Push or Wait

I’ve read somewhere that luck doesn’t exist, that is actually the result of the combination of preparation plus opportunity. And while in a way it’s right, and those who complain of «bad luck» I think it’s often that they haven’t had enough preparation to take the opportunities that present themselves along the way, I’m also not comfortable thinking that it’s all about being very prepared waiting for the right occasion to arise. I think this is just a part of the film.

We have at least two ways of dealing with the future, from a complex organization to even a personal one.

One of them is to draw up a master plan that governs our future actions and/or decisions, and to push the necessary changes to comply with it. If you like, it is a proactive way to move forward to where we want to go to the end. For this we must have clear from the beginning where we want to reach and what level of flexibility we will maintain if we admit the possible variations that may arise during the journey.

Another is to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, but this must be based on a very strong culture of strengthening of capacities above all other participants.

There are many success stories for both scenarios.

If we take it into the IT arena, and put ourselves in the CIO second level scenario (see CIO’s Path), we can see that both strategies are applicable. In this analogy the opportunities can be represented by the requirements (sometimes very challenging) of the business with systems, so a solid base of growth and constant training of the team to develop the necessary skills and competencies or above what is needed, would facilitate us to successfully leave each of the proposed challenges (or imposed as you want to see).

Another choice is to draw up a plan in accordance with the company’s strategic plan, so as to go even one step further than what the business needs at a given time, and thus ensure the appropriate IT support required. However, this does not free us from requirements not contemplated by us that must be met anyway, so we must also incorporate the flexibility factor in our plans.

Of course, these two sides have pros and cons, among which can be mentioned:

Planning

Advantages	Disadvantages
Organizes activities and causes them	If uncertainty increases, the accuracy of the plan decreases
Anticipate Changes	Unexpected changes destabilize it
Allows you to set up controls	Limits the scope in particular initiatives
Allows the team to know the direction it has	Masks opportunities outside the stated objectives

Strengthening of capacities

Advantages	Disadvantages
Allows to be prepared for the variable circumstances of the environment	Cannot anticipate long-term objectives
Responds to changes	Controls are only established for particular and not general activities
Uncertainty doesn’t affect her much.	Risk that enhanced capabilities will not respond to future demands
Allows flexibility in exploring particular initiatives

As can be seen, these advantages and disadvantages are annulled if we put them together with each other of each paradigm, so the question immediately arises: Can we carry out the two in parallel?

In my opinion, it is possible, although of course this involves a greater difficulty than only holding on to one of them.

In order to be able to do this, it is at least necessary to be clear that the following must be achieved permanently:

• Integral training plan for the work team

Ideally, there should be a constant flow of training in the work team and, although it is not possible for everyone to do it at the same time, look for at least part of the team is always learning something new or perfecting itself. In this way we are not only prepared for new tools or challenges that may arise, but also try to respect the interests of each individual in the team. With this it will have achieve as an added product a very important good for the group: loyalty.

• Knowledge of the business (or the businesses if it is a corporate)

As I have mentioned in previous articles, IT is not an isolated box that only has to make the lights of the site are on, it goes beyond and to leave the first level CIO, it is imperative to leave the room of systems and see that there is beyond there. First the business or company in which you work and at a slightly more advanced level the environment in which the company moves, environment and future.

• Knowledge of Directors/Owners.

I add this point because beyond the strategic plans, the mission and vision that the company has put into beautiful reports and charts (and that even some of these points in many companies are not even written), what is being thought and felt by those who head the organization will allow the best possible plan to be generated as an area both for strategic accompaniment, as well as eventually influence the direction taken as a business.

With these three points as a base, we can establish a framework that allows us to take advantage of both schemes to face the future. Is it more intense work? Yes, since we have to prepare in the specific aspects to carry out the guiding plan that directs in general the trip of the area, but we also have to prepare well in general issues and trends, allowing us to take the opportunities that present themselves along the way. However, I believe it is worth it, and in these changing times it is already a must.