To the ITS leadership team:
On one of my many recent plane flights, I finished the book
Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars by Patrick Lencioni, one of the titles in his excellent leadership fables series. (These books are short quick reads, yet pithy with much wisdom and presented in an easy-to-digest "fable" storytelling format.) In
Silos ..., Lencioni discusses the problem of getting everyone on the same page and striving for the same end. He proposes that a necessary means to this end is the establishment of a
thematic goal which provides the context for an organization to focus and prioritize precious time and resources toward a common end. Organizations in crisis have a ready-made thematic goal, which is the goal necessary to emerge from the crisis. The trick, according to Lencioni, is to give organizations that are not in clear crisis a similar overarching goal to unite efforts -- or, as Kotter has said, to provide the "burning platform" idea when the platform isn't truly yet on fire. This idea is the thematic goal. Unlike mission or vision, a thematic goal is a
time-limited idea, with a timeframe of 6 to 18 months for example, and it makes clear the most important achievement toward which the organization must strive in that timeframe.
In thinking about a thematic goal for Information Technology Services at UWF at this point in time -- in the midst of severe resource reductions, extreme leadership turnover at the university, and an overall climate of distrust and fear -- I would propose the goal that we want to
not just survive, but thrive. While it's easy to focus on what has been lost, what we can no longer do, and hunkering down in a minimalist survival mode, this isn't going to get us anywhere except in a downward spiral. Instead, we should keep focused on emerging stronger and more successful than ever before, in spite of the circumstances, through active leadership toward a better future.
In Lencioni's model, a thematic goal is supported by a set of a few defining objectives, which give flesh to the goal. These objectives are different from standard operating objectives, which hold true at all times (e.g., remain profitable, satisfy customers, etc.). Rather, the defining objectives are directly related to accomplishing the time-limited thematic goal. I propose that ITS' defining objectives for the goal of
not just survive, but thrive should include the key items of
establish a framework for action; deliver key solutions; restore trust; and
value our people. None of these are new activities for ITS, they've been part of our past success. But I posit that they require increased emphasis in the months ahead to get us through the current turmoil so we can emerge more successful and even more strategic to the success of our university.
Establish a framework for action: I believe a framework for action is important at all levels. When I begin my day, confronted by hundreds of emails and scores of tasks, I need a clear framework for how I'm going to prioritize and tackle this work to give some sense of sanity to my efforts and existence. For ITS -- confronted by an institution that uses IT in all elements of its work and is simultaneously addressing hundreds of projects and priorities -- a framework for sane action becomes even more vital. We are currently striving to update and improve our framework for action - working on such external-facing elements as IT governance, IT engagement and communications, improved intake processes for demands for IT services, clearer financial practices, and updated policies. Internally we are beginning to give renewed attention to such elements as overall IT strategy, enterprise architecture, data management, and streamlined operations. It's easy to think this gets in the way of "real work" -- moving the in-box to the out-box and marking work orders and requests completed -- but in fact this "sharpening the saw" activity is crucial to maintaining our ability to sanely implement institution-wide improvements and confront the demands placed upon us.
Deliver key solutions: In the "book club" group that is working through the
Betz book with me, we are studying the proposition that the key IT value chain is to
identify strategic needs, develop solutions, and deploy and operate those solutions. This value chain determines both the
primary IT activities required to provide that value as well as the
supporting IT activities that undergird it. The end goal is to
deliver strategic solutions for the organization we serve. I'll have more to offer on this later -- suffice for now to say that I believe ITS is focused on a good set of key strategic solutions this summer, and key among them are the transition to Google email for students, preparing for the migration to MicroFocus for student systems, beginning to build a new business intelligence foundation, and implementing infrastructure for the new School of Science and Engineering Building. Supporting solutions -- not to be confused with primary strategic solutions -- include the network core and storage platform upgrades.
Restore trust: I have been saying for some time now that I believe lack of trust is the biggest barrier to success that is facing us at the university. There is low trust between departments and divisions. Some months ago I commended to you the excellent book
The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey, which points out the real costs of low trust and the real pay-offs of high trust. Covey identifies 4 core elements and 13 key behaviors required to establish and maintain relationships infused with trust. In my mind, I boil these down to four key elements for ITS in terms of building and restoring trust with the university we serve:
loyalty, transparency, accountability, and
results, and each of these is closely linked to the improved framework for action that we are striving to create. These elements are so important to our success that each deserves an essay on its own, but I'll comment briefly on these four now.
We have a general culture at the institution that presumes departments are acting chiefly for their own ends rather than for the overall good of the university. Such a culture is deadly for a service organization like ITS. We strive to counter that culture by showing our
loyalty to the institution and its units, in ways such as insuring our goals and actions are linked to institutional and divisional goals and priorities; by showing we are spending resources on items of utmost importance to the institution; and by consulting broadly and being engaged with our constituents and involving them in decision-making. All of this is the focus of the
IT governance and
IT engagement components of our framework for action.
A distrustful institutional culture also results in an environment of information hiding and barriers. We counter that culture by striving toward
transparency in our plans, actions, and expenditures -- making sure that we broadly communicate our plans, our progress on those plans, our current activities, and all aspects of our finances and resources. We also clearly communicate our problems and failures and setbacks as well as our successes.
Accountability means that we show we act in accord with our stated intentions. We act in a predictable manner, we operate consistently and professionally and we expend resources in accord with our published plans. Work on the
IT engagement,
IT communications, and
IT finances elements of our action framework, as well as work on the
request fulfillment process, are all aligned with this trust element.
Results mean that we deliver the results we promise, ensuring those are real-world results meaningful and important to our clients and not just technological results important to us. Results mean we meet our commitments and we appropriately manage expectations to not over-promise and under-deliver.
Value our people: I leave this objective for last, not because it's least important, but rather to emphasize its importance. Our people are our key asset to accomplishing great things, and the talents and energies of ITS staff are our most vital resource. We are in a very difficult time right now in terms of retaining and developing staff, given budget cutbacks, inability to offer financial rewards or improved compensation, staggering workloads, and many factors eroding morale. Retaining our excellent team members and helping them grow and thrive in this difficult environment is a daunting task, yet one we must face head-on. I believe a foundation requirement for valuing our people is to give them an environment in which they can be clearly successful. This involves clear goals and objectives, providing the context for linking daily activities to major goals, and providing clear measures of success and then acknowledging and celebrating those successes, finding creative ways to do so in spite of our financial limitations. It involves helping people grow their roles and develop their careers. I think a key element is providing them opportunities to get engaged outside ITS, more broadly in the university, and outside the university more broadly in our region and profession.
As Lencioni stresses, a thematic goal cannot be handed down from on high, it must be developed in consensus among the leadership team. So I offer these thoughts merely as a starting point for discussion at the ITS Management Council. I hope they stimulate your creative energies, and I look forward to engaging discussions ahead.
- Mike
