I got invited in on this month’s itSMF’s monthly podcast and it was great. Unfortunately though, I made some dumb jokes which I’m currently neurotically thinking about – so… since I can’t sleep at 3:30 AM, my mind was racing and I came up with some great thoughts.
What’s up with protests in the middle east these days? First Tunisia, then Egypt and now Libya. Don’t forget Iran from a while ago. There are tons of protests and rioting going on and since I love to think in terms of ITIL, I think I can explain it.
The people just want “Good Practice.” Let’s face it; democracy is a good practice in government. No matter how you slice it, the longest stable governments with (relatively) happy populations have been democracies (China may be an exception, but with the high suicide rates at Foxconn, can they really be happy?).
Now take a moment and answer this next almost completely random question. How many times have you had a water cooler conversation about how your department “should” be doing a “good practice?” At my current place, I can think of at least a handful of very talented and caring individuals that I’ve shared water cooler space with, discussing how we can “do better.” Like myself, they want to see positive changes and to achieve productive results with as little headache as possible. So to go on a limb I’m going to assume that individually, everyone wants “Good Practice.”
I hope you see where I’m going with this, and if you’re starting to think “ok Michael, so you may be right. Should we all protest?” My answer is, yes; but not by forming a mob outside of the CIO’s office, demanding change and waiting for the military to start hosing you down with tear gas (ironically, that’s similar to an OSU football victory over Michigan). Besides, protesting is just a form of communication through actions. So I propose that if your IT group doesn’t like being without some “Good Practice,” start taking some action. Form a committee, start a chain email, start talking about ITIL, get involved with your local itSMF chapter, blast the itSMF USA podcast at work, print off mass copies of this ITIL and Me blog post – whatever it takes to get the “higher-ups” to notice that you, and hopefully most of your IT group, wants to be the best damn IT department out there, period.
Now, here’s my last parting words that throws a little bit of irony into this post. The best way to change the culture is from the “top,” yet this post is about initiating that change from the “bottom.” So which is the best? I’ll tell you…I don’t really know. Change is definitely easier when starting from the higher levels in a business, but I’m advocating protests from the regular “citizens.” So here’s an idea; let the executive decision makers know that others out there want to follow “Good Practice,” and maybe they can start changing from the top while others push for change from the bottom – much like “divide and conquer.”
Now go start mob rushing your CIO’s office before they read this post and disable Twitter at your workplace.
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