InformationWeek

December 8, 1998

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 lovelace@home.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:
Well, for someone who's been there, I have to say you wrote the perfect article on "The Perfect E-Mail System".

In my case, I had written to my manager intending to express my concerns and offer some help (a brilliant plan in my mind) on our transition into the new millennium.

Well, it came back with blood on it (if that's possible over E-mail), and copied to all the top brass in our department. Sheesh, I was only trying to help, but I made a few blunders:

Subject line: Used words to evoke urgency, ended up sounding like a junk mailer.
Opening line: In expressing my lack of confidence in the system, somehow construed myself as not having confidence in the manager.
In offering to come in any weekend with a "small team" to perform testing, I sounded like a year 2000 consultant drumming up business.

Anyway, in the words of the late Jim Croce, "sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you."

Regards,
David
British Columbia

Dear David:
Your experience points out some very specific breaches of E-mail etiquette that we all wish we had avoided. I don't know how many bears you get in British Columbia, but it sure sounds as if one bit you where it hurts. One saving grace is that I bet that your boss is as sorry that he sent the message blasting you as you are about sending the one he received.

It's really strange how we can get worked up by this wonderful new communication vehicle: E-mail. I have one co-worker who insists on typing all his E-mail messages to me in capitals. Finally, I (who remembers laughing at all of the little rules about how to use E-mail) got so annoyed that I send him a response that simply said, "Why are you always shouting at me?"

Dear Herb:
The mission statement I'm waiting to see in print is:

"Our goal is to make as much money as possible for our shareholders. We'll make and sell anything (within legal boundaries) to achieve that."

That would be the first honest mission statement.

Thank you,
Ron P.

Dear Ron:
Actually, if you look back on "A Mission Is Our Mission" you will find that our former CEO, who we all called Mr. Big, had an unwritten mission statement that sort of went like this: Make money, but don't stick it to the customers or they won't be back, and don't stick it to the community or government, either, or else you'll live to regret it.

He never wrote it down, but everyone understood that those were the rules and woe to he or she that did not adhere to that dictum.

Dear Herb:
My name is Emmy and I have been trying to research information on getting a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification and a career. I have read many articles on the subject and this is something that I would love to pursue. However, I have one concern, and I hope that you could enlighten me in this area.

I am a stay-at-home mother of two, and my computer experience is limited to fixing up and experimenting on my two computers at home and my parents' two computers. I had some user experience in the workplace before I had children. I feel that I am very knowledgeable when it comes to computers, and I can't seem to get enough of them.

My question is: How realistic is it for someone like me to start a career with little to no work experience and with just an MCSE certification?

Please advise.

Thank you,
Emmy

Dear Emmy:
There is no reason at all for you not to attempt a career in the computer field given your enthusiasm, prior knowledge, and interest in obtaining more education. Managers are having a hard time filling jobs on their help desks with qualified people. I would also point out that while the MCSE is useful, it is not a prerequisite for being hired.

Best wishes in achieving your goals.

Dear Herb:
What should a CIO be in today's world?

Thank you,
Betsy

Dear Betsy:
Multiple choice answer test:

1. The individual who gets blamed if anything goes wrong with a computer system.
2. The person who helps translate business needs into technical reality.
3. The executive who communicates technical capabilities into business opportunities.
4. A masochist with a desire to try to achieve impossible goals.
5. All of the above.

Dear Herb:
I recently attended a Gartner Group conference on technology asset management. It was noted that by the year 2001, 70% of all large corporations will have some sort of asset-management strategy in place. As of today, only about 10% have a plan.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Regards,
Dave B.

Dear Dave:
The cost of all of the toys that we buy has not gone unnoticed in the boardrooms of our corporations. A few million here, a few million there, pretty soon it begins to add up to real money. The issue won't be whether large companies declare that they have asset-management strategies in place. No self-respecting CIO or CFO will be willing to say that they do not. The real question will be the quality of the program and its objectives.

I am sure that many large consulting firms will be all too eager to assist your business and mine in evaluating our need for such a program, assisting us in setting one up, and auditing the value of whatever program we have in place. Perhaps it would then be interesting to do a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the expenditure to set up such a program was worthwhile. We probably can find another consulting firm to aid us in that endeavor.

Sometimes I wonder if we could just keep track of what equipment we have purchased, make sure we know where it really is, decide how best to utilize it, and calculate when to replace it without having to use the clever phrase "asset management."

Dear Herb:
I just finished reading your response to Tau about dealing with a manger of an MIS department who lacks any technical knowledge.

Great comments.

I expect to be offered a new position today as technology development director for a large organization. I am not a techie and I must admit my anxiety about managing highly technical people.

I will remember your words.

Thanks,
Barry

Dear Barry:
I have a feeling that you will do just fine in your new assignment. Knowing that he or she does not have a lock on all the knowledge in a field not only makes a person humble, it also makes the individual willing to learn. Learning is good. It beats being either pompous or ignorant.

Best of luck and let me know how things are going with you.

Dear Herb:
I just read your article, "Mission Inversible," and found it to be both highly amusing and thought-provoking. I am a performance-improvement administrator for a credit union. There are three people in my department and we recently created our own mission statement: To enhance knowledge and to cultivate accountability. I tried your "inverse," and it come out as "To decrease knowledge and make us unaccountable."

Frankly, it made me cringe!

So, tell me: How badly does my mission statement stink and what can I do to improve it?

Scary

Dear Scary:
With regard to the odor emanating from your mission statement, I think you can judge how pungent it is as well as I can. My hat is off to you, however, for your willingness to evaluate your own work so honestly.

However, having said that, I think you are being a bit harsh on yourself. It seems to me that your problem is that your mission statement is probably a reflection of some problems you see--a need to improve the knowledge in the organization and perhaps a lack of willingness by your group in the past to accept responsibility for its actions. If so, you have defined two important goals (but not the mission) of your organization that you need to accomplish on your way to doing whatever it is that you and your group are paid to do.

How about sitting down with your staff and answering that question: What are we paid to do? The answer to that question is your mission. Some lively discussion should ensue, and I suspect that a good mission statement will be the result of your dialogue.

Dear Herb:
I am an information system director at a small company. I am currently underpaid compared to the rest of the market. Also, I don't think the CEO takes my position seriously as a major part of the company. What can I do to make him understand the importance of my position?

Joe

Dear Joe:
I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, but most people who have risen to the level of a CEO do not have personalities characterized by self-doubt. If your CEO does not view your position as a major part of the company, you have an uphill road to convince him.

First, sit down and candidly evaluate what your organization has achieved for the company--in terms that are important to him, not you. Have you made any initiatives that have had significant favorable hard dollar impact to either sales or bottom-line profits? Has your work been a major factor in the success of any business unit? Finally, have you done anything that could not be done better, faster, or cheaper by an outsourcer?

After you have done that analysis, decide whether you have sufficient information to make him understand the importance of your position. If so, ask to meet with him to review your accomplishments and share your concerns about how you are viewed.

If, on the other hand, you determine that you do not have enough in the way of achievements to convince him, then either spend the effort to build such a track record or seriously consider getting another job.

Herbert W. Lovelace is CIO at a multibillion-dollar international company. Herb practices his day job under an alias and has changed the names of colleagues to protect the guilty.

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