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The Last I.T. Podcast In The World goes for a swim in the deep end of the pool.

We start in the kiddie pool with our floaties in the banter segment where we settle, once and for all, who should press dial when a text thread starts with "You available for a call?"

We then ramp things up a bit when we dissect a cyber incident where two local governments made ALL the mistakes.

Finally, Darrick helps me struggle through the myth of hiring "only the most qualified (or best) candidate." We realize how very few job requirements are truly objective, and that often we make hiring decisions based on the softer, more subjective skills like "team player," "fearless innovator," or "demonstrated leader." And that many candidates are "qualified," not just one. We worry about the human brain's lean towards cognitive bias, and wonder if it's okay to show compassion, or to support representation in the hiring process. Darrick has some great ideas about how to achieve a good balance of all this in the hiring process.

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There's a true art to #greatIT and we discuss the images and prose that make for great IT artisans. 

In the banter segment, I ask my co-host why his people insist in backing into parking spaces. 

And we both had some recent AI wins that we discuss, and there's a twist on the #badIT segment - a #badITGuy that embezzled from his employer. 

Special appearances by Duke Nukem, Picasso, and The Phantom Dog

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More anticipated than Severance Season 2, it's Part 2 of our Remote Work Panel on The Last I.T. Podcast In The World.  Kennie, Tonya, and Mark are back with Darrick and me to discuss #RemoteWorkLife:

- How often do you need to get together with your team in the same location? 
- Two important words - Affinity and Trust
- Missing those positive collisions at the coffee machine
- The ongoing work/life balance challenge, and the pros of workday flexibility
- Our pretend TED talk to C-level remote work skeptics. 
- And the importance of changing work scenery once in a while. Speaking of which, Kennie invites us all to his summer house in Denmark! What a guy!

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Wow!  A power-packed panel of 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 join 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗜.𝗧. 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. Tonya Bricco-Meske, Kennie Nybo Pontoppidan, and Mark Rhodes join Darrick Johnson and me to discuss the pros, the cons, the advantages, and challenges of the remote work lived experience.  

This is Part 1 of 2 episodes with these Smart People.  In this one, we also banter about our first cars.  Fun! Thoughtful!  Mildly provocative!

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World famous wannabe astronaut Mark Rhodes drops by The Last I.T. Podcast in The World to talk about Change Management and why it is crucial to tech project success.  We ponder what it is and why so many projects still don't embrace it and use it. 

And I have Mark rank astronaut movies and convince him (for reals) that Die Hard is definitely an astronaut movie.  All over amber beverages at our local ale house. All were had by a good time!

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Shadow IT is when a company allows other departments to view I.T. as optional. More of a suggestion.  And allows them to undertake software projects or purchases, or even external IT resources with no, or very low engagement with I.T. leadership. 

The result?  Increased costs, increased security and data loss risks, fractured architecture, duplicate solutions, manual data entry. And creating a culture of organizational disrespect. 

We ask ourselves, "Imagine Shadow HR. Or Shadow Ops. Or Shadow Marketing." Our examples sound ridiculous but IT leaders deal with similar ridiculous Shadow IT challenges every day. Time to put our foot down, IT leaders. Enough is enough.

Plus, the CEO of Oreos stops by, and we also play "I can destroy your company for only one million dollars"

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It's a special holiday episode of The Last I.T. Podcast In The World, where Darrick and I go through our IT Nice and Naughty list (mostly naughty). And: 

- I give my review of Silo season 2, where IT still rules the cylindrical dystopian future!
- I ask Darrick the existential question: Which is better, Copy and Paste or the Thumbs Up emoji reply?
- We design a much-needed app for the healthcare industry. But we can't decide what color the button should be.  

And we discuss some AI wins and I disappoint Darrick's Personal Image Consultant.  Something for everyone!

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David, avowed technologist, draws the line at tech in kitchen faucets and has opinions about recent trends in sinks. 

We also wonder what's going on with the tech at fast food drive-thrus that they never seem to know the total till you pull up to the first window. 

And strangers tell David their passwords for no apparent reason. Spoiler - it's 'password'.

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In this Snyder Cut edition of The Last I.T. Podcast In The World, I welcome Brian Vos whose job might just be cooler than yours (and yours is pretty darn cool).  

Self-driving cars - pfft. Think bigger - Brian discusses how close we are to seeing autonomous big rigs rolling down a highway near you soon. We discuss what's driving the demand for autonomous freight vehicles and learn what "Class 8" and "Level 4" mean.  As well as the lengths Brian's company and his team are going to in order to address safety and regulatory compliance. 

In part 2 of the episode, we switch to talking about Brian's journey from Corporate IT to "Product IT".  And we start off in the banter segment giving Brian "The Fox" a Dutch Animal test. Listen in!

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Is the Worker's Paradise Over? An Aussie CEO says 5 days in the office isn't enough - he'd like to (practically) duct tape employees to their chairs. A former boss bans laughter. JP Morgan grows a heart and caps hours at 80 a week (no cap) for SOME employees. And David screams "PUBLIC WIFI IS SAFE" into the void, but also to a WSJ journalist who's still spreading old wives' tales (no offense to Old Wives).