IT Business Acumen Attention: a Good Thing

Business acumen is definitely important for IT professionals and managers today. But what does that mean? For one thing, it means having a high level understanding of the "business of the business". How does the company make money? Where is cash used and how are decisions made about purchases, staffing and more? What strategies -- IT-related and otherwise -- are being implemented within the company and, most importantly, why? Unless IT professionals have a big picture perspective about the business, unless they are financially and strategically "literate", their impact will be limited. Getting this perspective isn't always easy, but it's critical. Does your company offer business acumen training? Are new strategies and initiatives well communicated and clear? If not, don't wait around for someone else to "teach" you! Learning is your right ... and your responsibility. Catherine J. Rezak, Chairman, Paradigm Learning, Inc., www.paradigmlearning.com

Historically, it has been my observation that the better the IT credentials, the less attention has been paid to other skills, including socialization skills, that are necessary for a management professional. In other words, don't let the 'code' get in the way of understanding the business itself, and the people who comprise the business unit(s). Collaboration skills are taught in business classes under the heading of 'distributive education'. Communication skills are typically a 'language arts' (whether English or some other language) curriculum. Project management is a conglomeration of these, business education, and the technical field (hard to imagine a project manager in say, engineering, being successful without any background in the engineering field). IT professionals have a long row to hoe to get past the perception of them as 'wireheads', which may be unfair, but if all you have done is create programming, it may not be far off the mark, either.