A little over 25 years ago in my HR days, I started teaching myself a new software application. No one forced me to buy John Walkenbach’s massive Microsoft Access Bible and read about relational databases, but I was curious about more powerful applications. I wanted to know more about the differences among data types. On many levels, Excel can only get you so far. Plus, my day job left ample time for me to add new arrows to my quiver.

As it turned out, that knowledge and experience would help me a great deal in my next gig: ERP implementations. Rare was the HR systems consultant—much less payroll or benefits analyst on the client side—who could quickly query and manipulate massive datasets or write SQL statements. As it turned out, knowing the table structures of different systems and applications would pay dividends down the road. A few times, clients asked me to work with people in finance, supply chain, sales, and marketing. They had to make sense of their overlapping systems, and I had built a rep as a strong data guy.

The Case for a Regular Tech Audit

Beyond Databases

I haven’t touched Access in years, but the months I spent learning its ins and outs proved immensely helpful—and not just during the aughts.

2016

Remove that technical knowledge, and I don’t wind up as a college professor in 2016. I used to joke that I had the weirdest pedigree of all of my former colleagues in the Information Systems Department.

2023

Fast-forward two decades later. Basic database concepts transcend applications. My recent stints doing Notion development have only reinforced this reality. (As an aside, many Notion formulas closely resemble their Access and Excel equivalents.) It’s fair to say that I couldn’t have built a full-fledged Notion product independently and so quickly without extensive database development experience.¹

Embracing Curiosity

The same mindset benefitted me when I began writing books.

To be fair, learning a new application or system wasn’t always my choice. Sometimes I had to use my employers’ clunky, proprietary legacy systems. (Yes, I would die a little inside when I had to tolerate manual data entry and gross inefficiencies.) I will never use those tools again, but I don’t consider the experience a waste of time. I learned quite a bit about IT departments, executives’ resistance to change, and internal politics. The experiences informed my approach to consulting.

The same miscellaneous mindset would ultimately—and unknowingly—benefit me when I began writing books. That was never the plan. Today my publishing knowledge allows me to effectively help aspiring non-fiction authors. It also gives me a unique perspective compared to old-school publishing veterans. Potential clients know that I approach books differently.

Feedback

Professionally speaking, what are you curious about? How has that curiosity helped you down the road?

1. I’ve recently revised my stance on Notion. It’s low-code, not no-code.