Wrap IT Up!

Transformation
There is always buzz at conferences when certain people are scheduled to speak and Cisco Live was no exception. This having been my first time in attendance I wasn't aware of some of the names being talked about at the snack stations, but a couple names continually came in conversation, one being Guillermo Diaz, SVP.CIO of Cisco. The ITM hall was filled when Guillermo took the stage for his "Harnessing the Power of Transformation and Why it's Good for Business and You" presentation. Guillermo is not an overly exaggerated bouncing around the stage kind of presenter, but quite the opposite. He has a very calm demeanor with what appears to be a genuine personality. Change and digital transformation continued to be the on-going topic and Guillermo and his guest speakers provided more takeaways worth noting below.

• IT is at the foundation of any business
• Change will happen by us, with us, to us
• Change is changing
• Digital transformation is the #1 thought of every manufacturer in the world
• 3% of the Cisco manufacturing budget is spent on sustained transformation and experimentation
• Transformation is not an event, but a perpetual leadership task
  

Each of the takeaways I have listed above could be broken down, discussed, and written about for quite some time. Take a little time to process and decide what they have in common, how do they relate to you as a leader, and your organization.

Captain Mike

The last keynote for the IT Management group was Captain Michael Abrashoff, motivational speaker and former commander of the USS Benfold. Michael is definitely an amazing speaker with a quick wit and experiences that are very relatable and inspirational. I quickly found common ground when he made a statement about getting caught up in trying to change things not in our control. He used an example that he could have blamed the Navy for giving him command of the lowest ranked ship in the fleet, but he knew that if things were going to change, he had to focus on what was in the crew and his control.
Often when things are difficult or in disarray we get caught up into looking for something or someone to blame things on, instead, look inward, evaluate, and focus.  

• Transformation is about putting yourself in the right position to control your own destiny
• Engage people to have the same sense of urgency as you have
• Provide sense of ownership
• Stop obsessing over what you can't change
• No one is a born leader, it's a lifelong journey
• Excellent without arrogance
• It's your ship (you'll have to read his book for this one ;)

Cisco Live A++

I had a great week at my first Cisco Live event and have many takeaways from both the product side and the leadership track. Combining both areas and learning about the operating strategies and road map of a 50 billion dollar company was educational and highly recommended. I look forward to the continued partnership with Cisco and our journey in Gilbert Public Schools with the implementation of Webex collaboration tools, transformation in the making. 

World of Solutions

Ask Chuck!
Another exciting start on Tuesday with Chuck Robbins, Chairman & CEO of Cisco Systems, having an exclusive Q&A with the ITM group. Many CEO's of organizations as large as Cisco would shy away from this type of situation, but he did not, and answered all questions directly. His answers were filled with great takeaways, here are a few.

•  Find some place you love and work there
• If you want people to believe in the destination, they have to believe in you today
• Leaders are responsible for making sure the right strategy is built, then reverse the org chart and support the team

Cognitive Collaboration

I'm sure you are wondering if the day two keynote gathering started off with an amazing series of music and lights and the short answer is yes. If every gathering of employees could start off with this same pre-show, your staff morale would definitely improve :). However the light show wasn't the main reason, I was interested in listening to Amy Chang, the SVP/GM of Collaboration for Cisco Systems. One of the challenges in K-12 education in my view is finding ways for teachers to easily get out of the four walls of their classroom and connect with other educators, attend professional development, and collaborate efficiently. Gilbert Public Schools is beginning to implement Webex and the changes and integrations are of great interest right now to provide our end users the best experience possible. Amy is a dynamic speaker, has great energy and provided valuable information on the roadmap for Webex. I appreciated her statement that her team is building bridges not islands, as it reinforces my broken record phrase I like to use with my team, you can not be an island as it keeps growth from happening.   

The Abyss
If you have attended any large conference you have visited the sponsor area that can be overwhelming and often intimidating as you try not to make eye contact with the sea of vendors. I found the World of Solutions to be a nice mix of vendors and Cisco product area demonstrations and talks. I was able to speak with Google about their future Webex integration that will be key for our organization. Being a G Suite for education district, the integration with Webex would greatly enhance the collaboration ability for our teachers and staff. Another area of great interest is with Cisco's Room Kit products and a nice demonstration was done to highlight some of the capabilities. I also walked out with a couple pairs of socks, how can you go wrong!

Ready.....Go!

"You Make Possible"
My first day at Cisco Live was off to a great start with arriving for the opening keynote from Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, Chuck Robbins, to an exciting setup using what else but technology to choreograph music and lights to hype the crowd. Shortly into his address, he made the statement, "technology is at the heart of everything", which is hard to disagree with. A  number of top Cisco leaders spoke on different areas during the keynote presentation including enterprise networking, IoT, innovation in DNA center, and how AI and ML will assist with the complexity in our networks.

"Pace of Change"
As the day has quickly rolled on, the IT Management track fired up and has been filled with thought provoking sessions and speakers. One in particular that I enjoyed was Susan Gueli, SVP/CIO of Infrastructure & Operations and Digital Transformation & Enterprise Applications for Nationwide. She started with discussing the exponential pace of change by using a grain of rice example, which says to take a checkerboard and start with two grains of ride and double every other square and after 64 squares, she threw out a number I can't even pronounce, but let's just say you have lots of rice. It puts into perspective the challenges in front of us as we deal with the rapid pace that technology continues to change our landscape. Another takeaway from Susan's talk that I appreciated was "focus first on what you know, not what you don't know". Her point was to let what you know propel you forward and tackle the "what you don't know" along the way.

Girl Power

A first for Cisco Live was a group of high school girls from Arizona's Paradise Valley School District presenting on cyber security. Their knowledge and wisdom was very evident and one of the girls comments on how it is going to take the perspective from more than just one group of individuals to solve problems was very profound.   

Employee Tenure
The last session I attended today was Leading Talent in the Digital Age, presented by Steve Cadigan, Talent Expert, Collaborated End Users. Steve's a great public speaker and was very engaging in his delivery and content. His shared examples of today's workforce and the challenges with employee tenure were relevant and informative. One of Steve's examples of retaining employees was a company that reversed the bring your child to work day and instead had a bring your parents to work day. Think about that for a moment, he said the companies retention went up.

First BBQ: Cisco Live

Newbie

This year will be my first visit to Cisco Livc, taking place in cool San Diego, California! Although the dry AZ heat has not fully kicked in yet, the thermometer has been on the rise and it is always nice to visit any city on the coast. As you have probably already deduced from the post title, this is my first time attending Cisco Live and from what I have been told, it is a fun filled learning experience that should not be missed. 

The Track

Having attended ISTE for many years, another very large conference with more of an educational technology focus, I understand how easy it is to spend time aimlessly walking around lost if you don't have somewhat of a plan. Instead of spending endless hours looking through the session catalog I was given a tip to sign up for the IT Management Track as a starting point. This turned out to be a great piece of advice as the schedule actually fell very in line with sessions I would have chosen. The session filter has also been beneficial in filtering by category and allowing me to find collaboration and security sessions that I am interested in for this maiden voyage to the event. 

Keep Posted

I am going to do my best to post a daily update from the event as a way to do that quick reflection that is key to getting the most out of any event or professional development. With the enormous amount of content being presented this week, it is easy to be exposed to much and remember little, so use a system that works for you. 
In the short time I have been here I have already had the opportunity to build my very own lego dude, that is a sign of great things to come. #clus @CiscoLive