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"There once was an engineer who retired to a small village in the Adirondacks. He loved the community - the shops, the people, the small lake, the restaurants, the whole lifestyle. He particularly loved the farmers market. He had a favored farmer who he got to know well. The farmer looked tired and upon inquiry told the engineer about how his farm is on the other side of the lake and the rowing back in forth is exhausting.
The engineer knew hot to solve the problem. He had an extra motor laying around (as engineers do) and the next time he went into town gave it to the farmer. "This will help you with your rowing problem".
A few weeks later he ran into the farmer again. The farmer looked completely exhausted.
The engineer asked, " You seem tired, aren't you using the motor?
The farmer replied, "Yes I am using it, but its really hard to row with".
This email was sent to a project team after a very long, depressing meeting. "To limit risk", the team reasoned that we should try to do things in a fashion of familiarity. My desire was to use the emerging technology as intended. The email did not make me popular, but the team did decide to modernize leveraging the technologies full capabilities.
The story exposes many issues to successful IT - the user doesn't understand how to use the "solution", the engineer who thinks he has all the answers, the lack of communication, and the throwing technology "over the wall". The story became a constant reminder of what to avoid and prompted strong organizational alignment.
The project was overwhelmingly successful because it led to a new way of looking at technology for business success -
The Right Strategy
The Right Strategy philosophy is a response to many years of doing "good enough" IT. A time when what the user really needed couldn't be technologically delivered. In an environment of limitations, the best outcome is "good enough". We have entered the IT era of the possible, and our thinking must fittingly change.
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