An eclectic IT career: Mayo Takeuchi

Controversial opinion: leaders who think or convince themselves into believing that supporting RTO (return to office) policies is the right thing to do are less likely to truly understand and support their teams. I joined IBM half a lifetime (literally!) ago, after an intensive, in person/on site experience at a dot com startup which succumbed to the IT bubble bursting. Ever since then I have only held geographically distributed, cross cultural, and often cross-functional roles.  A two year consulting engagement I had with a customer also involved my running mini-projects with stakeholders in six different countries with distinct cultures, languages, and approaches to problem solving. So by the time I became a People Manager in 2021, not only was I well versed in remotely supporting colleagues, upline, and clients, it had become my way of working.  With the trend in many companies bringing people back to the office, I am firmly on the side of honouring the remote option for mo...

There are a few reasons why many colleagues have lauded me as someone they appreciate and an effective leader. What has aided greatly in my being a valued professional is my self awareness. Whether from being the only Nikkei student in day (English/French) school, the only woman in an university course, the only Canadian in a room full of Europeans*, or in a minority by being neurodivergent (which in itself merits a separate post or several), I have always felt or objectively been conspicuously  different .  Everyone is unique, of course, but I have looked foreign everywhere in the four (Western) countries where I have lived. Due to these circumstances, I am (as judged by body language and values) too westernized to fit into Japanese culture since I never lived in Japan, although I can speak the language at a near native level. To date, I have only felt like I belonged in one place: New York City. Being significantly different to a relatively homogenous group of people not o...

An AI generated image I designed to represent an unfettered internet and a still youthful AI   Being a late Gen-Xer, I was an adolescent when the internet fundamentally disrupted most of the world's access to information. Its mainstream deployment gathered steam in the 1990s, starting with text based interactions between humans, the publishing of HTML formatted content, and gave rise to the usefulness of not only portable telephones, but devices with large screens, to wit, smart phones (Japan had led this technological invention, for reasons such as but not limited to having double-byte characters with bifold designs of phones with colour displays and beautiful ringtones. But this was around 2000-2005: then the iPhone arrived on the scene).  What I did not see these past 30-ish years, however, was governments and public services thinking through how to reach their voting constituents or their dependents. Nor, during my many years strategizing about search engine optimization,...

Since being selected in 1Q 2022 to represent not only my organization, its division, but also my country location as a member of the IBM Manager Champion Group for that year, I frequently used the above virtual background in my web based calls. Working remotely had been my norm since well before the pandemic: that in itself deserves a separate post, especially since I have returned to a 3/2 split of office/home working in 2024. Yet it's inextricably linked to the main topic I've been ruminating on lately: corporate culture. The terms of manager and leader have been co-cited often by IBM HR. However, I believe we are all capable of behaving like leaders, whether or not we have the responsibilities and privileges afforded to us to perform managerial duties. The Growth Behaviours (note my Canadian spelling, unlike in the picture) as we have been encouraged to embody, consist of the following topics:   Growth Minded   by staying curious and open to feedback, experimentation, learn...

Mid December in 2021 marked six months since I moved from an Individual Contributor role of coordinating Infosec (although mainly electronic rather than paper based data related) Incident Response for my employer, to managing my former peers in the squad I'd been a part of for the prior two years. Since I'd had a 22 year career prior to my arrival in Cybersecurity, I'd had a long time to reflect upon what styles of management I would like to model, especially since I've experienced different styles of management as a practitioner. Generally speaking, the Golden Rule - treating others as I wish to be treated - resonates with me strongest. Being trusted, respected, and given constructive, timely feedback. Allowed to voice my views freely and perceived as a multi faceted individual rather than fitting into some mold of what someone in my role is supposed to be like, or limited by what I've already demonstrated rather than having my potential nurtured. I also hope that ...

December 11th 2020, was my 20th anniversary since starting at IBM . I wasn't quite sure how to start this article: I just knew I wished to write something down.  Like many career IBMers, I've learned something - usually several things - every day, solved problems, made mistakes, helped others, been inspired, and sought out support from areas and people I didn't know existed in the matrixed yet siloed presence that is our employer. On balance I am grateful for much of my experiences, and especially for the people who I've gotten to know, respect, and care for. So, with apologies to non-IBMers who would be unfamiliar with the org structure (although I've otherwise tried to avoid internal jargon and initialisms) I dedicate this post to everyone I wish - and need - to thank. You all have been an important part of my life. The Facts: Life events My elopement in the autumn of 2000 to an Irish citizen, which led to my applying to multinationals based in Dublin, Ireland in ...

After a couple of vacations to a country under lockdown due to the novel coronavirus, my first experience taking a SANS course , a bout of (regular strain of) flu, and some consistently busy work weeks, I'm back with yet another analogy. In looking up a reliable reference page to link to describe the jawbreaker candy , I discovered that in the regions outside of North America they seem to be called gobstoppers. If you can't be bothered to follow the above link, here are some salient excerpts: Gobstoppers usually consist of a number of layers, each layer dissolving to reveal a differently coloured (and sometimes differently flavoured) layer, before dissolving completely. Gobstoppers are too hard to bite without risking dental damage (hence the name "jawbreaker"). [snip] As gobstoppers dissolve very slowly, they last a very long time in the mouth, which is a major factor in their enduring popularity with children. Larger ones can take days or even weeks* to ful...

Those who know me personally may be aware that my main extra-curricular, spanning a full decade starting at age 11, was playing the viola in music ensembles which ranged from the intimacy of quintets to the power of 80-piece orchestras. In fact I'd taken piano performance the most seriously (read: via private lessons for eight years with a reputable teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Music) so I never became as proficient in viola. In contrast to the years-long solitary struggle that comprised my endeavour to passably interpret several Beethoven sonatas, a few of Bach's keyboard works, and a Chopin mazurka or two however, my most vivid memories at school are social, involving becoming acquainted with compositions by actively collaborating with my fellow musicians. My love for "classical" (more accurately, baroque to early romantic era) music continues unabated, and a desire to perform has now been channeled instead into haunting the Musikverein and Konzerthaus - ...

After nearly two whole months in this Cyber Security Incident Responder role, I remain amused by the universally expressed sentiment from every new person I meet. Specifically, that they're pleased to make my acquaintance, but sincerely hope our interactions are short-lived and that they wish to never need to cross paths with me again, as representative of all people in my role. On the one hand, as a self-professed deep introvert , making cold contact with complete strangers on a daily basis is a draining ordeal, despite my extensive experience with many types of colleagues and clients. What mitigates the fatigue is that firstly, most of the people I interact with are experts in their disciplines, which I appreciate both in principle, and from the delightful side effect of learning a surprising amount about what they care about professionally and what processes they follow. Secondly as they are almost always embroiled in a stressful situation, they appreciate my presence as guid...

As stated in my recent posts, I've made another career switch. This time, I'm dipping my metaphorical toes into the increasingly mission-critical area of most businesses: that of cyber security. The new look that I've applied to this blog, that of a darkened forest, is an analogy that I find apt. In broad strokes, most people are aware of its existence, yet few have explored it to find the diversity of the elements which comprise it.  Being such a neophyte myself I count myself as especially fortunate, to be in a team where there are already experts I could call upon, where we have the potential to leverage powerful, industry-leading tooling, and in an environment where every employee is called upon to actively protect not only our own data and assets, but those we are entrusted with by our clients.  In fact, it was immediately apparent that one has no choice but to take this role seriously if only because my employer's clientele consists mostly of organizations t...

During my period of career turbulence - which actually began as far back as 2014 if my retrospection is correct, but officially began in early December of 2017 - one recurrent talking point that my employer's CHRO and CEO both expounded upon was how they sought resources who were (not their words, I'm being succinct) emotionally intelligent and mentally flexible . Another trending topic from both the HR and economic viewpoints, particularly in North America, seems to be that of how millennials are contributing increasingly to the creation of a " gig economy " - seemingly voluntarily jumping from contract to contract. In both cases, it helps to possess a curious nature: learning curves, be they academic or social, are best scaled when one inherently enjoys the process of acquiring knowledge and then applying it. However, the bigger mental challenge might, in my opinion, be to keep an unflagging sense of optimism about impending change. We may speak to it, but actua...

Those of you familiar with my LinkedIn profile , not to mention my prior post from early 2018, would not fail to notice that the stability I'd enjoyed in the field of SEO consulting showed signs of being disturbed. Specifically, I took a scenic detour into the realm of (the IT sense of) Ontologies and Taxonomies. Recently, my spouse asked me how I'd describe the post-SEO role I'd held for 12 months. Promptly, I replied that my mission was to extend and develop a set of ontologies that would serve as the framework for taxonomies both used and potentially useful to my employer's Marketing division. At this point, it would be helpful for me to step back and put that in less abstract terms, I'm thinking. While most people are familiar with taxonomies from taking a unit of animal species classification - where we heard of things like Phylum and Genus, there is a vital need for such entities in categorizing and managing every type of content. Furthermore, not all ta...

Despite resolving to attempt smaller, more frequent blog posts a few years ago, I'm back after another multi-month hiatus with this one. Due to the rarity with which I've been updating this blog, Google has de-indexed all but three of my pages on this site, but actually that's not the main reason for this newest piece of content, which is perhaps more personal than is typical of this blog. Over ten and a half years ago, I chose to make a lateral move (for a manager who kindly took his chance on me), and due to circumstances , I am once again in a situation where at least organizationally, moving has become necessary. Moving great distances, not only physically but professionally and culturally, has been something I had been willing - and able - to undertake in the past. My CV, which lists a career history spanning Toronto, Boston, and Dublin (and my initial move States-side for third level education) attests to this. Lately however, my reasons for not uprooting myself (...

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to have some in-person time with one of my employer's vice presidents. My card-holding manager invited me and one of the colleagues I've worked with the longest, to visit a different office location and to cover some SEO news topics over the course of a half hour. While I was quite content to split this time allocation evenly, I also had a disproportionately large amount of information to cover, although I was quite selective in topic choice (our team has gained momentum and, hopefully, a wider sphere of influence since moving organizationally last year). Since this opportunity arose with very little lead time, I also decided to use pre-existing slides (which I only provided some feedback to create, not as primary author). It could have easily taken an hour to cover just my section in proper detail, but also in trying to meet some "business as usual" deadlines, my attention remained painfully divided even during the hours just prio...

It seems to me that it's increasingly becoming a frightening new world that we live in. Back when the internet was merely nascent, I was studying psychology in college: numerous examples hammered home to me the notion that we, collectively, are easily manipulable, emotionally, cognitively, and that our memories are scarily labile, too. Over three years ago, I'd blogged about  Google+ increasing its reach , which has since apparently been adopted by many more people . Sure, a small fraction of its estimated 2.2 billion + account holders are publicly posting content - but Google has access to all the trackable behaviours of everyone who remains authenticated, not to mention numerous third party cookies and ways metrics are being recorded. Last summer, amongst other topics I'd read the coverage on Facebook's 1-week, 700K user experiment on emotional contagion, which is well summarized in the Atlantic . Then, about a week ago, another piece was brought to my attention ...

Several colleagues of mine recently attended this year's Internet Summit in the US, so not unexpectedly, lots of advice came couched in the form of American-friendly metaphors. I'd lamented some years before about culture-specific expressions, and how they confuse non-native speakers, but given my heritage, the advice cited in the blog title actually "struck home" (baseball pun not intended). Perhaps a soccer metaphor would be more recognizable to those outside of North America, in which case it would likely be to strive for strategic passes and goal assists, and to value the role of Libero (or sweeper) rather than fixate on scoring goals or becoming an ace striker. In any case, this advice pertains to keeping a blog fresh - a topic that I've been mindful of, having started several draft posts since my prior entry in April, which have not seen the light of day. So, here I am wading back into the fray, as it were, by taking said advice. From now on, if I find ...

Try the quiz linked via the graphic, to answer 20 questions all skewed towards extroverts Most of my socal media profiles openly declare my self-identification as an INTJ (estimated to comprise 1-2% of the population, and popularly depicted in fiction as antagonists or anti-heroes). I've tested as such since I was 11, though during my university years I came close to registering as INTp. Of course, Myers-Briggs has had numerous valid detractors , and one criticism is that the dichotomies of I-E etc. are not quantified by the labeling: that is, one cannot tell just how strongly introverted I believe myself to be. And since it's a self-identifying classification, one could easily delude oneself into believing that inclination is manifesting directly into actions, meaning that others may not classify one as belonging to that type at all. Nevertheless, lately there have been quite a bit of confrontation between the two camps, where one normalizes one's preference and m...

Although the engagement completed in 2013, I have the privilege of remaining on the admin list for one of my employer's Facebook page s. In the past day, my colleague was kind enough to note that due to a glitch, scheduled posts via HootSuite attribute me as the person creating them. This is in spite of my never having linked my HootSuite account to that page, although I do have it linked to my personal Facebook account. For full disclosure, while I'd considered personally sharing one or both of the stories below, I hadn't, nor had I used HootSuite to view or share them to my various social media channels (which in this case, would likely have been personal Facebook via Twitter , as well as LinkedIn and my Google Plus page ). Evidence A and B: If one is not an administrator of the Facebook page, however, this additional information is not disclosed - so had I chosen to keep my silence, very few people would be cognizant of the onset of this strange phenomenon. ...

Earlier this month, my work days were filled with the review of a relatively new page from my employer's Japanese presence. Specifically, it was to do with a significant acquisition from this past summer, and what it meant (and continues to signify) for our current and potential clients. A tremendous amount of investment used to be required, in traditional marketing models, to ensure that the public would become aware of such news. But in a social media driven world, strategy (and its optimized implementation) has become the key to successfully conveying the right message to the right subset of the populace. Customers generally think they know what they are looking for, and perform web based searches accordingly. However, there are several types of content available from the following types of sources: Traditional "broadcast" style content - that is, what businesses wish to convey to new and potential customers about their offerings. Anecdotal, social media driv...

Congruent, yet independent. A Mallard mother and part of her brood, Stadtpark Pond in Vienna (July 2013) The above photo, of a duck and her ducklings, was one of my (unsuccessful) entries in an intra-organizational contest just last month. Coincidentally, the notion of "treasuring wild ducks", metaphorically speaking, had been one of the subjects covered during my employer's Centennial commemoration. There is a 14 minute video with beautiful animation and story-telling, if you happen to have the time and inclination. As those following my  +Mayo Takeuchi Plus  presence may have realized some years ago, ducks are the most common type of wildfowl that I can readily record, in both still and moving images. This year in particular, the local park has seen a bumper crop of ducklings. Their precocial abilities still manage to impress me: aside from the youngest ones emitting a high pitched, urgent peeping call when they lose sight of their mother, they know how to indep...