I was going to cite #5 in the Manifesto: "There are no IT projects. Projects are about changing and improving the business or what's the point?" But while thinking how to explain why that's the key point, I realized it's not always true.

I once interviewed for a position at a steel manufacturer. While the factory was computer-controlled, the people who worked on those systems were in Engineering. The non-production computer system -- email, financials, advertising, etc. -- was I.T. In that case, I.T. really was a support function, no more important to the company than telecom.

That doesn't mean it was unimportant. They could no more survive without their back-office system than they could do without phones. But that system really had no bearing on how they ran their business. It was something that was expected to Just Work™, like the electricity or plumbing.

"I'd call your question more than merely basic. It's fundamental."

Oh, come now! "basic" and "fundamental" are synonyms.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Then there are the managers that encourage "managers and staff at all levels to form productive, collaborative relationships with managers and staff elsewhere in the business" and they listen to every idea gathered by their team but do not give approval for them to persue any of the ideas.

Until... a few weeks or months later when they bring the idea up in an executive meeting and take credit for it.

You are a lucky person if you are thinking "that doesn't really happen". It does.

In too many businesses these days NOTHING is strategic. The whole place is locked into the short-term, the closest thing to Strategy is the budget process.
The CIO has no choice but to "play it safe", and is rewarded for lack of vision.

I once worked at a 'community activity' organization at a national level. We had these quarterly meetings, big rah rah's where everyone gathered together to hear the latest message from the grand poubah. At one of these, we got to see a new ad promoting our org. It finished with a 800# for info. Interested young persons could call in and get info sent - which consisted of a brochure and letter. We already had an address verification package installed on the mainframe, and we knew the addresses of local meetings. On the way out of the meeting, I told my boss that the two systems could be hooked to the letter generator within two weeks. The benefit - the letter could have a selection of locations for the kids to find a meeting. He literally slapped his hand over my mouth and told me to shut up. He pulled me into his office when we got back. Did I not realize the political issues here? The turf issues? Make any more statements like that and you'll be on the street.

Obviously I didn't understand. I thought we were here to help young people have better lives. The disillusionment led to my next job.

Comments on comments:

Gene, if the computer controls of production produced data, then there is huge role for IT to participate in dialogue with management about strategic decisions -- locating and utilizing the right data for making those decisions (and way beyond telecom). But your comment that management just wants IT to work says they don't understand strategic change and improvement.

Rick, you are probably accurate in observing that so much of management is non-strategic and focused on the extreme short-run. But that is not reason to reject strategic thinking, which is what is absolutely necessary for businesses to survive over the long haul.

Dave Carlson

Dave, that was me talking about the manufacturing. To clarify, the business did recognize the value of that data. And it was handled in the Engineering department. Production computer systems were segregated, and the IT department handled everything else.

In that environment, it was possible to have an IT project that was not strategic. Upgrading the email system at a steel plant may be useful, but it doesn't affect the direction of the company.

Dave, I agree completely with your statement about survival. But I agree even more with Rick because too many investors and managers don't care about long term results or survival. They prefer profitable pillaging.

Synonymous does not mean identical. "Fundamental" means it is part of the fundament from which the rest of something is built. "Basic" doesn't necessarily have anything built on top of it, it stands by itself, much like the difference between a concrete road and concrete pad with a building on top.

For decades, management in the U.S. has been aversion conditioned. The result is that the manager who has 'any' strategic vision is rare. Certainly this statement applies to CIO and Information Management.

For those few that have strategic vision, it is common to revisit former jobs and find that plans made 2 or 5 years ago (and which were roundly rejected) are being implemented today because it is easy and non-threatening to current management.

If strategic thinking is your forte, you had best to implement that ability like porcupines make love.