Reflection 2023

The year 2023 has been “interesting” to say the least: several highs and lows. Usually I write my reflection a little earlier in December but I have been wondering if I should do it at all this year. I’ve decided to go ahead and write but leave out some personal lows until I have sorted them out more. They may show up in a future reflection post. For now, I will go through the year more or less chronologically.

Last respect

My father -C.A.J.A.M. van Gils- passed away last year. We weren’t really sure where we wanted to scatter his ashes so we took a full year to think about this. ?We decided to go to France together with my (bonus) brother and sister and find a nice spot near the place where he went so many times on his vacations. Now, I’m not a huge fan of La France, but it is a place where we know he has enjoyed himself so many times. All in all, that made it a good spot.

I wrote about this before in my midyear reflection. Now that we’re 6 months later again, I feel a bit calmer about the whole situation. I still miss the old man, of course. There are still so many unanswered questions, but that is something we will just have to learn to live with.

Collaboration, sustainable digital transformation

The tagline for my company Strategy Alliance is: sustainable digital transformation. What we are after is the support of our customers on their digital transformation journey in a sustainable manner. This includes two perspectives: (1) the UN-goals for sustainable development, but also (2) to deliver lasting results that help the organization in the long run.

One of the highlights of the year was a new project at Groningen Seaports. It was a highlight for several reasons. First, it was an interesting, urgent, and important project for Groningen Seaports . Second, we worked with a really good team ( Harold Sanders et al.). Things started off at a good pace but as the team bonded more while doing the work, we really managed to speed things up and deliver good results. Third, it was fun to work at such an amazing place. A good view of river Eems/Waddenzee while doing the work is certainly impressive. And finally, we also had a lot of fun with the SA-team. I’m proud to have done this project with Wouter de Nie and Roel Meijers . More on Roel later on in this reflection. I expect to work with GSP for many years to come.

?Teaching

The same period also marked the peak in the teaching load of this year. I fondly recall teaching in Antwerp (both at Antwerp Management School and the university), in Tilburg (both at TIAS School for Business and Society and the university) and for various clients. The topics range, generally, from data/data management to architecture and digital transformation.?

It feels like I’ve really found my niche here. In practical settings (i.e. teaching at companies), it is fun to give a theoretical perspective. In academic settings I can include more stories and experiences from practice. A very nice balance.

I’m particularly proud and happy with what we have achieved at AMS. This truly has become a home for my academic activities. This year was the first time that I was able to attend the graduation ceremony in Antwerp. Both the venue (near the ZOO) and ceremony was very nice. So many happy faces of students who worked hard to achieve their academic goals. It is truly a joy to contribute to this with our team. Below you see a photo with three proud professors: Yuri, Hans, and myself. Several other colleagues are missing, but I’ll that as a photo challenge for the next graduation ceremony!

Data in context

In late spring/early summer it was time to wrap up a writing project with a trip to my favorite editor in the world: cousin Lisa Gaudette (living in MA, USA). I have been working on my book Data in Context for a long time. Previous publications have taught me that it is a good idea to have an editor look at my text before even thinking about publishing it. I planned for a two-week trip, expecting to need at least a week for edits – which would mean I also had some time for fun activities.?

It mostly went as planned. Fixing the text took a lot of work and I’m more than grateful to Lisa for her help. The corrections were so good that the publisher had nothing to add which sped up the production process considerably. After all the hard work, we had good fun hiking in VT and NH. I also met a lot of family there. Super cool go see Luke play baseball and hockey on the same day, hang out with Kristen and Christian for a beer trip, check out Paul’s guitar, and have the whole bunch together for oma’s birthday! And to top it all off, I finished the trip in Boston and caught a Redsox game with Becky Frieden .

The picture below is with my favorite floof in the world.

?Vacation

Our family vacation, this year, was to Germany, visiting Leipzig and Brandenburg. The original plan was to go hiking in northern Czechoslovakia but we were a bit surprised to see that both kids wanted to go with us on vacation. We knew that “city” would be better than “nature” for them, hence the change of plans.

I wrote about this also in my previous reflection, but I want to state again that I’m impressed with Germany each time I go. Perhaps not as inherently pretty/warm/elegant/culinary as, say, Italy, but still very nice. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The day trip to Dresden was a highlight for me. I really liked the vibe and also how it was reconstructed after the devastation in WW2. I will definitely go again some time.

Roel

After a relaxed and interesting summer, we received sad news. I recall I was in my car on the way to the gym when I received a call that Roel Meijers has passed away. This shocked me to my core. I had seen him just a few days before and he seemed in perfect health and good spirits. We had just completed the GSP project, too!

?Roel has been a boss, a mentor, a colleague and a friend to me in the ~20 years that I have known him. With his sharp mind and broad knowledge, he managed to teach and inspire. He had the ability to connect with people on a deep level. In projects, he always kept his eye on the ball but also managed to complement that with a deep respect for who people are and how they can contribute.

?There is so much to say, but in the end all boils down to: he will be missed. I recall Roel frequently wearing bow ties. If you see me wear one in the near future, it will be in loving memory of a teacher and friend that I still miss every day.

Switching projects

Towards the end of the year, around October, it was time to wrap up my project at the northern water companies (wmd, wbg). I had worked there for about two years on various topics, including information management, data management, business intelligence, architecture, IoT. With one team, I even went to my beloved Antwerp to visit Museum Plantin-Moretus – my happy place.

?It was time to pass the baton to the next and start on a new adventure and I found just the spot! Recently, I started a new project at Doc-Direct. This organization plays a key role in managing information objects (documents, structured data, text messages, etc.) for the Dutch government. One of the challenges for 2024 is to build a CIO-office and together with a fun team I hope to contribute to achieving this goal.

?During the start of the project, I already met a lot of the key players. It is good to see how driven people are to collaborate on this important project. I already knew some of the players from previous assignments, so it feels a little bit like “let’s get the band back together”. Things will probably really take off in early January, so let’s see how things go. I can’t wait to get on it and work with the team to help the organization grow.

Writing projects

I ended my year with a research meeting with Mark Mulder (29 December 2023). Our goal is to write a practical book on the DEMO methodology. First, Mark is fun to work with. Second, it is an interesting topic. It seems that I am developing a knack for making complex topics easily accessible through writing. And third, we can use that material for teaching in Antwerp -where we are colleagues- and further align our courses. Let’s go!

?That is not the only on-going writing project, though. Together with Yuri Bobbert (AMS) and Morgan Djotaroeno (Dux), I’m also writing an article on diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity. We studied literature and did a small expert session. We are currently writing up the article and hope to publish it soon. With Morgan I already am developing ideas for a follow-up article. It is still in the early stages, but stay tuned for more news as we move along.

Growing the company

I think that Strategy Alliance is in a pretty good place. Yes, it would have been nice if we had a few more people on staff, but overall I think we’re in a good place. We are, of course, very much looking forward to onboarding our new colleague Petra in early 2024!

Thinking back to our progress in 2023, I’m pretty happy with what we have achieved. We have the assignments that we want, work with a nice group of customers, and we have a good value proposition. With Ton now firmly on board as new partner, I think we can also make some changes to the way we go about the hiring process which, hopefully, will help us to grow one step at a time. Not too big, not too fast. Steady does it.

We have good plans laid out for 2024. One of those includes talks with a partner organization for further collaboration. There are also other organizations that want to partner up, which plays into the second part of our company name: strategy ALLIANCE. It will be interesting to work on an ecosystem of organizations that collaborate to create value.

Personal growth

As said in the opening of this post, 2023 has been a tough year. I wrote about several of the good things that happened, but also some of the sad things (particularly Roel passing away). I have also left out some things that I’m still struggling with. It is something to address in 2024 (and onwards).

?I’d like to think I am fairly progressive, open minded, helpful, and a good colleague/friend. I like learning, and sports – particularly with my youngest son. I enjoy taking care of the family with my cooking and it seems that we are increasingly pulling together to play games and enjoy a nice night together (rather than everyone running off after dinner to do their own thing).

I hope to continue that journey of personal growth. That does require me to dig a little deeper and address some parts of my personality that I’m not so happy with. I’ve sought help and am waiting to get started with my psychologist. That should give me a new perspective and new things to work on. Of course, I’ll also continue my meditation (I’m trying for twice a day but sometimes that just doesn’t work).

?This year I won’t set personal goals. It looks like 2024 will be busy and I’ll have to take things as the come. The only thing I would like to mention here is: I expect Stijn, our youngest son, to graduate this year so with a bit of luck we’ll have another trip to the US ahead of us!

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