Learning for Surviving … Learn to Survive

It’s a cliché and does not need retelling. Especially in IT services field, it is truer than true and certainly we all know it very well (at times a hard way). However determining how and which new skill to acquire is not easy.

But what triggered this blog, was a book I read couple days back (The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman). The book refreshed my memory about a term coined by Gartner in 2005 … Versatilist. I vaguely remembered reading Gartner press release back then and even discussing it with one of my friend on what it meant for us. (I and my friend were just moving from Project Management roles into wider general management roles in our career) So I searched the press release and re-read it.

What Gartner predicted in 2005 about IT services and outsourcing landscape and what it would mean for people working it IT, was amazingly accurate. Gartner had said “By 2010, landscape for IT professionals will change … enabled by competitive IT skills, knowledge bases, outsourcing … and will put many IT professionals in competition with their peers in other geographical markets”. The article further predicted: “IT departments in most companies will be 30% smaller (as compared to 2005 size) mainly due to automation in SDLC processes, advancement in IT tools and device convergence. All of this leading to employers demanding versatility from employees.” Almost all of this is true today.

If so, maybe we should consider Gartner suggestion … on ‘how and what to learn’ … to be Versatilist … as against specialist or generalist. By Gartner definition Specialist is someone with deep skills in a very focused area; Generalist has broader understanding but shallow skills; whereas Versatilist is the one who can apply depth of the acquired skills to a progressively widening scope of situations at the same time gaining new (deep) skills and assuming wider roles.

I cross checked this definition with my own skills … and realized that I have become more of a Generalist than a Versatilist. And that is alarming. Then I checked with my friend … and he too reached the same conclusion about himself. So maybe it’s true for quite a few ‘experienced’ people like me and my friend … that with career advances over last few years, we have acquired more skills and broader roles and senior positions in the companies, but the skills acquired are relatively shallow. If that is true, we are at odds with Gartner’s definition of ‘hot skills for 2010’.

What should I do? What should we all do?

I think I should go back to basics … and look at how we were ‘learning’ when we were new in this industry. E.g. I remember having to learn C, XVT Libraries, Tuxedo and Informix as part of my first job with Tata Unisys back in 1990. Tata Unisys gave us (bunch of new programmers) a formal training in C and we then had to read books on Informix and C to get further references. XVT and Tuxedo implementation on Unisys platform ware brand-new technologies, and there were hardly any books. We had to go through official manuals and then experiment with all these tools. We wrote lot of programs … surely some were awful … but then we worked with each other, collaborating and helping and reading and what not … finally creating very good working software. We all worked very hard … often more than 13~14 hrs daily … without anyone demanding that we sit late. We all were learning.

I for one did not learn my Solution Design or Project Management or Program Management or People Skills or Contract Management or other General Management Skills the same way. Somehow, while I learned all this and many more things, I did not go through the same rigor and zeal and entrepreneurial spirit. I do not know what and how and why etc.; but my learning process itself was ‘shallow’ and hence probably my skills also remained shallow.

I think I should concentrate more on those key words …

• Go for a formal training if available 
• Read lot of related material on the topic (books, manuals, papers; even attend seminars and join user groups and online groups etc)
• Experiment … test the results … and be willing to modify as needed 
• Peer groups are important forums where you can test and validate your skills and even take help in areas where you are stuck

Hopefully one day I will be more of a Versatilist than a Generalist. What else do you suggest I should do?

 

Please Sell Your Work.

My earnest request to all my colleagues … Please Sell Your Work … to your peers and your friends and colleagues in your organization and outside.

Ok, let me explain.

Last weekend, on a sunny Saturday morning, I gave a small speech on ‘Project Governance’ in PMI Pune chapter monthly seminar. I was surprised to see 60+ project managers there on the weekend, on their own time and dime, to participate in this event. My talk was well received; and there were quite a few who wanted to chat with me after the seminar.

The talks quickly gravitated from generic project governance to their own projects and their experiences. And I noticed that most talked very loosely about their work (to say the least). Many talked about ‘external factors’ as the main reason why their project is likely to head south. I nodded my head; made some general comments; shook hands … used the opportunity to network and left that place.

I then thought about this ‘after the seminar’ talk; and realized that this is not a one-off discussion. More often than not, we crib about the work we are doing. (And I am no exception … I too have talked many a times with my friends about ‘problems’ in the company that I worked for)

I am now connecting this to my earlier blog; ‘I need another job’. There, I had promised to write about ‘How to find a new job, and not just a new company’.

    While I do not have any mantra for it and the topic is vast, I thought of scribbling down my thoughts in multiple blogs, rather than write a one single longish (boring) blog. This one is the first …

    And, my view on this (negative talk about the projects) is simple: DON'T

1. You must like the work you are doing … to the level where you would appear to be ‘selling’ it to others even during the casual talks. 
2. If 1 is not true, still find out which part of the work you like the best and sell that (and if possible think how you can change the bits that you don’t like)
3. If 1 is not true and 2 is not possible (I won’t get into the reasons), look for right articulation of the issues. But avoid sounding negative. Sounding negative, does not help … not you for sure (I know … I am asking you to fake it).
4. If 1 is not true, 2 is not possible and 3 you have tried and are tired of it now … hang on for my next blog on this topic (you really need a change).

In a nutshell, when we talk negatively about our work, we inadvertently send a ‘message’ about ourselves. May be we are finger pointing … instead of looking in the mirror. If you are amongst the lucky ones (who love what they are doing and are passionate about it), that’s great. But even if you are not, think and talk and act positive … I am sure it will lead to a positive change.

So long …

I need another job.

No, no, no… I am NOT looking for another job. Rather I heard this statement from many of my friends and colleagues in last 3~4 weeks; hence I started thinking about it. Not only did they tell me that they wanted another job, they were also asking me how to go about it.

So … here are my 2 cents on these 2 topics (1 cent each) … a) what I feel about this ‘wanting another job’ and b) how to go about it … or rather how I went about it when I was looking for a job.

I am 41+ (yeah … college going kids call me uncle now). And for last 20 years I am working in IT services field; and most of my friends/colleagues are in similar age bracket (+/- 5 years) and in similar jobs. All these people expressed deep frustration about the job they were doing. They complained about ‘same old story’ / ‘lots of late working or even night-outs’ / ‘sr management expecting and demanding too much’ / ‘unreasonable customer’ / ‘(poor) quality of people surrounding them in the company’ / ‘just too much work pressure’ / ‘extreme micromanagement’ … and so on. In so many words, but all that they were telling me is : they are not enjoying the work they are doing.

These people were from various different IT companies, small as well as big, Indian as well as MNCs, product as well as services. So the situation is almost the same everywhere. We all are probably playing musical chair … we can change the company we work for, but not the ‘job’. And while my friends are looking for another job, chances are that they will settle for another company.

Having said so, can one really change the job? In my opinion, it’s possible. But I will save that thought for the next blog.

So if you are still looking for another company (or another job) … read on.

Since 2003, I have changed companies 3 times. All these 3 times, my new employer found me … rather than me searching the new job. Believe me, I am not one of the sharpest technical wizard around or the management guru or anything of that sort. I am like most other people working in the Indian IT industry. In 2003, I landed up with new job, purely because my prospective manager knew me from past association. Last 2 times my new employers (or headhunters working for them) found me on ‘Linked In’ through one of my connections. Ironically, all 3 times, I had updated my resume on Monster + Times Jobs + Naukari. But my ‘links’ helped me find the right job and not these portals.

So I think my friends did the right thing … telling me that they are looking for a change. They should also talk to other people they know. I am sure one such ‘coffee talk’ will open doors to new possibilities. Your peer network can do more than what you think is possible.