rob's blog

resistance is survival

"I know how to survive today. If you change something, I might not know how to survive tomorrow. So I resist. If change is forced upon me, I will adapt, lessening the pain (by not complying) where possible."
http://makingitilwork.blogspot.com/2010/05/itil-implementation-and-big-p...

A first model of he tangata

Drawing energy from the encouragement of Michael and Hank and others, and distilling from the many ideas, I'm starting to form a model of how He Tangata all hangs together - for cultural change. I then want to grow it into a framework of core practices, then a methodology. I need contributors of ideas, reviewers, and stress testers. Come along with me here. So this is the first cut of a model:

people-oriented green shoots

Everywhere are signs of growing awareness of the importance of people in IT. Just like the economic green shoots, in 2009 we see people-oriented green shoots too.

I'm adding links as I find them to articles with a people orientation. The common thread, the thing to pick up from them, is that they all talk as if this was a revelation or at least something novel, a new angle on IT. "Oh wow! People matter too!"

The time is ripe for He Tangata

A message to those who resist change

I wrote this on my IT Skeptic blog in response to someone ranting about ITIL

ITIL is a bureaucratic regime enforced on skilled IT people by non-IT management to shift the perceived sway of power and force IT to 'support' the business. It is not a set of rules, merely a framework of guidelines, aka a pile of shyte. And look who came up with it! Lordy lordy.

I said

Second workshop

Everyone enjoyed the first workshop and many said they'd like to discuss the issues again. The immediate objective of the first workshop was to helop me prepare a presentation on He Tangata for the itSMFnz 2009 National Conference. So I called us together again and presented it to the group. Not so many came this time, but I got great feedback and we enjoyed sharing ideas again. Thankyou Tracy and Harvey and Steve

here is the presentation:

First workshop

I understand culture change and I have read a lot, but it is not a familar stamping ground. Until I grok it, the writing does not flow. What does one do? I called on trusted local friends and colleagues to help; organised a workshop, a brainstorm.

The start of the journey

At the beginning, I sat in a powhiri, a Maori ceremony of welcome, for an ISO conference on IT Governance which just happened to be in Wellington, New Zealand, because my friend Alison Holt is the chair of that particular standards committee.

One of the conference attendees, Mike Taitoko, got up and introduced his tangata whenua - his tribe, his place, his people, which helps define who he is - in Maori, and gave us a Maori proverb.

He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata