Category: Culture and Training

When I joined AWS just over a year ago, I was introduced to the concept of a “bar raiser.” In every interview process for a new employee, someone is designated as the bar-raiser—the person who will make sure that the new employee raises the bar for whatever function they will be performing. The bar raiser […]

In previous blog posts I have described anti-patterns of enterprise IT that we often observe in enterprises we work with, and patterns of successful enterprise IT that are their antidotes. To make these patterns and anti-patterns more concrete, I will explain how they have played out at my old organization, US Citizenship and Immigration Services […]

An interesting question arose at one of my customer meetings recently. We were discussing the importance of innovation; in particular, how important it was for technology staff to stay abreast of new technologies to see whether they could add value to the enterprise. We agreed that current best practices suggest conducting rapid experiments to test […]

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data technologies enable organizations to harness the troves of data being captured (or which were previously thrown away), bringing new insights, automating processes, and even creating new products, services, and businesses. AI, ML, and the associated data (powered by the AWS cloud) is a critical […]

Enterprises working with AWS to modernize their IT infrastructure often do so within the larger scope of a digital transformation. These transformations look to go beyond technology, including goals to address the changes to teams, process, and culture that are required to enable the enterprise to move faster and with more agility. The enterprise leaders […]

As an Enterprise Strategist at AWS I get to work with executives from the world’s largest organizations as they drive digital transformation efforts. What may come as a surprise is that we tend to talk less about the technology and more about the people, processes, and culture needed to enable business transformation. A couple of […]

You might say that humility is the essence of digital transformation. In the digital world, we are willing to be surprised and to learn. In the old days, we relied on a plan—prepared in advance—to guide our activities. The plan was made by someone, or some collection of someones, who knew enough to specify what […]

Jonathon Dixon, Global Head of Mining & Resources, Amazon Web Services Introduction by Thomas Blood, AWS Enterprise Strategist and Evangelist Until the 1930s, my family owned and operated gold, silver, and copper mines in Colorado. I have a fondness for mining, based on the stories my father shared with me about the people who extract […]

Tenet: (n) A principal or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy. These tenets are held by the group. To be a member in good standing, you are expected to hold to its particular teaching. In my role as an AWS Enterprise Strategist I travel the world working with leaders […]

  In an earlier post, I described how a transformational leader who is not at the top of the organizational hierarchy can still begin the process of driving change. I left off my description at a critical moment. The change agent has implemented changes within his or her scope of authority, carved out a sandbox […]