process) exercise.

This year we discussed every manager and every senior staff engineer in our organization-- roughly 50 people. The reviews of strengths and weaknesses were both thoughtful and frank with staff members contributing their perspectives to those offered by the presenting Directors. We spend the time because these people are our leaders, both managerial and technical, and this is important for the overall health and effectiveness of our organization.

In an industry where the Dilbertian pointy-headed boss is held up as the norm, it was good to see some counter-examples in action. I was impressed by the sincerity and care that everyone brought to the table for these discussions.