| The best thing about this January is that the first resolution doesn't have to be about Y2K. As I write this, nothing major went kablooie, though all the pundits are still warning us about what might happen in the next few weeks. The Millenial-Luddites are really disappointed and some regular folks are too, at least a little. You can tell by the noises being made about how it was overrated and we shouldn't have spent so much money and we still have to make it through February 29th.
The rest of us get to heave a sigh of relief and turn our attention to the things we let slide in the meantime. Like what is going to happen with our careers. The Y2K thing was a giant rock in the road and now we've gotten around it. If you read the trade press, you've probably had enough of prognostications about the Internet world and dot.coms taking off. But they're right.
The "clicks and mortar" companies are poised to dominate. Taking the best of the new, and leveraging the stability of the old systems, they're going to pour resources into e-business. This new channel doesn't replace traditional business models - it complements them. And that has repercussions for everything we do in IT.
Turn, Turn, Turn
I'm not proclaiming the apocalypse here. We don't wake up one day to find everything different than yesterday. But there will be changes in every kind of business and job situation - sooner rather than later.
As some of you loyal readers may know, my day job is in consulting. When I move from engagement to engagement, I get to see a wide variety of companies and a true cross-section of the IT work force. Gotta tell ya, I'm pretty amazed by the range of attitudes I'm seeing about the future. For every savvy change master, I'm seeing two or three clock-watchers who refuse to even consider learning new technologies. They're satisfied to put in their 8 hours, go home and then do it again the next day.
I gave it some thought and came up with a few profiles.
The MIS Menagerie
These characterizations are cartoony, but do you recognize your colleagues? Yourself?
| Turtle: | The turtle is slow moving, deliberate. Puts one foot ahead of the other and follows the pre-set path. When confronted with a problem, pulls his/her head in and becomes more or less of a rock. Waits out the biggest threats and refuses to respond to externalities.
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Deer in the Headlights:
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Stunned by any major change or problem, the deer in the headlights is
paralyzed. Seems frozen by the fear of making a mistake or provoking
someone. Tries to blend in with the surroundings and fade into the
background.
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Jackrabbit:
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The Jackrabbit races along at top speed, seemingly headed in a purposeful direction. When confronted with an unanticipated obstacle, veers off the path and accelerates in a new direction. Any stimulus results in a complete change of direction, again at full velocity.
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Labrador Retriever: |
Bounding up to each person in the room, the Labrador Retriever is thrilled to see everybody. Wags tail furiously and licks whatever is in reach. Treats each any new arrival similarly. Is momentarily loyal to whoever might have a treat.
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Action vs Reaction
Okay, so these are archetypes. You still see people like this at work every day.
The turtles who manage to ignore challenges and cling to the comfort of routine.
The deer in the headlights who freeze up at the prospect of anything new.
The jackrabbits who throw themselves full tilt without thinking into each technology direction that seems to replace an older one.
The Labs who kiss up to anyone that might prove to be useful, but display no real commitment. (Please, no mail about the fidelity and sincerity of the Labrador. I chose a big, high-spirited, recognizable breed for symbolic purposes. I'm a dog person myself.)
Aside from the obvious connection of animal names, this group also has something else in common. Everything described here is a reaction. None of them are purposeful actions demonstrating any ability to plan or effect the future. Each one is a reflexive response to a problem or change in the environment.
What allegedly sets us apart from the so-called lower animal orders is our ability to think, anticipate and plan. If you rely on reactive strategies to protect you from an uncertain future, you're giving up one of your strongest weapons of defense.
Action vs Reaction
This takes us (the long way around) to the real point of this month's column - the need to plan for an uncertain career future. By no means is this restricted to IT, but it does affect us in particular. I don't know of another profession where change roars down the road almost daily and turns practitioners inside out on a regular basis.
I've been preaching this gospel for a while now, but I'm about to get seriously tactical. For the next several months, this column will explore the ideal of a formal Career Project Plan. It will be based on the generic life-cycle model we use to manage IT projects.
Many of you should be familiar with the phased outline of an IT project plan. Don't worry about knowledge of a specific methodology, since most of them have roughly the same internal structure and guidelines. It's important to remember that, just like an IT project, there are certain guidelines to the Career Project Plan. To be effective, it must have:
1. Specific, measurable goals
2. Phased development
3. Appropriate task granularity
4. Planned deliverables & milestones
5. Regular progress reviews
6. Distinct timeframes for achievement
I'll be covering these topics in the context of developing and managing a Career Project Plan over the next few months.
If you want to play along, here is the next month's assignment: Develop a vision statement for your career. A vision statement is the expansive version of what you'd like your career to be, like:
I want to work my way up from solutions architect through department manager, division manager and eventually become CIO of a Fortune 1000 company and get quoted regularly in the Wall Street Journal.
-Or-
I want to found an Enterprise Integration consulting firm that will be one of the top five according to industry pundits and have amassed enough money to retire by the time I'm 35, when I'll become an angel investor and spawn a raft of IPOs to play with.
Either way, you outline a desired future state, with some measurable outcomes and definable intermediate steps along the way. Once you've articulated the vision, you can define the scope of your Career Planning Project. But that's for next month.
More...
You all must have been pretty busy, because I didn't get a lot of good resolutions. Or maybe, you've all stuck to last years' and are satisfied with whatever level of perfection you achieved in the meantime. If you have any pending career questions, please write to me at jamie@jobcircle.com. My resolution is to get my column done on time for my deadline...starting in February.
Enjoy this article? Read more of JobCircle.com's Career Coach articles.
Jamie Fabian spent more than 15 years as a human resources executive before changing careers to become a senior project manager for a growing IT consulting company. Now in management consulting for a large Pharma company, Jamie would like to be seen as a hybrid of Tom Peters, Tom Jackson, and Tom Wolfe, but spends too much time working, driving carpool and watching mindless TV to write more than this column. You can contact Jamie with questions and comments at jamie@jobcircle.com.
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