Evolution of the IT Pro

Change, empathy, and getting comfortable with not knowing everything: A project that will help any IT pro adapt and weather the maelstrom caused by technological change.

This project is structured around seven key habits that I feel are critical to the evolution of the IT Pro:

  • Habit 1 – Get comfortable with not knowing everything
  • Habit 2 – Synergy through community
  • Habit 3 – Become an internal consultant
  • Habit 4 – Improve your situational awareness
  • Habit 5 – Understand your propensity to change
  • Habit 6 – Increase your skills in product and scenario ownership
  • Habit 7 – Take control of the mundane and make time to add value

In addition to the habits, I have included narrative that covers areas such as “What is an IT Pro”, “What is their role” and “What is the role of IT”. Through the project I will call out some tools that can help you prepare to face the storm whilst continuing with your evolution and to support your fellow IT Pros in their evolution as well.

The evolution of an IT Pro is a very broad subject so I have deliberately focussed on the areas that I believe matter the most. My choices are based on the premise that focus in these areas will have the highest impact but for every situation and individual they will need to be weighted differently. My goal is to help you broaden your understanding of what matters to you. This is a living project that will continue to expand over time.

Preface

In the past I’ve delivered sessions to the IT Pro community on the subject of the evolution of the IT Pro. The focus of these sessions was on the skills required by the IT Pro. There was not an ounce of code, configuration or customisation in the sessions. Rather the focus was on change, empathy and getting comfortable with not knowing everything. The skills discussed in the sessions were non-technical and role agnostic.

The material for the sessions was developed with two co-presenters – Dean Swann and Darrell Webster. Sometimes we delivered the sessions together and at other times on our own. The sessions have always generated a lot of interest and I had hoped to continue delivering them through 2020 but we all know what put pay to that. So I decided to adapt our collective material and make it available to all. In doing so I have decided to keep the narrative style and flow used in the sessions. My ultimate goal is to build upon the the framework and expand out into other areas such as the impact of artificial intelligence on the IT Pro.

The session content comprised a mixture of our own material and our adaptions of work published by others. We drew our inspiration from several recognised sources: Drucker, Covey and Partridge. A dynamite trio at the forefront of personal, professional and leadership development. Well perhaps not Alan P… We are not Covey, Drucker or Partridge. We are not “Change Practitioners” – though one of us does have a ProSci qualification. It is only right and proper that I recognise and thank the other contributors. Thank you Dean and Darrell for your influence, guidance and inspiration.

Project structure

This project is structured around seven key habits that I feel are critical to the evolution of the IT Pro.

  1. Brief history of the IT Pro
  2. Too much to know, too little time
  3. Knowing me, knowing you, aha!
  4. See the cloud, be the cloud

You do not need to read from the beginning to the end. Dip in and out and focus on what matters to you.

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