knowledge

Who needs perfection? (a Rostrum speech)

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As we trudge with feet of clay through the swamps of our sorrows, failure strikes us down.  We are always found wanting.  We are not up to the task.  We challenge ourselves with the question, “who needs perfection?”.  

Good evening Mr Chairperson, members and guests.  Who needs perfection?  I mean, really needs perfection?

If a student works hard all semester, and achieves a grade of 95% to come top of the class, should they feel a failure because of that elusive 5%?  For that matter, if they attained 100%, would that be ‘perfection’?  The student that achieves 30%, drops out of the course, finds work as a barista and goes on to have a happy and fulfilled life – did they need ‘perfection’?

Tonight I ask you to think again about perfection, and whether you really need it.  Too often we aim for perfection and berate ourselves when we fall short.  Some of us avoid that humiliation by simply giving up.  I don’t want you to give up.  I want you to aim high, certainly, but don’t stop simply because you didn’t achieve perfection.  There are two points I will make tonight.  Firstly, perfection for us mere mortals is by its very nature impossible to achieve.  Secondly, to achieve perfection is not actually a desirable thing.  

Firstly, why is perfection impossible?  Perfection – being correct in every detail – escapes our practical attempts to achieve it.  Firstly – much like beauty – perfection is in the eye of the beholder.  One man’s perception of the perfect meal is only fit for pigs in the view of another.  Notions of perfection are therefore relative – relative to the individual, to their culture, to their notions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.  Thus, perfection defeats any notion of an objective definition.

As well, we humans are not created for perfection, we are created to survive.  Humans learn by making mistakes and surviving.  It simply does not make sense to be a race that seeks to perfect a single thing whilst all else goes to pot.  We do have feet of clay and so every thing we do carries that fatal flaw in its making.

Consider the very highest works of art.  The Mona Lisa – often considered a towering achievement of art – was painted by Leonardo da Vinci over the course of 17 years, and it only came to its current state when he died.  So clearly that painting is not perfection.  

Consider also the dangers and rigours of the space race and its complete intolerance of imperfection.  Billions upon billions have been spent in the space race, and yet, despite monumental effort, despite the world’s brightest minds and most developed systems, tiny flaws come into the machinery that powers the astronauts aloft, and when that occurs, people die in disasters such as the Columbia and Challenger disasters.  

Perfection requires far too much work and is unattainable.  We cannot define perfection objectively, and in any case as flawed and frail humans our creations must also be imperfect.  Perfection is impossible.

Secondly, even if perfection were possible, would it be good for us?  As we know, George Douglas Duke of Argyll said, “Every advance has a new horizon.”  Even the very best, having achieved the highest levels of excellence that humans are capable of eventually see their high water mark eclipsed by competitors or, sometimes, by themselves.  Nadia Comaneci obtained perfect scores in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, only to have those performances surpassed by later athletes.  If perfection were achieved, we would, perversely, stagnate and fail.  As humans, we need to progress and grow, to strive to achieve and to fly above our flawed nature.  The myth of progress, of ‘higher, faster, better’, caresses the ego of each of us to exceed the performance of those that went before.  Were it not possible – were perfection attained – we would not strive with our own personal arrogance to better our betters and succeed.  Perfection would become a straitjacket colouring our world with the blandness of mediocrity, where our will to succeed would be sapped by the knowledge that we can do no better.

Perfection is not desirable.

Now consider the original question.  Who needs perfection?  The simple answer is that no-one needs perfection.  Perfection is not possible due to our flawed and fragile natures, and in any event we cannot agree what perfection is.  Perfection is also not desirable, as knowing that we can do no better than our predecessors removes our desire to strive to succeed.  In fact we need imperfection.  We need to see an opportunity to better the world, to break new grounds of excellence.  We need to set the challenge, to stake our claim in the ground and ask all before us to better that mark of excellence.  In doing so we must recognise that what we have done is not perfect, and that what we have done contains flaws.  Imperfection allows us to advance our small corner of the world, and it allows us to challenge our successors to build upon our work.  There is nothing perfect in this world, but the world can be made better by our own actions.  

Ladies and gentlemen, perfection is neither possible nor desirable.  Who needs perfection?  No-one needs perfection.  There will always be a flaw, some minute imperfection, that will allow us to advance.  In that imperfection there is hope.  As men with feet of clay, should you aim for perfection, you will assuredly fail in that endeavour.  That is no reason to abandon the task, though, as you will leave the world in a better state than before you took up your tools.  

Stand firm, stand proud, and say “no-one needs perfection”. 

Information Management is the new Black

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Dr Kate Andrews is a partner at BDO Kendalls (QLD), and Kate’s area of specialty is intellectual capital and knowledge management.  Kate looks for very practical outcomes from knowledge management to benefit the business, and I can’t recommend Kate highly enough as a KM practitioner.  Kate and I, though, often work with clients together in the area of information management and knowledge management.  There are a great number of aspects to a knowledge management strategy that are very relevant to business, and a great many of these aspects are extremely interesting, engaging, and fire the imagination of clients.

Perhaps unfortunately, information management is not, perhaps, shall we say, the most sexy of aspects of knowledge management to pursue.  Unfortunately for those that are really intrigued by the more exotic aspects of KM, information management is the absolute foundation building block of a successful knowledge management strategy.  It is very difficult to manage your knowledge if you can’t manage your information.  And so Kate and I frequently work together in the area of knowledge management and information management to get good client outcomes.

The most practical application of information management that we have found is the framework adopted by the Government Chief Information Office in New South Wales, although these have now been withdrawn from circulation and are in the process of being revised.  These identify specific activities around audit, copyright, framework, inventory, liability, data quality, and information custodianship.  BDO Kendalls uses this framework to provide an information management strategy based around our usual approach (three month milestones, defined work programs, and capability growth for the business in the area of information management for critical information types). 

One of the major variations we use to the NSW approach is that today we think more seriously around the use of a folksonomy instead of a formal taxonomy.  Although it – to my logical accountant brain – is illogical and irrational and makes no sense whatsoever, we find that this approach gives our clients 80% of the benefits for 20% of the effort (well, approximately – there’s never an argument with the pareto principle is there?). 

Future information management posts will provide an overview of information management and build a library around the topic. 

Travelling to Sydney for clients and other stories

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I have just finished running a workshop as part of developing a knowledge management strategy for a client. I am now sitting in Sydney Airport, where it is all bedlam let loose upon the world with delayed flights due to fairly impressive storms and hail. I am on a 5:00pm flight out of Sydney – hopefully it isn’t delayed – but looking at the departure boards that may be wishful thinking. I guess I will find out one way or another – skies look fairly clear.

This is the view from the food court (I am flying Virgin Blue although every trip I have taken with them has had a delay in the past year and this one looks like being no different – jury’s still out because it requires evidence beyond all reasonable doubt).

And I know – the new active blog hasn’t got material added to it yet. I never said when I was starting, as I recall; will create a post on the plane on the way home.

(Post Update: The plane was half an hour late – due to a storm cell over Sydney this morning that delayed flights all day. All handled very well, and professionally, and QANTAS was probably delayed too. Still, that’s 3 of 3 now).

Getting IT Right!

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This is an article that was written for the February issue of the Queensland Business Review.  It is partly promoting an upcoming ‘Getting IT Right!’ seminar to be held at BDO Kendalls on 21 February 2007.  More information is available on the BDO website www.bdo.com.au.

Introduction

Stories of failing information technology (IT) projects, IT teams that just ‘don’t understand’, lost spreadsheets that contain critical business data, and critical applications that seem to crash for no apparent reason are all too common scenarios. Information technology promises a great deal to all businesses, but often fails to live up to expectations.

These problems cause frustration for all concerned. Unfortunately ‘getting IT right’ cannot be achieved with a simple wave of a magic wand. The current skills shortage shows no signs of abating, and it is important for a business to use its staff effectively. Good business support from information technology is one of the keys to unlocking this effectiveness. Four essential business tactics exist that can assist:

  1. Understand the business strategy
  2. Have the right people
  3. Use standard processes
  4. Use the right technology

These tactics will have a positive impact on the success of your business in the context of the support received from information technology.

Understand the business strategy

An understanding of the business strategy, and the involvement of business in IT decisions, is necessary to avoid an IT team working on the unnecessary projects.

This common problem usually stems from a lack of understanding of the goals and vision of the business when it is tempting to implement technologies that seem to be the correct decisions at the time. Sometimes these decisions are right; frequently, they are not.

A business’s main strategy can be focussed upon product innovation, customer relationships, or operating excellence. Identifying the predominant strategy removes trivial distractions for the IT team. There is little point to significant investment in a customer relationship system where the main focus of the business is upon delivering the best products at the best price. Conversely, for a business focussed upon customer relationships, the priority will be to deliver and operate a customer relationship system.

The business strategy must be clearly communicated to the IT team. A written statement of the business IT strategy is useful (vision, mission, and objectives, together with supporting initiatives and milestones. Even more useful is a cultural emphasis on the importance of the role of IT in achieving the
business vision. Such a cultural emphasis can be achieved through concrete actions (e.g. declining projects that do not support the business strategy) and regular adherence to and acknowledgement of the IT strategic plan.

Aligning information technology to the business strategy will reduce distractions that arise through not having a clear direction of the role and purpose of IT in supporting business goals.

Have the right people

A common problem facing IT teams is that the staffing ratio is all wrong. The wrong staff are doing the wrong jobs for the wrong reasons. For example, a business that employs four network administrators and only one help desk person will likely have a network that works very well at a technical level. Unfortunately, there will be many frustrated end users not receiving the desktop support they require. The result can be business chaos.

IT roles that do not directly support the business strategy should be considered for removal or outsourcing. IT teams regularly have ‘legacy’ roles from the past that are no longer needed or appropriate. A regular review of the roles in the IT area and their alignment to business strategy is a potentially valuable approach.

In addition, end users need the training and skills to use the technology that is provided. Frequently no training is received by IT teams, or end users in the software on their computers, and – especially in the case of upgrades – continue to use the software as it has always been used, without using new features. Adopting a formalised and documented approach to training can be beneficial, but even recognition of the need for training through ad hoc opportunities will bring benefits to the business.

Use standard processes

Often IT teams have only one person who can resolve a problem. Or worse, each team member will resolve the problem in their own way. When the staff member leaves, no-one else can fix the piece of equipment. The end result is chaos and delays for the valuable staff member.

If the same task must be done more than once, the potential for developing a standard process exists. No IT team should be without good help desk software, and ensuring a discipline around managing problems and documenting resolutions will pay dividends. There are free help desk management tools available (e.g. open source solutions) and new social networking tools (e.g. ‘wikis’) for documenting and storing processes and procedures that are inexpensive, simple to use, and easily maintained.

Reviewing the use of help desk management software, and writing procedures for standard tasks (starting with the most common tasks) will repay the business handsomely.

Have the right technology

Technology that is simply wrong for the task at hand, or obsolete, costs businesses a great deal. Excel spreadsheets will frequently be used for tasks that really require a database. Or many technologies will be used where a single technology product would suffice. It is crucial that the right technologies are used for the task at hand. This does not mean that the ‘latest and greatest’ gadgets and gizmos should be adopted, but for a business that is reliant upon IT, it is necessary to have all technology covered by parts replacement warranties.

Technologies that are still supported by the original developers or manufacturers are fundamental to ensuring that the IT team is effective. Limiting the number of technologies to support will also help. Approaches to ensure that the right technologies are used include a statement of the preferred technologies to be used (e.g. identifying a single preferred database technology such as Oracle compared to SQL Server), maintaining warranties on all important business technology equipment, and limiting the use of customised and in-house developed software.

Conclusion

Effective information technology requires that the IT team be provided with the skills and equipment necessary to deliver upon the business strategy. Likewise, the business needs to provide strategic direction and input into decision-making for business information technology.

There are many more tactics that can be adopted by businesses to ensure that IT can deliver upon its promises. This article has highlighted those tactics that are common to most businesses and will have the most positive results. Nevertheless, there are many other tactics that can be adopted that are unique to individual businesses, and must be considered in light of the specific circumstances of the business.

Release of Internet Explorer 7

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Earlier this week saw the release of Internet Explorer 7.  This is the much-awaited browser, with tabbed browsing, improved security, and acknowledgement of RSS feeds.  However there are already reports that IE7 has a security vulnerability, which won’t make Redmond too happy (although they dispute it). 

As it is of course, anything as large and complex as Internet Explorer has become is going to have difficulties of course, and that’s why the first advice for most businesses is to try before you buy, and wait for the first patch release.  The problem with that of course is that IE 7 promises a fair bit to resolve user issues – security, tabbed browsing, and RSS feeds to simply information management – and of course it’s free, so it’s a very tempting upgrade.  Who knows, perhaps it will save western civilisation, as I think the latest claims are amounting to…

By the way, I know that I am starting to sound like an old salt wistfully thinking of the good old days, but remember when a browser was, well, a browser?