Jason Powell - Church IT and Other Musings

Dell Technology Symposium for Non-Profits in partnership with Joyce Meyer Ministries and the Church IT Roundtable

If you're not signed up for the CITRT enewsletter you missed seeing the below info ... and shame on you for not being signed up already!  Since this Dell deal is short notice I'm posting the enewsletter here for your viewing pleasure :)

UPDATE 7/7/11 ... if you filled out the survey you should have gotten this email from Dell..
As we draw closer to the Tech Summit, the excitement within Dell is growing!  We are making final preparation for your arrival and have a great agenda we will be finalizing this morning.  I wanted to take this opportunity to send out Dell’s preferred hotels.  We have negotiated rates for our colleagues and guests so please take advantage.  If you have any questions, please let me know.
 
Dell will be providing transportation so for logistical purposes, we recommend the following hotels (Price sheet below):

Candlewood Suites Austin-Round Rock
Springhill Suites Austin-Round Rock
Homewood Suites Austin-Round Rock
Marriott Austin North
 
Note: You will be receiving a formal invite in the next couple of days for this event.  This will be critical to fill out and return as it will capture your flight and hotel information so that we can provide transportation.

FWIW - I know a number of CITRT peeps, including myself, are going to be staying at Springhill Suites.

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Hurry!  Limited time/space left for Dell's Free Technology Symposium for Christian Non-profits July 20-21!
This is a fun long story, but here's the short version - CITRT leadership recently learned of an upcoming meeting at Dell's HQ to foster peer learning among Christian non-proft orgs being spearheaded by Andrea Turek, Executive Director of IT at Joyce Meyer Ministries.  Since this sounded very similiar to CITRT, we reached out to see if collaborating might make sense.  Andrea hadn't heard of CITRT, but was very open to talk with us.  Several emails and conf calls later, we're excited to annouce our partnership with Andrea and Dell and to invite CITRT folks to Dell's campus for this free 2 day event.  Dell will be bringing in their engineering staff to talk with us about various topics many of us are wrestling with.  So while this is sorta last minute, it's an incredible opportunity to network with IT peers and learn about technology solutions to further ministry.  The event is free!  You just need to get yourself to Round Rock and find a hotel :-)

Here's the official invite from Dell:
You are invited to attend an exciting 2 day FREE event July 20-21 at the Dell Round Rock Executive Briefing Center focused on Christian non-profit organizations.  This event will provide content and best practices around the following topics:
Security – How to “plan” and create the best security roadmap solution
Storage -  Object Based Storage
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – Save your budget by deploying VDI
Systems Management/Automation via KACE
Mobile Management-Apple, Android, Windows
DR and Backup – We all want it, very few have it
Digital Asset Management – Create, deploy reuse
Database /Application Integration- flow data back without hardcoding with Boomi
We hope you will be able join your peers for some exciting learning and fun.  If you would like to participate, please add your information the survey below so that we may send you a formal invite.  We currently have 17 registrations and will only have room for 30 total.  Registration closes July 11th.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R8XHGF9 - to begin registration process (note: survey was created before we talked to Andrea & Dell so don't fret that there's no mention of CITRT)

OTHER NEWS...

Fall 2011 Regional Church IT RoundTables last week of October: 
The last week of October is our timeslot for all the regional sites to host their events with the exact day of the week up to the host site.  We have 2 sites confirmed but need many many more.  If you're interested in learning about becoming a regional site this fall check out this FAQ http://citrt.pbworks.com/w/page/7717466/hosting-a-regional-event-FAQ
You can also view the list of last year's host sites here http://citrt.pbworks.com/w/page/34816125/Past-CITRT-Events
If you're interested in being a host site this fall please send an email to [email protected] .. thanks!
Cost is $35 and once we firm up all the sites we'll send out registration info.

Spring 2012 National Church IT RoundTable:
It NOT too early to start planning for next spring's event!  Based on the attendance this past spring, we anticipate 200 IT peeps will be converging on Dallas next spring :-)
Put this on your calendar NOW and get it in your budget ASAP! 
Spring 2012 National Church IT RoundTable
April 18-20
$75 includes lunch/dinner both days
Watermark Community Church
Dallas, TX

As always, we welcome any suggestions/input you have on making CITRT better. What's working? What's not? How do we grow it? This is YOUR community.

Thanks,
CITRT Leadership Team
Geeks for Jesus!

Revamping IT Volunteerism At GCC Part II - Building Community

Continuing from Part I ...

Building Community

Another focus point of our revamp was finding ways to build better community with our volunteers.
Not too many things speak louder than when we invest in our volunteers with time.
So we decided to hit the pause button on Tech Ops tasks the 1st Monday evening of each month and dedicate that time to just hang with our volunteers.

What's that look like?  For starters we're inviting all current and potential volunteers to dinner at an offsite location each month.  Usually it will be "pay your own way", but we'll occasionally hope to make it a free dinner.  The purpose is simply to create space for getting to know each other better ... and what better way to do that with a bunch of geeks than with food!  Occasionally we may use this dinner meeting to share big picture info with the team, but typically the agenda will be ... eat and talk.

We're initially calling this the GCC Geeks Gathering and our 1st event is already scheduled - see http://gcctechops.eventbrite.com
One challenge will be finding places to eat that can easily accomodate our group as we predict it will grow...hence the use of eventbrite and RSVP's to gauge needs.

Other future community time could be tackling a community service project as group, helping each other with home projects, etc.  And of course there's the spirtual aspects of building community.  Praying for each other when times are rough, celebrating when things are rockin', challenging each other to take our next steps towards Christ.

Ripple effects... What if this grew beyond just being an "GCC" IT volunteer thing.  What if our volunteers started inviting their geek friends and co-workers to these Monday nights?  What would it look like to have a community of geeks that gather together to do life together?  What amazing stories could come out of the collision between geeks for Jesus and geeks that don't yet know they need Him?  Oh baby, that makes my heart beat fast and my brain short circuit! :-)

What our you doing to build community in your volunteer teams?

Here's a snippet from our recent Tech Ops Volunteer Info night where I go over some of our new 'community' initiative (audio is weak so crank up the volume) 

 

More to follow in Part III...

Revamping IT Volunteerism At GCC Part I - The Big Picture

Over the past couple months, my team has spent considerable time and energy around revamping our IT volunteer ministry.  Volunteering in our area has gone through many phases in my 7yrs at GCC, but this is our most focused effort to date to find new ways to engage people of all skill levels and build community.  It was a challenging, but rewarding process that has given us a great foundation from which to build upon in the months to come.

As we brainstormed items like new volunteer opportunities, we also went back and refined, “What is Tech Ops?” The goal: give a quick big picture overview of our department from technical facts to team culture to “set the stage” for people interested in volunteering.  Here's the result:

TECH OPS | BIG PICTURE

What we do:

The Tech Ops Department exists to equip the staff and members of GCC to be efficient and effective in the fulfillment of the Great Commission by providing relevant and strategic information, technological tools, technical support, and training.  In our service to the body of Christ, we seek to be positive, humble, approachable, responsive, and solution-oriented.

We care for:

• Network of approximately 200 computers both Dell and Apple
• 30+ virtual servers running on 2 Dell R710 VMware VSphere hosts tied to an EqualLogic PS6000E SAN
• Heavy Microsoft server and applications shop. Gotta love that non-profit discount!
• Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010, SQL 2008 R2, SharePoint 2010 Foundations
• Windows Vista, Windows 7, OSX
• HP Gigabit to the desktop switching infrastructure
• ATT MetroE 100Mbps down/10Mbps up with backup internet through Comcast Business 50Mbps down/10Mbps up
• Veeam and DPM2010 for backups including offsite replication to DR site downtown
• Full building public and private WiFi access

Who we are:

• Group of Network ninjas, cable-monkeys, CIOs and everything in between who lives to empower people with smart and hard-working technology while simultaneously protecting those same people from technological pitfalls and vulnerabilities (including themselves).
• Technology concierges who serve people—we whole-heartedly understand that how people “feel” about technology is more important than the functionality it has the potential to deliver. At the end of the day we’ve done our job if we deliver a peaceful, easy feeling for users on all every point of the skill continuum.
• A unique and inspiring culture full of sled dogs that are energized, demanding, encouraging and a little weird—we have a deep appreciation for a serious sense of humor when under pressure.
• On-call “IT” doctors with no office hours or geographic boundaries who understand that a good techie has less to do with degrees, certifications, and experience than being smart, passionate, and fearless.
• Team oriented. No matter how great the talent, this is a no-ego fly zone.
• At the end of the day— the why trumps the what—and we work as one every time.
• Dual platform with love for both mac and PC users. We are a bi-partisan team with no annoying fan boys.
• Super talented in a general way, each bringing our own unique blend of skills to the table to get a job done.
• Leaders of people or projects—working together to rally the troops or the tasks.
• Servants committed to supporting and fulfilling the mission, vision, values and goals of the church.

The above is now included our our volunteer interest webform (see http://gccwired.com/volunteer) under Technical and Skilled.

In future posts I’ll go over some of the new volunteer roles we created and other nifty aspects of our volunteerism revamp. If you were interested in volunteering in IT at GCC, what else could we include in our "big picture" to help you determine if this would be a good fit for you?

[update: Part II - Building Community now posted]

Video of Rick Warren Addressing the Church IT Roundtable Crowd

If you missed the recent Church IT Roundtable at Saddleback Church … well, you missed an AMAZING event! 

Just one part of what made it so incredible was having Rick Warren sit down (mostly unannounced) and spend 1.5hrs speaking to us, doing Q&A, and taking pictures if people wanted (and of course most everyone did!).

Rick’s talk was awesome…so much so that we’ve gotten TONS of people requesting copies of the live video we were streaming.  And thankfully the captured stream audio/video turned out great!  So hit the image above to hear Rick’s heart for the church and technology. 

Rick even tweeted about our CITRT event :-)
@RickWarren: We hosted 2 day #citrt nat'l roundtable for U.S. IT/Tech Pastors. Brilliant men & women! I love these guys! Pr.27:23

Pic of my wife and I hangin’ with Rick.

Did you know Rick’s a HUGE hot sauce fan? I did, so during the Q&A I asked him what his favorite was :-) ... I then followed up by asking how he kept/keeps his marriage strong.  He took several minutes to answer and did it in 3 parts: Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually...I think many of us geeks really needed to hear that.  I sure did!

We also got to experience what a funny guy Rick is … he’s hilarious!! 
Thanks Rick for taking the time out of your busy schedule to pour into 80+ Church IT leaders.  You marked us all in a very positive way.  Geeks for Jesus!!!

Standardization is KING! What IT can learn from Southwest Airlines...

This blog post started out small then turned into a giant brain dump on standardization.  Hope it's helpful ... Enjoy! :-)

IT can glean valuable lessons about hardware standardization from an unlikely source: Southwest Airlines, one of the most consistently successful and profitable airlines in an otherwise struggling industry. Unlike some of its troubled competitors, Southwest only buys one kind of plane (the Boeing 737), which means that Southwest’s planes are interchangeable when problems occur. Pilots and mechanics need to be trained for only one kind of “hardware,” and tools and spare parts are transferable across all the planes in the fleet. I bet some of the pilots might prefer to fly an Airbus A320, but the benefits of standardization for Southwest as a company outweigh the personal preferences of individual employees. The same logic applies to standardizing end-user hardware in corporate IT.  read entire article

Anyone that knows me probably knows I’m a huge proponent of standardization.  It was my 1st and main objective when I started at GCC in 2003, I’ve blogged about it, and talked it up any chance I get.  It was also one of the main topics I landed on in my all staff presentation in 2008 that received great feedback ... even from our exec pastor Tim Stevens.

I was reminded of just how sweet standardization is again last Monday night…

I got a text message from my boss, Kem Meyer, around 9pm that her laptop wouldn’t power on.  I texted back a couple things for her to try (remove batts, unplug power, press power button, plug in power, press power button) and then report back results.  She reported back same results.  I could tell she was stressing about this, while in my head I figured it was most likely a dead motherboard…"no biggie" I'm thinking.

Since we were working late Monday night and she lives very close, I asked her to bring her laptop over to GCC and we’d fix it up quickly.  She brought the laptop to us, we quickly pulled her hard drive and swapped it into another Dell Latitude D830 (we always keep at least 1 spare around for just this reason).  Powered the spare laptop on and taa daa she was back in business!  Had we not had a spare D830 one of my team would have donated our D830 to the cause … we’re nice like that :-)

I have many other stories about how standardization “saved the day” over the past 6 years like …

… Minutes before a presentation someone spilled a 32oz Mt. Dew on their Dell D600 laptop which of course fried it.  I quickly put their hard drive in my D600 and the presentation went off as scheduled.

… A staff member was at a multi-day conference in CA when their laptop hard drive died.  We took a fully functioning spare laptop, copied their files to that hard drive off the network file server and overnighted it to her along with a small screw driver (Our Dells have 2 screws to remove the hard drive).  She easily swapped drives and was back in business.

Not only does standardization give us rapid repair ability, it also greatly aids in troubleshooting issues.  You can quickly narrow an issue down to hardware or software by swapping hard drives into a known good laptop or desktop.  That can save a LOT of time!

Standardization also helps greatly with software builds and deployment … of course we’ve found this to be almost a non-issue when deploying windows7 on different hardware.

Naturally, standardization doesn’t happen overnight.  It took a good 3 years before I got GCC to where I was happy.  You just have to keep it elevated as one of your main goals.  In fact, when I started at GCC we had 60ish PC's of all size, age, and flavors ... models from 1997-2003 ... Gateway, Dell, Compaq, IBM, Sony, E-Machines (shudder!) ... Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP ... Office 97, 2000, XP … uggh!

A tool to help achieve quicker standardization is leasing.  Say you’ve got 50 computers that need replacing.  Rather than purchasing say 10 computers each year over 5 years, why not lease 25 each year over 2 years?  Yes, you’ll pay a little extra for them over the life of the lease (always do 3yr $1 buyout) but the ROI is easily justified.  Another option is get a bunch of the same units from http://dfsdirectsales.com  You’ll find LOTS of off lease Dell gear for a great price.  For instance our standard desktop model (Optiplex 745) is only $267 and they have many of them.  They usually will have little to no warranty, so just buy a couple extra as parts donors and you’ll be fine.  The beauty of Dell Optiplex line is that the hardware is very consistent across a model line.  So I can buy an off lease 745 and know it'll be compatible with our current 745’s.

Keeping a spare of each model of laptop/desktop you have in your org is uber helpful, but obviously not always possible. So as long as IT uses the same hardware as your end users then at least you can swap your parts with there’s. Better for IT to be inconvenienced by a computer issue than our end users, right?

What about Macs?  One of the great benefits of Macs is that standardization is already part of the equation since Apple controls 100% of the core hardware sold and there are very few options available.  So since Apple controls both hardware and the operating system you’re in good shape when deploying new OSX versions and updates provided you’re not dealing with both intel and non-intel models.  Hardware swaps are similar to PC’s, but replacing a Mac laptop drive is NOT simple/easy/quick in anything prior to the new uni-body design.  So shouldn’t you just standardize on all Macs?  Umm, there are several big reasons I’d say no from experience, but that’ll have to be another blog post.  I don’t have the time/energy to deal with all the fanboi comments I’m sure that’ll receive ;-)

[update: I failed to mentioned that we DO standardize on Macs for most everything related to audio/video creation and production.  Macs and mac software easily own this niche]

GCC standard Windows hardware since 2004
Desktops
Dell Optiplex GX270 (phased out)
Dell Optiplex GX280 (most of these are now in non-staff non-critical roles)
Dell Optiplex 745 (bought 8/07 to replace all staff GX280 desktops)

Laptops
Dell Latitude D600/610 (phased out)
Dell Latitude D810/830 (810’s mainly phased out)

Due to budget restraints we’ve not ordered any new desktops or laptops since late ‘07 early ‘08.

How long before you replace hardware (aka Lifecycle)?  When talking about standardization the question of lifecycle always comes up.  Several years ago you needed to upgrade hardware often to keep pace with new software versions.  For the most part that is no longer the case.  We’ve found that our 3 and 4 year old desktop hardware will run win7 quite speedy.  So I don’t plan to replace our current Dell 745 desktops anytime soon.  Laptops are another story due to the wear and tear they experience and their lower performance specs.  Our 2+ year old D830 laptops run win7 fine, but they could be more peppy.  The vid cards in older laptops just weren’t made for speed.  That said I’m hopeful we can maintain a 3 year laptop lifecycle.  That’s the end of our warranty period and after 3 years our users have usually thrashed them pretty well :-)  For desktop lifecycle, it’s looking like we can go 4+ years with our current 745’s maybe more…time will be the judge.

Future standardization at GCC?  I’m seriously considering moving all our staff to laptops down the road.  Research shows increased productivity when staff have laptop vs desktop, plus there’s a measurable power savings by not having desktops drawing power when nobody’s around (even if you ask people to power down nightly, often they forget).  So they question is … is the substantial increase in cost and maintenance of laptop vs desktop worth the hoped for increase in staff productivity/efficiency?  And how would you every truly measure that?  Many pros and cons to consider, but I really like the concept :-)

What about standardizing software?  Yup, same logic applies to core software (operating system, version of office productivity suite, etc).  However, all our users are local admin so they have the ability to install additional software which typically IT doesn’t support.  We’re currently running Windows Vista and Office 2007 site wide, however our migration to Windows7 has just started and we’ll do same with Office 2010 once it’s released.

And finally, I leave you again with this snippet from an old article I refer back to anytime this topic comes up … It’s a strong non-IT example that will resonate with upper management if they baulk at the value of standardization ;-)

IT can glean valuable lessons about hardware standardization from an unlikely source: Southwest Airlines, one of the most consistently successful and profitable airlines in an otherwise struggling industry. Unlike some of its troubled competitors, Southwest only buys one kind of plane (the Boeing 737), which means that Southwest’s planes are interchangeable when problems occur. Pilots and mechanics need to be trained for only one kind of “hardware,” and tools and spare parts are transferable across all the planes in the fleet. I bet some of the pilots might prefer to fly an Airbus A320, but the benefits of standardization for Southwest as a company outweigh the personal preferences of individual employees. The same logic applies to standardizing end-user hardware in corporate IT.  read entire article

50 Days Until the Spring National Church IT Roundtable March 11-12!

That’s right! Only 50 days until Church/Ministry IT staff and volunteers from across the country will descend upon Saddleback Church in warm sunny Lake Forest California to partake in 2 days of invaluable peer learning, networking and inspiration March 11-12.

If you can only attend one IT conf this year, this is the one I recommend without hesitation! Regardless of your church/org size, I guarantee you’ll leave with new knowledge, new friendships and loads of inspiration.  I’ve been to every National Church IT Roundtable since 2006 and I leave each one totally amazed at what I’ve gained.  Not to mention the incredible friendships I’ve built over the past few years are invaluable on both a person and professional level.  So in other words – make every effort possible to get to this event.  If you need me to write a note to your boss to help your plight let me know ;-)

We’re still firming up final costs, but it will be under $100…and that will include lunch and snacks both days…and if we get enough sponsors hopefully even dinner both nights.  Registration is open and cost is only $75 for both days including meals!

Sponsors?  Yes, we’re asking vendors to help offset the costs.  Please encourage your favorite vendors to contribute.  Even a small amount will be helpful.  See the sponsor page for more info.

Spouses?  Yes, a number of us have been informed by our spouses that they TOO will be coming to California :-)  Spouses are encouraged to join us during the evening gathering times.  Perhaps during the day they can form their own IT spouse support group and hang out together at the beach ;-)

Final details are still being nailed down, but here’s the schedule gist …
March 10 – optional pre-event informal gathering in the evening (possible dinner)
March 11 – Day 1 - 9am until late … Saddleback “behind the scenes” tour in late afternoon, group dinner, then a special worship service
March 12 – Day 2 – 9am until 5pm … then optional dinner for those flying out Sat/Sun

More details can be found at http://citrt.org … hope to see you there!  Questions? Leave a comment or email [email protected]

For the latest up to the minute Church IT Roundtable news follow CITRT on twitter and/or facebook

7 Deadly Sins of IT Management

I thought this was a good article in Network World recently … great reminders to all of us paid AND volunteer folks leading IT.  Here’s an excerpt …

IT sin No. 1: Lust for new technology - The most common expression of lust in IT is the endless pursuit of new technology for the sole purpose of having new technology …

IT sin No. 2: Information gluttony - Not as expensive as lust but more common is the sin of hoarding information. Too often, this unwillingness to share one's expertise is mistakenly believed to be the path to job security …

IT sin No. 3: Avarice as an action item - When an IT project fails, more often than not, it is due to a lethal combination of arrogance and greed …

IT sin No. 4: Slothful approaches to IT - IT professionals work hard -- that's a given. But all too often, they're unwilling to step outside their comfort zones or go the extra mile. Despite their hard work, IT managers often commit the sin of sloth by not doing the right things for the business …

IT sin No. 5. In-house envy - Fiefdoms, kingdoms, and silos have a tendency to develop over time as a company matures … people stop sharing information and instead spend most of their time protecting their own turf and envying the status or budgets of others. The result? Duplication, lack of transparency, and culture-destroying politics that can cripple an organization …

IT sin No. 6: Wrath management  - Call it management by intimidation. But losing one's head at high volume is no way for an IT manager to motivate his or her troops.

IT sin No. 7: Pride creep - Pride manifests as sin when it blinds IT managers into thinking they know everything they need to know -- even when they know very little about a given topic.

Go check out the full article

All Staff Presentation on Passwords and Online Security

I was really excited last Wednesday to deliver another All Staff IT presentation .. first, because I enjoy presenting .. second, because it was an important topic .. and third because it marked the start of a new monthly "IT Spotlight" at our All Staff meetings .. w00t!

So in 15mins I tried to raise awareness of why passwords are so critically important ... and also to announce to our staff that we were starting a global password change that very day.

Our new password (aka passphrase) guidelines:

• 11 characters or more
• be a phrase ... should be fun to type, easy to remember, hard for others to guess
• should have nothing to do with info most poor passwords include such as: family names, important dates (bdays, anniv), pet names, nick names, hobbies, sports teams
• your GCC passphrase should be unique to GCC only ... not something you will use at any other site on the internet ... including Fellowship One
• never share your passphrase with ANYONE ... period! Your passphrase is YOUR passphrase
• We will require passphrase changes each summer ... industry standard is 30-45 days so once a year is a good compromise :-)

I've included the streaming audio below for your listening enjoyment. The audio isn't great, but it's acceptable. I'm working to get the audio transcribed as well for future publishing.

There's of course much more I would like to have included, but that's all the time I had this month ... I may do some follow-up next month.

What's been fun is listening to all the staff excited about what they've changed their passphrase to!  I've many times heard comments like, "I wish I could tell you my passphrase because it's so clever!"  I'd call that good 'buy in'. :-)

If you haven't heard my prior All Staff IT Best Practices presentation you can get it here
And for more info about the recent Twitter hack go here
You can also download the audio here

The underbelly of technology nobody talks about...

In case you missed it or you're not following my boss Kem Meyer ... she recently delivered a keynote for the Dynamic Church Conference entitled "The underbelly of technology nobody talks about"

If your role has something to do with IT (and even it if doesn't) I'd strongly recommend you watch her presentation.  Great stuff to chew on.

DC09: Kem Meyer Keynote from Fellowship Technologies on Vimeo.

Strengths Finder 2.0 Results

Our entire Comm/Web/IT team recently retook the StengthsFinder test, this time using the new 2.0 version. (my prior results)  This is a very valuable tool that I’d encourage everyone to use…especially among your teams.  In fact it’s part of my hiring process … that’s how much weight I give it. 

The Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of talent in 34 categories called "themes." These themes were determined by Gallup as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.Focusing on naturally powerful talents helps people use them as the foundation of strengths and enjoy personal, academic, and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.
Below are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.
How well do you think these themes describe me?

Analytical

People who are especially talented in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation.

By nature, you can invent reasonably sequenced processes for performing various tasks. Having familiar patterns to follow makes it easier for everyone involved to handle recurring activities with ease and efficiency. You probably think favorably about individuals who rely on your processes day after day. People who say they cannot and will not use your system often irritate you. Chances are good that you generally rely on reason to determine how an event, decision, or condition led to an outcome. You usually desire to understand how things converge to produce the final result.

Deliberative

People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.

Chances are good that you are likely to be the team member who is known for weighing the pros and cons rather than rushing recklessly to conclusions. You seldom make impulsive or rash decisions. Driven by your talents, you characteristically are quite reserved. You carefully consider just about everything you say and do. This explains to a large degree why you are happy to let someone else begin discussions. You prefer to listen to others talk.

Learner

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

By nature, you prefer to work in groups. You are attracted to teams whose activities and challenges intrigue you. You usually give these matters your undivided attention. Instinctively, you sometimes dedicate yourself to acquiring specific types of knowledge or using particular skills. Maybe you are self-taught. Maybe you work with an instructor, trainer, coach, or mentor. You might embrace opportunities to expose your mind to new ideas. You might welcome the chance to practice new ways of plying -- that is, diligently practicing – a trade or a craft. Driven by your talents, you occasionally dedicate yourself to acquiring certain kinds of knowledge or skills. You might devote many hours to mental labor. Because of your strengths, you have little difficulty giving intense effort to projects, problems, or opportunities that capture and keep your attention.

Harmony

People who are especially talented in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.

You are hardwired to meet others' high standards. This is how you avoid having conflicts and disagreements with people. Because of your strengths, you resist the temptation of presenting yourself as an expert on everything. Even though you have worked hard to master various topics, disciplines, and skills, you wait to be asked before sharing your knowledge. Usually you refer  people to highly trained individuals when you cannot answer their questions. Your commitment to obtain the correct information and solutions overrides your desire to impress others. As a result, your reputation remains intact.

Relator

People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

By nature, you are quite comfortable being honest about yourself with others. You harbor very few illusions about who you really are. Furthermore, you can openly acknowledge your mistakes and shortcomings. This is apt to distinguish you from most people. When you have nothing to do, typically you find something to do. Sitting around and wasting time does not suit you at all. It’s very likely that you offer guidance to friends who seek your assistance. While you enjoy being helpful, you probably avoid imposing your ideas on someone unless the person makes a special point of asking you to do so. Driven by your talents, you periodically consider skills you might upgrade to be a better trainer or coach. Perhaps you derive some satisfaction from helping individuals improve personally or professionally. Instinctively, you may be determined to share some of your knowledge, skills, or experiences with people. Perhaps you use this information as a coaching tool if you train someone.

To learn more about the Clifton StrengthsFinder and how you can discover your top five themes, visit http://strengths.gallup.com

3 of my 5 were unchanged … Analytical, Deliberative, Leaner … no surprises there.  Harmony is new, but not a surprise after reading the full blown description.  Relator was the biggest surprise.  It certainly is me, but I would never have thought that was a strength.  Hmm.

We have a big team meeting tomorrow to talk about our new results so I’m curious to learn how everyone else scored this time around.  I’m also interested to dig into my “Personalized Ideas for Action Report” to get ideas on how to leverage these talent areas.  Interesting stuff.