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gantthead blogs
by - Michael Wood
It's time to rethink the way we approach IT. For too long IT has been allowed to exist dysfunctionally within the enterprise on many levels. From CIO relationships to fundemental understanding on how to plan, build and support the needs of the business IT has been allowed to be more art than science.... What follows are my thoughts on a variety of topics within the IT space.
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Thank You for Your Reviews
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Feedback
I spent this morning looking through my 2008 articles and the reviews so many of you have taken time to post. Thank you all. One of my goals in contributing articles is to get people to react. Sometimes the reactions are favorable; sometimes not.
What is most important is that you come away with a definite reaction to what is written.
I wish each article could tackle every topic in the detail it deserves. Unfortunately, they are articles and not books and therefore limited by what can be said in a few pages.
Some food for thought for going forward.
Whether you agree or disagree with articles, ask yourself why?
Is it because you have personal experiences that validate or invalidate what is being said?
Is it that the writer just gets it wrong?
is a negative reaction due to a conflict between what is IDEAL vs. what is HAPPENING?
Is a negative reaction fueled by a person blind spot or a clash of ideologies?
For me, every review has been instructive and I hope to improve future postings based on the feedback provided.
I encourage you to engage the authors not just via reviews but via discussion groups. We have much to learn from each other here in gantthead.
Thank You All Again
Michael |
Some Things Never Change
Fresh off the presses via IT Business Edge - http://ct.itbusinessedge.com/dm?id=A2987EA1B93526CD8DA0817BF71D53EAEB24383DB858D7B7
"According to a Gartner report, approximately 65% of enterprise executives question the effectiveness of their IT investments in supporting their business goals and objectives. Even more telling is a recent IDC survey that found only 23% of IT professionals think their IT and business operations are in alignment. "
When will CIO's get it!. Alignment isn't about cutting edge technologies, its about understanding the business from its root to its top, communicating, discovering true needs and expectations and then providing the operational and strategic information leveraging tools and technologies needed.
Even now, when I talk to CIO's they don't drive their IT services from the overall business plan down. They still work in silos, fail to take in the big picture except at the most intellectual and obtuse levels, and are still cost not benefit focused.
The numbers speak for themselves... After over 50 years IT is still in denial about its ability to deliver value to the Enterprise. |
The Certification Craze
| Seems to me that there are just too many certifications floating around out there. As a Certified Public Accountant I know what it use to mean to hold a certificate... For CPAs it meant a college degree, a multi-day exam and 2 years of field experience; and then to keep it 40 hours a year of continuing education. Today most certifications consist of passing an exam or even worse, just sitting through some training classes. In IT's quest to legitimize itself as being worthy of joining the professional ranks, it has allowed the certifications to get out of control. By dumbing down the requirements we dumb down the profession..... just my thoughts |
When Should IT Say NO?
When it comes to deciding who should have what technologies and systems it is not IT's place to say no. As a CIO I always maintained that user organizations could have whatever they wanted so long as management approved it, they paid for it and IT could support it.
In my 9 years in the CIO chair I can't remember ever telling someone NO related to a need. Many times, however, I withheld my endorsement which thank God the CEO took very seriously.
IT is not the keep of the authorization, it exists to service the organization's current and future information technology needs. Its ability to deliver productivity and Enterprise Objective leveraging tools into the hands of the workforce should be the prime directive for IT.
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Setting Objectives
Many of us are asked to set goals and objectives for our organizations, departments, teams and selves. Most of us have no idea how to create objectives that add value to our ability to focus and get things done; which after all is the objective of an objective.
When setting an objective keep in mind that it must define an outcome that is observable. It must also result in creating a state that is different from the state you or your organization is currently in. Measurement is vital to every objective. It represents the basis for others as well as yourself to determine whether the objective has been achieved.
To create a great objective start by describing the new state, then describe how you plan to achieve that state. Text book objectives discourage HOW and only want to focus on WHAT. But until HOW is understood the attainability of WHAT can't be assessed. Pure WHAT statements are visions. Just think of the HOW in a tactical sense not a procedural one.
Saying you want to make a car that gets 35 mpg is an objective but has no compelling force to it.
Saying you want to make a car that gets 35 mpg by reducing its weight while increasing its crash durability is more compelling and presents a challenge to those who would need to create it. Adding "within 2 years" even better. |
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