First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I have passed my 60 birthday, though am not quite old enough to apply for social security benefits.
I saw a piece on the Today Show this morning in which one of those being interviewed made a statement to the effect that agism or age-based discrimination, is to be found at both ends of spectrum. That rang true for me. I guess the only question to be answered would be the placing of some scale on the spectrum so the appropriate remediation planning could be done.
We seen many articles and interviews regarding the characteristics of various generations from Gen Y to Baby Boomers (pretty much the endpoints of the employment spectrum). I always have to remind myself that these "portraits" are generalizations only. It's easy to latch on to a singe trait within a generational portrait and, having seen that trait exhibited by at least one member of that generation, apply it to all within the age group. Then it's only another small step to say, well, if that one is true, they're all probably true.
It's also good to remember that tendencies are statistics. An average (or a tendency) requires that some be above and some below. It isn't necessary for any individual to be average for there to be an average for a population.
This is all on my mind because I have been following some discussion forums recently and have begun to form some opinions about abilities of generational groups based on the content of the posts. I'm struggling against this because, when I stop to reflect, I know I'm making a statistical mistake.
Here's the thing: If it's happening to me, it's happening to anyone (everyone). It's very dangerous to attribute knowledge or maturity-related issues to age. Every young person is not immature or ignorant and every older person is not mature or wise. So this is a reminder that each person must be appreciated for who they are and the unique contributions they are able to make.
There's a corollary: You can't really know a person until you've met that person face to face and have shared some of his/her life. Do you know me because you're reading this or because we've exchanged emails or tweets? There are hard limits to what can be accomplished remotely, without personal contact. Some younger people know this and many older people do.
If you happen to run a company, you have a bigger labor pool than you need right now. This won't be the case for long, especially if you're in a scientific, engineering or high-tech market. People pushed to the side now and left to rust away may not be able to step back in after several years (or even several months) have passed. When you push people out of one end of the pipe without making sure there are people entering at the other end, eventually you will find that your pipe is empty. How will you adapt your business then? The knowledge, creativity and energy that created your business will be needed to transform it. It won't be about age. It will be about maturity, wisdom, creativity and energy.
Showing posts with label productivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label productivity. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Advice Re; Healthcare IT
If you are a healthcare CIO or the top IT director/manager and happen to be reading this, or if someone has forwarded this post, and if you feel under some pressure more accomplished (or even to get something accomplished), I have some gentle advice. You're going to get phone calls from angry physicians no matter what you do, so you may as well do the right thing.
It is a fact that, in the history of computing (I.T.), no application or system has ever been delivered to universal acclaim (despite what the marketing people tell you). Medicine has more than its share of curmudgeons and you're going to have to let them become part of the background noise. If you're afraid of losing your job because of the indignation of a few people then you're probably on the wrong career path.
I hope you knew that already, but it can be reassuring to hear it from an "outsider".
Now, if you're still reading, you may be wondering about what the right thing is that you should do. The first thing is to get your priorities squared away. Then you you will have to work very hard to get your priorities into the cognitive space of the rest of your organization's upper management. What are your priorities? What are your 1, 3, 5 year or long term objectives? Are they written down and visible to others? If your answer is no, then your job just became much more difficult. By the way, if you are a CEO, and the only I.T. objectives you know about are the ones you handed out, you may want to re-think your approach to I.T.
What does an objective/priority look like for I.T.?
The big rocks (the ones you put into the container first) are capabilities and alignment. In my career, the most pervasive problem I have seen is that healthcare CIOs invariably focus their attentions outward from their I.T. organization. In nearly 15 years, I have yet to see a single initiative directed at developing or improving capabilities come from the top of the I.T. organization. When such things have happened, they seem always to arise from the introduction of a new application or a new technology. Just once, maybe we could spend some time to actually imagine the kind of I.T. organization we think will be needed five or more years from now. Capabilities, in the healthcare I.T. world come about by accident. The current best case is when there are a few people within the organization doing this kind of thinking on their own.
Of course, when there are uncoordinated pockets of effort, you don't get the other big rock, alignment. By the way, if one of your objectives is something like "reduce or contain costs", you may want to rethink. Cost management is like breathing if you're a manager. To call it a priority or a goal is to divert attention away from the big rocks. Similarly, any objective that includes the word "continue" is a waste of paper. Holding the gains must also be at the level of breathing for managers. You will want to keep measuring to make sure there is no backsliding and take action if there is, but holding onto gains has to be part of the original planning process and should be automatic.
Alignment begins with a picture of your organization now and five years from now. Every manager and supervisor/lead within I.T. must share that picture and understand their own specific role(s) in it. This is something best accomplished as a team. You can't mandate alignment. You will want to decide how you will recognize and/or measure the alignment within I.T. How will you know when you have it? Everyone should understand and be on board. This is the first step.
It is up to the CIO to bridge between the business strategy and the I.T. strategy to make certain that as alignment develops within I.T. it is congruent with (aligned with) the business' strategic plan.
You are fortunate in that your direct reports want all of this as much or more than you do. All they need in the way of motivation is the belief that you are committed to seeing it through. If you don't feel confident that you can produce the I.T. vision, don't attempt it on your own. This is the place for leadership that is confident and sure-footed. Start with a clear and concise vision--it has to be your vision or you won't be able to commit to it, but you can get help to create it.
Healthcare I.T. cannot get where the nation wants it to go as long as are dissociative in our thinking. Things aren't the way we want them to be simply because we say so in a presentation to the CEO or the Board. You know that buying and installing a new system is only the first step of implementation. What we're talking about here is very similar. Forming a committee or naming a Director is only the first small step. If you want to know if you have actually achieved your goals of capability and alignment, I would recommend strongly that you bring in an outside person or group to conduct an audit.
Good luck! You are the leading edge.
It is a fact that, in the history of computing (I.T.), no application or system has ever been delivered to universal acclaim (despite what the marketing people tell you). Medicine has more than its share of curmudgeons and you're going to have to let them become part of the background noise. If you're afraid of losing your job because of the indignation of a few people then you're probably on the wrong career path.
I hope you knew that already, but it can be reassuring to hear it from an "outsider".
Now, if you're still reading, you may be wondering about what the right thing is that you should do. The first thing is to get your priorities squared away. Then you you will have to work very hard to get your priorities into the cognitive space of the rest of your organization's upper management. What are your priorities? What are your 1, 3, 5 year or long term objectives? Are they written down and visible to others? If your answer is no, then your job just became much more difficult. By the way, if you are a CEO, and the only I.T. objectives you know about are the ones you handed out, you may want to re-think your approach to I.T.
What does an objective/priority look like for I.T.?
The big rocks (the ones you put into the container first) are capabilities and alignment. In my career, the most pervasive problem I have seen is that healthcare CIOs invariably focus their attentions outward from their I.T. organization. In nearly 15 years, I have yet to see a single initiative directed at developing or improving capabilities come from the top of the I.T. organization. When such things have happened, they seem always to arise from the introduction of a new application or a new technology. Just once, maybe we could spend some time to actually imagine the kind of I.T. organization we think will be needed five or more years from now. Capabilities, in the healthcare I.T. world come about by accident. The current best case is when there are a few people within the organization doing this kind of thinking on their own.
Of course, when there are uncoordinated pockets of effort, you don't get the other big rock, alignment. By the way, if one of your objectives is something like "reduce or contain costs", you may want to rethink. Cost management is like breathing if you're a manager. To call it a priority or a goal is to divert attention away from the big rocks. Similarly, any objective that includes the word "continue" is a waste of paper. Holding the gains must also be at the level of breathing for managers. You will want to keep measuring to make sure there is no backsliding and take action if there is, but holding onto gains has to be part of the original planning process and should be automatic.
Alignment begins with a picture of your organization now and five years from now. Every manager and supervisor/lead within I.T. must share that picture and understand their own specific role(s) in it. This is something best accomplished as a team. You can't mandate alignment. You will want to decide how you will recognize and/or measure the alignment within I.T. How will you know when you have it? Everyone should understand and be on board. This is the first step.
It is up to the CIO to bridge between the business strategy and the I.T. strategy to make certain that as alignment develops within I.T. it is congruent with (aligned with) the business' strategic plan.
You are fortunate in that your direct reports want all of this as much or more than you do. All they need in the way of motivation is the belief that you are committed to seeing it through. If you don't feel confident that you can produce the I.T. vision, don't attempt it on your own. This is the place for leadership that is confident and sure-footed. Start with a clear and concise vision--it has to be your vision or you won't be able to commit to it, but you can get help to create it.
Healthcare I.T. cannot get where the nation wants it to go as long as are dissociative in our thinking. Things aren't the way we want them to be simply because we say so in a presentation to the CEO or the Board. You know that buying and installing a new system is only the first step of implementation. What we're talking about here is very similar. Forming a committee or naming a Director is only the first small step. If you want to know if you have actually achieved your goals of capability and alignment, I would recommend strongly that you bring in an outside person or group to conduct an audit.
Good luck! You are the leading edge.
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