March

Questions for John:

What is the biggest benefit you see with the Workday Finance Implementation?

As with any new system implementation and transition from a current system, wiping the slate clean and reimagining our finance business and technology processes is a huge opportunity to make significant advancements in automation and transform the finance function for UofL. The tenure of the UofL team speaks well to having those valuable “history lessons” fresh at hand to guide us in making targeted improvements.

What are you most excited about with the new system?

Both PeopleSoft and Workday were started by the same person, Dave Duffield. I consider Workday to be not only the successor to PeopleSoft in many ways but a continuation of the original vision that became PeopleSoft. I’m excited to see some of the similarities in approach from PeopleSoft to Workday, especially where and how the vision has progressed into what has become a very popular application in Workday.

Name a talent you wish you had?

I have been forever destined to be a music appreciator/fan as opposed to a performer or creator. I enjoy all manner of live music and am jealous of anyone who can play a musical instrument of any kind with any level of proficiency. My attempts at learning guitar and piano over the years have shown that the river of talent needed to obtain even a rudimentary level of understanding and ability musically is a dry creek bed in my family. I had a close friend who recently passed who created amazing original music with just his computer. His attempts at trying to teach me how to do the same resulted in the same no success as my working with instruments. So, I suppose I will have to stick with my career in finance and finance technology. 😊

Are you currently binge-watching any shows?

I’ve just finished the first two seasons of the “Reacher” series, having been a big fan of the books over the years. I find Alan Ritchson a much more believable incarnation of Jack Reacher than Tom Cruise was in the movies. I wasn’t quite able to suspend my disbelief enough to buy into Tom Cruise as the menacing avenger that is Jack Reacher. The series is much better.

What is the last book you read?

I just finished a trilogy of books by Carsten Stroud (Niceville, The Homecoming, The Reckoning). My wife is from a town called Niceville, Florida, and the author based the series in a town called Niceville based on his time spent in the actual town of Niceville, but the book shows that the inspiration was in name only as the place depicted in the book, other than general geographic location, bears little to no resemblance to the actual place. Once I start a book or a movie, I have to finish the story regardless of my level of interest. So, while it wasn’t as location-specific as I would have preferred, the story contained enough mystery, suspense and intrigue to hold my attention.