Month: February 2018

I recently listened to a speech given at Brigham Young Unversity (my BA alma mater) by Dr. DJ Patil, former Chief Data Scientist in the Obama Administration. During his time at the White House, the mission of his office was “to responsibly unleash the power of data to benefit all Americans.” I have to admit, I’ve long had concerns about BIG DATA and the types of information being collected. But this vision made me stop and think, and actually enjoy the idea of data and its usefulness.

Imagine a future where data isn’t collected just to determine what pair of shoes you’re more likely to buy, but where for example you map the cracks and seams in sidewalks, and can then share that data with municipalities and folks with physical disabilities. Cities might be able to focus their infrastructure resources in areas where sidewalks are worst, but also have a lot of wheelchair traffic. This could end up providing a much more pleasant and easy experience for wheelchair users. Or consider another example, where data on people with mental health issues is shared with local police departments. This could lead to much safer interventions between police and the severely mentally ill.

For someone who isn’t sure about Big Data, this gave me a larger vision, and sense of enthusiasm of the good that data can do.

For those interested, here are 3 core principles of Dr. Patil’s approach to data, which correspond nicely to our EA studies:

1. People are more important than data.
2. Data is a force multiplier.
3. The time to engage is now.

How to make a radical tech revolution happen:

• “Dream in years, plan in months, evaluate in weeks, but always ship daily.” Be proactive and productive every single day.
• “Prototype for 1x, but build for 10x, and engineer for 100x.”
• Make the problems you are solving reach more people.
• Ask: “What’s required to cut the time in half? What’s required to double the impact?” Make your efforts really count.

Resources:

What Makes a Radical and Revolutionary Technology?

Hoyt, K. (2018, February 14). BYU Forum: What makes a radical and revolutionary technology. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-forum-what-makes-radical-and-revolutionary-technology

Last night I was talking with my family about the current state of our economy. During our conversation, the point was made that relying for too long on a bull market can often result in stupid short-term financial decisions. We either over-extend ourselves, or we retrench and fail to invest. Either way, we miss out on smart financial opportunity. I think it’s the same with organizations. Organizations can get so accustomed to happy stockholders and up markets that they fail to make a timely move.  There are scores of examples of formerly flush companies that have tanked because they didn’t react in time to change (ex. Kodak).

With this conversation as context, I was drawn to the Gartner article regarding the future of this leadership role. The article specifically discusses several different situations where I&O leaders will need to change and evolve over the next several years. The article was originally drafted in 2010, so one would think that these trends would have gone beyond and then some since then. However, from what I’ve seen in my own organization, this isn’t exactly the case.

A couple of things I found interesting in the article’s key findings, the authors found that “cultural inertia” led larger organizations to struggle to embrace change. Which is very interesting when you consider that another key finding was that business leaders were then placing a higher value on speed and agility. “Agility” implies movement yet the definition of inertia means a lack of movement. The question then becomes “what is it about organizational culture that makes us fearful of change?”

I think there’s a host of answers to this question, among them the security, and the fear of insecurity, along with fear of reprisals from other entities (government regulations, etc.). I think one of the keys to resolving it is pointed out in Gartner’s recommendations in the article: ” While relegating appropriate resources to the day-to-day “fire fighting,” it is also important to devote some resources to strategic initiatives that will slow the rate at which future fires occur. ” In other words, keep the lights on while being prepared for future emergencies.

Resources:

Pultz, J.E. and Holub, E. (2010) The Future of the Infrastructure and Operations Leader. Gartner. May

Having recently gone through the preparation and interview process for an open leadership position in my organization, the Gartner article on planning your first 100 days as an Infrastructure and Operations Manager” jumped out at me. I’ve been going through a similar exercise to develop a 30/60/90 plan and vision for the role, should I be the candidate selected. It’s nice to know that from Gartner’s recommendations that I’m on the right track.

First 100 Days

1-30 days: Use these for information gathering, understanding where the organization is at currently, getting to know the team, and listening. Don’t make any big decisions unless there’s an immediate need.

31- 60 days: Use these for your strategy development and planning of your roadmap. Sell your bosses on it, then communicate it to your team.

61-100 days: This period is all about the execution. Initiate new key projects and keep working on the already established ones.

The IOMM

One concept discussed by Gartner that I think very much relates to actions taken during these first 100 days is the IOMM, or Infrastructure Operations Maturity Model. Here the leader and their team does an analysis of where the organization currently stands, and from this is able to identify strategic opportunities and potential roadmap items.

Resources:

Pultz, J. E. (2010). Toolkit Framework: Plan Your First 100 Days as
an I&O Leader. Gartner. June

Pultz, J. E.  and Holub, E. (2010). The Future of the Infrastructure and Operations Leader. Gartner. May

Scott, D., et al. (2007). Introducing the Gartner IT Infrastructure and Operations Maturity Model. Gartner. October