An intimate level of dialogue and close consultation with the business are vital to the success of any IT project
My career began in the shipbuilding industry. It was the early 1980s and I joined a shipyard, along with nine other engineering graduates. I spent the first two years on the shop floor as a “fitter's mate” in order to complete my training to become a Chartered Engineer. During this time, I learned little about engineering, but a lot about people, industrial relations and shop floor survival tactics.
Following my stint on the shop floor, I went into the planning department and quickly became involved with putting computers on to the shop floor for the first time. I ended up managing two major projects: the first was a manufacturing control system which I named COMICS (Computer Oriented Manufacturing Information and Control System) and the second was an access control system, whereby entry to or exit from the shipyard could only be gained via a bank of 20 computer-controlled turnstiles. At this point in my life and career, I was naive about all the potential problems and pitfalls normally associated with such ground-breaking projects. I was also unaware of the stages that a computing project should go through, the development life cycle and development methodologies. Nor were there any IT text books to help or guide me. I therefore operated purely on instinct, gut feeling and basic common sense. And yet both projects were a huge success. I cannot claim they went in on time, to budget or as specified, since there was no budget, plan or detailed specification. However, the systems worked – they fulfilled business imperatives, the workforce liked them and the unions were content. During this period I was promoted three times, my salary doubled and I became the youngest manager in the history of the shipyard.
As my career progressed, I learned how to manage projects and develop systems “properly”. It was at this point in my career that things started to go downhill. Don't get me wrong. I never did a bad job, but I could never recapture my early successes. The question is why?
My analysis of the situation is as follows. By now, I was a fully fledged member of the IT community and had moved to the finance sector, where money was more plentiful. I was sent on training courses. I learned about methodologies, process and procedures and project management. I watched my peers and bosses, learned from them and tried to emulate their behaviour. However, I forgot what came naturally to me: the people side – networking and building relationships. During the early part of my career, I had naturally focused on building relationships with people. I did this throughout my two-year stint on the shop floor. Later, when I talked to the people on the shop floor and to the unions, they trusted me. When I told them IT wouldn't threaten their jobs, but would ease some of the more mundane aspects, they believed me and willingly helped my projects happen. In the middle years of my career, I consider the time I had spent on relationship-building as a luxury, rather than a necessity. I stopped doing it because I didn't feel I had the time. I felt that I should be concentrating on “work” instead. Lunch breaks became a snatched sandwich whilst catching up with my e-mail, rather than dining with, talking to and getting to know my user community and business peers.
I have now re-qualified as a psychologist and reflected on where I went wrong. I understand how I ignored a natural and important talent of mine – that of relationship-building. I have recently embarked on a major study of IT professionals who have progressed beyond the ranks of IT and made it to the position of CEO. These individuals told me that they spent 50 per cent of their time networking and relationship-building while in that top IT role. In hindsight, I would have handled those middle career years very differently. As one of the CEOs in my study so succinctly put it: “IT leadership is not about building processes and procedures, it's about getting the best out of people.” If only I could have my time back again!
Reproduced by kind permission of SPG Media Publications, as published in IT Leadership issue 1, 2005
