Tuesday, November 30, 2021
My condolences to Jim's family on his passing. I can't say that I worked with Jim for any period of time at IBM. I can't say that I knew him well, if at all. Having said that, I truly understand Terry Frangos' sentiment and his appreciation of Jim's approach and wisdom he'd shared with him, "Experience is important, even if it's not your own". He did exactly that with me. I stepped in to take on a manager's role for the DB2 team, a position that Jim had vacated when his health had prevented him from continuing doing what he very obviously loved. I'd been in management a while so was surprised when my new boss had indicated that Jim would take time to come in and brief me on the team I was taking on. It wasn't needed, I felt, but I'd humor him anyway. When he did come, with oxygen tank in tow, he was gracious, patient, thorough and generous with what he felt was important to share with me. This wasn't just any group of people I was inheriting. It was his team, and he felt he owed them, and me, the courtesy and responsibility to get a new relationship off to the right start. Be patient with so and so. He or she will take the long route, but will still get the job done. Support so and so in their quest to take on more responsibility. With the right balance of workload, he or she can do it. These any other anecdotes mattered enough to him to take the trouble to share with me where others would have shelved those experiences and moved on. What he shared of his experiences did end up being important to me as background with my new team, and I truly ended up appreciating him for it. We did also end up taking him out to lunch that day, so in total, I knew him for about 3 hours tops. 3 hours that left a lasting impact with me. Oh yes, he also mentioned that his favourite band was Lady Antebellum, a name I'd heard but whose music I was not familiar with. I am now, and thank him for bringing this to my attention every time I hear one of their songs come on the radio! R.I.P. Jim!
