At least once a year I like to go through a what I'm calling a 'State of the company' review that answers questions as if we are starting this company from anew. It should be noted that what I try to avoid is being generic. Avoiding those scenarios like meaningless, adjective heavy mission statements and over generalized goals that don't "walk the walk". If we don't take these values with us and live and breathe them, what's the point? It is a wonderful exercise that brings what we do back to its roots and I'd like to share with you guys what I've been working on. Read Full Post

A few weeks ago, while at Finovate, I had a chance to sit down with Jon and Matt Iverson, the founders of BoulevardR. Having worked for “family businesses” at several points throughout my life, I always find it interesting to talk with those that work with family and the dynamic that is at work behind the scenes.

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I think it is probably a pretty easy statement to make that our work environments have changed. With the advent of the Internet and the miniaturization of technologies like laptops and phones there is no longer a need for a ‘8am-5pm mentality’ that we’ve been holding on to since the Industrial Revolution. We are in a knowledge economy and we rely on our employees to bring their brains, not their brawn, to get the job done. That’s why I was so thrilled to come across this book that challenges those assumptions.

Cali and Jody formalized the concept of a ROWE (Result Only Work Environment) and have been preaching the concept across the country. I enjoyed their book so much I got through it in a couple of days. Here are some of the concepts from it:

You’re an adult. Believe it or not folks, professionals are adults that can manage their own time. Nobody should have to mandate to you when you need to work. You can handle your own time on the weekend, why is every other day different?

Stop playing the politics game. We’ve lived in a business world of ‘playing the game’ and to get promoted you need to be the first in and last out regardless of what you get done. “Make sure the boss sees me around and I’ll rise to the top faster.” That mindset is tired…it’s all about the results in a ROWE.

Manage results, not time. As a manager, your goal is to manage results. Working with your team to figure out your end results and making that the goal NOT Friday at 5. We’ve been calling it capacity planning.

Those are just a few points but there many more great concepts and I’d highly recommend the book. The ROWE mantra is what really sends it home for me.

Work when you want, wherever you want, as long as the work gets done.

It’s that simple. This is the next evolution of business and I want our company to help set the example. The concept has already been introduced to all our folks and we are working on implementing this by December 1st. Our challenge is to how to introduce this to our client base and make them comfortable, my thought is we’ll let the results speak for themselves.

As a cool aside, Cali & Jody are also on Twitter! Make a Comment (0)

It's been a little quiet on the blog lately, but there's a good reason - we've been swamped! The consultants have been going non-stop for several weeks now, and they're still going strong. For all their hard work, Brad surprised them with something they've been wanting for a while now:



Yep, all the consultants upgraded to some ultra-slick Macbooks! I wasn't at the unveiling of the new laptops, but I can only imagine their faces. :)

Along with being quite busy, we hit a big milestone last week. Last Friday was Banktastic's first birthday! If you're not sure what Banktastic is, it's a social knowledge hub that we at The Garland Group created to connect bankers with one another. As a client of ours, we'd love to extend an invitation to check out Banktastic and join if you haven't already. There have been a tremendous amount of changes since we launched Banktastic back in October of last year, so come check out what we've done and get involved!

We're also still looking for some people to join our team! If you have some IT experience and are interested in working with us, check out what we're looking for and email us at jobs@thegarlandgroup.net.

We'll catch our breath and get back to posting regularly on the blog very soon! Have a great week! Make a Comment (0)

In the spirit of transparency, which this company is known for, The Garland Group would like to put the word out that we are looking for a few good men…(or women). At this time, we are looking to fill two positions for IT auditors. What better place to post a job description than our own blog??? Work has been flowing in at a steady pace, and we are stretching our team of “rock stars” (as Brad puts it) very thin.

Skills, of course, are of paramount importance to us, but even more than that, we are looking for someone who is a team player; someone who is task-orientated and self-motivated. Someone who has an understanding of networks and corporate infrastructures, who will appreciate and fit into our culture and work ethic, and will help our company grow. Banking experience is a huge plus!

WHO ARE WE? Well, if you have been reading this blog for a while, you know the answer to that. For someone NOT familiar with us, here is a brief description:

The Garland Group sees itself as a tight team of smart, skilled people who genuinely want to help our clients. We work with financial institutions and businesses in the banking industry, providing services from FFIEC Technology Audits, Risk Assessments, and Security Services such as Penetration Testing, Vulnerability Scans, and Social Engineering.

Here’s some of the things we would like to see (but are not all required) in a potential new hire:

BA/BS degree from 4-year university:

• Recommended: Business, CS, CE, or MIS degrees
• CISA, CISM, CISSP or Cisco certs a plus
• Any banking IT Audit experience
• Experience auditing application interfaces, infrastructures, and processing environments
• Working Knowledge of Windows, Unix, Linux, and OSX
• Familiarity with the FFIEC, GLBA, COBIT, PCI, COSO, and SOX 404 requirements with respect to IT systems and processes Good communications skills and ability to make presentations to higher level banking executives

About this position:

• Would require about 50% travel
• Full medical/heath/dental benefits
• 401K Option
• Telecommuting encouraged Background check and drug-screening will be required.

IS THAT PERSON YOU? So there ya go. If interested, please send an email and attached resume to: jobs@thegarlandgroup.net

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The E-Review process is going great! For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of interacting with your IT consultants via video conferencing, you are missing out. Our clients really think it’s appropriate for the 21st Century and one of them is actually working on implementing a video conferencing setup because our review went so well.

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A recent article in the Boston Globe attempted to tackle and evaluate the complex behavior of human trust. It’s a short read, and can be found here. I found the following quotes to be particularly striking: “"The default is trust until there's a reason not to," says Robyn Dawes, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University.” Read Full Post

The internet is all atwitter about Google’s foray into the browser world with its release of Chrome. I began running it yesterday and I must say I like what I see so far. If you haven’t heard anything about Google Chrome I’ll summarize it for you: A browser made from the ground up for the way we use the internet today (Web-based applications, Social Media, Tabbed browsing… The list goes on and on) In typical Google fashion it was a horribly well kept secret. A “comic book” describing the details was leaked on the Google’s blog prior to the release of the software yesterday. From the moment I heard about the browser and what made it different I couldn’t wait to click the download button!

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