Dr. ChangeLove

1
Dr. ChangeLove

• Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
  Technology
• Roy Tennant
• California Digital Library

2
The Lay of the Land

• Technological change is fast and getting faster
• Retirement is no longer the solution
• We must learn to cope (Resistance is futile)
• and embrace and in so doing shape new
  technologies into the essential tools and
  services of tomorrow

3
Forms of Technostress

• Frustration
• Information overload
• Underwork and routine jobs
• Job insecurity and demotivation
• Uncertainty about job role
• A basic conflict between our urge to do things
  quickly and our passion to do them right
• Anxiety

4
Anxiety and Resistance

• Fear of the unknown
• Helplessness (lack of control)
• Being faced with unrealistic expectations
• Being forced to take interest in things in which
  you have no interest
• Anxiety and resistance can behelpful as well as
  harmful

5
What the Organization Owes You

• A work space and environment that is not harmful
• Adequate hardware and software
• Good training and documentation
• Anticipatory and responsive support
• Clear priorities
• Support for different learning styles
• Excellent communication
• Rewards for desired behavior
• Formalization of informal roles

6
What You Owe the Organization

• Acceptance that change is a constant
• As much flexibility as you can muster
• Excellent communication
• Suggestions for improvement rather than whining
• Your best effort (a can do attitude)

7
What You Owe Yourself

• Job 1 Take care of yourself (put on your own
  oxygen mask before helping others)
• The permission to not do low priority tasks
• Acceptance that you cant know it all
• Strategic learning

8
Strategic Learning

• Categories
• Trash (dont go there)
• Monitor (distant early warning)
• Dabble (whats this about?)
• Need to know (like, yesterday!)
• Strategy
• Slot new technologies using the above categories
• Periodically revisit your assessments
• Learn just enough to do what you want
• If it has staying power, learn it more thoroughly

9
Strategic Learning My Example

• Trash
• SGML, RDF
• Monitor
• E-books
• Dabble
• Open Archives initiative
• Need to Know
• XML

10
What Systems Staff Should Know About Their
Colleagues

• Other staff are not idiots their skills simply
  lie in other areas
• They speak English you should too
• No should not be the first word out of your
  mouth
• Realize that you probably know next to nothing
  about user needs
• Dont expect others to know the possibilities
  technology offers

11
What Non-Systems Staff Should Know About Systems
Staff

• Systems staff are not better than you, they just
  tend to act that way
• Take responsibility for knowing the basic
  operations of your own computer and simple
  troubleshooting
• Ask systems staff (nicely) for what you need
• Be prepared to describe (in detail) what you need
• If you really need it, dont let the first no
  stop you

12
What Managers Should Do

• Build an agile organization
• Hire good staff, then stay out of their way
• Discover what your employees need to accomplish
  their jobs, and get it
• Tell them what youre planning and listen to them
  about whats going on
• Appreciate them for what they do
• Work with those who underachieve
• Put whiners in charge of what theyre whining
  about

13
What Staff Should Do

• Quit whining and take responsibility
• Tell management specifically and constructively
  what you need to do your job
• Speak up when something can be fixed or improved
  do not hold back for lack of visible resources
• If you feel like you need a better computer
  you do

14
What to Expect

• The only sure thing is change
• You will make mistakes so what?
• You cannot make progress without taking risks
• We must foster comfort with uncertainty and
  delight in change
• We cannot stop what we are doing to build the
  future, so we must

15
Build the Airplane While Flying It