Forces Which Impede You
It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. – Edward George Bulwar-Lytton
We never really begin any of our endeavors in an organization from a point of total calm. There are many forces at play, internal and external, which cause us fight headwinds in all that we do.
In physics, we can calculate the net force in effect through vector arithmetic. From this set of calculations we learn that forces compound in both direction and magnitude resulting in the net force in play.
IT Organizations typically face numerous forces which collectively create a headwind, hindering the successful completion of it’s objectives. There are virtually an unlimited number of forces which can create these headwinds. Here are a few:
- Workforce with dated skills. It is common that standardization on a technology platform will build a work force skilled in this platform. As technology advances, the work force is challenged to move their skills to the new technology platform.
- Inefficient development methodologies. Software development practices all have advantages and disadvantages. Not all organizations can adopt the methodology of choice, but at the same time the methodology in place may not be able to meet the demands of the IT customers.
- Legacy system support and maintenance. Organizations which have a large number of legacy systems have the potential to consume all economic and work force availability at the expense of new development.
- Investments in technology which need to run their course. Large scale investments will frequently be justified based on a long term investment. Replacing this technology with more advanced or complete technology before the term has elapsed is frequently seen as a poor use of funds.
- Groundswell of enabling technology. Occasionally a set of technologies, such as today’s current social technologies, develop a groundswell of support from within the organization leaving the IT department in a position to determine how to respond and potentially implement and integrate across the organization.
- Changes in regulatory environment. We live in an society which is regulated. It will be more regulated as we go forward. This forces the IT group to respond to not only show that they are compliant with the regulations, but to modify their processes to remain in compliance.
- Budget restrictions and cuts. Does anyone recognize this headwind. I thought so.
This is a sampling of forces that every IT organization faces every day. There are always several operating concurrently with the net effect being a head wind which must be overcome in order to implement any change. — It’s a wonder anything gets done.
I like the way your “Physics of IT” is shaping up. I wonder if “headwinds” forces can be mapped against other forces (e.g., prevailing currents, momentum) to help with a force field analysis. Where are we trying to go? What forces are impeding us and how can we attenuate them? What forces are assisting us, and how can we amplify them?
I like the force field analysis idea. There is no end of possible forces which an IT organization faces every day. I’m sure going through the exercise of a force field analysis would be beneficial to all participants. It would reveal a great deal about the organization and level set against a known baseline. In consulting engagements, I often find that these headwinds conceptually operate as a tax which must be paid whenever trying to implement change. By identifying these components in a force field analysis, it would be possible to reduce the “tax rate” and become more efficient with the resources at hand.