Before the days of Photoshop, it was common to say that photographs don't lie. But even way back when, during the dark ages of chemical film, photographers used different lenses and filters to change colors, highlight some details over others and bring some subjects into sharp focus while blurring others. Pictures lie and tell the truth all at once.
Recently, a couple of intended compliments threw me for a loop. Two people called me in the same week and wanted me to present keynote speeches at their conferences. Of course, that was the flattering part, but what got to me was that they both referred to me as a "motivational speaker."
In the circles of power, fear is often admired as a potent motivator. In his classic discourse on power politics, The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli offered the following thoughts on the question of whether it is better for a leader to be feared or loved: "If we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
I'll never forget the first time I learned that one of my subordinates was afraid of me. A talented young man, probably 26, had just left my office after explaining to me how happy he was with his current project. My assistant came in and told me that he had spent the 20 minutes prior to our appointment complaining to her about how terrible his project was and how miserable he felt.
Wouldn't it be nice if every boss came with a standard API? It would be so easy to look at the interface specifications and know exactly what he expected, in what format he expected it, when you should deliver it, what predictable events would result from your input and how you should handle error conditions. All the politics would go away. Those pesky emotions would become a nonissue. Success would become deterministic.
Where will your next generation of IT managers come from? For most senior IT leaders, the answer is that they will hire them.
Most IT departments I encounter say "customer satisfaction" is among their key goals. Unfortunately, this idea seems to lead too often to poor results.
Managers, as a group, tend to be action-oriented. We measure ourselves, our importance and our effectiveness in part by the level of activity around us. The louder the hum of machinery, the faster the shuffle of feet in the corridor and the larger the proportion of time we spend in meetings, the better things must be. Stuff is happening, and that's what we're supposed to do: make things happen.
Those of us in IT tend to see the world through the lens of problems and solutions. Our entire work lives are devoted to solving problems. One after the other, we knock them down.
I give a fair number of speeches for conferences and private IT department meetings, and there's almost always a chance for questions and answers during the formal presentation.
