[LINK] The IT Professional

[Stephen Loosley]

The Age February 12, 2016
By James Adonis


There couldn't possibly be an IT department more loathed at the moment than the one at TAFE NSW. 

It was revealed
 last week that, since 2013, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on a new computer 
system that turned out to be more fanciful than fancy. Thousands of 
students are unable to be enrolled. Contractors couldn't be paid. 
Employees abandoned their jobs to avoid all the drama.

The
 culprit in these cases, maybe unfairly, is usually seen as the IT 
department. Its members are often accused of being impatient and 
unresponsive, jargon-rich and charm-poor, with archaic infrastructure 
they claim is working just fine but which everyone else knows is 
actually a big piece of you-know-what.  




But you know who I feel sorry for the most? The IT department.  


It's a tough gig. No wonder a British poll
 last year found 88 per cent of people working in IT are highly 
stressed. Similar numbers would presumably be repeated here. IT workers 
are more often than not, it seems, overworked and exhausted, with 
consequences spilling over into their personal life.


And yet, 
despite all of that, criticisms remain. Here's something that might go a
 little way towards explaining those criticisms.


Last year, scholars from the University of Tennessee published the findings
 arising from their major study. They wanted to find out whether there 
was a difference between the traits of IT professionals and the rest of 
us. So they analysed the personality data of 12,000 IT folk and more 
than 73,000 people who worked in other industries. 



What they discovered 
was that those in IT have "significantly lower levels of customer 
service orientation than employees in other occupations".


But by 
far the most defining characteristic was this: tough-mindedness. The 
researchers say that's because the nature of the work requires IT 
professionals to be detached and analytical. They're also more likely to
 be introverted and pessimistic. The former isn't a big deal since their
 job is mostly performed in isolation. The latter, however, is a 
mystery. The professors suggest it may be because they need to adopt 
critical thinking, which drags them away from optimism.


Of course,
 it could also be that they're just feeling our pain, acutely aware that
 whatever tech issues we're facing aren't going away any time soon.


Ref:http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/managing/work-in-progress/deconstructing-the-it-professional-20160210-gmqzjo.html


Reader Comments:


                One of the common gripes is (or 
perhaps, to be fair, seems to be) that when confronted with a computer 
screen, many otherwise sane and intelligent people forget how to think, 
refuse to read, and don't listen.
IMO, IT folk are often 
significantly less social, and I am a classic example of this. I believe
 that the desire to help is there; it's contempt for seemingly 
deliberate obtuseness that is not hidden or squirreled away. It's also 
not just IT folk talking to non-IT folk either - it happens within IT 
just as often.
When IT asks you what the error said, it's because 
it helps us. When we ask what you were doing, it's so we understand, not
 criticise. When you tell us you don't know and it's not your job to 
know; it's like going to the doctor and saying you're sick - when she 
asks what's wrong, you say, "I don't know but you're a doctor! Why 
haven't you fixed me already?"
Would you expect miracles from her too?
When
 faced with people who seem to have been conditioned to "just click 
something to make it go away", who didn't (perhaps won't?) read the 
message or even listen to what we ask - but who demand an instant fix 
regardless, there's a gradual buildup of frustration and disdain.
Couple this with:
*
 Ever reducing budgets (no you can't buy new computers, we bought some 
seven years ago and computers last as long as trucks right)
* Demands from staff and the business to deliver more for less;
* Outsourcing to "save money" regardless of the non-financial impacts;
* An expectation that business IT is just like your PC or iPad, so why can't you just do what I demand;
Well, IT is caught in the middle.

                        
                


                A bit generalised and playing to 
stereotypes I think.  It depends on what aspect of IT you work in , if 
your role is customer facing , if your company actually values and 
encourages high levels of customer service and if you company has any 
clue about how to use IT or just sees it as a commodity.    Some places 
are exactly as you describe but many are not.
I felt for the 
people working through the recent Windows XP issues at Royal Melbourne 
Hospital.   I wonder how many times management where told to invest 
before it finally blew up?


                I have worked in IT (tech support 
and other roles) for 30+ years. I enjoyed it to start with when I would 
go into work on a Saturday voluntarily because I could get time on the 
machine to make amendments. I became an IT architect to get away from 
the daily stresses of 2am phone calls, but the stress and pressure is 
still there. I hate it with a passion, but I can't walk away because I 
can't do anything else.


                Firstly, let me say I'm a CIO with more than 50 staff and the article resonates with me.
I have many staff with exceptionally high IQ’s, however just because you are intelligent doesn't necessarily mean you are smart.
Now
 that I've finished reassuring all the narcissists on how inept IT 
people are, you need to remember that just because you have an iphone 
does not make you an expert on delivering IT services in a large 
organisation. Sure, you can google an answer to a technical issue, but 
relying on that answer alone, without the context of your company's IT, 
only shows how arrogant and stupid you are. IT bashing is the favourite 
sport in my company, despite our many successes, minimal downtime, and 
the fact we are rated best in our competitive group. The lack of social 
awareness inherent in IT people is a blessing in this regard – many 
can’t fathom the contempt towards them. This is my lot in life though.
Next
 time you are complaining about IT, think about the fact you work in a 
company with budgets, other employees, complex systems, and your IT crew
 have to deliver them all - to everyone. If you think you are special go
 and see the CEO to organise your own personal systems and support. Also
 think about the fact some people in your company, right up to the CEO, 
often have no idea what IT does, so they treat it purely an extension of
 you’re an iphone, as a cost that can be slashed at will. Organisational
 IT is far from that simple and very few people understand this.
Spend
 your IT money wisely, not only with systems innovation, but also 
developing the skills and personalities of IT staff, and you invest in 
your organisations future.

                        



I have 30 years of experience in 
IT management and I concur absolutely. The level of understanding of IT 
management  by Australian executives and managers is usually woeful. And
 true experience and knowledge of IT professionals is routinely ignored.
 Execs tend to defer to the vendor who is out to screw them because they
 are being wined and dined and told exactly what they want to hear. The 
independent advice of their own staff as to what will actually work 
doesn't stand a chance against the marketing budget of the vendor. Having
 researched project failures in Government, you have to remember that 
there is little to no capacity to manage the vendors who are actually 
doing the work. But the IT staff are the ones left holding the can when it all goes pear shaped.