Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The Last Word …
It got pretty hectic at the end with everything coming due, packing, traveling, presenting and all the rest. I will say that Top Gun has been the highlight of my career. I learned quite a bit about EDS, other accounts, processes, our alliance partners and more than can be summed up in words. Below I have the text of an item I wrote for the newsletter. They chopped it down to about 2 paragraphs from all of this. Back a work now, first day, Jan 3, 2006. I'll be scheduling a meeting to discuss my future at EDS and how they plan to promote me. I'll be looking to get back to Top Gun as soon as I can. Lots has happened on the account as well. A couple of good folks moving on while I was away.
This is my final Top Gun related post. I'll try to pick up here with the original intent of .NET cool stuff that I'm doing.
Life as a Top Gun
By Seahawk
If you are thinking of applying to Top Gun, you probably wonder what it's like. What are the hours? What will I be doing? Am I crazy? I can't help you on that last one except to say that a little crazy might help you fit in. The ideal program goes something like this: After the elation of being selected, you make travel plans to Plano. During Week 1 (aka boot camp) you will hear a lot about EDS and its direction from many senior leaders, including several of our Fellows. At the end of the week, you'll travel to Seattle or some other exciting destination for the duration. I took the Microsoft track so I'll tell you about the Seattle scene.
During week 2, you will be assigned some hot hardware to use while in the program. You won't want to give it back. You'll also get your project assignment, your wingman and other contacts and you'll develop a personal training plan. No, not exercise, technical. Top Gun strives to give each candidate 10 days of technical training directly related to their project. Ideally, training will be in Seattle or your home town. But if it's only available in Toledo, you might find yourself in Toledo!
The week 2 madness continues as you hammer out the scope of your project with your wingman. Your scope defines your life for the next 10 weeks so it's important that you don't bite off too much. It's also important that you include enough to make the project meaningful. You will want to consider how it fits in the EDS Multiyear Plan, where it fits in the Portfolio offerings and the actual real value to EDS. Your project will likely be a proof of concept that demonstrates how cutting edge technology from an Alliance Partner can solve a business problem.
During week 3 you begin executing your training plan and creating your proof of concept. If you're lucky, you also had a weekend at home to help remind the family what you look like. Week 3 should also see you meeting regularly with your project wingman, sponsors and product group contacts. By now you are probably spending a lot of time researching technology.
The rest of the program continues the frantic pace you've experienced these first three weeks. But you don't the long hours because you are learning, working with other top people, getting so much insight into your project that it really doesn't seem like work at all. Along the way, you present interim results at Tech Fair. If you haven't already mastered power point before coming to Top Gun, you'll be an expert when you leave.
You also may get a chance to: visit Mount Rainier and/or Mount St. Helens, go to Canada, ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island, attend a product launch from Microsoft, shop at Pike Place market, attend a Seahawks or Sonics game, shop and cook for yourself, eat out, walk to work in the Seattle rain, watch the fog roll in then back out, meet some wonderful other Top Guns, have a pot luck dinner, see a 747 under construction, shop some more, drive a mini-van, search for the local Krispy Kreme, see the original Starbucks, go to the auto show, accumulate thousands of frequent flier miles, submit a CAS expense report, visit the SciFi museum, contribute to the newsletter and probably a lot more.
Life as a Top Gun is a lot of work mixed in with a lot of fun. When it’s all said and done, I think everyone agrees they'd do it all again.
This is my final Top Gun related post. I'll try to pick up here with the original intent of .NET cool stuff that I'm doing.
Life as a Top Gun
By Seahawk
If you are thinking of applying to Top Gun, you probably wonder what it's like. What are the hours? What will I be doing? Am I crazy? I can't help you on that last one except to say that a little crazy might help you fit in. The ideal program goes something like this: After the elation of being selected, you make travel plans to Plano. During Week 1 (aka boot camp) you will hear a lot about EDS and its direction from many senior leaders, including several of our Fellows. At the end of the week, you'll travel to Seattle or some other exciting destination for the duration. I took the Microsoft track so I'll tell you about the Seattle scene.
During week 2, you will be assigned some hot hardware to use while in the program. You won't want to give it back. You'll also get your project assignment, your wingman and other contacts and you'll develop a personal training plan. No, not exercise, technical. Top Gun strives to give each candidate 10 days of technical training directly related to their project. Ideally, training will be in Seattle or your home town. But if it's only available in Toledo, you might find yourself in Toledo!
The week 2 madness continues as you hammer out the scope of your project with your wingman. Your scope defines your life for the next 10 weeks so it's important that you don't bite off too much. It's also important that you include enough to make the project meaningful. You will want to consider how it fits in the EDS Multiyear Plan, where it fits in the Portfolio offerings and the actual real value to EDS. Your project will likely be a proof of concept that demonstrates how cutting edge technology from an Alliance Partner can solve a business problem.
During week 3 you begin executing your training plan and creating your proof of concept. If you're lucky, you also had a weekend at home to help remind the family what you look like. Week 3 should also see you meeting regularly with your project wingman, sponsors and product group contacts. By now you are probably spending a lot of time researching technology.
The rest of the program continues the frantic pace you've experienced these first three weeks. But you don't the long hours because you are learning, working with other top people, getting so much insight into your project that it really doesn't seem like work at all. Along the way, you present interim results at Tech Fair. If you haven't already mastered power point before coming to Top Gun, you'll be an expert when you leave.
You also may get a chance to: visit Mount Rainier and/or Mount St. Helens, go to Canada, ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island, attend a product launch from Microsoft, shop at Pike Place market, attend a Seahawks or Sonics game, shop and cook for yourself, eat out, walk to work in the Seattle rain, watch the fog roll in then back out, meet some wonderful other Top Guns, have a pot luck dinner, see a 747 under construction, shop some more, drive a mini-van, search for the local Krispy Kreme, see the original Starbucks, go to the auto show, accumulate thousands of frequent flier miles, submit a CAS expense report, visit the SciFi museum, contribute to the newsletter and probably a lot more.
Life as a Top Gun is a lot of work mixed in with a lot of fun. When it’s all said and done, I think everyone agrees they'd do it all again.
