5 ms·

In a perfect enterprise this would work. But in reality this is just a theoretical as the solutions the author debunks. The problem with companies is that th

In a perfect enterprise this would work. But in reality this is just a theoretical as the solutions the author debunks. The problem with companies is that they have departments and whether you like it or not those departments compete with other departments for resources. That in turn means those departments have matters that they want to keep internal (like “we pushed a lot of next quarter’s sales onto this year to make ourselves look better at review time”) To make the point try this and see what reaction you get. Go up to a senior exec. in your company and say “Hi. I’m from IT. I’m going to sit in on all of your internal meetings, have access to all your internal numbers and pretty much act like a part of your team. Except that I won’t be reporting to you and will report everything you say and do to my own boss” Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I disagree with the author. But for his theory to work IT people need to realize they aren’t the biggest hurdle. The bigger hurdle is to get your organization to buy into transparency. To adopt an open culture where people act as a whole organization and not a series of departments. Only then can IT integrate itself as the author suggests.

btilly 17y ago
Your In a perfect enterprise line carries the implication that no companies are like what he described. But I've worked in multiple companies that worked like this. Just because your company doesn't do this doesn't mean that others don't. As for your silly example, you're pushing enforced openness. But people, even in the most open companies, sometimes need to be closed. However if the company is working well then people have no problem reaching out to IT early. Incidentally in my last job there indeed was a woman who was part of IT but sat in on another department's internal meetings, saw figures, etc. She took on that role after the previous project manager left. Said project manager was from that department but was managing several IT people. Either way IT and the other department are integrated together.

btilly 17y ago

Your In a perfect enterprise line carries the implication that no companies are like what he described. But I've worked in multiple companies that worked like this. Just because your company doesn't do this doesn't mean that others don't. As for your silly example, you're pushing enforced openness. But people, even in the most open companies, sometimes need to be closed. However if the company is working well then people have no problem reaching out to IT early. Incidentally in my last job there indeed was a woman who was part of IT but sat in on another department's internal meetings, saw figures, etc. She took on that role after the previous project manager left. Said project manager was from that department but was managing several IT people. Either way IT and the other department are integrated together.