Silver Circle Profiles
A Look at Jim Kissler
posted: December 2006Automating company reports fresh out of college was just the beginning
Jim Kissler, Senior Manager with a large financial services company, defines himself as a certified data nut. "When someone enters a room, my brain thinks in terms of height, weight, shoe size, date, time," said Kissler. "I can tell you when a song on the radio came out and the band and other relevant numbers, but I struggle with lyrics no matter how many times I hear a song."
Destined to work with data
Kissler knew that he was destined to collect, organize and analyze information. He decided to major in quantitative business analysis (QBA) at Arizona State University where he could focus on the practical application of statistics, operations research and programming.
Students in the QBA program were required to become computer literate, so Kissler took classes in FORTRAN, BASIC, COBOL and GPSS.
"The first two years, one had to head down into the basement of the business college and punch cards," said Kissler. "There were at least 50 machines, and I believe I have suffered hearing loss from the hum and the punch from those machines."
While Kissler was in the program, the college shifted to the DEC PDP-11 with DECwriter terminals. He was in the first class to work with modern desktop computers.
"That was great – being able to type and execute from a terminal rather than handing your stack of cards to an operator and praying you did it right," said Kissler.
Fresh out of college with a QBA degree in hand
When Kissler completed his bachelor's degree, he thought he could get work as an applications programmer. The QBA degree was relatively new at the time, and some of the program's graduates were finding jobs in the computer programming field. Kissler had a knack for programming but enjoyed data analysis. After a couple of companies contacted him about working as an industrial engineer, he decided that engineering might be a better fit.
"I liked the idea of being an industrial engineer, since I could leverage my skills to solve problems and change processes for the better," said Kissler.
Kissler considered pursuing an MBA after he finished his undergraduate degree. The economy was sluggish at the time. "The hot companies for QBA grads were oil companies, consulting firms and EDS," said Kissler. He did not want to move to Texas and was told by a recruiter that he was "not tall enough" to be a consultant, although Kissler stands close to 6 feet tall.
Like most college graduates, Kissler wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life.
One job application sets the stage
On a whim, Kissler stopped by the office of a local financial services company and filled out an application for a position as an industrial engineer. He was hired two days later and started work the following Monday.
He has now been with the company for nearly 26 years and has worked in seven departments, including quality assurance, capacity planning, finance, fraud, risk modeling, marketing and warehousing. While moving from analyst to lead to manager and now director, the common thread in his career has been the acquisition and analysis of data.
First major project - shifting from manual to computerized reports
One of Kissler's first responsibilities as an industrial engineer involved producing quality and volume reports for each area of the organization.
Coordinating reports was a full-time job. Several analysts manually recorded information on large accounting sheets and then tabulated rows and columns weekly and monthly. Kissler took the raw information and produced the final charts.
One of the managers at the company approached Kissler about automating the process. Kissler had some experience with Minitab but had never worked with SAS applications. He was interested in streamlining the process and began learning SAS and computerizing the arduous manual process.
Reflections on success spanning more than a quarter of a century
Working with a large team of individuals posed challenges. Kissler enrolled in a counseling certification program at Southwestern Gestalt Institute. "A person can only go so far in life without capable communication skills," explained Kissler. He also found that his love of sports provided a useful framework for understanding and working with corporate colleagues.
"I love the numbers they [sports teams] generate and the teamwork and dynamics," said Kissler. "When interviewing and working with people in the office, I can always tell who played team sports and who actually played on winning teams. These people always understand the team is first and, through team success, one generates individual success."
Kissler has enjoyed being part of a winning corporate team and credits SAS with providing tools that have allowed him to be a strong leader.
Looking to the future
Currently, Kissler is concentrating on getting his kids through college and then shifting from being a "family" to being part of a "couple" again. He said he may decide to earn the MBA that he considered when he first finished college. He thinks learning is critical, whether at work or home or in life. He enjoys his job and hopes to continue to use SAS applications to improve operations. "I feel that it's important to learn every day and move forward. If you stop learning, you stop living," said Kissler.
