Nic: Good morning, Blake, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Blake: Good morning, Nic, it is a pleasure to meet you as well.
Nic: Your book, Records Management for Dummies, is a staple in our industry. Most of us at ICRM have either learned its concepts or read it. What inspired you to write it?
Blake: Although I am well-known for one book, I actually wrote two. The first book, which I titled Records and Information Management 2.0, inspired the second. My wife was the inspiration for the first. I still remember the moment… it was Labor Day in 2011. We were living in Arizona at the time, and my wife and I were sitting down together at the breakfast table. She mentioned to me, “You have been doing records things for so long. Have you ever thought of publishing a book?”
Nic: Describe how you turned your wife’s idea, and your knowledge, into a book. How did you approach and navigate the publishing process?
Blake: Shortly after the conversation I had with my wife, I contacted Wiley Publishing Company, located in Indianapolis, which publishes the For Dummies book series. Wiley agreed to publish my work, but I still needed someone to pay the publishing cost. Since my business was a long-time client of Iron Mountain, I pitched to its management the idea that they could use my work internally in exchange for helping me to make it a reality. Iron Mountain looked at the synopsis and approved my idea.
The final step in the publication process came when I brought the idea to my organization, which at the time was Safeway. Out of respect, I wanted to be certain that my employer approved. The Compliance Department agreed my contribution to the field would not be a conflict of interest and gave me the green light.
Nic: How was your first book received? How did this reception lead to your second book?
Blake: Iron Mountain provided the 55-page book to salespeople and to its clients. This fulfilled the dual purpose of training employees and ensuring that Iron Mountain and its clients were on the same page with their terminology, strategies, and expectations. My first book went through four or five reprints, due to demand from Iron Mountain. Noticing the demand, Wiley approached me to write the full book. We agreed on terms in the fourth quarter of 2011. I felt daunted by the task at first, but once I began writing I discovered my knowledge and experience easily filled 500 pages of material. I pared these down to create the final product.
Nic: How long did Records Management for Dummies take to write, and which topic was your favorite to write about?
Blake: I began writing in January of 2012 and finished up in July. My first book had provided me with a little bit of book writing experience, including working with an editor. I found I was able to incorporate and expand upon a lot of the fundamentals in my first book rather than reinventing the wheel.
My favorite parts to write were how to appraise records and to use the collection of identifying information to create retention schedules. These are the fundamentals at the core of records management for all types of media, whether physical or electronic. No matter what type of company you have, it needs to know the records it owns and what to do with them.
I also enjoyed reaching out to vendors and manufacturers about the value of ancillary services such as document imaging, scanning, and high-end shredders. I gave them attributions in my book. When it comes to choosing among various products, I recommend, and lay out the process for performing, cost-benefit analyses. I enjoyed writing this part too. A good cost-benefit analysis can make decisions about whether to build an inhouse DMS or outsource to the cloud much easier to justify.
Nic: What is some of the best… and worst… feedback you have received from readers?
Blake: I am very honored to receive, to this day, emails from RIM folks thanking me for this writing. Given the wide distribution of my book, I receive surprisingly limited negative feedback. When I receive criticism, I am receptive to it. The most common negative feedback is from RIM professionals who have been in the field for a long time and find my approach to be too simplistic. My book purposefully leaves open opportunities for others to delve into topics in a more detailed and granular level. I was not motivated to go down avenues of extremely complex pipe topics such as the retention of database information.
Nic: Have you ever thought about writing a book, for a more advanced audience, that shares the full spectrum of your knowledge and experience?
Blake: I have thought about it. At my age, I am in a different line of work… a manager for a large global technology company. I am not interested in writing another book, but I am always interested in being used as a resource and a contact.
Nic: Who were your target audiences?
Blake: My intent was to help people who are following the path I took. I have a degree in accounting. I never dreamed of being a corporate Records Manager. Records Management was dumped into my lap by the Vice President of the insurance company for which I worked in 1997. I needed to learn a lot quickly. I suspected that a large number of people enter the RIM field under similar circumstances, having records responsibilities abruptly thrust upon their other work responsibilities by their employers. I am not unique among managers in finding that departmental restructuring has suddenly placed the RIM department under my control.
Nic: In addition to training newcomers who did not seek our profession, but had it thrust upon them, should the RIM community should actively recruit employees from other professions?
Blake: Yes. Many traditionally non-records jobs have become intimately interactive with records. Records management progressed from the basement to the boardroom. The positions we apply for are no longer looking for entry level file clerks… instead they are looking for knowledgeable people who see information as an asset, and who are able to reduce liability and to ensure compliance.
Opportunities abound for motivated people with various backgrounds to positively impact RIM/IG programs. Accounting degrees, Master in Library Science degrees, and Archival degrees are among those that translate well. ICRM wants these people on board. In fact, it is hard to ICRM to recruit expert records professionals, because it is ICRM that creates expert professionals.
Nic: Does your book make higher education and certifications unnecessary, or do you find these are still invaluable to those pursuing advancement?
Blake: The CRM designation is vital. The continuing education baked into the CRM ensures that its members stay on top of legal and regulatory changes. To be honest, I wonder if this was always the case. When ICRM was founded in the 1960s, records was really a support function and a clerical oriented type position. However, by the time I earned it in 2006, the CRM designation had become a real game changer. It provided me with big gains, both personally and professionally.
I still remember what happened for me. Soon after becoming a Certified Records Manager in Nashville, Tennessee, I was called out of the blue by a man in Phoenix, Arizona. The man who called had acquired a list of CRMs and was, on behalf of Fortune 500 companies, cold calling everyone on the list until he found a CRM interested in their job openings. Job descriptions for Fortune 500 Companies did not just have a CRM as desired but as mandatory.
Nic: It is humbling to hear how the CRM contributed to your success. Did you have any people who inspired you to acquire it, who authored books you found valuable, or who helped teach you the information?
Blake: My motivation to acquire my CRM in the first place was Dr. Mark Langemo, a professor emeritus at North Dakota State. He ignited my passion for records management at a two-day seminar about records fundamentals in the late 1990s. When studying for my CRM, I purchased a number of books that were recommended. One of the authors who stands out was David O. Stephens, who published a groundbreaking book about electronic records. After becoming a CRM, I am grateful for my longtime friendship with Andrew Ysasi. He has an alphabet soup of designations, and he has been such a contributor to our records and information management profession.
Nic: After earning your CRM, you have worked in several industries: insurance, retail, waste, and other verticals. Which industry do you think has the best records management practices?
Blake: I do think some industry verticals, such as the nuclear and pharmaceutical industries, are notorious for suffering serious consequences in the absence of strong RIM programs. A strongly regulated field forces businesses to have better RIM programs. That being said, all businesses are at risk of litigation. Educating yourself in RIM/IG principles can benefit your company regardless of whether it is highly regulated.
Nic: Four of the companies for which you have worked were Fortune 500 companies. Did you find that Fortune 500 companies have more efficient RIM programs given their resources?
Blake: Some of them were Fortune 100s as wells. You can assume that a company is among the Fortune 500 that they have deeper pockets, but there are still struggles to allocate resources to RIM programs. Over the course of 2000-2020; I always need to provide cost benefit analyses for justifying and staffing RIM needs. Even a Vice President must build a case to show senior executive leadership why providing adequate representation will be a benefit.
Records is not necessarily profit center, but it can always save money like reducing liability and destroying eligible information. The cost of discovery is tremendous. Email is usually looked at as smoking gun, and it can quickly accumulate. A well-executed retention schedule can eliminate records before they are trapped in a legal hold. Businesses prioritize focusing on the management of physical records, but I argue that you don’t have a RIM program until your electronic records program is on par with your physical one. Whether you work for a big company or a small one, the problems you encounter and fundamentals required to solve them are the same.
Nic: As Records and Information Management continues to grow and evolve, most of the knowledge in your book translates well in today’s world. Do you see parts of your book becoming obsolete in the near future?
Blake: My book will be 10 years old in October of this year. What is in there is not outdated, but it is not up to date (as in talking about new developments such as information governance). When IG first emerged, there were no books about it. Perhaps Wiley has one now. Initially, people argued that if their personal department, whether Records, Legal, or IT was sound, their company had a solid IG program. Vendors supported this idea to sell their products as a one-stop solution.
But over time, Information Governance has become synonymous with inextricable collaboration. In my career, I began to be contacted more and more by legal, attorneys, and IT professionals who wanted my expertise about backup tapes, full servers, archiving solutions, and destruction eligibility. IG is the hub of the wheel, and RIM is one of the spokes, along with legal, IT, and several other departments. No one department can make a business competitive without a symbiotic relationship with the others. This means that everyone in a business understands that RIM/IG principles are beneficial to their own success, while RIM/IG professionals gain access to additional resources and influence.
Nic: What do you think is the path of the RIM profession, and how should we approach it?
Blake: I have been manager and director longer than records management person, always managing people with respect. I am even keeled, diplomatic, and can make decisions even when they may not be popular. I think strong management is critical in a RIM program’s success regardless of the time period. A passion for our discipline is also an attribute that ages well. I consider RIM both personal and professional. I love the opportunities the RIM profession has afforded me and my family over the years.
I have vast experience spanning many decades as our discipline has grown, but I will always be a proponent of the fundamentals. I have seen people attempt to succeed at Information Governance (and implementing cutting edge techniques) without fully addressing appraisals, retention, and electronic records, and I have never seen these attempts succeed.
At a macro level, I think we need a blend of old school professionals such as myself and of forward-thinking people (a category in which I also strive to be) who keep an eye on the horizon. The horizon continues to shift. For example, the cloud is no longer on the horizon… it is here now. An awareness of what is on the cusp will always impact how we build upon records management fundamentals.
Nic: Thank you so much. Now, for my final question, I want you to share something unique about yourself to our community. This could be something personal or professional that helps you stand out.
Blake: I am proud of my family. My wife and I have been married 32 years. We have a son who is a real estate agent and tour manager, and a daughter who is happily married and studying to become a welder.
Also, I am a huge NFL football fan. In 1999 I became one of the founding season ticket holders in the new stadium of the Tennessee Titans. There was a gap when I lived in Phoenix when I went without tickets. I know you are a Patriots fan, so I will say Belichick is the greatest coach of all time.
Nic: Blake, it has truly been a pleasure. Thank you so much for your time and generosity sharing your experience.
Blake: Thank you Nic, I have enjoyed getting to know you as well.
Interview by Nicholas Soares, CRM