It organizational review why research the fuzzy questions?

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IT Organizational Review Why research the “fuzzy” questions?

description

This presentation outlines why a project team needs to conduct research into long-term, strategic questions about the future of technology and education as part of an IT organizational design review.

Transcript of It organizational review why research the fuzzy questions?

Page 1: It organizational review   why research the fuzzy questions?

IT Organizational Review

Why research the “fuzzy” questions?

Page 2: It organizational review   why research the fuzzy questions?

Growth Managed Growth

Firefighting Control

Why is this research important?

Where do you spend most of your time?

Many IT departments in Alberta’s education system are stuck in a vicious cycle.

Unmanaged growth leads to firefighting. To end firefighting, control is exerted reactively. When the crisis passes, IT shifts back to growth. The cycle repeats.

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Growth Managed Growth

Firefighting Control

Why is this research important?

Getting unstuck requires striking a balance between present and future focus.

What percentage of time do you spend thinking about the future?

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I.Important but not

urgent

II.Urgent and Important

III.Urgent but not

Important

IV.Not urgent and not

important

Another quadrant.We attend to urgent and important

issues, because we know we have to.

But sometimes we neglect important, long-term issues.

Sometimes, those important but not urgent issues can become a crisis.

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I.Important but not

urgent

II.Urgent and Important

III.Urgent but not

Important

IV.Not urgent and not

important

So what is what?There are urgent and important

issues confronting this team:

● Wellness

● Physical space

● Resources

● Staffing

And there are important but not urgent issues confronting the team:

● What skills and capabilities do we need in the near future?

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What skills and capabilities do we need in the future?The answer to this question is very important to each and every one of you. It’s about your future.

This is what the research activity you’re doing is designed for - to help you answer this question.

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Output and Outcome

Outpu

t

Outcom

e-Short term- Presentation- Report-Tangible- Quantifiable- Urgent and Important

- Long term- Skills and capabilities of the team- Understanding- Shifts in thinking- Intangible- Hard to quantify- Important but not Urgent

Those big questions are important over the long term.

They may be 1% of the report, but are 80% of the value...to you.

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Stuff we can countNumber of staffBudgetNumber of services we provide

Stuff we can measureDegree of satisfaction

How we talk to each otherChanging dynamics between people

How we thinkChanging perceptions about our capability.

We tend to focus on this

And neglect

this

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We need to work here.(Which is hard, but known.)This is management.

And here.(Which is really hard, and unknown, unfamiliar.)This is leadership.We need leaders. Lots of them.This is where we’re asking you to go.

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Big shifts. Big impacts.Things like cloud computing, mobile, social, big data,

shared services, changing legal requirements, and the transformation of education will require IT professionals who have a very different set of skills than in the past.

You need to prepare.

The time is now - before it becomes urgent and important.

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Now what?Getting started with this research can be challenging.

Google is only as good as the questions you’re asking.

Here are some short-cuts.

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Constrain yourselfDecide how much time you will spend doing online research into your question.

Keep the amount of time fairly low.

This will help you focus on the essentials, and will help keep you from going down any rabbit holes.

Block time to do the research.

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Skim ReadThe essentials of Inspiring Education:

● Introduction

● Policy Shifts to Achieve the Vision

● Guiding Principles

The essentials of the Learning and Technology Policy Framework:

● Read policy directions 1-4 in the quick guide.

● Read the entirety of policy direction 5 in the big policy document.

The Ministerial Order is one page. Pay attention to the list items.

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Fast ReflectionTake 90 seconds after reading each document and ask yourself three questions:

1.What were the 2-3 biggest ideas?

2.What new insight have I gained?

3.What new questions do I have?

Write those down in point form. Use the workbook - it’ll help you keep it short.

This technique can also be applied when reflecting on any research activity – from reading a report to reviewing survey results to conducting an interview.

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And we will attend to the important and urgent issues.

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(Admit it, you were waiting for it.)