Senior Management Education

The photo is about the Lloyds TSB card scheme at the 2012 Olympics. It was the lead story in the 14 Feb. Computing.

A letter from CJB was also printed about management education, in response to an article which had the key phrase:

There are no longer IT decisions; only business decisions.

In other words, IT is normal management. For example, HR and Finance are specialised functions, but every manager is still responsible for people and money - and IT. It can't be a separate hand-off. IT is normal business.

Getting back to the letter, it was interesting that the letter printed was quite different from the letter submitted - not that there would be much disagreement with the letter as printed - here it is:

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Tom Young's article Business must see IT as everyday task, is highly relevant to a core problem in Business with Information Systems & Technology (IST).

The initial issue is that people too often lack relevant information, have limited opportunity for knowledge sharing, are kept in pigeon-holes, are penalised for initiative, and are greatly under-used.

Secondly, IST is itself, also, greatly under-used.

Consequently, there is limited synergy between people & IST.

The place to start in addressing the core problem could well be to follow the philosophy presented in the editorial:

- Start with appropriate education for senior management people.

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What was omitted from the letter as submitted was that, if there are no longer IT decisions only business decisions, then every single manager needs to be Business-IT savvy.

This does not mean the point-and-click skills that Bill Gates talks about. What it means is - - that kind of wisdom which comes from a big-picture, integrated view of Business & IT.

And how would this savvy & wisdom come about? Well for starters, and what could make all the difference, would be the right kind of Business-IT education for senior management people!

However, and notwithstanding the omission, the editor of Computing came up with a better letter!

Any comments?
What do you think?