Software & Computers

An updated version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen

Once upon a time there was an IT Director who was so fond of his computers that he spent all of his company's money on elegant hardware and software. He was not concerned with managing his information resources or solving the business problems of the company; he was computer-rich in equipment and boasted of his prowess with technology.

There was plenty of fun going on in the department where the IT Director lived. Programmers were allowed to play to their hearts' content. Strangers were continually arriving to tour the director's facilities. One day there came two swindlers. They said they were IT gurus and could improve the productivity of the director's staff and reduce the backlog of user information requests. The IT Director found the swindlers hypnotic, especially when they promised to break the information bottleneck through sophisticated techniques and power tools for software engineering. Not only were their proposed tools and techniques unusually attractive, but also the information systems produced from them had the peculiarity of being invisible to anyone who was not fit for his post or who was hopelessly stupid.

"I say! These must be wonderful tools," the IT Director thought. "If I had them, I would have the most advanced, state-of-the-art technology in the industry. Imagine what I could do with them. Yes, I must have all of them at once." And he paid a large sum of money to the swindlers to deliver their tools as fast as possible.

And so it came to pass that the tools were spread throughout the department - visual programming tools, 4GL's, program generators, report writers, prototyping aids, CASE tools, data dictionaries, data base management systems, data mining tools, BPR tools, Agile Methods and personal computers, along with a collection of esoteric design techniques. The technology also spread quickly to other parts of the company, where users had access to them. And the machine cycles whirled, much to the delight of the hardware vendor.

"Well, now, I wonder how everything is going?" the IT Director said to himself. But there was one point that made him feel rather anxious, namely, that a man who was stupid or quite unfit for his post would never be able to see the information system that had been produced. Not that he, the IT Director, need have any fears for himself - he was quite confident about that - but all the same, it might be better to send someone else first, to find out how things were going.

"I'll send my honest old systems programmer for a demonstration of the consultants' tools," the IT Director thought. "He's the best one to see what the stuff looks like, for he has plenty of sense, and nobody fills his post better than he does."

So off went the honest old systems programmer to the workshop where the two swindlers sat busy at their screens. "Lord, bless my soul!" thought the systems programmer, with eyes staring out of his head.

"Why, I can't see anything!" But he was careful not to say so.

The two swindlers begged him to take a closer look - didn't he find the design most attractive? Then they pointed to the computer monitor, but, although the poor old systems programmer opened his eyes wider and wider, he couldn't see a thing, for there wasn't a thing to see. "Good Lord!" he thought, "Is it possible that I'm stupid? I never suspected that, and not a soul must hear of it."

"Well, what do you think of it?" one of the swindlers asked.

"Oh, it's elegant! Quite sophisticated!" the old systems programmer said, looking through his spectacles. "I shall certainly tell the IT Director how pleased I am with it."

By and by, the IT Director sent another honest technician to see how the technology was working in the company. The swindlers accompanied him on his journey. As they traveled throughout the company, the gurus made sure that the technicians saw only what they wanted him to see. He saw programmers generating software and prototyping screens; he saw users developing their programs and files, all at a high rate of speed. The swindlers were quick to point out how fast things were happening and marveled at their tools.

"But the software that is being designed doesn't satisfy any information needs and is making us dependent on our hardware more than ever," the technician thought to himself. "And the users are building systems that do not communicate with other systems through a shared data base. I know that I'm not stupid, but if I say that there is no management control here, then people will think I'm not fit for my position." And then he praised the tools, which he knew were compounding problems for the company. "Yes, it's quite sophisticated," he said to the IT Director when he got back.

The splendid tools became the talk of the town. And now the IT Director himself said that he must try the new tools. Quite a throng of select people, including the two honest old technicians, went with him to where the crafty swindlers were demonstrating the latest technology.

"Look, isn't it magnificent!" the two honest technicians said, as they gazed upon the monitors.

"What's this?" the IT Director thought. "I don't understand a thing - this is appalling! Am I stupid? Am I not fit to be IT Director? This is the most terrible thing that could happen to me..."

"Oh, it's quite wonderful," he said to them. "It has our most gracious approval." And he gave a satisfied nod. All the courtiers who had come with him looked and looked, but they made no more of it than the rest. Still, they all said just what the IT Director said, and they advised him to demonstrate the devices for the first time at the corporate executive meeting that was to take place shortly.

On the eve of the meeting, the swindlers sat up all night trying to prepare for the critical demonstration.

Then the IT Director went to the corporate executive meeting with the gurus and explained the new tools with great delight. The swindlers put on a demonstration that startled the executives. Not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or to seem stupid, they all praised the IT Director for the unbelievable technology. "Marvelous! Sensational!" they all said. Never had the IT Director's technology been such a success.

"But you still haven't solved your problems!" a visiting consultant said. "You've only attacked the symptoms. Your user backlog hasn't been reduced; in fact, it has grown. You haven't improved productivity. Your people still aren't addressing the critical business systems problems of your company. You are not applying any management control over your environment. You've only compounded the problem by adding a lot of technical overhead that is creating financial losses for your company. No amount of elegant technology will solve your problems - only management will."

"Goodness gracious, do you hear what he is saying?" the executives whispered from one to the other. Then they all shouted, "But you still haven't solved our problems!" And the IT Director felt most uncomfortable, for it seemed to him that the executives were right. But somehow he thought to himself, "I must go through with it now. I have too much invested in it already." And so he drew himself up still more proudly, while swindler gurus chased after him with more new ideas, for they had found an endless source of revenue, even in spite of the obvious.

The moral of this story should be quite obvious: Doing things efficiently is not productive unless you are doing the right things effectively. To increase productivity you must be effective as well as efficient.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida, a management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management (IRM). Mr. Bryce has over 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for training and consulting on an international basis. His corporate web page is at:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/

He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com

Copyright © 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - THE IT DIRECTOR'S NEW TOOLS