An interesting exercise that I try to do, and probably should do more often, is figuring out how to reinvent myself. What does it mean to reinvent yourself? at least to me, it means figuring out how to evolve myself. So for me, I typically try to look at all the aspects of my life, personal, relationships, business, work, and anything else that I may have noticed causes me stress.
Well, the biggest thing that is driving my current evolution is determining where I should be spending my energy. I have spent so many years in SAP, that it has lost its excitement to me. I guess when you get really good at something, eventually you run out of directions you can take it. Sure, I could commit to learning new bolt on’s, latest and greatest features, etc. But in general, that has lost it’s appeal. Instead, I have become very interested in some of the new emerging technologies, and trying to figure out how an old dog like me, can get involved. I’ve spent some time on Udactiy learning about Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and virtual reality. All of these have potential to be HUGE in the coming decade. The problem is that I don’t feel connected to any these things. Perhaps I just haven’t figured it out yet, but none of them are really calling my name as the next big thing I HAVE to do. But my good friend Garett talked to me about the blockchain this past weekend. Sure, I’ve heard about it. Bitcoin made it famous, but I guess I didn’t really understand the power of it. So he sent me this link:
Don Tapscott: How the blockchain is changing money and business
The idea that the blockchain has the potential to become a secure way of maintaining my privacy, and maybe even leading to E-Democracy instantly got me excited. I mean, who wouldn’t love a world where you you could determine what parts of your digital identity you would release. Instead of companies controlling mass amounts of information about me, I could decide what they really needed to know and what I was willing to share. Take that the next level of E-Democracy, a world where politicians are barely needed =) for those of you that know me well, I’m sure you understand my excitement at that.
Regardless, this simple 20 minute TED talk has redirected me yet again. It’s finally a new technology that has benefits that I want, and for a change so would a lot of other people. So one part of my evolution is to learn as much about the blockchain as I can, and figure out how I can get involved, even if it’s writing simple code for free, or whatever I can do. So if any of you out there have anything that might help me, or point me in the right direction, please let me know.
Thanks for reading,
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike