Allow me to introduce myself.
I graduated from computing science technology in 1974 after which I spent 50 years looking for interesting ways to make money. Interesting means intellectually challenging learning experiences that permit me to use creative solutions. Solutions are my responses to the situations I find myself in.
I spent 44 years in research and development in information technology, most of it self-employed working under contract for private industry in the Ottawa area. My roles as a software developer, business process analyst, and technical leader culminated in software product engineering roles. Twenty-three years in, I leapt into technical communication as a writer and trainer, starting with Nortel and then for various hardware and software engineering firms.
Amid the technical work, I decided a post-graduate sociology degree in communication might help. I was granted my M.A. in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University in 2008. The program was a rich blend of communication awareness and practice, and academic endeavaour. As Lambert Gardiner mentioned (1987, p.47), “… communication studies … [is] among the very few disciplines which permit the training of generalists. They do so because the subject is not a system, but an aspect of all systems.” After having my understanding of culture and society changed forever, I was privileged to instruct in organizational communication for the bachelors communication program of RRU's School of Communication and Culture. Docendo discimus - “by teaching we learn”. No matter that I was never actually hired as a professional communicator or organizational consultant, I use these powerful perspectives constantly. The Soft Tool Culture is a product of my newly-adapted academic brain that has been stuffed with interesting new perspectives.
I left my world of R&D in 2018 to work for the federal government's information and communications technology agency, Shared Services Canada (SSC). I spent over six years organizing finances for customer services and projects. I had stopped looking for what I previously considered to be “interesting work” because I found this work interesting at a different level: the job was technically doable within the customer service objective, but this organization called for social solutions more urgently than mere technical improvements. I took it upon myself to exemplify the principles of teamwork by becoming a process specialist whose duty it was to proactively collaborate with everyone around me. I proved that paying attention to outcomes is way more useful than adherence to procedure.
After a brief hiatus, I'm again working for the same operations branch, but now as a process consultant connected to the service delivery management team. I write process descriptions and help with the paperwork for those who serve PSPC's interests in SSC. It's good work, which will stop come March 31, 2025 when I offically attempt to retire. I say “attempt” because I try not to get too bound up in plans when the universe is obviously conspiring to knock me off track.
Here's my CV in case you're interested in an inventory of my roles. You can reach me by email if you wish to interact.
And, just to fill out the picture further (pun intended), here's my photography site through which I satisfy a burning urge to communicate through still images.