Rebooting: Transitioning from You to New and Experienced You

By Billy Poggi

About the Book
Written by a U.S. Marine who made the transition from the military to the private sector and learned a lot along the way. Rebooting examines how you, too, can successfully navigate the challenges ahead while also utilizing all of your past experience. In this book, you’ll learn strategies that leaders like you can implement in the everyday arena, capitalizing on the curated skills developed from global experience. Enhance your own expertise and prepare to lead from the front in the ever-changing landscape of software development.

About the Author
Billy Poggi MBA, is a U.S. Marine, husband, and father of two who resides in Virginia. He currently works in the software development space, where he supports customers in the government sector and volunteers with a variety of technology groups.
Outside of his military officer career, Billy has led in private sector roles such as Director, Project and Program Manager, Senior DevOps Engineer, and Technical Project Manager for several private sector companies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Aug 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798888128084

Book preview

Chapter 1

Warm-Up

1.1 Introduction

This book is essential and timely right now because of the huge development of software. At the same time, there are more and more people, trained by the military, that are adept at managing complex situations.

Software management jobs are growing at an increasing rate. As the demand for software increases, there will be an increase in the need for personnel who can understand the strategic goals for the customer and the client and translate those into the tactical tasks for the individual engineers.

Current military personnel, through multiple deployments in various regions, are experienced in handling complex situations and environments. There’s a need to balance the current, day-to-day activities, and at the same time, manage the progress towards the larger, strategic goal. This complex balance between now, while keeping in mind the upcoming future is why your experience is critical in this environment right now.

Additional versions of these complex environments are balancing the twenty-four-seven operational schedule of deployment. Working on a range with hazardous materials during the day and then coming home at night to be with the family. Understanding the difference between inspection ready and deployment ready and being responsible for both.

In the commercial world, the interactions between the company and the customer occur at a level way below the President and the CEO. Current military leaders have developed the ability to manage the strategic goals of the military with their assigned tactical tasks.

In the Three Block War, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Three_Block_War), it’s stated that the majority of effort happens at the lowest level. And at this lowest level is where the majority of the impact is felt by the end user. This junction of critical interface, between the end user and the team building the product, is where many ambiguous items begin. There are feature requests, updates, and bug patches.

These are the day-to-day dealings the team of software developers must overcome. At the same time, they have to know and focus on the larger strategic goal. Much like the Strategic Corporal, they must know and understand the impacts of their actions. Enabling a team like this is where your experience is essential.

Just do a quick google search for in-demand jobs and you’ll find various versions of software engineers in the findings. Of course, you’ll see other jobs listed there, too, but most importantly, the software developer positions have greater potential for growth and expansion beyond. Leveraging your already impressive background into a software management position, and enabling the team, is where Rebooting comes in.

Software is needed everywhere in a growing company. There is a dilemma with this problem. Create a hierarchical structure, and the choke points are quickly overwhelmed by information and data. An alternative is a flat company. This is a company with no levels of hierarchy. Which lends itself to everyone doing many things without leadership.

This is where someone who has Rebooted themselves is of use. They can be inserted with the personnel who are trained to handle strategic operations at the tactical level. Charged with leading small teams, these people have a bias for action developed over years of training within the military services. These small teams require supervision, guidance, and support. All of these can be provided by a servant leader. Many of the team members already have the technical knowledge. More demanding than this is the requirement for support.

Walking a path is easy. Knowing which path to take is hard. Accepting the fault when the wrong path is taken, is hardest of all. Many on the team want to avoid this at all cost. You’ve survived more than simple missteps and can help others understand that they can, too.

Being wrong is hard. Being inefficient is very hard. Going down the wrong path and then having to correct later is extremely hard. Again, engineers don’t like this feeling. It feels like a waste and is very inefficient.

Knowing that you wouldn’t know what wrong is until you’ve taken the first steps is the bias for action you have within your very essence. Accepting your role as the servant leader, you know that discovering inefficiencies is the very way you define efficiencies.

Coaching the team through this event, and additional events like it, are very challenging for the leader. It is uncomfortable and foreign. But, in doing so, the engineers and the team will learn. They will not learn just anything or even something. They will learn a specific detail. They will learn a small component of the bigger situation. This is the knowledge the team is after. This is what makes it worth all the pain. The increase in knowledge allows the team to make better decisions in the following choices about which path to take going forward.

This constant trial, observation, and implementation is what Rebooting is all about.

This book is simple because it serves a single, focused purpose. That purpose is to enable proven leaders from prior military service for leading software developers and engineers. This book will be qualitative in its capacity to explain how and why the military has created the best leaders. It will identify the characteristics big companies and small companies want from leaders from the military.

The vision this book casts for the transitioning leader is not a road map, but an education on navigation and why it’s important to enable success over achieving the predetermined goal. It doesn’t create an objective to achieve, but rather a methodology for referencing their experience in the new environment.

In a field that is rapid and dynamic in growth, young, energetic leaders willing to jump in and make a difference are a highly sought after. This book is an individual in the market as no other book looks to guide youthful, energetic leaders into the software field.

This is different from normal books about transitioning because it has direct focus on a target market and skill set. This book seeks to align what is already instilled in each leader within the armed forces and connect that energy with the business that utilizes software development for greater success.

Computer Term: Kernel (Operating System) – computer program that manages input/output request from software and translates them into data processing instructions for the central processing unit and other electronic components of a computer.

Military Term: Colonel – senior officer, known for aligning resources to accomplish missions at various levels throughout the area of operations.

Chapter 2

Foreword

By Joe Shusko

In my humble opinion, the men and women in the military I have come to serve with learn more and grow faster in the service because of their ability to adapt and overcome all challenges to accomplish any and all missions. It’s about attitude and connecting the right people to make things happen. It’s about relationships Billy talks about in the book. Billy makes having relationships quite clear in the book because he was there and wore the t-shirt, as they say. He was one of those who served and left the Corps to do great things on the outside. His wisdom in capturing the specifics of what all veterans go through prior to leaving the services is unique and quite thorough.

After being in and around the Marine Corps for over forty years, I can attest to the fact that the military doesn’t prepare our veterans enough in regard to what to face on the outside when leaving our services. This book is well-written in explaining the worth of our young patriots as they walk out the door, and at the same time re-educating our military veterans on their unique wealth of experience, dedication, loyalty, professionalism, and character they bring to the outside. This book provides the leadership on the outside an enjoyable study on what our veterans can do for their companies.

For the leaders out there getting ready to inherit these great patriots; the lessons learned by veterans are so very relevant in our society today. These eager, hard chargers are imbued with values that will remain with them forever. In our Corps we value Honor, Courage, and Commitment, which are tattooed on our soul for life. All the other military branches also have values that their personnel live by. These special virtues and experiences will assist any organization to grow. I’ve read repeatedly that for decades, polls have shown that Americans trust the military more than most other institutions. I attribute that statement to the fact that veterans live by those virtues I’ve mentioned above.

It is perhaps worth saying what this book is not about. It is not about getting rich or having a quick fix to a problem. What I believe is different with this unique book is the collective approach of ideas, thoughts, and factual accounts from a writer who has tasted the cool aide in many ways to assist others to land on their feet in a sprint when they leave the service. Whether it does or not is up to the reader. You decide.

I have known Billy for most of his life. We were both Marines who shared friendships which unite all warriors who have served their country honorably. In fact, young Billy Poggi was one of my mentees as I mentored hundreds of young second lieutenants during my tenure as a Marine as they began their service to country.

Billy Poggi is attempting to impact as many military personnel he can reach with this wonderfully written book that brings out the skills members of the military gain in their honorable years serving their country. Billy has worked diligently to craft this book for all military personnel transitioning into the real world. It’s a wonderful guide allowing members of the military to examine themselves mentally in regard to the value they have to offer to the civilian sector. It’s also an educational tool for leaders of