Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble…

…when you are perfect in every way”

Mac Davis

In the last couple of weeks, seems like I have had several “deja vu all over” moments that humility is a missing ingredient in tech industry DNA

a) We make endless fun of Al Gore for his statement (or misquote according to him) that he invented the Internet. But then we let Fast Company plaster across its cover “The Kid who made Obama President”

Oh, really – nothing to do with Obama’s own skills, his staff, the Democratic political machinery, us voters?

b) I was talking to a CIO this week about how much we have spoiled tech vendors – to the point where they brazenly tell investors

“We get to keep virtually all of that (maintenance revenue) money”

and other brags they have to know filter back to their customers

c) I was listening to a sales pitch from a vendor where they invoked all kinds of market share stats, magic quadrants. This vendor, while large and diversified, does not have even 5% of the 2 trillion dollar annual tech and telecom global market but to listen to them you would think they had as much market control as DeBeers in diamonds

d) I was reading about the exuberance of a young entrepreneur developing iPhone store. Revenues of probably less than 5K but had already been written about in several articles and blogs.

“…to know me is to love me ..I must be a hell of a man…it’s hard to be humble…but I am doing the best that I can”