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The Circle of (IT) Life June 3, 2008

Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.
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For years, computers have been touted as offering limitless capability, with some fabulous new feature just around the corner.  Unfortunately, we’ve been delivering on that promise, over and over.  Mainframes begat minicomputers.  We then offered up personal computers.  Then we created local areas networks, which grew into wide area networks, which grew into the internet.  We offered simple file transmission, which turned into text-based email, which became multimedia email with attachments and embedded content of every flavor.  We developed FTP sites and bulletin boards that turned into web sites that exploded into the web as we know it.  Now we’re layering all sorts of services atop the web, making computers even more indispensible to an ever-increasing user community.

The problem is that all of the new stuff did not replace the old stuff.  It simply extended it, which means that we have to keep most of the old stuff running.  Even worse, we’re getting better and better at running all this technology, so users naively think it is getting easier and easier.  Email and internet connectivity used to be an amazing capability that astounded previously unconnected users.  Now, these services are expected to just be there, like electricity and running water.  Trust me, it is no less complicated to keep these services running now than it was ten years ago, but we are expected to do so with smaller and more focused staffs.

Think of IT as an expanding circle.  The new stuff is at the edge, where users see and appreciate cool new capabilities.  The infrastructure is everything in the circle, hidden from users but crucial to maintaining the edge.  Our job is to expand the circle.  Each time we grow the circumference (adding a new service of some sort) the area inside grows in proportion to the square of the change, so that the amount of interior stuff grows much faster than the visible stuff.  If each IT person can only cover so much area in your circle, you’ll soon be unable to keep up.  And as the circle gets bigger, each incremental change makes it that much worse.

Consider one of my favorite numerical illusions: if you stretch a band around the equator and add exactly one foot to that band, how far off the surface of the Earth will the band rise?  Most people think of the size of the Earth, compare it to just one foot, and answer with a tiny number.  The real answer is about 1.9 inches.  Since the circumference of a circle equals the diameter times π, and you just added 12 inches to the diameter, you added 12/π (3.82) inches to the diameter of the band.  The band lifts up by half that amount (since the radius of the circle is half the diameter) or 1.91 inches.

That number is the same, by the way, if you add 12 inches to a band wrapped around an orange.  The difference in the surface area?  Adding one foot to the band around a 3-inch orange increases the area inside the band by about 29 square inches.  Adding that same foot to the band around the Earth increases the area by almost half of a square mile! 

Which size circle would you rather support?

Achieving Critical Mass May 19, 2008

Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.
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In my most recent posting, I began by discussing the basic criteria for a successful nuclear explosion: getting the right material in the right place at the right time.  In a blinding flash of obviousness (obviosity?) I realized that this is true of so many things in life, particularly in the role we all seek to play as leaders.

It is a sad fact that those of us living towards the top of the org chart do very little real work.  Instead, we direct, manage, and inspire those below us who actually do productive things on a regular basis.  Our job is making sure the right people do the right things the right way and understand why. 

As leaders, it is not enough to simply spout some grand scheme and stand back and watch it unfold.  It is our job to make sure the right people come together at the right time with the right resources.  Our people often cannot bring all that together; they lack the authority or wherewithall to make it all happen.  Instead, they look to us to bridge those gaps, break down the barriers, and orchestrate the myriad of elements beyond their control that ensure their success.

It is easy to miss this critical aspect of our job.  Poor leaders often blame their teams for failing to bring it all together when they actually carry the responsibility for making their team successful.  In some cases, teams cannot see all the pieces of the puzzle, let alone figure out how to put them all together. We need to do that, and our teams need to trust that we are doing this for them.

This need not involve dramatic micromanagement or a heavy-handed approach.  Often, simply asking the right question at the right time is all it takes.  Questions that begin with “Did you consider…” or “Did you talk to…” or “Have you thought about…” may be enough to start a train of thought that leads to a better solution to a problem.

Truth be told, it’s fun and rewarding to see all those parts come together to create something great.  It may not be as cool as building your own nuclear weapon, but it is a real pleasure when a plan works just like you hoped it would.

Cars, Computers, and Trust April 23, 2008

Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.
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I dread getting any sort of work done on my car. Although I am fascinated by automotive technology, I am utterly incapable of working on cars or diagnosing their problems. I’ve always worked with guys who knew cars inside and out; they would tear down engines, replace crucial parts, and rebuild things with careless abandon.  I envy their skills and confidence.  My limited experience with cars usually resulted in expensive trips to a real mechanic to correct my errors.

As I write this, my car is having new tires installed.  I don’t mind this, since I understand the value of tires in helping me get from here to there.  What I do mind is the inevitable visit from the mechanic during the process:

We gave your car a courtesy check while we had it up on the lift.  Honestly, we don’t know how you even drove here this morning!  Your brakes are completely shot.  The suspension is worn out.  It looks like the electrical system is about to burst into flames, and we think you’re actually missing a piston.  We’re afraid to even drive your car out of the garage bay.  You want to get all that fixed while you’re here?  If not, the law requires that you sign this waiver so we can let you leave the lot.

Argghhh!  I have no idea if any of this is true, or expected, or even possible.  The car has been running fine.  Does disaster loom around the corner?  Will I be left helpless on the side of the road?  I am totally at their mercy, with absolutely no information to help.

Such poetic justice!  This is exactly how our users feel, every day.  For anyone not in the secret computing geek club, computers are mysterious, magical, confusing devices.  When they work, they get the job done, but when they break, the average user is completely clueless.

Our explanations are equally arcane and absolutely inscrutable.  Here are the actual fixes I made to my wife’s laptop last night to (hopefully) correct a Vista network printing problem:

The Linksys router firmware is out of date and needs to be upgraded from version 1.00.9 to 1.02.5.  According to some web postings, I need to disable the IPv6 dual stack support on both network adapters. Finally, according to some other postings, the Dell BIOS settings are incorrect: we need to disable the flash cache support and switch the SATA controller from AHCI to ATA mode.    All this might fix the problem, but it might also require a complete reformat and reinstall of Vista, resulting in a loss of all your data and settings.  You want to get all that work done?

And we wonder why people have a love/hate relationship with computers?

Things are no different in the corporate world.  The rest of the company has no idea what we really do with all those blinking lights and wires in the data center.  They don’t know what it really does, or really costs, or if they really need it at all.  They place their faith, their wallets, and increasingly, the fate of their company in our hands and hope for the best.

Everyone in IT is responsible for earning and keeping the trust of our users.  We have to police ourselves, making sure that we give good advice and provide accurate service.  We cannot spend money foolishly or buy technology because it is cool.  By scrupulously managing ourselves, we’ll give our users good solutions that meet their needs, further the business, and don’t break the bank.  If we fail in this, we’ll lose their trust and lose the privilege of serving them.  As CIOs, we must instill this attitude in every person at every level in our organization.  Our success, and our company’s success, rides on it.

Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails April 16, 2008

Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.
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Apparently, little boys (and little girls, for that matter) were figured out long ago, content-wise.  CIOs, in contrast, seem to be in a state of constant flux.

As you climb the management ladder in IT, you remove yourself from the technology that attracted you to the field in the first place.  Your time is increasingly occupied with issues that allow your company to use information technology to further its business.  By the time you reach the top of the chain, your staff wouldn’t let you near a machine with a ten foot pole.  I have a notorious reputation as a Breaker Of Things; my staff visibly tenses up when I make the occasional foray into the data center to reconnect with blinking lights and cold air.

Given this career transition, what are CIOs made of?  My recipe: 40% accountant, 40% attorney, and 20% psychologist.  Here’s why:

  • Accountant: Good CIOs focus on business value.  Each company may have different ways to measure business value, but in the end it is a financial metric, not a technical one.  Moreover, the language of business is financial.  To have a credible leadership presence in your company, you must be able to translate technology into financial terms.  Sometimes those terms are in hard-dollar returns; in other cases it may be in terms of business advantage, time to market, process enhancement, or other fundamentally financial metrics.  If terms like EBITDA, GAAP, and SOX aren’t part of your vocabulary, or you can’t explain when to use expense versus capital dollars, you may be falling short in this area.
  • Attorney: Good CIOs know how to negotiate and close a deal.  Vendor management largely revolves around good contractual management.  You need the basic legal skills to understand contractual terms, assess liability, and understand how to build solutions that protect your company from a legal perspective.  So much of what IT confronts these days is about compliance, exposure, and risk management.  You must be able to work in this world comfortably.  CIOs may also be called upon to be deposed on behalf of their company and should understand the basics of litigation and representation.
  • Psychologist: When things go bad and systems unravel, CIOs may find themselves talking everyone else down from the ledge.  Technology is a great mystery to almost everyone; when it falls apart, you must be able to lead people to a stable solution.  Increasingly, the projects we sponsor are technologically straightforward (install a new reporting system) but socially difficult (and make everyone give up their existing personal spreadsheets).  This kind of social engineering can be quite rewarding but requires deft people skills and the ability to see the world through your users’ eyes.

This isn’t to say that you can forget your technology roots.  Inside your organization, you need the technical chops to evaluate solutions, challenge your people, and be able to hold your own in the occasional hallway debate.  CIOs lacking business skills will fail outside their organization; CIOs lacking technical skills will fail inside their organization.

Abraham Lincoln: Nerd! April 9, 2008

Posted by Chuck Musciano in Leadership.
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Abraham Lincoln is an American icon: an honest, unwavering, hardworking, self-taught leader that saved the United States from self-destruction.  To that list of attributes I can safely add “dork.”

I’ve been reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a superb history of Abraham Lincoln with a focus on his political and leadership skills.  Goodwin’s engaging style presents a detailed view of Lincoln’s life against the backdrop of the early- to mid-1800s.

As I read Goodwin’s repeated descriptions of Lincoln,  I am struck by his, well, dorkiness.  He was tall and gangly, with ill-fitting and out-of-style clothes.  His pants stopped a full two inches above his ankles.  His suitcoat was poorly cut, too tight in front and billowing in back.  He wore enormous Conestoga boots.  His hair was unkempt.  He was a country bumpkin, tongue-tied in the presence of women.  Once, upon entering a society ball and seeing the women therein, he loudly exclaimed to the other men “Boy, aren’t the women clean!”

How, then, did this man win the presidency and save the Union?  Simply put, spectacular communication skills.  Although distracted by women, he was a masterful raconteur among the men (keeping in mind that only men voted back then).  He could captivate an audience, large or small, and understood how to present an argument in a style that resonated with people.  He could finesse his way through sensitive political situations and read people exceptionally well.  He was self-effacing and humble, but never lost sight of his goals.

There is a huge lesson in this, especially for those of us that tend to fall on the nerdy end of the scale.  In almost every aspect of life, and certainly among executive leaders, communications skills are the key driver for success.  Over and over, Goodwin recounts people who met Lincoln, completely dismissed him based on his appearance, and subsequently became spellbound when he began to speak.  His ability to reach people through w ords transcended his innate goofy appearance.

As you work to excel as a leader, keep Lincoln in mind.  Given the modern ready access to better-fitting clothes, nicer shoes, and modern plumbing, your appearance is easy to correct.  Focus your time in formulating your thoughts and learning how to express them.  You’ll probably never find yourself needing to become president or save the Union, but you will find yourself succeeding in whatever you put your mind to.