InformationWeek

Herbert:
In your Secret CIO column "Are We a Cost or an Opportunity?", you suggest we take a moment to ask ourselves "Do the people running this place get it?" Isn't it incumbent upon us in IT to explain it to them? As you suggest in the same paragraph, maybe the question should be: "What is the best way to educate our leaders about the impact of the Web (for instance)?" Are we in IT so arrogant that we just expect them to "get it" without explaining it to them?

By the way, love your column. I read it every time. What a wonderful sense of humor and perspective.

Paul Baum Atlanta

Dear Paul:
Thank you for the compliment--being in this business, I can use all of them that I can get.

It's certainly part of our jobs in IT to explain to our associates the technology and, to the best of our knowledge, its potential business impact. I'm a fervent believer in the imperative that we communicate clearly when we do so, avoiding jargon and buzzwords. Unfortunately, too many of us (me included) don't always execute these responsibilities as well as we might. We have to work hard to simplify our explanations, realizing that the technology is getting more complex and executives have less time to devote to understanding what we have to say.

However, let's not do a total mea culpa here. As I've said before, there's also a responsibility on the part of our colleagues to spend the time and effort to try to understand the technology and its implications. When business leaders have to make a funding decision for a major project or decide whether to adopt a business strategy that depends on IT, they should no more assume that all the relevant information can be absorbed without work on their part than they would assume that they can relate to a new and expensive manufacturing process without study.

It never ceases to amaze me that some senior executives complain that their IT people aren't clear when they make little or no effort to become familiar with the basic principles and issues of information technology. I often wonder whether these folks sounded off in college that courses that required some study were just too hard to understand and therefore the professor was at fault. Although IT people should always strive to simplify their explanations and to be sensitive to the time demands on their audience, the fact is that some executives have just gotten too lazy to put in the work necessary to attend to an increasingly important part of their jobs--understanding information technology.

Dear Herb:
"The Law of Corporate Failure" mirrors my experience exactly. I even had the 65th vice president (out of 67 total VPs in a major drug chain) tell me exactly these words when I suggested computerizing retail prescription departments around 1974: "Bill, if I do this and it works--well, I'll never get the credit. But, if I do it and it doesn't work, I will get fired. I can't afford to try it."

Later,
BillOnTheBeach

Dear Bill:
Wow, a corporate VP talking that way back in 1974! His skill set certainly was finely tuned to the pitfalls of modern business. The question is whether he either was sure that the company had an unhealthy culture or whether he was one of those people who has a natural talent at protecting his anterior parts, thus contributing to the establishment of said culture. In either case, just think of the tag line that would be possible on his resumé summarizing his employment with that pharmaceutical company: "Successfully covered my butt for more than 25 years."

Unfortunately, his approach is all too prevalent. Innovation can't occur if people won't take risks--and people won't take risks if the punishments for failure are greater than the rewards for success. At least he was open with you and didn't encourage you to take the exposure he wouldn't. I suppose we shouldn't be too hard on him since the only thing worse than bosses who are passive are those executives who preach risk-taking and then beat up on people who take them at their word.

Dear Herb:
I have consistently seen advertisements for positions like "E-commerce Consultants"; "Knowledge Management Architects"; "Customer Relationship Management Expert" and other such designations.

What are the skills and qualifications required for such positions?

Thanks,
Michael

Dear Michael:
Given that these titles didn't exist a few years ago, the major qualification certainly isn't longevity in the field. In fact, there isn't a whole lot required of a candidate who wants such a position other than the following attributes:

Dear Mr. Herb:
I loved your article about Y2K compensation ("Y2K Plans Can Go Astray"). It rang so true!

I have got to wonder, though, why you didn't tell your boss "All this has already been settled months ago and communicated to employees. It would be disruptive to re-open it now at a most critical time. The time for HR input was nine months ago. We coordinated with them at that time and they had no input (if that is true)."

Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand. It sounds like your HR people don't have enough to do, that they go looking for projects like these. Maybe the company should fire a few of them?

Peter

Dear Peter:
Thanks for your comments. I'm pleased that you could relate to the situation that I described. I can't agree, though, that it would have been appropriate to say it was too late to think about what Stephanie had in mind. The last defense to ever use against a new idea is stating that the subject was settled months ago. No boss worth his or her salt will ever accept it. If the new idea is a good one, then it is incumbent upon a manager to determine the benefits of adopting it versus the difficulty of implementing at this late date.

You see, the problem with drawing a line in the sand is that you need to consider what you will do if someone crosses it or if the tide washes it away. it's frequently easier to resolve the problem before you get to that point.

Herb:
I have been working on the mainframe for the past eight years performing mostly operations and mainframe configuration management. I don't have a degree, but may be willing to get one if needed.

My question is what would be the best way to get out of the mainframe world and on to the client-server or Internet world. What options have the brightest future?

Gary

Dear Gary:
Almost any technology used to support E-business or enterprise resource planning is hot today.

Keep in mind that when making a career move, it's always easiest to leverage the experience that you have. Assuming that your company has client-server systems installed and/or a Web presence, talk to your boss. He or she should be willing to give you a candid assessment of your opportunities and what will be necessary for you to capitalize on them.

If you sense a reluctance to help you, or if your company is one of the few which is not involved in this area, then pick a good training school and take a course or two that will upgrade your skills. Not only will you pick up some new knowledge, you'll also show any prospective employer that you are serious about being able to contribute in a new position. After you've completed the courses, start looking for a job that will satisfy your ambitions.