A trip down memory lane - James Martin, The Great Transition
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My observation about ADHD in the workplace last night got me thinking. People have been predicting the NewWorld we now live in for many years, so why is it such a surprise the majority of technology projects fail to meet expectations? And why, if we know most of the causes of ‘why’ projects fail are we where we are today, and seemingly incapable of turning ourselves around?
I then remembered a book I bought many years ago. It's that old it has that ‘old book’ whiff about it. The Great Transition by James Martin. It’s no longer in print, but you can get second hand copies on Amazon from £1.97 !!! It’s a ‘big’ book in more ways than one – I don’t have time to read it again now, but most of it looks like its as relevant today in the techies 2.0 world and the Business’s NewWorld. I have a few Eddie Obeng books in that category… I can’t help thinking it’s a shame that most of our Execs seem to have missed out on the learning offered by these authors.
A quick flip through the headings hits me – It’s all still very relevant. Me being me, I test this assumption out by flipping through the pages, and stopping – Page 97. A quick scan of the text highlights something that those who know (and of course, love) me would smile at:
“In a world of intensifying global competition and copycat products, a key resource is the capability to innovate. People who think differently are valuable; a challenge is to harness and use such originality. Corporations need the unique capabilities of loners as well as the collective, but often conventional capability of teams.”
(I’m reminded of a phrase Eddie Obeng uses. “Innovate, Dominate, or Die” – Indeed, it’s all very relevant!).
Martin then quotes the following from George Bernard Shaw:
"Reasonable men adapt themselves to their environment; unreasonable men try to adapt their environment to themselves. Thus all progress is the result of the efforts of unreasonable men"
The real reason why I chose to experience the ‘old book smell’ was that I am going through the now familiar cycle of reviewing the role title/description I use to define who I am and what I do (triggered by the new books I recently blogged about from Obeng and Stephens). When I first read The Great Transition I can remember feeling alignment with what he described as the new role of ‘Enterprise Engineer’ – “a fusion between Business Methods and IT Methods”. His vision, became my career vision (and frustration ;-).
For your interest, I have OCR’d Martin’s list of the capabilities needed by the 'Enterprise Engineer' (see below). It’s the sort of list you will read and then pause while you listen to the tumbleweed – It’s powerful stuff, so only read if you are strong enough to get in touch with your own personal realities.
And lastly, a quick search on the main job websites highlights the sad fact that the 'Enterprise Engineer' role never made it off the printed page :-( Perhaps this explains why many organisations are where they are today...
Exhibit 5.11 Capabilities needed by an Enterprise Engineer (Copied from The Great Transition by James Martin)
Personal Skills
• A personality and know-how respected by the top management people
• Missionary skills
• Skills in teaching, coaching, communication
• A mental habit of breakthrough thinking
Strategic-Level Skills
• Knowledge of the strategic options and directions of the enterprise (part V)
• Ability to participate in top-management strategic visioning and exploration of scenarios and discontinuities (Chapters 25 and 26)
• Understanding core competencies and "predator" value streams (Chapters 23 and 24)
• Understanding of new forms of enterprise architecture (Part VI)
Knowledge of Change Methods
• Knowledge of the archetypal ways in which business processes are being changed
• Understanding of TQM, kaizen, and the techniques used in continuous-process improvement (Part III)
• Understanding of value streams, cross-functional teams, and the techniques used in discontinuous-process replacement (Part II)
• Understanding of systemic behaviour of processes and how it can cause counterintuitive effects (Chapters 20 and 21)
• Ability to model and redesign workflow
• Ability to reinvent value streams and participate in workshops for process reinvention
• Understanding of the techniques used in lean manufacturing or services
• Understanding of the new relationships with suppliers, agents, retailers, customers and others
Knowledge of Technology
• Understanding of new technologies and their potential for changing corporate::' cesses
• Understanding of IT methods for rapid implementation of systems for new business processes
• Skill with cross-functional enterprise modelling
• Knowledge of how to create a corporate knowledge infrastructure
Cultural Skills
• Understanding of changed corporate values and how to instil them
• Understanding of new forms of human organization, teams, empowerment, participatory leadership, and the "boundaryless" organization
• Understanding of the ways to generate emotional energy at all levels
• Understanding of corporate cultural issues, when culture can be changed, and ~ . to change it (Chapter 33)
• Ability to excite people with the vision of change
• Ability to facilitate workshops for changing processes
