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Neal Ford: Taming the Agile Dogma

May 14th, 2013
By Terreece M. Clarke

Neal Ford, keynote speaker at the two day Path to Craftmanship and Path to Agility Conference, has a few titles behind his name. He's an author, a software architect, director, thoughtworker and meme wrangler at ThoughtWorks, a global IT consultancy company. Two of those titles really stand out. Thought worker puts the image of a hands-on IT consultant in mind, but what about meme-wrangler? Is Ford spending his days cataloging memes like "Ermahgerd" and "Demotivational Posters" for Facebook laughs?

Hardly. Ford didn't think Software Architect actually described what he does, so he created "Meme-Wrangler." Thinking about Richard Dawkins theory that memes are viral units of thought that pass from person to person, Ford surmised that in his role, what he really did was herd and mediate passionate discussions around software development.

Could Passionate Discussions Doom Agile?

Viral thought and the passionate positions in the software world are the driving ideas behind Ford's 2009 blog post, "The Suck/Rock" Dichotomy:"

"Having been in software communities for a while, I have seen several tribes form, thrive, then slowly die. It is a sad thing to watch a community die because many of the people in the community live in a state of denial: how could their wonderful thing (which rocks) disappear under this other hideous, inelegant, terrible thing (which sucks)…When a community fades, the fanaticism of the remaining members increases proportionally for every member they lose, until you are left with one person whose veins stick out on their forehead when they try to proselytize people to join their tribe, which rocks, and leave that other tribe, which sucks."

Agile is susceptible to tribalism for many of the same reasons why others have been - the time and effort needed to acquire new skill makes it difficult for people to accept they've put that effort into something that is now outdated or proven incorrect, Ford said.

There is hope for Agile however, Ford said. Agile as a process has a shelf life that is significantly longer than other bygone theories of software development.

"It isn't perfect," he said. "If it were, everyone would have adopted it. The techniques are still very young; people need to get out of the way of the dogma of it [and allow it to evolve]."

Software Engineering's Tween Years

Speaking of young, Ford said he looks forward to a time when software engineering is like the other engineering sciences.

"Engineering implies repeatability. I hope in 100 years software engineering will have developed to the point that they've figured out how to automate the painful processes," he said. "Other sciences have gone through the same thing. The most interesting part of [software] engineering is figuring out better ways to create software, to try to create a frictionless path, to operationalize ideas."

Because software engineering is in its early stages, Ford said, the ever-changing face of the discipline leaves students who are studying software engineering at a disadvantage.

Ford said universities are years behind the latest developments in the discipline. So, when many students graduate, they have to then quickly get up to speed in the working world.

"We [ThoughtWorks] hire people out of college and send them to our own training program in Bangalore [India] to get into what it really means to do this in the real world."

Ford stressed that it would be impossible for universities to try to keep up with the industry and that they should instead provide an invaluable service to students by teaching underlying concepts, the mathematics needed, etc. But he also advised computer science students should seek internship and/or formal apprenticeship opportunities.

Ford asserted establishing a pair programming program is a good way to acclimate graduates. Pair programming is two people working on a project - a senior developer and a junior developer - to enhance the junior developer's skills.

"It's like playing tennis with a better partner," Ford said. "It makes you grow your skills."

The program works so well, Ford said, because software development utilizes both sides of the brain. The left is focused on the detail and patterns while the right can take a holistic view of the project. With two people on the project, they can dedicate their full attention to what they are doing and not have to switch back and forth between tasks. They are better able to catch errors while bringing in different perspectives.

Filling the Knowledge Vacuum

Ford said conferences like The Path to Craftsmanship and The Path to Agility should be requirements for those in the field of software engineering.

"Other engineering fields require a certain amount of continuing education - I'm surprised it's not with us. We are not viewed as a true engineering discipline. It's going to take quite a while to understand and determine what it means to be certified‚ he said."

The rapid rate of change in the field affects more than recent graduates. Ford spoke of a colleague who was the go-to expert in his particular area of software engineering. Then, the colleague's area was replaced by newer schools of thought and processes.

"It's staggering [the rate of change]," he said. "Never has there been a time in history where a science replaces its information so quickly. In other engineering [disciplines], the information has repeatability. The only way to stay sane and keep up [is to] attend conferences where you can absorb a good amount of focused information a few days at a time."

Editor's Note: The Path to Craftmanship and The Path to Agility conference is May 22 - 23, 2013 at the Arena Grand Theater. Following The Path to Agility conference on May 23rd, COHAA is presenting IT Martini 24: Agility Ability at The Three Legged Mare starting at 4pm for conference attendees. Details and registration are available at http://www.thepathtoagility.com.

Terreece M. Clarke

Columbus IT Community
Terreece M. Clarke is the former Editorial Director of IT Martini. She has been a freelance journalist/editor since 1999 for a variety of magazines, Web sites and newspapers. Nationally published, her work has appeared in Columbus Parent, Freelance Writing Gigs.com - the #1 Freelance Writing Website, Common Sense Media.com and more. Terreece is also CEO of Clarke Columbus Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping clients create their story for the right audience through digital and traditional print media.

David Anderson: Kanban Can Change Society

May 9th, 2013
By Terreece M. Clarke

David Anderson, author, CEO of Lean-Kanban University and keynote presenter at the 2013 Path to Agility conference is passionate about the working conditions of IT Pros and looks to what he calls "the second generation of the Agile method," for change management. Anderson continues, "The way we manage knowledge workers is deeply affecting society. [Business] has a very old-fashioned way of thinking - as long as the results produce for investors, it doesn't matter how you get there."

He continues, "That's not a helpful, healthy or sustainable [situation] in a modern workforce."

Anderson discussed how managers have missed the rise of the modern worker and contributed the miss to foundations laid in business schools across the country.

"Peter Drucker said the knowledge worker is actually an executive and every decision they make affects the bottom line - [resulting in] a large quantity of small decisions that have a big impact," he said. "They are also investors, because their bonuses are often in stock, yet they are seen as just workers. They [businesses] have lost focus on how to motivate these people."

Out of Date, Out of Focus

The Gantt Chart is still being taught in business schools, when it was originally designed for scheduling work in a factory, Anderson said. When it was discovered that it really didn't work well, it fell out of favor with manufacturing, but was adopted and used as a way to manage knowledge workers. It does a poor job of it, Anderson asserted.

"Many people think we need to standardize. That's 20th century thinking - it's not appropriate for knowledge based workers," he said.

Anderson said the inability to properly manage knowledge workers leads to a dramatic loss in productivity, with the average company surveyed reporting just a 2 - 5 percent efficiency rate.

"We are great at starting things and we don't focus on finishing, so we burden the workforce with greater works in progress loads," Anderson said. "We have a situation of workers - motivated, knowledgeable - and we put them into these places of inefficiency. They work harder and harder and longer and longer, always on and its destroying the social capital."

Tasks Taking Their Toll

The effects on "always on" modern workers shows up in a variety of ways, including health and relationships. Anderson relayed a story about a top Microsoft executive who loved his job and was always working, while staying connected through a variety of electronic devices. He had spent 20 years of his life dedicated to the company and he woke up one day and realized his children resented him. Anderson said he spoke of the difficulties of trying to reconnect with the youngest child - a teen - and the loss he felt for the older children who were adults.

"How many other parents will have that situation where they have spent the majority of their time not with their children or with them but not present because they're staring at their devices?" Anderson asked.

For Anderson, the plight of the modern worker is not merely about helping companies improve their efficiency while giving parents a chance to parent. He believes happy workers have global implications. He says improving the work environment improves economics and the sociological makeup of society as a whole.

According to a 2011 study for The Conference Board by Nielsen, 47.2 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. The report cites 2005 as the last year in which a majority of Americans, 52.1 percent, was happy at work. Compared to numbers from the 1980s and '90s, widespread dissatisfaction has been a part of American society since the turn of the century.

Kanban to the Rescue

It's no surprise that the CEO of Lean-Kanban University offers the approach to those seeking a way to truly manage the knowledge worker effectively while increasing efficiency.

"[The] Kanban approach is the antithesis to first generation Agile. Kanban says to understand what you're doing and evolve your own processes through small changes - and don't change unless you know why you're doing it. Agile is, forget what you know and do this," Anderson said.

He also pressed the importance of using of plain language in Kanban versus the more jargon heavy Agile method. Explaining how he takes great care to exchange the Japanese words used in Kanban for more user friendly terms. These changes, he argues, are why Kanban is more effective and faces less resistance when scaling for large organizations, unlike Agile practices.

"People resist very personally, emotionally, because they intuitively know what will work in their particular situation versus the prescriptive approach of Agile," he said. "The Kanban movement is similar to the improvement in manufacturing [that lead to widespread success]."

Anderson said, the good news is there are still great opportunities for improvement, especially with such a low rate of efficiency in the industry.

"With a 2 percent efficiency, the other 98 percent is stuck for a variety of reasons," he said. "The question is, who is responsible for improving that? Most organizations are tasked with managing the workers, not the blocks or queue."

One area he noted that would bring about a large boost in productivity is decreasing the number of tasks people are doing. Often, Anderson said, people were doing seven things at once. By reducing those 'work in progress' loads to one, companies will see a dramatic drop in failure of demand.

Anderson doesn't think it will take very long for the Kanban method to become a part of the everyday business world. "I look at it and it's not going to take 100 years, I'd be surprised if it takes 20 years…to quote William Gibson, 'The future has already arrived. It's just not evenly distributed, yet.'"

Editor's Note: The Path to Craftmanship and The Path to Agility conference is May 22 - 23, 2013 at the Arena Grand Theater. Following The Path to Agility conference on May 23rd, COHAA is presenting IT Martini 24: Agility Ability at The Three Legged Mare starting at 4pm for conference attendees. Details and registration are available at http://www.thepathtoagility.com.

Terreece M. Clarke

Andy Hunt: Agility is Uncomfortable

April 30th, 2013
By Terreece M. Clarke

As one of the 17 authors of the Agile Manifesto, Andy Hunt has a rare view on the Agile movement. He was present at the now legendary Utah gathering in 2001 and like any creator, he sees both progress and room for improvement in his creation. When those Agilists got together for that first meeting, "40 percent of programming shops didn't use version control. They didn't believe in it," Hunt said.

The progress that encourages him is that many Agile practices that were groundbreaking in 2001 are, in his words,"talked about on Twitter as common sense things people should do. Unit testing, behavior development…It's much more accepted and there is a lot of good adoption of Agile practices."

…Don't Get Comfortable

Whenever Hunt gives a talk, he always asks, "[Raise your hand] Are you comfortable with your Agile practices?" He said hands will raise around the room, to which he replies, "Too bad, that means you're doing it wrong."

Just as Hunt sees much progress in the adoption of Agile practices, he said there is much more room for gaining an understanding of the overall message behind the method.

"Agile is supposed to be 'make it up as you go along,' not just doing the practices," he said. "You never 'do Agile,' but you can be Agile…[doing the practices] is just practicing good [software development] hygiene. It's like washing your hands instead of dying from the Black Death, like before."

Hunt said when he and many of his colleagues looked at the future of Agile, they thought there would be an explosion of Agile methods to explore cool ways of developing software.

"It didn't happen. Extreme Programming added a couple of practices…Planning Poker…you can count on one hand [the additions since Agile creation]. "They [software developers] learn one or two practices and stop thinking. They look for a set of practices they can do and just stop thinking."

"Some [founders] are disappointed it didn't happen the way we thought. Some are mildly wistful and others are downright annoyed that people still just don't quite get it," he continued. "I suspect our default thinking process is waterfall. One of the hard things is getting beyond that, but panic and fear lead us to waterfall and we have to fight that tendency."

Thinking + Communication Development

Hunt said programmers do two things all day - learn and communicate. Those are the keys to fighting the software fight-or-flight-to-waterfall instincts. Developers need to learn about the users, their teammates and the needs of the business - and it all changes constantly.

"That's what Agile was trying to get to the heart of," Hunt said. "People just want to think that if they did the processes correctly and documented it, everything will work out okay. We need to admit that no one knows all the answers. We don't know how it's going to work, what the users, the marketplace [or] the corporation responses will be. We don't know how it's going to work until we get in there."

Hunt insisted making that admission is part of the work Agilists have to do on a regular basis - create transparency and enhance communication.

Hunt admitted communication is not a strength of many IT pros. He said software developers like the field because it relies on pure logic, so many people focus on communicating with the machine. However, that focus on the work and not the team, is where a lot of projects get into trouble.

"Agile practices force you to talk to each other," Hunt said. "The stand up meeting is one example. It is very easy, especially for coaches, to get lost in the trees."

Agility Beyond Software

Taking the Agile/communication relationship further, Hunt is much like fellow Path to Agilty speaker and author Ellen Gottesdiener. They both use the Agile method in creating and publishing their books. The Pragmatic Bookshelf, was founded by Hunt and Dave Thomas to focus on improving the lives of developers through training books, audio books and video. Ever vigilant about transparency, Hunt admitted the method is no 'silver bullet,' even in his company.

"It's a double-edged sword. We can be Agile under contract... we can do that with authors, but the whole thing breaks down when you are dealing with logistics and constraints like books on a truck."

Hunt still has hope the method will evolve as more Agilists personalize it like he has for his publishing company. He also laid bare the type of company culture in which the method can thrive:

"Agile development uses feedback to make constant adjustments in a highly collaborative environment. The whole crux of it is constant and real-time feedback and then changing in response to that feedback. Where most companies fall down is, they gather all the feedback and don't use it…Everything points to a person that doesn't fit with the team, but people don't act on it. They say, "Oh I can't do that [remove the person from the team]. If you aren't in an environment where you have the authority to make changes, then don't do Agile."

Editor's Note: The Path to Craftmanship and The Path to Agility conference is May 22 - 23, 2013 at the Arena Grand Theater. Following The Path to Agility conference on May 23rd, COHAA is presenting IT Martini 24 at The Three Legged Mare starting at 4pm for conference attendees. Details and registration are available at http://www.thepathtoagility.com.

Terreece M. Clarke

Gary Cavin: Let's Innovate Together

March 27th, 2013
By Terreece M. Clarke

When the Intelligent Community Forum selects a city as a “Top7 Intelligent Community,” it is easy to find people from all sectors of the area eager to take credit. Gary Cavin, CIO and Director of the Department of Technology for the city of Columbus, is just the opposite. Cavin is more eager to spread the accolades among the leadership of the city’s community partners.

Cavin said Columbus’ continued success in innovation is the fruit of great leadership from across all segments of the city. Committed champions from public, private, not-for-profit, education and entrepreneurial sectors like Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus City Council, Columbus 2020 and the CEOs of companies like Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Battelle have collaborated with the city to help set an agenda that keeps Columbus, Ohio growing and developing better ways to service the community.

Leadership from Within

Cavin is no stranger to helping organizations grow. He began his career many years ago in the Department of Development for the City of Columbus. Later, he moved on to serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Mayor before becoming the Director and CIO of Technology for the City of Columbus. Cavin said his path to CIO was neither direct, nor planned, but maintained the path was necessary to gain the broad base of knowledge it takes to lead the city’s technological efforts.

“Understand, the tech does matter - it’s the engine in the car - but the business is the driver,” he said. “[CIOs] must have a mixture of business and tech knowledge and good communication skills.”

Those communication skills are put to the test as Cavin works to create, nurture and sustain vital community partnerships.

“[The Top7 selection] is very exciting,” Cavin said. “It [applying for the Intelligent Community selection] is a very involved process. The time was really spent creating partnerships and identifying great organizations to work with. That was the best part - and the longest.”

Mobility in the City

The state of the City’s innovation projects is strong. With a variety of technological successes behind him, Cavin draws on one in particular that demonstrates the collaborative atmosphere sustained by the city’s stakeholders – the My Columbus mobile application. It is one of the projects that has been the most satisfying to Cavin in his tenure as CIO.

“It’s because it was a collaborative effort,” he said. “We used students from The Ohio State University to write the initial code, leaving them with real world experience they might not have gotten before they graduated. We used a company that went through TechColumbus’ incubator to produce the final product…we produced an app, that was cost effective, with the community.”

Broad(band) Ideas

The city’s next big goal embraces the idea of Broadband Economy. Cavin said the city of Columbus aims to be the most connected city in the nation. Mayor Coleman, Cavin said, has already begun the groundwork for achieving this ambitious task.

“The Mayor has allowed us to purchase quite a bit of fiber [-optic cable],” Cavin said. “About 300 miles of it… and we plan to purchase a total of 400 miles. We know for a fact the world is becoming more mobile…there are more mobile devices than there are people and when we’re looking at our younger people, [being connected] is really something they demand. We believe that this is just as important as highways, water; and as railroad used to be. It’s what is going to help us to stay competitive.”

Becoming the City for IT Pros

Staying competitive and attractive to workers is the goal of every city and Columbus is no different. Cavin said the city’s big internal push is in predictive analysis to better understand and service the residents of the city. Cavin contends Columbus is almost perfectly situated to becoming the best city in the country.

Cavin is not alone in his assessment of the city’s attributes. In an October 2012 interview with IT Martini entitled, “Why Tech is Working in Ohio,” Jeff Lusenhop, founder of Janova, discussed the reason why he chose to locate his thriving software company in Columbus instead of choosing another tech center like Silicon Valley:

"It's a nurturing environment. You have organizations like TechColumbus, TechLife, IT Martini...that help the [tech] community stay in touch and share information, contacts and resources. It's more collegial instead of competitive like other places,” Lusenhop said. “The West Coast is focused on getting users, social media buzz...Central Ohio is not caught up in hype. Here, people focus on building strong business-to-business relationships. They make the big businesses, the Nationwides, etc...more efficient and profitable."

Columbus has been a hotbed of technology and innovation for decades, yet it is only in the last ten years that the city has garnered significant international attention for the variety and depth of its technological assets and contributions.

“We have a great combination of city, private and not-for-profit support, the cost of living is great, [Columbus] is culturally diverse - which is very important. It’s all those things,” Cavin said. “We’re number one in innovation and if we were located on the beach we’d be the best city in the nation.”

Editor's Note: Gary Cavin is one of many guests supporting the community at The Columbus Innovation Reception on April 2, 2013 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the beautiful Columbus Metropolitan Museum of Art. The event is a celebration of Columbus’ selection as a Top7 Intelligent Community. Details and registration are available at http://www.columbusinnovationreception.com.

Terreece M. Clarke

Founder's Update: Looking Back, Looking Forward

January 18th, 2013
By John Bishop

It was almost five years ago that Aladin Gohar and I began thinking about how to bring the IT community together in Columbus. In many ways, it was sheer luck and raw ambition that made our very first IT Martini event rock the technology community in June of 2008.

So much has changed since then: we're now married with kids (or with kids on the way) and we've pivoted our technology careers into something very different than where we left off in 2008.

As I think back to connect the dots, it occurred to me that both of us were looking for something more from our professional careers. We were interested in pursuing career growth, but at the same time, we wanted career growth that exceeded the boundaries of our 'institutional' environments - where IT professionals could seek opportunities in an engaging and social community.

If we've proven anything, it's that we weren't alone in that pursuit. Not only was there an overwhelming response by IT professionals desiring a 'social' outlet for career growth, but a whole new crop of event organizers began setting the bar very high for technology events of their own.

Just last year, we had the honor of working with a number of IT professionals (turned event organizers) who brought compelling topics to conference events all over Ohio. To name a few: Bart Murphy (The Path to Agility), Branndon Kelley (TechTomorrow), Tim Hibner (M3 Conference), Brad Nellis (Cleveland TechWeek) and our very own Jared Price (Infrastructure We Trust).

It's a testament to the success of our industry, and the quality of our community, that so many have come out of the woodwork to support the growth of IT professionals with such masterful conference events.

And in 2013, we're looking forward to another successful partnership with conference organizers in Ohio and beyond. It's the goal of IT Martini to continue highlighting the most relevant events with topics that drive success for our careers individually, and our community as a whole.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you, and for another great year. May this coming year be your best, both personally and professionally.

PS: If you haven't done so already, I would really appreciate your vote for IT Martini as the People's Choice for 2012. You can vote on Facebook in less than one minute here.

John Bishop

Columbus IT Community
John Bishop founded IT Martini with Aladin Gohar in 2008. His resume includes technology roles within companies such as JPMorgan Chase, AEP, and Nationwide. John divides most of his time contributing to IT Martini, enjoying family life with his wife and daughter, and, of course, working as an IT Pro. He would like to hear your feedback at john [at] itmartini [dot] com.

IT Martini 23: The Definitive Preview

September 26th, 2012
By Terreece M. Clarke

Columbus is hosting two very busy days this week at COSI with TechTomorrow, which kicks of early this afternoon by showcasing 30+ speakers exploring the topics of big data, cloud, consumerization of IT and the CIO career path. But TechTomorrow is more than just the sum of its topics, according to Angelo Mazzocco, president of Pillar and chairperson for the inaugural TechTomorrow event over a decade ago.

"I believe the TechTomorrow event, since its beginning in 2002, is the glue that has held the technology community of Central Ohio together," said Mazzocco. "When senior technology executives meet together to exchange wisdom, build community, and learn from some of the best minds in the business, magic happens. So many other good things have resulted from this event including Special Interest Groups (SIGs), the CIO Forum, and non-profit support for those charities who need it."

And it's a formula that's been replicated since its inception.

"It is no wonder that TechTomorrow has been modeled by other communities," Mazzocco said. "When I look back over the 30 years I have spent working with great technology people in the this community, it is clear that TechTomorrow is one of our shining stars."

Breaking New Ground

This year's conference chair, Branndon Kelley, CIO of American Municipal Power, is particularly excited about bringing together IT leaders aspiring toward a CIO role - a topic that's being formally explored for the first time in the Columbus IT community.

"The thing that most sets this years event apart is the aspiring CIO track. As the chairman, I wanted to open this years conference up to those up and coming leaders who are aspiring for the senior most leadership position."

IT Martini has been following two speakers from the 'Aspiring CIO' track, Eric Dirst (SVP & CIO at Devry, Inc.) and Steve George (CIO of Retail and Business Banking at Huntington National Bank). Both leaders have been candid about the importance of grooming the next generation of CIOs.

"I tell people, if you aren’t growing people beneath you," said Dirst, "making them so good they can take your job or move to take someone elses you’re not doing anything, you’re not leading...you’re just managing tasks."

Special Guests

TechTomorrow, now in its 11th year, continues to carry the theme of IT leadership forward - with a special focus on technology and its effects on consumer behavior. The event unites IT leaders from a variety of industries and experiences to discuss common problems and share solutions.

"This year the theme is a direct result of a CIO survey completed by TechColumbus," Kelley said. "Myself and the planning committee took the results and the top 4-5 results were around how the consumer (internal or external) has changed. We have 4 top speakers in Bob Hammer, Paul Heller, Michael Schrage and Craig Krenzel.

The hometown favorite, Craig Krenzel, who brought the 2002 Buckeyes a national championship, is delivering the closing keynote immediately prior to the IT Martini event.

"We're thrilled to have Craig Krenzel involved with TechTomorrow", said John Bishop, co-founder of IT Martini. "He prompts a moment of reflection into our hometown's recent history. The year 2002 captured the hearts and minds of Ohio State football fans, in addition to birthing a dynamic conference event that continues to play a major role in our IT community."

Buckeye Ranch Charity Benefit

At the conclusion of TechTomorrow, the IT Martini reception takes place on roof of COSI. The conference retrospective activity encourages attendees to share their perspective and shape each year’s event, in full view of the downtown Columbus skyline.

It's also an opportunity to share with the Buckeye Ranch, one of the most high impact organizations making a difference in Central Ohio.

"The Buckeye Ranch is excited to partner with IT Martini for another fundraising event," Michelle Aro, development coordinator of The Buckeye Ranch said. "Through our programs and services, The Buckeye Ranch is able to help 1,600 children and families everyday in our community. These children and families struggle with emotional, behavioral and mental health issues and we provide hope and healing to them through our treatment programs and continued support. We could not continue the level of treatment and support without the financial assistance from individuals, corporations and fundraisers like IT Martini."

IT Martini 23 attendees are encouraged to bring prizes for the silent auction benefitting the Buckeye Ranch, or simply participate in the bidding. To date, IT Martini and its attendees have raised almost $30,000 for local charities in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Indianapolis.

And finally, the evening wraps-up with a review of demos from early stage local technology companies. The winner - decided by popular vote - will receive the coveted IT Community Choice award. Past award winners include Janova, eEvent and eCycle.

Editor's Note: TechColumbus is the host of TechTomorrow as well as the Presenting Sponsor for IT Martini 23: Consumer Affair. Top Shelf Sponsors of IT Martini 23 include Peak 10, US Signal, Compuware and SnapLogic. Registration is still open for IT Martini 23, taking place at COSI after TechTomorrow on Thursday, September 27th.

Terreece M. Clarke

Steve George: Find Your Balance

September 19th, 2012
By Terreece M. Clarke

Steve George spends a good bit of time adapting to the frenetic pace of the banking industry. As the CIO of Retail and Business Banking at Huntington National Bank, there's no shortage of opportunities to balance the needs of the business with those of IT.

"Banking is certainly exciting right now," explains George. "Regulations are coming to us very quickly from many new government agencies. Sometimes we are told to plan for a new reg by a certain date, but are given no specific rules by the governing bodies until much later. This makes it very difficult to estimate, plan for, and fit around other priorities. Overall, I think we are learning to cope with this as, given the current conditions in the industry, this may be the norm for some time."

As one might imagine, it takes leadership to navigate the terrain between speed of delivery and quality.

George continues, "The tech guys want quality and the business wants to know how quickly it can get done. A CIO has to manage the message in the huddle of both groups."

Finding the Balance

Elaborating on his performance within 'the huddle' of IT and business stakeholders, George suggests that finding the right balance is one of the single most important things he - and every CIO - can do.

And how does he go about making that happen?

When asked about the one thing he does every day, that may benefit others who are looking for similar balance among stakeholder, he stated simply, “Listen before I react.” George suggested that leaders should take care to make sure the right things rise to the top before taking action.

Seeking balance can also result in trade-offs, such as giving up the idea of a 'perfect solution'.

George continues, “The perfect tech solution will not always be the perfect business solution and the perfect business solution will not always be the perfect tech solution. You have to find that balance.”

The Road to CIO

George believes that IT leaders who become invested in the discussion among these stakeholders groups should consider taking their career to the CIO level.

Any other advice for future CIOs?

"Spend time learning the business," he said. "Sit down and ask, 'What drives the P&L? How does that business make money and how can tech serve that aspect of the business?"

George’s own winding road to CIO started with his love of gadgets as a kid. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Economics, when the bad economy pushed him from a career in the financial industry to an IT consulting career.

Closing Thoughts

Sharing his career path from IT consulting toward his current CIO role is what George plans on sharing at the TechTomorrow 2012 conference on September 26-27th at COSI in Columbus. The Aspiring CIO track is playing host to several IT leaders, each with their own perspective about navigating the pathway toward the role.

George asserts that the conference is great thing for Columbus, as well for IT leaders who are interested in growing their network while looking at problems differently.

"Columbus is not a big town, especially in tech," George said. "That network is critical to leverage."

He continues, "The problems we face, we don't assume someone in healthcare would have the same issues, but finding out how they have dealt with issues can give us good ideas and different ways of looking at issues.

George notes that looking at issues from different perspectives can filter what adds value and what doesn't - a sometimes difficult task for IT leaders in the fast moving IT industry.

"Tech changes so fast, if you don't keep up you'll quickly fall behind," he said. "Whatever the buzzword of the day, everyone with a "C" in their title talks about how we gotta have it," he said. "...[CIOs] should not apply every new trend. They have to understand where does it truly add value."

Editor's Note: Steve George is answering your questions this week at IT Martini on LinkedIn, as a preview of his participation in the Aspiring CIO Track at TechTomorrow 2012 on September 26-27th at COSI in Columbus, Ohio. IT Martini 23: Consumer Affair follows TechTomorrow 2012 on September 27th.

Terreece M. Clarke

Eric Dirst: Stop Talking 'Alignment'

September 5th, 2012
By Terreece M. Clarke

Eric Dirst has seen the evolution of the IT industry from the perspective of government IT, as a consultant, with a dot com during the big ‘90s boom, as the CIO of SIRVA and now as Senior Vice President and CIO of DeVry, Inc.

Traditionally, his roles have commanded an interest in ”being aligned with the business,” but Dirst chafes at the phrase.

“I do believe the phrase ‘being aligned with the business’ is over-used, and makes no sense. IT is part of the business, it is not outside the business. You don’t hear HR or Finance talking about aligning with the business. That’s because HR and Finance know their functional role, run their operations (hopefully effectively) and collaborate with various business units to deliver on shared objectives such as workforce management and talent development for HR, or business unit profitability analysis and joint risk management activities for Finance."

Ideally, the role of IT organizations should follow suit.

Dirst continued, "Similarly, IT needs to run its own operations effectively, and collaborate with other business units on shared objectives. That isn’t alignment, it’s shared objectives that require a given business unit and the IT business unit to both effectively collaborate to deliver a new process that reduces costs, or a new offering that allows expansion into new markets, or whatever”

Two CIO Mistakes

Dirst suggest two mistakes are most common for CIOs, with the first mistake well known - CIOs talking tech. The second may be an eye-opener for many in the field.

“They focus enormous amounts of time on the infrastructure operations...the plumbing of IT (e.g. servers, networking gear, etc.). These things are important to an effective IT operations, but they are not important to any business unit leader or the CEO,” he said.

“The CIO needs to be focused on what is important to the business unit leaders and the CEO," Dirst said. "This would be things like executing acquisitions/mergers, increasing profitability, expanding into new markets/geographies, reducing enterprise costs, etc. An analogy would be the VP of Facilities/Real Estate worrying about whether their office plumbing used copper or PVC pipe. They would never do this, because the VP of Facilities/Real Estate knows that they need to worry about the same thing as the CFO and the business unit heads – things like space utilization, leasing vs buying options, effective location near customers or supply chains, reducing overall facilities costs, etc.”

“If there is an infrastructure problem, they should be saying ‘Here’s what I’m doing to improve it.’ Once they get it smoothly running, they should go back to discussing value added items. If they’re not, I can guarantee they’ll start talking to someone who will.”

The Path to CIO, Around the Knowledge Paradox

When discussing tips for those interested in the path to CIO, Dirst pointed out a big myth that prevents IT pros from advancing: “The Knowledge Paradox.”

“People think they should become the most knowledgeable person [to get ahead]. Really, the most knowledgeable person doesn’t move because they’ve become siloed. They make themselves indispensable. What they need to think about is ‘how do you share that knowledge with your team’ to free you up to take on new responsibilities.”

The idea of taking on new responsibilities is a part of Dirst’s advice to avoid thinking about the CIO path as one of, “up and out.”

“People think they either need to move up or move out [to another company],” he said. An alternative Dirst said is to think about “how to grow my responsibilities at my current level or to make sure your team is doing well and then move on to grow the team beneath them.”

Another growth option for those interesting in moving ahead in their career, particularly to a CIO role, is to move to another team to make themselves well-rounded Dirst said.

Learn the Language

While you shouldn’t talk tech to business leaders, Dirst said there is one important language you should learn - the language of money.

“If you’re not a finance major, go take a few finance classes,” Dirst advised. “You need to be able to speak the language of the person who is going to give you money [the CFO]. You need to be able to say ‘it [an investment] will improve the operations margin by 300 basis points.’”

Another language future CIOs need to learn is communicating to a group. Dirst said presentation, speaking and writing skills are essential to the job.

“You spend a lot of time doing those things. How capable they [leaders] are is judged by how articulate they are,” he said.

Doing What Needs to Be Done

Dirst cited one of the best pieces of advice he received from a mentor: “If the CEO and COO asks you to do something, you don’t say no, because they won’t ask you again.”

That theory was tested when Dirst was asked to take over a small project that required him to leave his current work managing over 100 people to working by himself. He said yes, but without much enthusiasm. After taking on the project, it turns out leadership wanted him to learn the business because they were buying four companies and merging them into one. Dirst became the point guy on integrating those companies.

“It just goes to show you, just say yes when those guys ask you to do something,” he said. “They are usually thinking long-term when they ask you. I do wish they had told me their plans, I would’ve been more enthusiastic.”

From BASIC and PASCAL to CIO

The ‘do what it takes’ mentality’ seems to come easy to the kid who paid his way through college on an IT programmer job he got when he was 17 years old.

Dirst first fell in love with tech when he took a BASIC language course in high school.

“It was very tough at first. “It didn’t help that I was sick the first week of school and missed some pretty important basics,” he said with a laugh. “I just worked really hard at it and it became fun. I was lucky because my school had a great program. It made the first three years of college a breeze.”

In college Dirst was much more interested in business and decided to earn two degrees - operations management and computer science - from Northern Illinois University and credits his business degree more than his computer science degree for his success.

Throughout all of his roles, he's enjoyed the opportunities to work with and help people in their careers.

“The last two companies [he worked for] have been turnarounds, bad IT organizations,” he said. “Turnarounds are process maturity and people. I spend a lot of time thinking about processes and people. The funny thing is the tech is easy. Changing people is hard, extremely challenging work. But I tell people, if you aren’t growing people beneath you, making them so good they can take your job or move to take someone elses you’re not doing anything, you’re not leading...you’re just managing tasks.”

Editor's Note: Eric Dirst is answering your questions this week and will be a panelist for the Aspiring CIO discussion at TechTomorrow 2012 on September 26-27th at COSI in Columbus, Ohio. IT Martini 23: Consumer Affair follows TechTomorrow 2012.

Terreece M. Clarke

Mark MacNaughton: Thinking Big Data

August 29th, 2012
By Terreece M. Clarke

Mark MacNaughton, SVP and CIO of Cardinal Health's medical segment, is thinking big - big data that is. A quick Google search of the term 'big data' yields millions of results and as many definitions of the phrase as there are opinions on how best to harness it.

In a May 10, 2012 Network World article, writer Brandon Butler cited the lack of standard definition as part of the issue industry leaders are having with it. But rather than focusing on the definition of the term, MacNaughton thinks the industry should focus on the bigger picture.

"The real question for big data is: what are you going to do with it?" he said. "We are at a point where it's "Big Data." Everyone has to have it, but [companies] are struggling to know what to do with the information."

Big Data for Big Healthcare

Because the healthcare industry is so broad, MacNaughton suggests there's huge potential for each of its sectors.

MacNaughton said the supplier sector is promising because big data can lead to better diagnostics. He downplayed the heightened concerned over security and information sharing in healthcare, citing a significant difference between big data and individual medical information.

"Big data looks at trends," he said. 'The right safeguards need to be in place, anonymizing [the patient] info...[Overall,] I'm not super concerned about it [security issues]," he said.

The payer sector, MacNaughton said, has an interest in loss. They can use big data to see the average never event rates (a medical mistake so egregious it should never occur) of hospitals and compare that with hospitals who have an above average rate. This data will help them work with the hospital in improving the rate. Factors like size of hospital, location and types of services provided would also factor in the rate average.

In the provider sector, due to the concern with outcome and cost, big data could be used to improve services to match the patient. MacNaughton gave the example of a person needing a knee replacement.

"Let's say I want to give the best knee [as a provider] - not that money can buy - but the best one for the patient. The highest quality for the lowest cost using factors like the age of the patient...the lifestyle of the patient, are they a runner or are they sedentary...are they obese?" Using that data alongside the data of types of artificial knees available, the provider can match the best performing device for the individual patient.

Big Data Bank of Ideas

MacNaughton is most excited about sharing ideas and insider looks into how other industries are handling big data at the upcoming TechTomorrow 2012 conference. As track leader and moderator, he's bringing together panelists to discuss the ideas that connect the 'big data dots' so organizations can understand their customers and predict future behavior.

"[There are some] who are early on in the adoption life-cycle...they come from a variety of industries, it's going to be interesting to see what they [are all] doing and applying it to their different areas," MacNaughton said. "I really like the blend of panelists, the industries, size of companies, where they are in their journeys."

That diversity in thinking is a part of the trend MacNaughton says he sees in big data use.

"A lot of people are ending up in a different place," he said. "It's not structured data, it's really much more wide open. They go in with a set of questions and come out with totally different information. It [big data] makes you think about your business in different ways."

In closing, MacNaughton offers some friendly encouragement for those coming to terms with big data.

"Pull your head up and see what other people are doing to give you fresh ideas and look at things in a new way," he said.

Editor's Note: Mark MacNaughton is answering your questions this week in advance of leading the Big Data panel at TechTomorrow 2012, with Frank Cutitta, Research Associate - CSC / Leading Edge Forum; Neeraj Kumar, VP of Information & Integration Architecture - Cardinal Health; Tara Paider, AVP, IT Architecture - Nationwide Insurance and Jay Wilson, Regional Platform Manager - BMW Group Financial Services. IT Martini 23: Consumer Affair follows TechTomorrow 2012 on September 27th.

Terreece M. Clarke

Ron Morgan: Starting Up Academics

August 16th, 2012
By Terreece M. Clarke

Ron Morgan, recently appointed Director of the Center for Professional Training and Development at Franklin University, is not only drawing on his decades of IT and tech leadership experience, he's tapping into his time as the CIO of a tech start-up. Franklin University - a non-profit, private university has charged Morgan to help expand the college's non credit, professional development offerings.

"[The initiative] takes me back to my internet start-up days," Morgan said. "It's a fun, exciting challenge that doesn't happen overnight. It's a chance to see if we can start a business and grow it in this area."

Seven months into the project, Morgan said the initiative has the same issues as most start-ups including getting the technology up and running, setting up test pilot classes within the university and creating marketing and business development plans.

While most course offerings are still in the consideration and planning phase, Morgan said he expects there will be courses in human resources, six lean, six sigma and other popular professional development courses.

Innovating from a Distance

This new venture and position is the latest of Franklin University's forward thinking initiatives. In fact, Franklin University is one of the first universities in the the United States to receive government grants for its role in distance education Morgan said.

Morgan estimated 60 percent of Franklin University's tuition comes from distance learning students. The university's thriving distance environment is credited to the school's approach to distance and traditional classroom integration and Learning Management system.

"Franklin's technology is developed by its own IT staff," Morgan said. "It's fully customizable and interactive, just like in the classroom. Say you had a large class of 25 to 30 students [online], you can break them out into smaller groups, just like in a [traditional] classroom. They can raise their hand, ask questions...Every course is developed to the same standards for face-to-face. In-class activities are the same for online students. Franklin develops its courses with an instructor, structural designers and course expert to keep the experiences the same."

Centralized, university driven course development is what separates Franklin's distance learning from traditional universities that are still testing the distance education waters. Most online courses at traditional universities are offered by individual professors who have an interest in expanding student options.

The Meaning of CREDIBILITY

Morgan's technology career has spanned 30 years and a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, retail, ecommerce and finally higher education at Franklin where he has been a program chair, CIO and dean of Academic Services and Innovation.

When asked what factors are critical for success as a tech leader Morgan boiled it down to one essential that he uses as an acronym - credibility.

Communication - Up, down and sideways with all your users.
Results - Produce them.
Expectation Management and education.
Discipline in project management, fiscal matters and HR
Integrity
Build relationships and partnerships with IT, users and stakeholders
Influence
Listening - the consolidative approach
Innovation
Technology that fits with business objectives and goals
Yes. “CIO's always say 'No we can't do that...'” Morgan said. “Instead say 'Yes we can but...' and advise them what has to be given up and let them make the decision on what aligns best [with business goals]. If you have credibility...it is easier to get things done.”

Editor's Note: This week, Ron Morgan will be at IT Martini on LinkedIn discussing leadership, tech in higher education and more. Join the conversation.