time to blow a fuse!
Life with the Virtual Ranger
I've changed jobs a few times in the last few years, and I’ve
started to notice something. Is it just me, or do computer departments in all
large organisations act the same way? Maybe you are one of the lucky ones, but
my money says that you will recognise something in what follows. It makes me
seethe – let me explain why. See if this situation sounds familiar to
you.
Every few years, maybe, you go out and buy a pair of nice new
chainsaws (or pond-dipping nets, microscope, radios… whatever it is you
use). You carefully choose the best ones, testing a few out, maybe getting a
demo and a nice free hat from the salesman. You get a spare bar, a reel of chain,
maybe a free combican as a special offer, whatever. Add on a set of basic protective
clothing and what have you spent? Probably £1000. Did you have any trouble
persuading the boss to authorise it? Of course not, assuming that the money
is there. Would anyone seriously challenge your choice of, say, a Husqvarna
and not a Stihl? Certainly not.
The Virtual Ranger gets cross! Matthew
looks at how information technology is handed out…. or not. Do
you see where this is leading? If you have tried to buy a bit of computer equipment
recently I suspect you do. Finance departments breed computer departments. Computer
departments are run by accountants, who love to make rules – quite rightly,
where finance is concerned. But is this the right approach for information technology?
Every job I have had has involved some officious accountant attempting to tell
me what sort of computer and software I must use – and what I must not
use, and what will happen to me if it do. I wager your job is the same. Why
do computers get this special treatment? Chainsaws are just as complicated and
difficult to use, but we are allowed to make our own choices there.
Big computer departments get big ideas. The ideas usually go
like this: we have chosen a great piece of wizardry. Therefore, we must ensure
that all our colleagues use this piece of wizardry and no other. However, they
will have to pay for it. Or maybe like this: we negotiated a great deal with
IBM in 1989. Therefore, we are going to make sure that everyone uses equipment
from IBM, mostly dating from 1989. Or, possibly, like this: we have designed
some wonderful custom software at colossal expense. It took two years. It’s
jolly hard to use so we won’t be training you in it until 1999. What are
these people doing? They seem to actually prevent the staff on the ground from
being able to take decisions and control their own use of information technology
– as they do with all other equipment. It does make me cross. The reasons
for this common attitude are many – and it is usually the fault of the
system and not of the staff who work in it. But enough of computer departments
– they’re just doing their jobs.
Now ask one more question: why should we object to this treatment?
What have we to lose? A great deal, I think. There is more at stake than a few
word processors. Do your bosses enjoy the pleasures of email between their desks?
The chances are that they do. No doubt it saves them a bit of paper and shoe
leather. But who else would really benefit from email; instant 
communication,
between two people, or – crucially - many? In my experience email is the
single best way to link together lots of people in the same organisation who
rarely get together face-to-face. The technology to do it is now cheap and easy.
Radio communication is a good second best, but email, properly implemented,
can really bring together people such as rangers or reserve managers, who share
a common interest and purpose, but are widely spread. They can leave messages,
share information, circulate news to each other, and many other things. Of course,
telephone, fax, or even post could do this. If the message is important enough,
these methods probably get used anyway. But it is often the less important information
which makes up the fabric of a strong team of colleagues. The day-to-day stuff,
such as the date of Fred’s leaving party; an unusual sighting; suspicious
cars; did you see you were in the Echo last night; and other things. If a system
is easy to use, the messages will get sent. If not, we all have better things
to do than ring up all our colleagues every afternoon. Without that interaction
it is all too easy for countryside workers in particular to become isolated
and out of touch. Communicating via a manager or head office cannot do this
in the same way – it is too remote, too slow, and subject to too much
scrutiny from above.
If you are managing to communicate with your peers as well as
you would like– well done. If not, technology may have an answer. Are
you being denied it?
I don’t think that most managers are deliberately keeping
these resources from their staff, although they might be for all I know. Managers
and staff alike are often unaware of how cheap and useful a good electronic
communication system is. Of course, there will be a boss somewhere who dislikes
the staff talking together behind his back. He probably thinks that email was
an old-testament prophet. If that is your boss, bad luck. Take comfort though
– his type will be extinct soon in a flurry of gold watches. The electronic
revolution will see to that. All you have to do is make sure you are on the
right side!
Matthew Chatfield: This article first appeared in The Ranger
magazine, Winter 1997
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