I spend my working hours in IT, investigating systems problems and recommending solutions. Not the kind of systems you may first think of, but cultural systems, systems of interfacing processes and dynamics. System dynamics. How we all work with our processes and flows to accomplish something useful or beautiful.
Today at work, I was introduced to a project one of the teams has undertaken, to use sharepoint as a single point of collaboration for all of the project data in the IT organisation. I thought about what that meant, both in terms of the ease with which everyone will be kept informed, and the collaboration that could be emerging as the various interested people work together for a common good. That sounds like community building.
We work in silos. They call it ‘demand driven services’, but it actually feels more like ‘I’m not committed to it’ services. Different technologists with different skills all contract their services to the hapless project manager. The PM is the linchpin, and the analysts, architects, developers and testers pitch in for only a short while, until their particular contribution is complete. I guess you could look at them as internal contractors, only without the high daily rate. What’s gained, supposedly, is a flexibility and a capacity for more throughput. What’s lost, apparently, is the joy and fun of working with a team to achieve a successful result. The reality is that because people aren’t invested in a successful project outcome, there’s no energy, no commitment to a shared goal, or any of the things that make IT project work really fun! Not to mention that without the commitment an outstanding result is unlikely.
So now comes an angel with a collaborative project. She began the work knowing the result would be useful to her and her team, at least. If others found out about it and thought it could help them, then magic would happen.
Well, today, the magic happened. Our team has committed to collaborating with their team. The things we track about project milestones and quality checks will be merged with the things they track about budget and schedules, with each person or team having a unique view of the data.
This is cultural change at its most heart-warming. One person’s vision and commitment plants a seed that grows into something amazing.
Isn’t that just the best?
