Interesting discussions recently with colleagues in Information Technology. I am in the midst of writing a book, and have been interviewing past and recent colleagues on several topics. One big topic that comes up as a side discussion is the war of knowledge. Knowledge is power, in the minds of IT folks, so if I am the only one that knows it, they have to keep me. I am guaranteed a job here for as long as I wish to stay. Really? Economic pressure driving that cut throat approach to team work?
As a CIO/CTO or VP of IT, I am looking for team members that have some key behaviors, like build talent, make decisions, win consistently, and communication. You can’t be successful if team members are self developing islands, unable to communicate and unable to work together. I love working with smart people, and they drive me to learn more, and there is nothing wrong with that. As an organization, you want to provide training and development to your staff, develop those technology champions. These champions need to be champions of their area of expertise and their team.
I am concerned as IT is moving towards a services centric model that these knowledge wars, and drive to know everything is only going to hurt the IT organization as a hole. One of the many drivers to Cloud Services is the business view that IT is difficult to work with. If they can call a service provider and have their servers and storage up in a few hours versus weeks, that is a good deal for the business leaders. Time to tear down the walls, remove the silos and really become a service based organization. Establish a mobility center of excellence, or collaboration, communication, and the list goes on. To be successful in this space, you need a cohesive team, a unified team and everyone going in the same direction. You still need experts in the technology, don’t get me wrong, but a little wider depth of that knowledge. You may need network expertise on several of these service teams, not just a “network” silo anymore.
The bottom line in these discussions with my colleagues is that it really is the culture of the organization that will drive the team work or the war. The culture reflects that of senior management, so if it is a positive, rewarding, team work environment, then that is the direction IT will proceed.
Keep it positive!
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
About Me
- Scott Arnett
- Scott Arnett is an Information Technology & Security Professional Executive with over 30 years experience in IT. Scott has worked in various industries such as health care, insurance, manufacturing, broadcast, printing, and consulting and in enterprises ranging in size from $50M to $20B in revenue. Scott’s experience encompasses the following areas of specialization: Leadership, Strategy, Architecture, Business Partnership & Acumen, Process Management, Infrastructure and Security. With his broad understanding of technology and his ability to communicate successfully with both Executives and Technical Specialists, Scott has been consistently recognized as someone who not only can "Connect the Dots", but who can also create a workable solution. Scott is equally comfortable playing technical, project management/leadership and organizational leadership roles through experience gained throughout his career. Scott has previously acted in the role of CIO, CTO, and VP of IT, successfully built 9 data centers across the country, and is expert in understanding ITIL, PCI Compliance, SOX, HIPAA, FERPA, FRCP and COBIT.
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