July 2007 Archives

The last three days I've listened to a number of institutions talk about the difficulty of creating IT policies and of having those policies adopted and followed. There seem to be three main problems that cause this:
- difficulty in thinking broadly.
- difficulty in thinking long term.
- the ambiguity of many words and phrases.

The schools with the most success have developed a collaborative approach to discussing and resolving questions, and from that approach a sense of trust has developed among the people who must approve and follow policy. This often requires more time than some desire for any one policy but over time provides for a better and more efficient policy process.

The basis of this approach is a willingness to share, to communicate openly, honestly and responsibily with each other. That same sense of sharing can be applied to our daily work environemnt. ITS is working on methods to make it easier for each of us in the organization to share and to discover what others have written. Kevin has encouraged each of us to do so.

Try it - talk about what works, what doesn't, what can make us a better organization, and be willing to read and respond to others. All of us have a voice, and all of us should use that voice appropriately without any fear of embarrassment or reproachment.