InformationWeek

November 4, 1997

letter image Secret CIO Image Your letters to my print column and this E-mail forum ask some serious questions about managing information technology in today's world. Since today's world is essentially absurd, my serious responses may sometimes sound a little whimsical, and my occasional whimsical ones, serious. In any case, if you want to participate, write to me at secret@cmp.com . I'll respond to those letters that I can. I reserve the right to edit for size and content. Just sign your E-mail the way you want it to appear online.

Dear Herb:

I enjoyed your article, " So Much For Helping Morale ." The situation mirror s my own experience of being downsized.

I worked for a division of Transamerica for more than five years and was promoted to a midlevel manager slot when my boss, Doug, was promoted to VP of operations. Six months later, the company was sold as part of Jim Harvey's move to sell off any subsidiary not involved in core areas of insurance or financial services. The new buyer initially said all the right things about no planned layoffs -- the managers and staff being key assets acquired in the purchase, etc.

One year after the buyout was complete, I went into Doug's office to say my wife and I would be leaving for a week to stay in a bed and breakfast in Carmel. Doug had approved the vacation earlier in the year but looked shocked and had obviously forgotten. He advised me that I would have to return Wednesday morning for a budget meeting. I said the budget was not due for two months and I had not even begun the rough planning for the next fiscal year. Doug responded that he would put together the figures for me and all I had to do was present them to management. I suggested we meet at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday to talk over the figures before the meeting but he said it would be too late for any changes and the numbers would be simple derivatives of the budget I had prepared the prior year. Although a bit miffed that my vacation was to be cut in half, I had worked with Doug for over six years and trusted his judgment. Still no warning bells went off.

My wife was quite upset at the change of plans, so we decided to keep our room at the B&B, drive up early Wednesday morning to the office, and return to Carmel late Wednesday afternoon. I arrived at the office at 8:30 a.m., processed my mail, and went up to the executive conference room at 9:00 a.m. When I opened the door and saw only Doug and the personnel director, the warning bells went off in a torrent. I was told that I was laid off effective immediately, was to be given a generous severance package (two weeks per year), and had less than 10 minutes to ask ques tions because 70 layoffs were planned that day. I was stunned.

The really humiliating part came when I was exiting the room. The personnel director informed me that a rent-a-guard was waiting to escort me out of the building and that I was not to attempt to return to my desk to retrieve my briefcase or other belongings. They were to be examined for company documents, which would be removed, and then my belongings would be boxed up. I was told that I could retrieve them after 9:00 a.m. the following Monday.

Thankfully, I had a few days at the beach to digest what had just happened, although the second half of my vacation was somewhat less fun that the first half. After a week of rather bitter feelings, I took the forced change as an opportunity and several months later landed a much better and more interesting job as VP of a bank headquartered in San Francisco. The interesting impact was on those still left in the company. Over 50% of the top performing managers and staff, including Doug and the person nel manager, left over the next nine months to join competing firms, precisely for the reason you stated -- they figured that if the company could act in such an underhanded and unprofessional manner, their jobs were also at risk.

I hope I never experience a similar situation again, but in fact it has tuned my radar. I doubt I will ever again be quite so trusting or quite so surprised.

Harley Arnett

Dear Harley,

Your letter should be read and digested by everyone who either makes management policies in a company or is potentially affected by them -- in other words, all of us.

When will the callous dolts such as you describe realize that people pay attention to what we do, not what we say? What happened to you is a disgrace. I have to tell you that I am not too thrilled with Doug for going along with this charade. I would have thought more of him if he had opted out of being a star player in that little bit of th eater. I am curious: What would have happened if you had told them you were not waiting for Monday, you were getting your briefcase, and no, they could not look in it since it contains your personal possessions, and if they wanted to restrain you physically from doing so, you would welcome the opportunity to file an assault charge against them? It would have been amusing to see their reaction. I suspect the trained rabbit from personnel would have had to go back to someone for instructions on that one.

Oh, by the way, I hope your final expense account included the mileage from Carmel back and forth to the office for the trip where they trashed you.

Good luck in your new job. And maybe the old firm learned something by having so many people leave after their lay-offs -- but I doubt it.

Dear Mr. Lovelace,

Where do I find the top 10 list of practical issues in a CIO's life? For example, year 2000, outsourcing, s kills provision, etc. What surveys are available and where?

Thanks,
Cliff Court

Dear Cliff:

Practically all the consulting firms such as CSC Index and the Big Six (soon to be four) accounting firms, as well as the computer magazines, publish lists of the top issues facing CIOs. All you have to do is give them a call and they will be happy to forward their research to you -- normally borne on the outstretched arms of a development (i.e., sales prospect) partner. I'll save you some time, though. The biggest issue that most firms have found for the past several years running is the difficulty in creating alignment between the IS organization and the business units. In other words, how can one ensure that what IS is concentrating on achieving is indeed what the business wants done? It may sound simple, but it is complicated by the fact that IS frequently doesn't have a clue as to what the business really needs -- a trait shared, unfortunately, by some of the business executives.

Dear Herb:

I love your column; it's the first thing I read in InformationWeek .

I have been an IS professional since 1990. Eighteen months ago, my wife decided that she wanted to leave her previous occupation and become a CAD operator. I have tried to impress upon her that as a computer professional, she will be better regarded if she has a certain level of general computer competence above the casual user. She should have a good mastery of file operations inside the GUI operating system of the day, and maybe even know a DOS command or two. She has not achieved much in this regard and often asks me how to do the same things she asked me 18 months ago. For instance, she recently asked me how to install a program, for about the tenth time. She still hasn't learned that it always starts with: Startmenu, Run, Browse, D:\setup (or a:\install, or whatever ). When she did it, she made a typo. And when she got an error message, instead of trying to figure out what was wrong she just came back to me and told me that it didn't work. Is there any way I can get her to think for herself for these things? I am convinced she will be a better CAD operator if she can master some of these basic skills.

Sincerely,
Ken L.

Dear Ken:

I really appreciate that the first thing you read in InformationWeek is my column. Me, too. I'm sort of curious to see, given how fast things change in our field, if I still agree with what I wrote.

I can relate to your problem. I remember when I used to try to tell Cindy how to run her life. Finally, in the name of harmony and the penalty imposed by property settlements in our state, I realized that maybe I should just lighten up and accept her habits the way that she has learned to live with mine. Let me share with you some suggestions as to how to make palatable this live-and-let-live philosophy:

1. Assume that she continues to ask you the same thing over and over because she values your opinion, depends on you to help fulfill her life, and has better things to do than memorize silly and nonmeaningful symbolic language.

2. Consider that she wants you to think that you are the single most important person in her life and she thinks that if you feel she is dependent upon you, that your male pride will be enhanced.

3) Decide to make a list of your own shortcomings that drive her up the wall (she will help you if you want) and refer to them whenever you get the urge to make her even more perfect in your eyes than she already is.

Dear Mr. Lovelace,

The situation you described in your article "So Much For Helping Morale" occurred with the CIO at a company I used to work for. Everyone liked the CIO, but he made a few bad judgment calls on a major projec t and was let go. He came into work one day, and the president of the company "regretfully" told him that he was through, and that he would be escorted out of the building and to gather his belongings. He was not allowed to say good-bye to anyone in the company. His dismissal was not explained to him. He had to get a lawyer to allow him access into the building to retrieve the rest of his belongings and to get a severance package. Even now, most of the IS department employees are not certain as to why the CIO was let go; the above statement about his judgment is purely a theory.

What I don't understand is, why would a company treat an employee, never mind one that has been dedicated to the company for a number of years, in such a manner? Is there an answer?

Colin Glass

Dear Colin,

The nature of the CIO job today is such that making a few wrong decisions can result in a mandatory new career opportunity. What is str ange, though, is that a company will use the "march the newly undead out of the building" syndrome. I have found that rarely is the former employee a security risk and that treating with dignity a person whom you have decided to fire is far better for everyone concerned -- and certainly, the survivors will think more of the company for doing so.

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