How A Company goes rogue
When it comes to an enterprise going rogue, Greed takes the center-stage. As Gordon Gekko said "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"; he was representing corporate raiders who for their own gain infest corporations with highly contagious forms of greed. The Cancer-like infection helps abnormal growth of a certain section - causing a dis-balance, a toxic environment that starts spreading slowly but surely to rest of the enterprise. Short-term success inflates the popularity of this section thus the onset of pride for one group and covet for others diverting resources, time and thought processes towards quick gains with ever increasing gluttony. The rising selfishness and the lust for power starts dividing the functional components, where each division guided by its arrogance resorts to quick and easy methods of “more” by any means necessary. Inflated egos and settling animosity starts slowing down the wheel of innovation and progress; as ensuing from growing protocols and resulting lead-times.
Inflammation follows by means of internal conflicts; each division wants more control and thereby attempts to procure disparate applications, whereas others are busy building barriers with self-preservation at mind contributing to reduce flow and communication. These are just a few examples of physical factors and manifestations. Not only communication barriers are instituted, actual engineering of misinformation for personal gains follow.
At this point of organizational degeneration, an IT community is usually busy with one or more of the following symptoms:
- Increased amount of time spent on problems and issues.
- Majority of the time spent on ever increasing business initiatives with narrow deadlines
- Simple recurring functions such as patching take enormous coordination efforts.
- IT initiatives and suggestions are shot down by business without due understanding.
- Sections of IT are setup for failure by competing groups and ultimately given the blame.
- IT sections reduce risk ownership and starts quoting external references.
Next layer of problems is self-inflicted when management or the powers-to-be dictate re-orgs in an effort to help, but only help creating an increasing sense of insecurity and lack of confidence. HR is usually engaged with Non-IT senior management to trim, save costs and try creating an effective machinery. It is in this haste and chaos that:
- IT integrity is highly compromised resulting in structural disintegration.
- Enterprise loses knowledge-base and even some skill-sets.
- Standards start to disappear and documentation lost along-with industry best practices.
- Less talented people are promoted to key positions.
- Quick results are expected from IT infrastructure without proper provision of tools or training.
- External evaluators are welcome more often by management and eventually by the IT.
Once the organization starts looking out for expertise and starts bringing in consultants to keep systems alive, you can be sure that business continuity is in serious jeopardy and enterprise knowledge base is possibly already on a verge of extinction.
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