It is a very exciting time here at ITTI. We’re not quite ready to share yet, but we’ve been knee-deep in the weeds working through some very cool developments over the last several weeks – which helps explain why I’ve been somewhat quiet. Stay tuned for more on these developments later, but as part of our discussions, we started using a phrase that I think is relevant on a number of levels.
If you have followed my work at all, you know that I believe that we are in the midst of perhaps the greatest shift our industry has ever seen. And, you also know that I believe that if we as both professionals and organizations are going to survive, we must transform. We need to fundamentally change how we see our role and how we operate if we are to remain relevant in the future. I have often said that this will mean that essentially we need to see ourselves as building a completely new kind of IT organization – and that to do this, we have to lay new foundations built upon our people.
But over the last several weeks, my partners and I hit on a very key realization. There is actually one step that must happen before you can even begin to lay a foundation. You need to clear the land.
Imagine that you have a dream of building a ranch retreat someday. One day, you’re driving down a meandering country road and come across the absolute perfect place. An open meadow where the birds sing all day long and the sun always shines. You buy it and get ready to build your dream home. Do you just run out and lay your foundation?
The first step is always to clear the land to prepare it for the home you will build. You need to clear out any rocks or growth that may cause your foundation not to set properly. You have to grade the land to make sure that it is a solid, level platform on which to lay your foundation. Without taking this critical step, your dream home will become a nightmare as the foundation fails over time because you did not take the time to prepare the land for what was to come.
How often do we do this in life? We come across a “perfect something.” Something that we just know will make everything better, that something that is exactly what we’ve been looking for. So we dive in and get to work. But we skip a critical step. We fail to realize that we are trying to build that ideal home on a patch of rocky ground populated by our past experiences, biases and misconceptions that make it impossible for us to lay a solid foundation. This is true in everything from a Service Management program to a weight loss program. You cannot hope to build a lasting foundation for a better and brighter future without first clearing away the rubble and debris that is in its place now.
In the case of a piece of land, this requires a bulldozer. In our minds and in our organizations it’s a bit tougher. It requires that we challenge those misconceptions, that we question our biases and that we examine our past experiences. It demands that we forcibly open ourselves up to new ideas and free ourselves from the prison of how we have always done things. It’s tough work to be sure, but it is what is required if we want to build something that will really last.
In your personal or professional life, whether individually or organizationally, what is the rubble and debris that are littering the place that you are trying to lay new foundations? Clear it out and do what it takes to prepare yourself for your better and brighter future. It may be painful, painstaking and often go uncelebrated, but it is the work that must be done to build something real and lasting. I know you can do it!!
P.S. Stay tuned in the coming months for some exciting news on what we’re up to – I think that you’re going to love it!
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