One of the unwritten rules of the Ad Hoc Harley awards is that I try to award them to people who would otherwise go unrecognized (which reminds me that I have one to do shortly). It's an unwritten rule like many of them, because I do break it when I feel like it.
Today I saw this post over on Health IT News, and I thought to myself, not again. Here's yet another case where the media really fails to recognize the real contributors to the advancement of Health IT. I wasn't at all disappointed to see Regina and Dave on those lists. However, I was disappointed to find that I couldn't just vote for them. They represent the real men and women of health IT, undercompensated, overachievers, who've taken their passion to the trenches. As for the others, they may have done some really cool things, but they are also in a position to do that, and to some degree, when you have C*O after your name, I expect greatness from you.
Maybe someday I'll be an executive and feel differently, but the real work in Health IT doesn't happen on the executive side. Sure, they have have the vision, but they are also given the power and resources to achieve it. The people I like to see rewarded are those with vision, and somehow find the resources to make it happen despite the lack of influence they might wield by their position.
It may sound like sour grapes, and in all fairness, I'm sure there is some of that sentiment involved. But surely somewhere there could be a place where these folks get recognized in a way that is significant, and not just on this blog. If anyone is interested in taking me up on the idea, I'll even be on the nominating committee.
I think this is a case of business rules gone wild... It is ridiculous that you need to vote for people you might not even know because you need to pick 3 off each page.
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