New Years Resolution

If you have worked in IT for any length of time you are have no doubt heard someone utter one of the following phrases:

- IT and the business should be aligned ...
- Lets dedicate IT liaisons to the business ...
- IT and the business should be in sync ...
- We should connect IT's strategic plans with the business ...

Well, you get the idea...

As the profession of IT matures (it ain't no baby anymore), more and more people are recognizing that IT is a business unit and not some separate entity to be treated differently. I think that IT folks often create this us-and-them mentality when we say what we say. I am guilty myself.

So here is my resolution; I am going to eliminate this type dialog in my approach going forward. Instead I plan on talking about "other" business units or just simply calling out the name of a business unit or brand group. No more IT-and-the-business language for me.

I have been open about this with "other" business unit leaders at my company. I want them to know why I am doing it and how I think it helps. IT is in fact a business unit and critical one at that. There aren't too many processes or systems in company's today that don't have some connection to IT and the services we perform. I think it will help to cement the role IT plays as a critical aspect of a company's operation and it will lift the perception that non-IT leaders have of IT professionals.

I have to admit, I have slipped a few times since the beginning of the new year but the instances are becoming less frequent. Now the challenge will be to see how it makes a difference with other business leaders.

IT Book Topics

I received a number of suggestions so far. Most are not surprising; the value of project management, governance, and more like just like these. They are important for sure however I am looking for something beyond the typical. I have some thoughts but would love to hear yours...

I will post an outline in the next month or so after I get a more complete list of potential topics. While I am early in the process I can tell you it has been fun thinking about the possibilities. I am compiling a list of anecdotes and stories from my past experiences and the list is surprisingly long. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given that I have been doing this for over 30 years and I have had the pleasure of working some great people.

A book about IT

So if you were going to write about (or read) a book on the subject of IT what topics would you include. I got to thinking about this the other day when our IT leadership team was talking about guiding principles and IT guardrails.

We talked about the importance of project management, what does good IT governance mean, the importance of user experience design, the role of the IT business partners, buy versus build, and more. What do you consider core to IT? I would love to hear your thoughts. Post a comment.