I do like old phrases at times, they don’t always seem totally applicable however when they hit it makes me think, like most things in our industry, ‘we have known this forever so why don’t we learn’.

“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”

An interesting little phrase that basically translates in my head to ‘don’t throw out the good stuff in a rush to throw out the bad’. (No babies were harmed in the making of this post).

I read a LinkedIn in post recently, suggesting that IT Service Management needs ‘a serious glow up’. Now, I am the first to look at new, shiny stuff (no infringement Mr Wilkinson 🙂 so I read on with interest. I would say that the post itself wasn’t ‘bad’ and had an agenda to promote however the points raised within it are prevalent in a lot of the online content I see. The thrust of the post was:

• Companies implement best practice without aligning to business needs – I agree
• The ‘concern’ that the ‘same old faces’ are still advising businesses and training the leaders of tomorrow – more on that to follow
• The revolutionary glow up mentioned suggested getting feedback, training soft skills and auditing processes – like we have been doing for decades.

So lets consider those points for a moment.

Companies implement best practices without aligning to business needs – correct, they often do. That is why the latest version of ITIL® has a, bigger than ever before, focus on co-creation of value. Its whole premise is that value must be delivered consistently, aligned to business needs and the changes that come with those. So we are good, right?

No, apparently its not ok that the ‘same old faces’ are advising businesses. Well actually, yes it is, and interestingly those ‘same old faces’ receive consistent recognition as the best the industry has to offer. As well as being prominent, well received and promoted supporters of new start-ups, which makes the comment seem a little ‘back stabby’ (but maybe that’s just me). I do however see some ‘old faces’ jump the fence and lament the industry as they are leaving it which is not helpful. You could argue the genius of the business model of “build it – profit from it – criticise it – profit from it” but its not a way of working I am signing up to and it doesn’t support sustained development which is the only way forwards.

The reality is that the ‘old faces’ who survive do so because they have vast experience to draw on, usually are more than willing to share that experience and actually have moved with the times. Does that preclude younger people from the industry and participation, not if they have the right attitude and understand the value of resources it doesn’t. Just because you have a wealth of knowledge and capability to add to the bath, it doesn’t mean you should empty it first – this bath never gets full.

So processes have evolved with the times and there is a healthy mix of generations in the industry, we are done? No, apparently not because there is a need to train people in soft skills, obtain feedback and audit our processes. Like there has been for the 28 years I have been doing it. The issue is not that the requirements aren’t known, its that we don’t learn.

I am not going to be ignorant and go down the ‘All x do y’ path. Sweeping generalisations should come with a mute button. The issue is that, based on the regurgitated information on LinkedIn and the number of people who market old as new, we keep reinventing the wheel. The basics of our industry are SO basic that its incredulous that we still struggle to grasp them.

Maybe it harkens back to the days of protecting the ‘dark arts’ to drive salaries up. Maybe its because many people leap into IT, get a cluster of qualifications with no experience and purport to be experts, clouding what’s real or not. The reality is that as an industry we need to consolidate our knowledge, build upon it, stop selling snake oil and give ourselves the credibility of solid foundations and growth based on experience that we often sorely lack.