[ale] smart IT manager

[Irv Mullins]

On Tuesday 19 February 2002 02:00 pm, Stephen Turner wrote:

> well i was under the impression our IT manager was a wise person whome kept
> his mind open about things however with his response to a possible "better
> option" i had for him he turned me down. his comment was "yes well we dont
> have time at the moment" it seems they all respond to me with the answers
> of "we dont have time" or "we dont have time for school/to learn that" or
> even perhaps they believe i could not possibly have a better answer since i
> have not completed school? due to my lack of MCSE?  it burns me up that
> they dont even have time to take a cd and test it! i offerd a cd with the
> software on it ready to role and they dont have time! oh well, i suppose
> they wont last long then and then ill be given my chance to excel. what
> would the linux gurus in the corperate world do? perhaps you would not have
> time to test something at work but if someone from say lanier tech not
> completed school came to you whith a proposed idea would you consider them?
> im sorry for this emails similarity to others i have writt

Stephen:

I think you will find that technical competence is only a secondary 
consideration when it comes to hiring an IT manager. 

Far more important, from the viewpoint of the CEO, are his/her communication 
skills and ability to manage people, projects, and priorities. Not the least 
of which is the ability to say "no". You've just seen an example of that; "we 
don't have time at the moment". He wasn't dismissing your idea out of hand, 
just saying it wasn't a priority.

I suggest that if you were able to clearly and concisely state (both verbally 
and in writing) how migrating to Linux would save your company money, you 
would stand a better chance of being taken seriously. If you normally 
communicate in the style of your quote above, then you have a lot of work to 
do.  When I read that, it brings to mind those country preachers who believe 
so strongly in what they're saying that they shout their entire sermon 
without ever pausing to take a breath. 

If you reallly want to make a difference, here are my suggestions:

1. Work on your communications skills, via night school, correspondence 
   courses, or whatever suits you. 

2. Avoid negative remarks about the capabilities of your manager. After all, 
   how would you expect the CEO to react if you told him he "must have been   
   really stupid to hire that luzer"?  Your goal is to gain points with the   
   people in charge, not lose points, if you want to eventually get into a 
   position where YOU can make decisions like "we're using Linux from now on".

3. Facts count more than fanaticism. Get yourself a notebook. Make comparison 
  studies of various problem areas along with examples of how time or money 
  could have been saved if Linux were used. Keep this handy, but 
  don't make it your holy book. By that I mean, don't go around preaching     
  from it. Wait for an opportune time when the information will be            
  appreciated, then let the facts speak for themselves.  If you really want 
  to get ahead, try to make this happen at a time when the CEO will see 
  and take note of your initiative.

Regards,
Irv 






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