Managers idiots; BOFHs brilliant

That's the surprise findings of a new survey

20 November 2003

British managers are idiots who wouldn't recognise a technological advantage if it ran up and bit them on the buttocks. And sysadmins are brilliant but foolishly sidelined by the idiots above them.

That is essentially the conclusion of a new study by iSociety , although for some inexplicable reason it chose to go with the term “low tech equilibrium”. According to iSociety we are becoming increasingly frustrated by the very things that we thought would make our lives easier.

Why? Well, it's not the technology of course. Not in a report that is sponsored by Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers. No, it's the “unskilled users, uninformed managers and disconnected IT people”. These dummies are screwing it up for everyone else and as a result we are wasting a good proportion of the £50 billion UK business spends of computers and technology every year.

But more about those managers. “Much of UK management make up a 'lost generation' that does not understand ICT,” we are told, “because it did not grow up immersed in technology. It often feels threatened by ICT and lacks the interest or knowledge to use it well.”

There's more: “In effect, low-tech managers are forcing the UK economy into a low tech equilibrium, where ICT cannot matter, even though iSociety found plenty of evidence that it does.”

Incidentally, the survey was made up of eight studies over 12 months in a range of companies from “local High Street firms” to “global megacorps”, what ever they are.

The message that we are being driven crazy by technology is nothing new. But this survey comes with the immediate and over-riding assumption that the technology itself is never at fault and so hunts around for all the reasons it doesn't do what it is supposed to.

Along the way the researchers stumbled across some evidence in the form of a bright orange box labelled “Bleedin' Obvious”. We are told: Individuals often lack the skills to make the best use of technology, relying on informal learning from other employees. Yep. IT staff “quite literally speak another language”. IT departments are “often disconnected from the organisations they serve, structurally, culturally and even spatially”. An amazing revelation.

And, the technology industry “has sometimes been its own worst enemy, fostering unrealistic expectations through over-hyping and overselling offerings”. Don't know how that got past the Microsoft censors - presumably because Microsoft didn't think that it applied to them.

The software giant seems to have got its message in there though. ICT projects, we are told, “drastically improving the users' experiences, delivering up to 5-7 times normal returns on investment.” Where the hell did they get five to seven times from?

This sentence sounds strangely MS: “The key is to invest in people and processes

at the same time.” You must forgive us as well if we take a sceptical look at the “very human reactions and results” that the survey threw up.

“Technology is used to express and build status and hierarchy. Managers can set the terms of communication to staff, often insisting documents are printed out and taken to them. CEOs, middle managers and shopfloor staff use different styles of email.”

“Knowledge management is failing. Large, expensive KM systems are less useful than managers have hoped. In some cases, staff have more or less abandoned them, relying on personal filing systems instead.”

“We're spamming each other. A good deal of e-mail frustration stems from unwanted communication from colleagues. It's not the technology itself but the way we use it that's making us feel more pressured.”

“The virtues of email, for example, can quickly become the vices. E-mail allows you to store conversations, but backlogs can quickly build up. Some subjects had thousands of mails in their inboxes.”

Now all of this is true of course. But there is a suspicious bent on it and rather a lot of concentration on e-mail. You'd be forgiven for thinking all you need is a new integrated service that helps people deal with e-mail more effectively and suddenly your business will enter the FTSE100. Hmmm, wasn't there someone talking about this very problem only a week ago? What was his name again? Bill Gates or something.

Enough of that though. What are the solutions to this terrible situation?

“Many organisations still complain that IT vendors promise benefits or outcomes which are never achieved. This must end,” roars iSociety. Plus: “Suppliers and buyers should encourage each other to think organisationally and culturally not just technologically when talking about ICT” as well as “offer better after-sales support and training, particularly to smaller companies”.

You still reading? Or have you felt an over-riding desire to teach your grandmother about egg-sucking? No matter, the survey lets you in on the real secret to making technology work better. It's to become more American.

How else could you explain the following sentence being written by a UK research company following a survey of UK firms. According to the study, we need to: “Put out the ‘welcome back' banners for IT support staff and managers. Don't hide them away, put them at the centre not the periphery of the business.”

And maybe the odd whoop and holler would help as well.

Contact | Journalism | CV | Pub Tour | General | Projects | Internet