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April 1, 2001
Flying Monkey Alert
By Bill Bateman
In case you're just tuning in, this is the question I posed a few months back:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with one the worst and ten the best, rate your IT department. I'll ask you the question:
Are they a good witch or a bad witch?
Should I find that there is a majority of 8,9, and 10 rated IT departments out there, then I'll report that and be thrilled that the incidents above are isolated anomalies. If not, I'll go into depth on positive and proactive ways to rebuild the bridges and maybe even get the boxes out of your hallways for you."
It is always interesting to do a column like this and review reader responses to a question you've posed. Not only is it nice to know that someone is actually out there reading what you write, but also that the readers who take time to write me have good things to say. Now that doesn't mean you all think I'm great and every letter is a flavored coffee moment. I get taken to task every now and then just like anyone else. But it is done so well. It is constructive not confrontational. Thank you for that.
Let's look at the results of the survey first. Then I'd like to look at the issue from both sides and make some suggestions. Remember, 10 is the best, and 1 is the worst rating.
- Of the total responses I got 20% gave their IT department a score of 9 or 10.
- All but one of the responses in that 20% group was, in fact, IT staff.
(My take is that IT people think they are doing a really good job.)
- The remaining 80% of the responses, none were above 4. One person, leaning toward a zero, grudgingly gave their IT Department a one, because they at least showed up.
- The average score of those 80% who gave low scores was a 3.
(My take is that the clients or customers do not think they are doing a very good job. At all)
Ouch!
So it isn't just me, huh? Well that's both good and bad I guess. But with so many perceived "bad witches" out there, can the flying monkeys be far behind?
I was "Computer Guy" at our site for over 8 years. I was Systems Administrator for less than 8 months. While writing this I talked to the new "Computer Guy" and System Administrator in Training (SAIT). He had a very interesting observation.
Imagine you have made an extra effort to get home early. You've had a very bad day at work, but you've decided to do something nice for your significant other. You are greeted by a hairball on the front porch from the cat. The moment you step in the door, ice cream and flowers in hand, you are broad sided with angry complaints about your socks in the living room, the kids are having a noisy fight, a doggie surprise has been left on the new carpet. But you don't notice it because something, most likely your dinner, is scorching a pan in the kitchen and filling the house with smoke.
MY. Isn't it nice to be home? Aren't you glad you made that extra effort, especially if this is a pattern? Can you just hardly wait to do that again?
This is how my SAIT describes his service calls. He teaches a full schedule of classes and just like me, works during his lunch hours, before and after school. Yet when he arrives the first comment is usually "what took you so long?" There is rarely a "Thank you", only criticism. It doesn't take long until you stop hurrying to help. The spiral begins.
The other side of the coin is no better. Long delays, poor work and incomplete repairs are just the tip of the iceberg. Long awaited software doesn't work after it is installed for months. While there are often Technology Committees who supposedly oversee the planning and expenditures, the decisions are made at the top and then given to the committee to rubber stamp, if they're lucky. The spiral begins.
The spiral I'm talking about is what I've decided to call the Attitude Event Spiral. They can go up, but unfortunately experience shows that most of the time they go down. In all three of those cases expectations aren't met. If this situation becomes continual, issues begin to build. First related to the problems, then extending into other areas. If your school is like mine here's where the flying monkeys come in. Resentment easily turns to anger and the downward spiral is in motion. Left unchecked trust eventually dissolves, positions solidify and factions, based not on the issues, but very much like a Junior High clique, begin to form.
At the very least, months of productive time is wasted. Morale can be irreparably damaged and most important, the kids don't get what they need to learn. Grant funding can be lost, and the grant writer along with it. In the worst case you have people doing what I call "the camel" and that's when the wheels come off.
Camels will take only so much weight before they simply sit down and quit. No amount of prodding will move them. They bite and spit. Oddly enough, some teachers are like that too. (Well, except for the biting and spitting part.) It comes down to "Enough is enough, get somebody else, I quit." Talk about a no-win situation for everyone involved? Phew!
Parenthetically, I see an increasing number of articles in our newspapers about "Why Technology Isn't Working in Our Schools!" or words to that effect. If you read carefully or actually go out and investigate, I believe we could evenly split the cause between training the teachers and technical/system issues I'm talking about here.
So how do we stop the event spiral from building downward any faster than it apparently already is? How do we train the teachers and direct the funding and keep people from circling the drain? To that I answer: parents.
You see fellow educators the only reason that we have computers in the schools is that parents use them in the workplace and began to ask school board members why we don't teach that stuff? Board members asked Principals and they in turn asked the teachers. Education is business driven. One of our goals is supposed to be preparing young people for the workforce, with learning coming in second. (Personally that is an entire second column, not on technology but teaching philosophy. I must demure on a firefight on that issue at this time if I may?) When business adopted the computer, it was only a matter of time until they showed up in the school. An upward event spiral if you will.
BEFORE you try the drastic steps, like the camel or 60 Minutes, for heaven's sake please sit down and talk to each other. As a teacher myself I can say we are very often terrible in communicating with each other, no matter how well we work with the kids.
- Devote an entire staff meeting to the issue. Go off campus and reserve a room for lunch on a minimum day. No money to do that? The State Digital Grants I see California issuing begin about the six-figure mark in most cases. You've got the money.
- Examine your Technology plan. How old is it? What does it call on you to do? What support goals are set? How are those goals measured? What are the consequences?
- Do you have parents on your Tech committee? Active, business based, kind of scary, potentially noisy parents? If not get some. Cuts through a lot of crud.
- Look at the IT department process from their end. Do they service the entire County with a staff of 3? You could be on to something as to why the long delays.
- Do not bite the IT staff when they come. Yes, it has been six weeks and somebody needs a good swift kick, but not the person who comes out on their lunch hour to help you. "Hey good to see you" and a "thanks" is simply good manners.
- If you have an in-house Teacher/Techie/Lunchroom Monitor/guy-gal who fixes the Xerox, WHY should they do this job for you? Killing the messenger won't fix the problems. It just slows down messages. Do you give them a free period? Pay them for nights and weekends? Less of a student load? Just like our well-intentioned spouse above, caring has it limits.
This is getting long, so I think this is a good spot to stop for this month. I'll finish this up next time. Until then, keep looking over your shoulder for signs of Flying Monkeys, but try to smile while you do it.
Email: Bill Bateman
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