My name is Danielle Byron. I am a Health IT project leader who is passionate about using technology to improve patient safety and outcomes. After endless games of job search BINGO I have at last gotten all the needed numbers and I can yell BINGO! I am the new CIO at the Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), a behavioral health and social service provider.
There are about 5.52*1026, (exactly 155 × 145 × 135 × 125 × 114) possible arrangements of the numbers on a bingo card. The most chips one can place on a Bingo board without having a Bingo is 19, not counting the free space. What combination did I hit upon to fill the squares?
B7 – Boring. At times, job search is just plain boring. If someone could invent a little bot that could fill out yet another online job application they would be rich. Wait, no they wouldn’t be rich because everyone who needs it is in unpaid employment. So I put in my requisite “B” time and then some.
I17 – Insights. This game requires constant insights. Where is the economy going? How is the stimulus spending really going to impact Health IT? What do I want to do when I grow up? Read those management books you never had time to do when you were getting paid. Two of my favorites were The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by by Patrick Lencioni and Health Care Will Not Reform Itself: A User’s Guide to Refocusing and Reforming American Health Care by George C. Halvorson.
N (Free Space). This one is easy – Network! I ended up hearing about this job from a headhunter who got my name from someone I sat next to at a SIM Networking dinner last fall. Then of course it turns out that several people in my network knew people at my new employer and so on.
G47 – Giggles. NPR recently has a wonderful piece on Staff Sgt. Bobby Henline. He was wounded in Iraq in 2007 and burned over nearly half his body. He has turned to stand up comedy to help him on his journey. Laughter, especially shared with others in your same boat, helped me to keep at the job game and not give up. You must keep your sense of humor — even if it means watching every single movie on the AFI Top 100 comedy list and taking stand up comedy classes.
O67 – Open. In job search you need to be both focused and yet at the same time open to what unfolds. My life has taken some major ups, downs and zigs in the last few years and it is amazing how it has all unfolded. You never know when you will get those 5 spaces lined up – Vertical, Horizontal or Diagonal and get to shout out your own Bingo!
Thanks you all for reading my blog during this journey – I had a lot of fun doing this – and I hope to keep at it describing my onboarding experiences and the job of running an IT department on a shoestring!
I also look forward to hearing about your BINGO!
Danielle,
Congratulations on your new position! I’ve really enjoyed “tagging along” with you as you’ve pursued a new opportunity – I really admire your determination and the fact that you’ve kept a fantastic sense of humor during what can be a very daunting process — you are a wonderful role model! Keep us posted on your progress in your new role as CIO!
Warm regards,
G.
Danielle: Loved the analogy of job search to Bingo. Thanks for pointing me to the comedy of Bobby Henline. If you are ever in the Bingo-search-game again, you may want to consider comedy yourself! Best wishes on the new ‘gig’.
Gwen: Bravo! Your guidance continues to light the way for many of us in the HIT field — job seekers & employers too.
Congrats indeed! Your focus and energy and having a plan seem to have been your critical success factors in landing your new job! Don’t be a stranger and stay in touch with the HITT Squad!
Congratulations Danielle! And thank you for educating and entertaining us on your journey. I hope that you are able to continue to do so!
I know that you will do great things for C4! Best of luck!