Author: The Information Badger

This month’s UK Institute of Physics member magazine has ‘Digital Technologies: Celebrating 30 years of the World Wide Web’ as its theme. Reading articles in heavily science-based publications can be hard work, but this month it was worth persevering as they provided three reminders for the Badger. First, just how quickly the internet has developed over 30 years. Second, that without physics there would be no internet. And third, just how groups with nefarious personal, political, business and propaganda objectives have deviated the web from its original intentions. When those who created the web feel it’s ‘morphed into a completely out of control monster’ then something’s definitely amiss!

The Badger’s earlier “The Force Awakens’ blog mused on the debate about whether the FANG tech goliaths are too big, too powerful, and too monopolistic to be trusted. Well, it seems the ‘Force is getting stronger’! Politicians are increasing saying something must be done. For example, Elizabeth Warren, a potential 2020 US President candidate, has proposed breaking up the tech goliaths (see here and here), and the UK’s House of Lords wants to rein in these companies with greater regulation.

Warren says that ‘Today’s big tech companies have too much power – too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else’. It’s hard to disagree. In the House of Lords item, a committee chairman says ‘Without intervention, the largest tech companies are likely to gain ever more control of technologies which extract personal data and make decisions affecting people’s lives. Our proposals will ensure that rights are protected online as they are offline while keeping the internet open to innovation and creativity, with a new culture of ethical behaviour embedded in the design of service.’ Again, it’s hard to disagree. Both sets of words reflect the building momentum of the public mood.

The Badger believes that in the right hands, technology focused on solving life’s problems is good for everyone, and that we must remember that the web is used by many individuals, groups and organisations that do just that with a high moral compass. Tech goliaths like the FANGs, however, have had their own way for too long, and breakup and regulation surely benefits society. Such action looks to be some years away. Why? Because with political turmoil in the US, the UK and the European Union, the chances of agreeing any action that starts to make the creators of the web feel it’s no longer an out of control monster are zilch. Inaction by politicians is getting to be unforgiveable…but that’s no real surprise is it?

No large mainstream IT services companies present themselves as being mediocre! Most assert global leadership, emphasise a commitment to clients, stress heritage as a trusted partner, highlight the talent of their employees and how they’re well placed regarding trends in the market. So, what triggered the question in the title? Unsurprisingly, a conversation with friends who’ve had lengthy careers in the IT services industry. We all have something in common – higher degrees in science, engineering or mathematical subjects and multi-decade tenures in large IT services companies.

The conversation meandered but ended up lamenting the demise of the dynamic, creative, and flexible ‘can do’ culture that had kept us at our companies for many years. We concluded that today an individual must be robotically subservient to process dominated corporate machinery to succeed. That means being a fully compliant cog in a giant wheel and accepting that this compliance trumps common-sense, freedom of expression, creativity and experience. We concluded that we’d seen mediocrity rise in large mainstream IT companies and smaller companies offer better cultures, service, value, and career paths.

The Badger revisited the conversation’s conclusion a few days later. Had we ignored the fact that business dynamics and people requirements change frequently in IT, and that commoditisation of everything is rife? Were we just a grumpy group that hadn’t coped with change? No, far from it. We’re intelligent, experienced and objective professionals with lots of first-hand experience and the Badger felt our conclusion was sound.

Many good people work exceptionally hard in large mainstream IT service companies. If you’re one then you’re probably frustrated at seeing projects and services make the same mistakes as five, ten and even twenty years ago. You may also be frustrated by the way you must deal with day to day issues and the feeling that your voice and experienced is under-valued or ignored. Why? Because today’s large company cultures mean that ‘adequate’ is all that’s needed for a cog to turn in a wheel of a super-tanker business and raging against the machine is not encouraged.

If this strikes a chord, then ask yourself whether outcomes for clients are really any better today than they were five or ten years ago? The Badger suspects not. If that’s the case then today’s big company rigidities, and highly prescriptive, process/compliance-dominated cultures have constrained individual thought and dynamism leading to a rise in mediocrity.

Of course, this is a ‘provocative point of view’ and you may disagree. But there’s nothing like impishly stirring the pot to get a reaction, especially when smaller IT services companies are giving the big boys a run for their money by unlocking rather than constraining the full power and potential of their people…

On a hot day last Summer, the Badger stood in the drinks aisle of a local supermarket contemplating cold beer and became aware of a highly recognisable Liverpudlian voice. It was the UK comedian John Bishop chatting on his phone while was pushing a trolley and selecting beer from adjacent shelves. He grinned, nodded to the Badger, put some bottles in his trolley and moved on. He’d probably ‘escaped’ from the stringency of a local health spa often used by TV people for rest and recuperation. The Badger was struck that John Bishop, wearing a polo shirt, khaki shorts, trainers and sporting significantly grey longer hair, was just a normal guy in his early fifties going about daily life.

Then the Badger saw him recently on a live TV show. He was smartly dressed, funny as always, but his hair was all brown! The extensive grey locks from last Summer had disappeared! The Badger laughed, laughed again, and then some more. Why? Because it was a reminder of when a former work colleague had short grey hair one day but arrived the next day sporting brown hair whilst saying nothing to his bemused colleagues. The Badger is aware that lighting, colour and makeup are important in TV, but dying your hair John? Really? Isn’t dying hair to remove grey just a sign of insecurity? Apologies if you hadn’t, by the way. Either way, your natural comedy skills seem unaffected.

Laughter’s important. It boosts your immune system, lowers stress, and triggers chemicals that make you feel good. The Badger’s laughter outburst triggered some reflections on the human dynamics of the many company leadership conferences the Badger attended during his career. Such events are standard corporate fare with company execs telling attendees about business performance, strategic objectives, market trends, organisational tuning, improvement programmes, and so on. They’re all about aligning people with the corporate agenda – an imperative for success. The events themselves are often formulaic and somewhat limited in the laughter stakes. Presenters rarely have a natural comedy streak and things can be a bit dull for the audience.

The Badger impishly concluded two things. Firstly, that business is a serious affair but all execs and leaders presenting at such internal corporate events should lighten up! People absorb messages better if the characters conveying them can engage naturally with their audience to generate laughter. Secondly, if you attend such events and you are also an investor then watch out for company executives that dye their hair to remove grey. It might suggest that insecurity and vanity abound, and that challenging times may lie ahead for the company. It might be time to sell…just remember to laugh when you do so!