It Always Comes Down to Leadership
I think Todd Biske was bold in writing a book around SOA Governance that focused mostly on the people side of things. From memory, two key points Todd made were:
- Educate people on the governance policies, and
- Manage services like a product, rather than a project.
I’ve thought quite a bit about the book, which I liked a lot (and reference quite regularly), and the things I learned came out in yet another form at today’s Cloud Computing Expo. I was talking about a best practice for successfully implementing cloud computing in the enterprise. In particular, how to build momentum and drive a culture of collaboration… and I said:
Tell them what you want them to do, and they’ll resist. Tell them why you want them to do it, and they’ll amaze you with the ways they get it done.
It’s interesting… the way we communicate in the enterprise. It often doesn’t reflect our goals or the trust we put in the people around us.
Developers are often known for their “not invented here” attitude… and in my experience they (and really any normal person) resist change in how they get their job done. What worked in the past really has the upper hand when deciding what to do in the future.
When trying to build momentum for a new technology, walking around telling people what to do is way more likely to upset them (and meet resistance) than explaining (and showing) why you would like them to do something different.
By telling people what to do, you at some level are telling them that what they’ve done has not been successful. That’s probably not what you mean. However, tell them why you want something, and ask for their help, and the underlying message is “you’ve done well in the past, so here’s something new.” Even when you put rules in place (governance rules, if you will), you can still educate as to the “why” and get more acceptance than you would otherwise. And, if you have the opportunity to get input, and adjust your rules with feedback, even better. Much better.
This approach is a subtle, but effective difference.
Trust is the limiting factor for effective collaboration. A lack of trust will influence the way we ask for things. And a lack of trust is an indication of a dysfunctional organization. Managers and business leaders should constantly make observations to identify trust problems, and take it upon themselves to correct those issues before they significantly affect the organization.
Regards,
Sal.
—
Salvatore Saieva