Blogs

“A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.” – Albert Einstein

One of the main takeaways from this past weekend’s SharePoint Saturday The Conference in Annandale, VA is the discussion of SharePoint for SharePoint’s sake. Many speakers were talking about how business drivers should be moving the adoption of SharePoint and not coming to the solution beforehand (something that I’ve discussed at length).

Einstein agrees, we should not look for what we think there should be in SharePoint but instead look for what is within our companies. Let’s see what other advice we can take from Einstein…

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

SharePoint 2010 adds a lot of functionality to SharePoint so be sure to try out things like the new Business Intelligence tools (i.e. Excel Services, Access Services, Reporting Services, BCS, etc.), Workflow designing in Visio (and import into SPD), set up new Business Connectivity Services for other applications. Sure, you’re bound to break something as you try new things, just make sure you’re not testing in production and you’ll be fine.

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” – Albert Einstein

Einstein says that moving away from bigger and more complex will require a touch of genius. When you’re trying to limit the sprawl of your SharePoint, look to Einstein for encouragement, your work will not be easy, but the benefits will be huge.

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein

Remember that SharePoint is a thing of wonder; it is complex and requires your good stewardship. While you’re in the trenches, remember, you are hard at work at one of the most rewarding and wondrous sets of software ever created.

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

There are many resources available for your SharePoint learning. Always remember to build a solid business case before going to your management to ask for money. If you can’t find one or explain what you’re trying to do in simple terms, it’s time to review.

“Information is not knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

Oh, Al, you’re speaking my language. Remember that without findability all of your information is useless. We’ve come a long way since the days of the shared drive but you can easily turn your SharePoint installation into an expensive shared drive without the proper management. Knowledge comes when you can put your information into practice.

Have you got a favorite quote from an author or thinker that you find applicable to SharePoint? I’d love to hear what you’ve got.