This is an oral history interview with Colleen, IBM CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Business Partner Worldwide Test Manager, conducted on September 4, 2003, by IBM Corporate Archivist, Paul Lasewicz. Thank you, and welcome. Thank you. Let's start off talking a little bit about your work and your professional background. Can you tell me what your field of study is, and why you choose this field to work in? My field of study was information systems, and when I went to college I wasn't sure what I was going to major in. And when I started looking at the different fields, I knew I wanted to be in the business area and the business college. So I did [enroll] in the business college, got in and looked at the different majors. And after a while I really didn't know which one I wanted to go into: was it finance, accounting, marketing, [or] information systems? So I started doing some checking around and asked some people who were out in the business world already: "What are -1-
you doing?" And I found that the majority [of them] were working with computers. Now, [it was not] that they were solely working on computers, but an aspect of their business was working on computers. So I figured that that would be a thing that would get me ahead in the business world, so I decided to go into information systems. Can you talk about, when you said you did some research to find out, how did you go about that? Did you just get names out of the blue, or...? When I would meet new people or just relatives -- I would find out what they were doing, and if it was something that interested me, I'd try to get more information from them on exactly what is it that they did......and try to figure out in the whole scheme of things how did that work, and what did it mean to the world and things along that line. And it was just more of who I knew and kind of going through it that way, interviewing people that I knew. -2-
How were they defining information systems? Because that's kind of a broad term in the press, the way it's defined in the business school might not be the way it would be defined elsewhere. I think that information systems is more of how computers and technology relate to the business world. And it's not necessarily doing all the programming and putting computers together, but it's more of the interaction between what computers can do and how they can advance a business. Has it turned out in the real world the way you thought it was in college in terms of information systems and the preparation you had there, been relevant now that you're out and getting paid to do... Most things are what I expected. There are some things that are different. Obviously the timelines matter, much more hectic than I thought they were going to be. In college, you've always got these deadlines for projects but you know when they're due. And in the business world it's the same thing but those schedules can be a little bit more hectic than you first bargained for. So that's something that I didn't expect. But for the majority, things are what I expected. I've got -3-
that balance of technical and business and making sure that I'm working on both of those in equal amount. Going back to your younger days...not that you're old now but [LAUGHTER] could you talk about some of your early experiences with science and/or technology? Were there any things that you can look back on that kind of clicked with you in those fields? I think that one [example] that stands out in my mind is a project that I had to do in my first year of high school for biology class. The teacher made us research 25 different species and you put together a little history on each species. Then you also had to go into the computer and draw it out in clip art. And it was just one of those things that first clicked in my mind that, "Okay, so this is a biology class that's not solely biology. It's not just science. It's now bringing in these technical things also." And that was the first time that I got a big experience with computers and learned just how one click can mess up an entire [LAUGHTER] picture. Did you have any positive experiences after that that reinforced that? -4-
Well, it's more back to figuring out exactly what I wanted to do... I'm the type of person that likes to learn hands on, and I'm also the type of person that can get bored if I'm doing the same thing for a long period of time. And so I noticed that technology is always going to change, and this field, you've always got to stay on top of things, learn new applications that are out there, new programs. And that's what I've been doing. And in college, in high school, I was always learning new things. And that reinforced my wanting to go into this field because I knew that I would not get bored and that I'd always have to stay on my toes in this field. How about support from teachers or family members or other individuals... Did you receive encouragement from them along the way? My dad is a professor at the college that I went to at the University of Cincinnati. And he loves to do research. When I told him I wanted to go into information systems he said, "Perfect, that's just the field for you." -5-
And professors were always great because those programming classes can get pretty long. You can spend a whole lot of time in the computer lab and not be a whole lot further on a program that you're trying to write. And the professors were very encouraging...trying to help me figure these different programs out and letting me know that this is something that you can do and just keep at it. Have you had a mentor at any time either through your educational process or now since you've joined IBM? I've had several mentors. I had one official mentor and then two unofficial mentors. And they've each helped me in different ways. The official mentor looks at my long-term career and trying to help me, coach me in ways to get to where I want to be at the end of my career. He's helping me not just with my current job but also with my entire career. The unofficial mentors are the ones who give me advice on day-to-day tasks. They're the ones that know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done......they would kind of take me aside and say, "That's not going to work, you've got to actually pinpoint somebody to do that task and tell them when it needs to be done." It's -6-
just little tidbits of information that they g gave that have been extremely helpful. Going back to your official mentor in terms of helping you out with your career, was that kind of unsettling? Because here you were at the beginning of your career and now you're talking to somebody saying, well, you need to think 15, 20, 25 years down the road. Definitely. Definitely. Even five years down the road, when they would say, "Okay, where do you want to be?" "I don't know," I'd say, [LAUGHTER] "I want to be at IBM." And so it really makes you think. You have to sit there and look at what other positions would have been possible? And what fields do you want to go into, because that's one of the things that IBM has, is they've got this huge pool of different things that I could do, I'm never going to be stranded in one position. I can do many different things. And it was kind of looking at that and saying, "Okay, which fields do I want to get into' and kind of pulling in that direction... I know one thing, one of the seminars that I had gone to, a lady was talking about how her job is interfacing with customers with IBM on setting up the Web site for tennis, -7-
the US Open. And then for the Superbowl. That really interested in me. with 9/11, they put together that Web site. They had what, a day's notice? I love to do things on the spur of the moment. I get so much more done when I have a lot to do than rather than when I have just a little bit to do. So I would tell my mentor, "That's the field I want to get into." I'm interested in working more with the customers and getting things more on demand where...a customer asks for something and you have to give it to them within a week And it's kind of helping me along, here's how you can get there... Could you elaborate on that? Share a little bit? I imagine it's got to be difficult to be working one job and at the same time trying to position yourself in terms of skills or experiences for perhaps a slightly different career path. Is there any advice that you can give on how to do that, or share lessons learned that you've... Well, one of the things -- I know IBM offers a huge library of educational classes that you can take online. And so...i've done many of those. I also was lucky to get into a leadership class it was a leadership -8-
program that consisted of 11 different courses that you take over a four-month period. And so it was hectic, because there were two two-day classes usually, and so every other week I was out of the office for two days taking these classes still trying to balance my current workload. But [my mentor] helped me get into that class and figure out, okay, these are the things you really need to focus on if you want to be a manager, if you want to be a team lead. You need to have these. And even if you don't want to be a leader, just having these different skills are good. What do you do as an engineer/scientist? Usually I m in the office for a good amount [of the time]. Right now, what I do is interact with people trying to make sure that this application that we re rolling out -- a customer relationship management application using Siebel -- [is working]. We re deploying it throughout the world. So, I am the person who makes sure that the AP (Asia Pacific) geography, that EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and that the Americas can all use this application and it s working the way that they want. And that we all have a similar process. That s why we can share this one database because we all have this similar process. -9-
So, I m on the phone usually late at night with AP South and Asia Pacific making sure that they ve got everything, all the information that they need in order to do the testing of this application and then early in the morning I m on with EMEA and throughout the day on with North America. So, there are a lot of a conference calls because obviously you can t be everywhere in the world. And that s another thing that I had to learn early on is to be able to articulate what needed to be done not face-to-face but over a conference call. I think it s something that takes more experience. Obviously some people are better at it than others, but it s just the more that you re in it, the more you realize from one release to the other -- in case you have any mistakes with that release -- how you can address those early on [issues] in the next release. And be able to articulate those things to the rest of my team members. How do you use your technical training and/or degree today? How has it helped you? It prepared me definitely. When I first started my career, I was immediately sent to a two-week course learning this Siebel application. And being that I just came from college, I was already in that mindset of -10-
"Okay, here s a lesson, now go and do it." I was able to make it through this two-week course, fairly easily. My information technology background gave me the knowledge of knowing that there are different things you can do with applications, how you can enhance them, the limitations. What do you find most satisfying about your work? Getting the end user what they need. And part of that obviously...customers are going to ask for everything. They want a lot. And you ve got to kind of figure out, "Okay, here are the things that we can do, these are the things we can t do." But those things that we can t do, there s another way you can go about getting those. Just using a different process And I think that the most satisfying thing that I have goes back to these hectic timelines -- being able to achieve so much in a short amount of time. I like getting difficult tasks and making them easy. It s just one of those thrills for me, to be able to get complicated tasks done in a short amount of time. What have been some of your greatest challenges and how have you overcome them? -11-
Part of the biggest challenge for me was the work/life balance because it s really easy to spend 12 hours a day at the office just to get all these different things done. So, that was the hardest to kind of step back and look at it and say, "Okay, I can do all these things, but I don t need to do all of these things." This is part of what being a team is about. The team can do this also. And so it s learning how to delegate work to others on the team. The team felt more like they had accomplished something rather than I had accomplished it. It was definitely the team. Describe how you have balanced your career and personal life. Were there any corporate or professional programs that helped you advance both personally and professionally? Is there anything you wish you had known then or could have done differently? I had a manager who back when I was working many hours...he pointed me to different URLs that IBM had on work/ life balance. They had seminars that I could attend. He actually gave me links to other [societies] in the area that I could go and join just to get appointments outside of work. Okay, I ve got a seven o clock appointment at [Richter], I was in a sorority and in the alumni group and -12-
we had a meeting at seven p.m. so I knew I had to be out of the office at that time. It was getting involved with things outside of the organization, outside of the business and making sure that those were a priority. You actually are giving yourself a break because if you re focused on one thing for a long time, you start becoming almost blind to things that would be obvious to somebody else. There could be times where you re working on an application and there is a big defect right in front of you and you don t see it because you ve been looking at it for so long. And if you step away and then come back the next day, look at it fresh then it would pop out. And that s kind of what I found by getting involved in things outside of work, I was able to step away and come back and with new energy. Are there further experiences or insight that you would like to share? Some of the things that I have noticed and what we touched on -- just realizing that this is a career and not a job. And I think if I had just been focused on my job, I would have only had one or two positions on the CRM project. But -13-
seeing it as more of a career, I was able to move along to different things. And also knowing that because I am in information systems field and I do work at IBM a technical company, I don t need to be a developer my entire career. I don t need to be a project manager my entire career. I can do all those things. I can do whatever it is that I want just because IBM has so many different fields that I can go into. I m not going to be stuck in this one position. Anything else you'd like to share? Take advantage of those that are around you. Get to know other people outside of the project that you re working on and in other businesses because there are a lot of things you can learn You know, also once you do get into the business, make sure that you re getting information and getting experiences from those people at different levels. One of the unofficial mentors that I had who maybe didn t even know he was my unofficial mentor, I was watching what he did. He was very effective in the way he would get things done and the way he would address people on the project. And he -14-
had been -- I think -- a third line manager and he had retired from IBM and came back as a contractor. So, this is a guy who spent his entire career with IBM and I would ask him, "What are the things that you like to do, what were the things that helped you get along in your career?" And he was more than willing to share and he would always send me little e-mails. If I sent an e-mail out, he would send one back, he d say, "Okay, here s what you could have done better, this was great the way you addressed this" and just give me feedback "You re doing this job well, you might need a little bit more help in this field." And then also I had a manager who moved on who I just continue to keep in touch with. Although we re not working together anymore, he has given me an unbelievable amount of his experiences and gives me great advice on how to handle different situations. Not all situations in the business world are easy. You re going to have many difficult things you have to deal with and he just really helped me out. It was great. So, just make sure that you take advantage. -15-