Nov 26, 2025: holiday checkout
If you take away the first few days of orientation, I'm a full week into my new role. In that time, I've introduced myself to upwards of 100+ people, had a dozen or so one-on-one introductory calls, and have scheduled another dozen calls with people that have come into my orbit. Beyond this small footprint, there are dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds of other opportunities to put myself in front of individuals and teams that I can directly impact. It is a literal sea of opportunity.
Stepping outside of what I am driving, people are already starting to find and seek me out because of the assistance I've provided to others so far. I land on people's radar or calendar and by the time they get to me, I've already talked to 3 key players in their own workload, often knowing about the reason they are calling me before we've even had the chance to meet. Oh, you are working on that? I've got this, this, and this already in motion and can help you immediately.......basically, whoever you are.
All by simply showing up with a smile, as well as a positive can do attitude. Hey person X, I hear and see all of the chaos you are living, and I agree with all of the challenges you are facing. What can I do to help?
Now, all that being said, I'm obviously in the honeymoon period and as a new systems guy, they can't blame me for any of their current systems, or lack thereof. I don't care about any of that. I'll put myself out there and demonstrate to anyone who will listen that I'll put myself directly between you and the firing squad to assist.
Good news, as a key player in the AI world we currently inhabit, I've got access to all the tools that I'll every need. This week I was involved in more leadership and executive level meetings and have found that they all like to play with the robots as much as I do. As part of that, I took their pre-agreed upon prompt, fed my company photo into google's gemini, and spit out my own version of their fun side project. First, here's the prompt:
A professional, high-resolution profile photo, maintaining the exact facial structure, identity, and key features of the person in the input image. The subject is framed from the chest up, with ample headroom. The person looks directly at the camera. They are styled for a professional photo studio shoot, wearing a premium smart casual blazer in a subtle charcoal gray. The background is a solid '#1A1A1A' neutral studio color. Shot from a high angle with bright and airy soft, diffused studio lighting, gently illuminating the face and creating a subtle catchlight in the eyes, conveying a sense of clarity. Captured on an 85mm f/1.8 lens with a shallow depth of field, exquisite focus on the eyes, and beautiful, soft bokeh. Observe crisp detail on the fabric texture of the blazer, individual strands of hair, and natural, realistic skin texture. The atmosphere exudes confidence, professionalism, and approachability. Clean and bright cinematic color grading with subtle warmth and balanced tones, ensuring a polished and contemporary feel.
Next, my ugly mug:
And the final results:
I'll take it.
I'll close today with some notes on my team. First of all, I love them. It's a solid group, that while all male (red flag), holds a good amount of diversity, and a tremendous amount of experience in systems. Amongst the 7 of us, I bet we approach 200 years of collective experience in the manufacturing systems space. Included in there is at least one wildcard who keeps me on my toes - literally every single day. I love him and them.
We'll end the session today with my closing thoughts to the group.
I'll take a bit of time here before we enter the holiday break.......which, side note........somehow I already need. I liken this place to the gigawatt data centers that we are instrumental in helping to build - I'm connected to so much "energy" across the board here at [redacted] that it is thrilling. Even though my circuits weren't used to this kind of voltage, it's been a blast so far.
Really though, in the spirit of the holiday we are about to roll into I wanted to note my gratitude for all of you, as well as how thankful I am to be part of this group that [redacted] has assembled and plugged me into. The depth of knowledge, across the entire team, is remarkable. That depth of knowledge is one reason something like PLM may move faster than anyone really anticipated up until now.
I firmly believe that we are going to dramatically change the way things are done at [redacted], at a scale, and faster than, anyone outside of our tight circle can really appreciate yet. Heck, even we might not be able to appreciate yet. I see it already.
They won't know what hit 'em after we are through with 'em!
Have yourselves a great holiday, wipe this place from your memory as best you are able, and we can get back to torturing ourselves when we return from the holiday.
Thank you all.
Pretty sure my boss is smitten to boot.
Happy Holidays.
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