>>FORMER IBM VP JOHN PATRICK'S ADVICE FOR TECHNOLOGY MANAGERS

John Patrick's career at IBM reads like mailroom-to-boardroom story. When he joined the company in 1967, he was a marketing trainee, responsible for selling and installing IBM data processing systems. By the time he officially retired, in 2001, he had been Vice President of Internet Technology for eight years and had helped develop some of the company's most innovative technology projects, like its alphaWorks Internet technology incubator.

During this time, Business 2.0 dubbed him "one of the industry's most intriguing minds." Network World named him "one of the 25 most powerful people in networking."

Patrick recently took some time out from a motorcycle trek to the Harley-Davidson factory in York, Pennsylvania, to reminisce about his days as a technology manager. Here's what he had to say:

SD: What is the most important piece of management-related advice anyone has ever given you?

JP: For my last dozen or so years at IBM, I was fortunate to be responsible for a very talented group of computer scientists and software engineers. Although I'd been in management for nearly 20 years, I'd have to say most of what I consider my most valuable management lessons were learned from that group. The basic lessons were to hire great people, share your vision with them, listen to their vision, stay out of their way, allow them to fail (just not too often), don't over-manage them, support them when things are tough, go to bat for them when they need funding or forgiveness for breaking some rules, and recognize them when they do something good.

SD: How did your background in electrical engineering help you as a technology manager? Did it improve your credibility with developers and technical staff?

JP: My degrees in EE, management and law helped me with some basics and gave me a foundation, but the most important skills are developed in working with people. Credibility comes from doing what you say you'll do and standing behind your team.

SD: On your blog, you praise IBM's Extreme Blue program—which gives student interns a chance to spend an entire summer developing their own projects—in part, because the students who participate have no "baggage." You write: "They don't know all the things that may not have worked in the past or all the reasons why something can't get done in a short period of time." How should managers go about creating a similar environment that promotes creativity and curiosity in organizations with veteran developers? In other words, how do you teach old dogs to forget old tricks?

JP: This is the hardest part. There are many techniques some may cite, but the most important is to have support from the top of the organization—like the CEO or someone very, very senior and respected in the company. I always recommend that organizations create a "skunk works" that's outside of the mainstream, that has protected funding, and isn't managed too closely. It doesn't have to be a large group; it can even be one person.

SD: What was the hardest thing about being a manager? How did you overcome the challenge?

JP: The hardest thing is to resist telling someone how to do their job and give them the rope to learn, make mistakes and grow.

The second hardest thing is to tell someone what his or her weaknesses are. It's easy to praise people (although that isn't done enough, either). But to tell someone about his weaknesses is hard. Ironically, it has huge leverage if you can learn to do it effectively.

The best way to develop as a manager is to listen to your people and ask them how you're doing. Once they believe you really want to know, and you get a trusted channel opened up, you'll get very good advice.

SD: Any final words of advice?

JP: Always view the glass as half-full, not half-empty. Observe leaders whom you think are effective. From each of them, commit to replicate the strengths that you see and commit to avoid any weaknesses they have. Every leader has both.

Further Reading:
patrickWeb, the website of John Patrick
http://www.patrickweb.com/

>>GOVERNMENT STUDY PUTS OFFSHORING IN PERSPECTIVE

Though offshore outsourcing is on the rise, its total impact on the U.S. economy is still small, according to a recent study by the Government Accountability Office.

The study, requested by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, found that U.S. businesses increased their spending on offshore business, professional and technical services (BPT) by 76.9 percent from 1997 to 2002. Yet, of the 1.5 million layoffs reported in 2003, only 13,000—or less than once percent—were due to offshoring. And most of those were in manufacturing, the study said.

In other words, businesses seem to be offshoring IT work, but not necessarily IT jobs.

The study also revealed that the majority of the work is not going to India, Russia and other "low wage" countries. Rather, 24.3 percent of offshored BPT services in 2002 went to Canada, while 19.3 percent went to the United Kingdom. India came in 8th on the list, with just 1.9 percent of the total. Russia took less than 1 percent.

Additionally, the study showed significant drops in spending on Indian data processing, database and management services from 2000—when spending on Indian services was at its height—to 2002. In fact, the only tracked category of Indian BPT services to see an increase during that timeframe was research and development.

But if you think these statistics will finally put an end to the controversy over whether offshoring is good or bad, think again. The GAO cautions that the certain holes in the way the government records layoffs did not allow its researchers to get a full view of the situation.

For instance, companies with fewer than 50 employees are not required to report layoffs to the Department of Labor at all. Likewise, companies that have fewer than 50 layoffs in five weeks also do not have to file reports. The GAO acknowledges that if this data were available, the number of jobs outsourced to other countries could actually be higher than concluded.

Indeed, the GAO's interest in getting this additional data is apparently so significant that it didn't make any recommendations on how the government should treat offshoring. "[A] more complete understanding of the extent of this phenomenon will require further efforts," writes the GAO. "As more recent data are collected and additional studies are completed, some questions about the extent of the offshoring phenomenon will be addressed."

Or, to put it more simply: the debate continues.

—Amit Asaravala

GAO Offshoring Report: [PDF]
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04932.pdf

Many people believe the upcoming U.S. presidential election is about choosing a leader who can reduce terrorism in America and abroad. However, for the tech industry, the elections are also about choosing a leader who will promote the sorts of policies that keep developers employed and tech companies in business. As we found out from the results of last month's poll, however, ideas on who will do that the best vary wildly. Indeed, with George W. Bush just barely taking the lead over John Kerry in our survey, it seems the tech industry will be no less divided than the rest of the nation when it comes time to head to the polls in November.

Q: In your opinion, which U.S. presidential candidate is most supportive of the technology industry?

47% George W. Bush
46% John Kerry
2% Ralph Nader
6% Other

Total respondents: 180

>>PROJECT MANAGEMENT POLL: OFFSHORING AND THE ELECTION

Q1: Should offshore outsourcing be a major issue in the U.S. presidential race?

1. Yes, the President should not support the sending of jobs overseas.
2. Yes, the President should support practices that make it easier for business to save money.
3. No, there's not enough data yet for anyone to know for sure what the impact of offshoring is on the U.S. economy.
4. No, the economy is not affected either way.

1. I am registered to vote in the U.S.
2. I am a U.S. citizen, but I am not registered to vote.
3. I am not a U.S. citizen.

Your response will be kept confidential. Aggregate responses will appear in next month's newsletter.

>>ON THE WEB: ARTICLES AND TOP RESOURCES

The Election Night Enigma and Other Stories
When critical voting data disappears, panic attacks proliferate. Plus: a monster by any other name is still ... a monster; collecting payment from a slippery offshore contractor; and a team full of nodding engineers who don't know the word "no." (Oct. 2004)

Weakling No More! by J.D. Hildebrand
Brush that sand out of your face, take a lesson from Charles Atlas's dynamic tension, and learn to use conflict creatively to beef up your management approach. (Oct. 2004)

The Best-Kept Secret by Scott W. Ambler
Model storming occurs when a few people get together and use simple tools to quickly model a critical issue. This unsung practice is probably the most common approach to modeling. (Oct. 2004)

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