From: Mike Barker <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
To: dcns@MIT.EDU
Subject: A different way of working
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 14:58:03 EDT

[This is a paper summarizing what I think the ITLT can be.  I hope it
may help focus discussion as we build the new IT framework.]

A different way of working

Part of the heritage of the assembly-line and top-down approaches to
work is the concept that management knows what needs to be done and
should provide assignments and guidance to workers, who just carry out
the directions of management.

The worker as a gear in the machine, or even as a finger of the body, is
a simple notion.  It is unfortunately wrong.

The truth is that while people in management should have the time and
abilities to carry out strategic planning--setting out goals and broad
directions--they often do not know exactly what needs to be done to
reach those goals.  Even when managers have "come up through the ranks,"
they may not know the entire range of methods and people involved, and
treating software programmers like cooks (or vice versa) is a fast road
to trouble. In addition, as technology and other changes increase in
speed, the methods that people in management may know often have become
outdated.

When we add in the fact that there simply is not enough time for people
in management to learn what needs to be done, figure out the correct way
of doing it most efficiently, and teach the workers how to do their
narrowly defined little parts of the assembly process--we are faced with
a real problem.

Can the new ITLT (Information Technologies Leadership Team) provide an
approach to handling this problem?

I think it can.

Suppose that when an individual at MIT saw or learned of a problem,
opportunity, etc. involving I/T, they were encouraged to provide that
information to I/T.  This could involve bug reporting, the suggestion
discussion meeting, and other ways existing or yet to be started.

Then one or more people in I/T might grab that opportunity--due to
interest, as the "seed" of a new project team, or as part of an on-going
process--and start a team to deal with it.

If only one person is involved and the problem is small and unlikely to
occur again, that person may deal with it without involving anyone else.

Very few problems are like that.  So in most cases, there will be
several people involved and there may be several steps in dealing with
the situation.

This is where the ITLT comes in.  The individual(s) working in a team
can go to the ITLT and request help--in terms of people, methods, or
other resources.  

The ITLT, with competency group leaders, process leaders, and practice
leaders, acts as a reservoir for resources which the other teams can
draw on.  Notice that while individuals in the ITLT have assigned
roles, it is crucial that requests for help be brought to the entire
ITLT.  For example, while a project team might prefer that a request
for people simply go to the competency group leader, it needs to be
considered by the ITLT to make sure that a different approach (process
leaders) or simply changing the requirements (xxx) aren't better
strategic responses.

The main point I am trying to make is that instead of considering the
ITLT as the top of a hierarchical structure which will pass out
assignments when it decides what has to be done, we can consider it as
the focus for providing help to various IT teams.  Specifically, it can
be the repository for resources developed by the IT teams, whether those
resources are people, money, or ways of doing things.

It may sound odd to consider a "way of doing something" as a resource,
but methodologies are clearly a useful way of capturing information. 
Then when we want to do something, we know what steps to take and can
proceed fairly quickly with the bulk of the process instead of spending
a lot of time inventing a new way to work together.

Given this, what might we consider the worker and the ITLT?

Perhaps the best way to put it is that we are trying to reach the state
of having self-actualizing individuals and a reservoir of resources
which can be applied efficiently to meet changing opportunities.

Great Systems Fast--by providing individuals with ways to get the
resources they need to get jobs done.