Recycled Bullsh-IT

Recently, when I have been presenting on one of my pet topics (change, agile, data, surviving lockdown), I have noticed differing reactions with a generational tinge to them. Usually my talk (or, as a few unkind souls remark, my sermon) elicits a lot of head nodding, not all of which were from boredom. Many of the more ‘experienced’ (i.e., Boomer/Gen X) attendees recognised my descriptions of classic mistakes in change/agile/data programmes and how to avoid them. I was also conscious that a few of the next generation of transformation consultants (mostly Generation Y – as in, why do I have to listen to this drivel?) found some of my hoary old chestnuts to be of genuine originality.

However, in discussion with some of them later, I was a bit dismayed to discover many of them believed that with their shiny new tech (AI, RPA, DevOps) and their massive intellects, they felt insulated from the mistakes of their ancestors and would surely succeed in delivering real transformation. BTW, is it just me or has Change itself gone out of fashion as a term and been replaced by (business/digital/strategic) Transformation, to signify that the new way is better? When it isn’t.

Now, I may have moved from young fogey to old fogey status with my receding hairline, but I have grave doubts that this year’s models will fare any better without heeding some of the mutterings of their elders. They say that you learn from your mistakes, but I have found it far less painful by learning from Other People’s Mistakes (or OPM, which I offer as this article’s TLA).

So, here’s my old trick for you new dogs out there: The secret to doing IT change digital transformation successfully comes down to making sure you focus most of your effort on the People, some of it on the Process and very little, if any, on the Technology. I can see you old dogs nodding sagely, and the young pups shaking their heads. But remember that us oldies successfully managed to help large organisations to prosper and be nimble, without your new-fangled tools or methodologies. 

If you want to get to our age, you’ll need to learn this trick too. Or at least your own trick variation with which to bait the Gen Zs who will superciliously succeed you and scoff at your old-fashioned & quaint ideas.

John “Mongrel” Moe