In recent years, many national politicians have said there needs to be “Church-like Committees” for various scandals that are swirling around Washington, DC. When I’ve heard this, I had faint recollections from my youth of when the original Church Committee was active, and the work it did in exposing the problems with the intelligence apparatus that seems to have an ever-growing grip on the US. It was this thinking that got me to pull a book off my shelf that I received as a Christmas present for my Mother-in-Law a few years ago that I never read, The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys―and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy, about the namesake of the Church Committee, the late US Senator Frank Church from Idaho.

This extensive novel by James Risen was based on just about every source available except for firsthand interviews of Frank Church himself, as he has left this mortal coil, including documents, journals, and interviews with others who were involved in and around the Church Committee as well as Frank Church at that time. As I read through the lengthy tome, many takeaways did come to mind.

What it takes to execute on checks and balances – As I was reading through the story which details the genesis of the Church Committee behind the scenes to the panels that was on television, I was in awe of all that was involved, from the extensive office to the numerous people and all they did. One thing not included in the book was how much it actually cost to pull this off, however money doesn’t seem to be much of an object to Washington, DC, especially when it’s not their own money.

A committee of presidential candidates – In addition to Church’s own short-lived candidacy for President of the United States, there were several other people on the Church Committee who did run for president, including Walter Mondale, and Gary Hart, with the former being Vice President to President Jimmy Carter.

Jethro‘s Dad worked on the Committee – Not something taken directly from the book, but around the same time I was reading it, I listened to an episode of Craig Ferguson‘s podcast where he interviewed Diedrich Bader, the actor who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies among other roles. Bader said his father William was one of the lawyers who worked on the Church Committee. It’s a small world after all.

Was Frank Church truly the last honest man? – While reading this I always kept in the back of my mind its title and wondered to myself that, since Frank Church died in 1984, has their not been another honest man in Washington, DC? Where there certainly are not many who could claim this title, I would say former Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul and current Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie fit the bill, in my humble opinion.

The Last Honest Man is an interesting and well-researched story, though it is hard to believe that what transpired actually happened (and happens) in the US. As for what I did with my copy of the book. I decided to leave it on an Amtrak train outbound from Chicago to Milwaukee. I hope someone got a chance to pick it up, get beyond its 400+ page size and (re)discover an interesting story about an interesting man in an interesting time.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

AI-generated image of an iron bring struck while it is hot on a 19 anvil

Yesterday, December 30, 2025, passed by rather quickly and uneventfully. Perhaps it was due to the fact I have been off work for a few weeks to use unspent vacation time and the days have been a blur, or perhaps the end-of-year and family things we had going on... heck, it was a combination of all of that. For you see, the previous day marked 19 years that the blog you are reading this from was started.

If you scroll the archives at TheHotIron.com you will see I have written a similar post every year. Sometimes it was shortly after another masterpiece went live, other times several weeks. Though I don’t write as often as I would like to, the ideas still flow and get captured on an ideas list, which is located adjacent to the stack of books to write takeaways from that is slowly getting smaller.

Where it could be taken that these paragraphs are merely a marker to say, “hey, I haven’t given up yet,” for me it is to celebrate how much I actually did write, especially with all that 2025 slung my way. I still enjoy writing, and any time I get to sit down and do so is a gift. Even the few minutes to crank this out – without AI – and to craft the prompt to generate the accompanying graphic with AI was pure joy.

Happy Birthday to The Hot Iron, and Happy New Year to you!

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

People can be funny about titles. Funny good, and funny bad.

When I was in college, there was a guy I knew who worked in the school’s public relations office, and when it came time to order new business cards, he knew he was leaving his position soon so he decided to be funny – funny good – and had his title listed as “human being.“ Though that was bold for a stuffy, small New England college, I liked it. Years later I would borrow his title line for my own personal card.

When I started my second job after college, my title was Associate Consultant. After a year I was promoted to Staff Consultant. But I had to switch jobs a few years later in order for my title to be Senior Consultant. In my mid-20’s I was funny – funny bad – about my job title and wanting a “bigger” one, when the reality was that I did the same work despite what I was called.

A colleague recently lamented they hadn’t had the title of Vice President yet in their career. I laughed and said to do what I did: take the easy way out and start your own company, then you can name yourself whatever you want. When I did that, I wasn’t just the president – I was “founder and president.” This was the mid 2000s and being a founder was starting to be a big deal again after the dot-com bust. Even though my company was just one person – me – I was a founder, dammit!

On the flipside, a very good friend is president of her company yet she never uses that title. Instead, she uses Principal Consultant or something to that effect. Why? She’s more interested in a title commensurate to the work she loves, not that she runs a business. Her title also resonates more with her clients. It wasn’t until I saw her name and title on a contract once, then I made an extra effort to annunciate it, much of her dismay.

These days my title is “Senior Program Manager and Agile Delivery.” Why “and Agile Delivery?” A while back my organization was going through an Agile transformation and we thought it was a good idea to add that to titles. Then we stopped going through the Agile transformation, but my title remained the same. I’ve dropped the “and Agile Delivery” from my email signature and my LinkedIn profile, but I still see it internally.

Today masses of humanity are calling themselves AI Experts. Before that they were calling themselves Social Media Experts. Before that they were calling themselves Web Experts. Before that they were calling themselves Business Re-engineering experts. Before that… well, you get my drift.

So why all the talk about titles? I recently rediscovered a business card I got back in the 90’s that triggered this. I was at a fundraiser and sports broadcaster Mike Tirico, who at the time was working for ESPN, was in line right behind me at the entrance of the event. Someone came up to him and asked him for his business card, and as he was taking one out of his wallet, I asked him for one as well, to which he obliged. When I took a look at it, it showed his title as simply “talent.”

“Talent: is a title that is often given to people in media and entertainment. You will never see a prefix of “senior” or anything else with it. Perhaps this should carry over to the business world? In one word it simply says all that it needs to.

Deconstructing Job Titles

It doesn’t take long after accepting a title when you realize it’s merely an external moniker and what really matters is what you do and how you are compensated for it. For whatever the title, however, it is what we uniquely contribute to the job that matters, and that is our talent.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

When was the last time someone said to you, “slow down, take the time needed and finish the task to a quality completion?” Whether it’s at work, home, school or anywhere else in life, typically an urgency is raised by someone else and imposed on you; whether a last-minute task or a poorly-developed plan, it’s now on you to complete it. I have referred to this before as a “culture of ASAP”, however most would just say it’s pretty much standard operating procedure these days.

When the suggestion from a work-related book club was made to read Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport, I had mixed emotions about it. By simply reading the title I knew I was generally in agreement with premise, however I was already lamenting finishing the book and not being able to integrate any of it. I knew the usage of the word “slow” comes from the expression “slow food,” which is a movement where people take the time to prepare meals using real ingredients and not rushing to eat. Rather than judging this book by its cover, I bought a copy and decided to see how I felt after reading it.

Any biases aside, I was hoping to gain some key takeaways from Slow Productivity, which did happen.

Humans derive great satisfaction from being good at what they do and producing useful things – This line I took from the book verbatim, and I can’t agree with it more. Having satisfaction and pride is not egotistical, as I see it essential to us getting up every morning and facing the day. Granted, there’s many times when someone does something for the money, but this I see as a goal for the journey in what someone spends most of their time doing. This line reminded me of how I got started working with computers and my first consulting gig using them in high school.

The importance of work intake – Whether something is assigned to us or we take it upon ourselves, we often don’t consider the full 360-degree picture of it. We often say we will “make it work,” but don’t think that balancing the new task or activity among all the others we have in process will impact the quality or completion of any or all of them. The concept of “task-switching” instead of multi-tasking comes to mind here, as we are not doing multiple things at once, rather we are switching between multiple things, not giving any of them the focus and attention they deserve. Even if we believe it’s the right thing to do, not doing it well – whatever it is – is a consequence.

Rituals in how we work – Where I know some people who can just sit down and do the task before them, I am not one of them. I often use rituals in my own work. For example, as I write this, I am at a coffee shop and not at home nor at my co-working space, as I find I can sometimes be more focused and creative with beans grinding and various conversations in the background, not to mention other venues where I have gone to in order to simply think. My notes for this post indicated I read this book while sitting in parking lots when taking my kids to various sports practices.

Slow Productivity was a quick read, and in the end worthwhile to me, namely as it reaffirmed many of my beliefs and gave me some additional context in approaching many of the tasks I take on. This is a good book for anyone who feels a little stuck in their working ways, or for a leader who doesn’t feel their team is working as well as they could be, as it may enlighten them on their approach to them.

As for what I am doing with this book, I am going to hold onto this and bring it with me the next time I am in Chicago and drop it off in a high-profile place in the Loop; perhaps some leader will see it and it will help their thinking about those who work for them and that there’s a better way to be more productive.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

Previously I have talked about my “other” job, leading my kids’ high school booster club. It is truly a labor of love – there’s a lot of hard work to it, but the rewards are readily visible. That’s not to say it is all smooth sailing; in any organization there are challenges, and a booster club is not immune from them either.

One of our greatest challenges, as I also talked about before, is getting volunteers to staff the concession stands at sporting events. In addition to providing sustenance and tasty treats to fans, they are a significant fundraiser for us. Not only is this a challenge, but also is something newsworthy as well, so I recently learned.

Ahead of the TV broadcast of an Appleton North High School Football game on local TV station NBC26 in Northeast Wisconsin, I and one of my colleagues on the booster club’s board of directors were interviewed by reporter Noah Cornelius on the effort and needs for concessions. You can read and watch the interview here on the NBC26 Web site and watch the video of the interview here and it is embedded below.

Noah conducted a great interview as we showed him all of the logistics and planning that goes into a concessions stand, and I thank him for the opportunity to share our story and his great presentation of it. He told our story well, especially the need for volunteers.

For the popcorn doesn’t pop itself!

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

You've probably seen elsewhere online something similar to the picture atop this post: a stack of books, and it is usually accompanied with some text along with it saying that this is someone's reading list for the summer, fall, holiday break, vacation, hospital stay, etc., et. al., yada yada.

In my case, the picture above is not of books I have yet to read, rather it is of books I have already read. What's odd about that is that I pretty much always give away books after I read them and write takeaways from them that I share at this humble blog, but as you can extrapolate, I am a little behind on my writing... by almost a year.

Anytime I can sit down and read is a gift, especially when it's a paper book and not a screen. I have been good over the years with this cycle of reading and sharing, but part of the queue is a little backed up right now.

So I am sharing the spines of these worthy reads, in the hopes that I can use it as a motivation to write more. Feel free to add a comment of encouragement to this post.

Deconstructing Reading and Writing

“There is creative reading as well as creative writing.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

Where did you learn to be a leader?

Over the course of my career, I have found few if any people who took leadership training, then became a leader. Often is the case someone rises from the ranks of an organization and is bestowed a title of leadership, such as manager. Does leadership training follow? I’ll just say that it didn’t for me, and most everyone else I know.

So then, how does one learn leadership? For myself, it was from the numerous examples of leaders I had over the years – some good, some not so good – and from them I developed my own leadership style. Other sources included indirect leaders and stories from others about their leaders.

Could one of those sources for leadership learning be a dog?

This is the theme of Lead Like a Dog by Lori Thomas. A leader that I have had the pleasure to work with first-hand, she wrote this book as a leadership resource, tying human leadership principles to examples reinforced by her dog, Ginger. Could someone already in a leadership role like me, though not a dog owner, take away something from this book? Certainly.

Agile principles apply to everyone – Lori is a Certified Scrum Product Owner, and much of the book talks to Scrum and Agile principles. However it is also very relatable to leaders – or anyone – who do not work with Agile. The idea of working in short sprints, and making adjustments, applies to dogs as much as it does to people and projects.

Leading a team is all about individuals – Where one would think “one-size-fits-all” applies to all people on a team, it does not (especially not for hats and people with big heads like me, but I digress). Understanding who people are, what motivates them and bringing out their best should be the job of every leader. This is something I know Lori does well, and in the book she talks to her experience with it.

You CAN teach old dogs new tricks – Whether a leader or not, anybody is capable of learning and continuously growing. This was more of a reaffirmation for me than something new, as I am doing it myself as are other “old dogs” I know and work with do on a daily basis. Where these days companies are looking for a 1,000% match in skills, perhaps instead they should be hiring for the capacity to learn those skills?

Lead Like a Dog is a great, uplifting read that I recommend not just for any seasoned leader but as well someone newly thrust into the role, whether they are a dog and/or pet owner or not. The wisdom that Thomas shares here, from her own experience, is evergreen and relevant today, especially in the current climate of staff reductions and negative opinions of Agile and Scrum.

Where I typically give away the copies of books I read, occasionally I hold onto a few and this is one of them. As the author is a colleague and friend, I will keep it until I next see her and have her autograph it.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

AI generated cartoon of the This is Fine dog with a can of Harpoon IPA and modified quote bubble adding, ‘as far as you know’

Before you read on, start this classic song from Frida to play in the background.

“I hope this finds you are well.”

This statement is often the first line of emails or other greetings. Most would think that it is a good thing, expressing hope that the recipient is well. However, I have heard people mocking it, saying it’s cliché or insincere, even a throwaway statement. Yet I see it differently; heck, I have heard this statement attributed to a quote from the Bible, not to mention it being a nice way to connect with others. Personally, I have been using the following statement, which builds on this opening statement:

“I hope the finds everything is as greatest as possible with you!“

Why this? First off, it is how I truly feel. Second, it acknowledges there may be things in life that are outside of our control. Despite this, I hope things are at maximum greatness. Even using this phrase, I realize my wish may be far from reality. That’s why these days I go into most situations assuming that is the case, and that there’s something going on.

Perhaps it all started five years ago when we were told to shelter in place; for some, depending on where you lived, this was a longer period of time than for others. In some ways, as much as things are back to “normal,” some things – and people – are not. Then there’s the specifics: unemployment, debt, relationships, your health, others health, inflation, the economy, politics… the list goes on. Sometimes it’s obvious to see or know that people are impacted by any of these.

In most cases, however, it is not obvious to see. To begin with, we often don’t actually “see” each other, whether in person or virtually. Even with people in close proximity we may only text or message them. Add to that the fact many people don’t turn on their cameras in meetings, whether work, non-profit or just friends, and the read of someone’s expressions is lost. Sure, you have people who wear their hearts on their sleeves and thru text or voice will convey their true stories and feelings, but those cases are less than more often.

I now try to look for something that may be going on, and the emphasis is on the word “try;” where my desire is to be as courteous, aware and empathetic as possible, I often miss the mark. Those self-absorbed times are usually when I myself have stuff going on. Yes, all of this applies to me too.

Deconstructing What’s Going On

Realizing something is going is not a sign of weakness by any stretch, rather a requirement in our world today. It plays into how we can and should approach people or anything we do involving others. On the flipside, hopefully others consider this for ourselves and how they approach us. If not, perhaps a little opening up is in order, even if it’s just our webcam.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

Often is the case when people are put together in some scenario, such as a work team, school parent group or sports team, for examples, the assumption is that they will all get along and collaborate and achieve great things. Where this may happen occasionally, I would say more often than not it unfolds differently. Why? It takes a level of effort to establish rules, norms and other planning for people to work together and realize success.

Preventing this negative scenario is the premise of the book The Genius of Opposites: How Introverts and Extroverts Achieve Extraordinary Results Together by Jennifer Kahnweiler. As it was selected a while back for a book club at work, I picked up a copy and actually read it (I know, something rare for a book club!). While I consumed it, I pondered a lot of what was here and wasn’t, and had several takeaways.

About pairs, not teams per se – The book focuses on pairs of people, where one is an introvert and another an extrovert. I didn’t realize this going in, as I assumed it was about a mix of each type in teams. Where some of the information and advice could be adapted for teams, this is not necessarily an ideal source for it.

Nothing about remote working – The book was written in 2016, long before everyone was judged by a little box representing themself on a Zoom call. It would be interesting to compare this to an updated discussion of introverts and extroverts today, virtually.

(Not to digress, also as this came out in 2016 and there was a reference to the success of Daryl Hall and John Oates, today the former has a restraining order on the latter, which made reading about their relationship rather amusing.)

Tell the other what you need – Often in a work situation we assume we need to provide an answer right now, given in a crowd of others who are ready to pounce on our words. Asking for space, time and even saying you are an introvert is part of the work needed in order to have a respectful work relationship.

Large print, just if you need it – The only printed version of this book available online was the large print version. I have never read such a book before, even with my need for glasses every time I read anything. I fully understand the need for larger type, however it was awkward for me to read it. I’ll wait a few years before I read jumbo-lettered pages again.

As I went through The Genius of Opposites, I thought about a couple of times in my career when I have worked in pairs. Most of them were positive, successful and even led to friendships outside of the work relationship. In those times it wasn’t necessarily a case of an introvert and an extrovert. Then there was the not-so-positive situation, where it was a case of 2 extroverts, working for different managers on different teams yet co-leading a project. Despite my efforts to find common ground, there was a great wall always being built between us as I tried to tear it down. It was unfortunate, but alas nothing I could control. When the other person left, I never spoke with them again.

Though not what I was expecting, The Genius of Opposites was an interesting read. If you are in a situation where you or someone you know is paired with an opposing personality, I highly recommend reading the book. As I don’t know someone in such a situation, I decided to donate the book to a local Little Free Library. Where it may not be the first book someone will take from it, hopefully it finds an appropriate home.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email

An exciting part of my college radio experience was following the ascent of new bands. From listening to their hearts and souls formed in vinyl to their signing to small labels, to the few making it to major labels, it was an unforgettable time. Rounding this experience out was seeing them perform live. Where I did see plenty back then, I have since gone to – and continue to go to – concerts from these bands. In the fall of 2016, I added another to my list with seeing Mike Peters, the lead singer of The Alarm, as he performed solo at the famed Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

The Alarm hailed from Wales in the UK and by the time I got into college radio (oh, and into college too), they had already released their first album on indie label IRS (the coolest name and logo for a label, by the way) and in the fall of my freshman year they release their second album, Strength. I quickly became a fan, as their music and lyrics resonated to me. Still today, nary a midyear rainstorm goes by without me belting out, to the chagrin of those in close proximity, Rain in the Summertime. Not to forget other ballad hits of theirs like Sixty Eight Guns, Blaze of Glory, Spirit of 76 among many others.

When I heard Mike Peters was touring solo and was coming to Chicago, I jumped at the chance. That month of September 2016 was a busy one for me and music because I had just gone to the Riot Fest festival concert, also in Chicago; seeing Mike Peters as well as Morrissey, Dee Snider and Gwar in the same month was pushing overload!

Though the concert was now almost 10 years ago, I can remember much of it like it happened yesterday. I had gotten on the VIP list for the show, and it was cool to say that as I entered the theater, as it had been a long, long time since that happened. The theater at the Old Town School was an intimate venue, and though there were seats I stood the whole time to the lament of some fans around me; to no surprise it was an older, GenX crowd. The concert tour was celebrating 30 years since the release of Strength, and his set list matched a live performance that the band did on MTV for the release. That night was just Peters on guitar and he used a drum kit in front of him. He was literally a one-man band. #onemanband

Needless to say the show rocked. I knew all the songs (and most all of the lyrics) and I was singing along to them as did most of the audience. In between songs, Peters told stories about the early days of touring with The Alarm, when they toured with U2 and an interesting encounter that he had with the Sex Pistols... it was just an awesome night.

As he finished his last song, I didn’t realize the night would get better. When I got up to leave, Peters stayed on stage and people were coming up to him and talking to him and getting pictures, so I made my way down to the stage as well. I’s say about half the crowd stayed, many just to shake his hand and say whatever, so I worked my way through the crowd until it was turn. Trying not to be a total fanboy, I introduced myself to him as a fellow Mike and of course I had to tell my origin story from college radio. It was a casual chat and he was cool and appreciative, and it concluded with getting the picture I opened the post with.

Going into the concert I was aware Peters had been battling cancer for many years, and at this point he was in remission. The weekend earlier at Riot Fest I signed up to be a bone marrow donor at a booth run by his Love Hope Strength Foundation. Since then, I have heard on and off of his continued cancer battles, including the song Next and its video which takes place in a hospital. At the end of this past April, Mike Peters lost his battle with cancer. I was sad to hear that news, and then searched my archives for the pictures and one video I made that night in at the Old Town theater which you can watch here or is embedded below. Clearly I wasn’t trying to win a cinematic award for it. It is a little shaky, but it captured the energy of that evening in September 2016. Rock on forever, Mike Peters.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email