In which Jill considers spending less, but buying smart.
Lately I’ve become aware—okay, it’s been brought to my attention—that I buy stuff I don’t need. My two big weaknesses are Costco and art fairs.
When it comes to Costco, I don’t really need half-gallon can of 3-bean salad, a foam rubber kitchen rug, or a bag of those fabulous dark chocolate-covered Açai berries. I just sort of situationally covet them. Plus the shopping carts at Costco are huge and a 32 ounce bag of Kirkland Cashew Clusters with Almonds and Pumpkin seeds seems a paltry—though highly recommended!—bounty. Do I really need a vat of protein powder? No. The waterproof outdoor chair cushions? No. The double-size pack of Strivectin stretch mark cream? Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, mind your own business.
As far as art fairs go, a few weeks ago I wandered through an open-air festival and discovered a woman selling Asian-inspired jewelry. I noticed a large pin featuring the face of the Buddha. If I wore that to internal status meetings, I thought, it could inspire Zen-like behavior. After all, I couldn’t very well lug my Buddha garden statue (thanks, Costco!) with me everywhere I went, could I? So I bought the Buddha pin and wore it the following week to a client meeting.
“Gone Commie on us, Dyché?” asked my slapstick-humored CIO client examining my new lapel pin. It was only then that I noticed that the countenance peering serenely from my lapel looked a lot more like the Chairman Mao than the Buddha. When it comes to adorning my clothing—all due respect—Chairman Mao wouldn’t be my first choice. So much for the Zen.
This all reminds me of how my clients have been spending their IT budgets—or not spending them. A bank engaged us last year to assess its aging data warehouse and suggest a subsequent plan of attack. Based on existing cost and resource challenges, we recommended a wholesale re-platforming. We gathered requirements, performed an ROI analysis, and wrote a vendor RFP for the client. The subsequent investment in the new data warehouse was $7 million, an investment that the bank should recoup in the next four years.
The bank was thoughtful and practical about our recommendations. IT management didn’t futz around. But when it came to our recommendation to invest in a data quality tool and start a project they were positively inert. Never mind that solution we recommended would be a fraction of the price of the new data warehouse platform. “It’s easier for us to justify a $7 million capital expenditure than it is to justify a new piece of software,” they apologized.
Which brings me back to my Buddha pin. I thought that it might do something for me that it ultimately didn’t do. Looking back on that purchase it was an over-investment. Some might even call it a waste of money.
The dark chocolate covered Açai berries are a totally different story, though. [Chomp, chomp.] With that, I wish you Namaste.
photo by kevindooly via Flickr (Creative Commons license)
Enlightening post, Jill.
It reminded me of a time when a stranger said the following to me at an art museum:
“Wow, I didn’t know that the Buddha was a Nazi!”
Leaving aside this art aficionado’s obvious misunderstanding of historical timelines, the comment was prompted because he noticed on the chest of the giant golden statue of the Buddha, which we were both admiring at the time, a very prominent swastika.
I tried to convince the kind gentleman that long before Nazi Germany adopted, and thereby rightfully stigmatized the symbol in recent Western culture, the swastika, which is a Sanskrit word that literally translates as “associated with well-being,” was and continues to remain a very positive symbol in Eastern culture.
However, the art aficionado looked at me as if I were Chairman Mao and as he walked away, I heard him mumble something to his wife about my possible Nazi affiliation. (It probably should be noted that I regularly shaved my head back then).
Namaste,
Jim
Jim:
I should have anticipated the @ocdqblog-special insight. Thanks for the comment. I think wearing a swastika on my lapel–however well-intended–might nevertheless be misconstrued.
However–and as usual–you’ve inspired me to action. I now know what to do with my Chairman Mao pin. It’s already in the mail, addressed to Prince Harry of England! Looking forward to another wacky Halloween with the Royals!
Jill
P.S.: To Jesse James’ former mistress: if you’re reading this, e-mail me and I’ll hook you up!
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Oh, the wonderful world of IT. Why do we play here? It’s probably why I continue to torture myself on the golf course.
ill thank you for another great post about the great land of IT.
That’s the only problem with good software, like zen you know it, or you dont; and when you dont you’d rather buy some more machinery. Enlightenment comes slowly to some
And with that I wish you sawatdee’ (สวัสดี).
Mario