Unprincipled
Most of my career, I had no principles.
In 2018, I got some, and it changed everything.
Let me explain.
Becoming principled
In February 2018, I started my new job at Penn State. Like any leader joining a new organization, I spent my first few weeks interviewing people around the institution to get an accurate lay of the land.
One thing stood out to me from these conversations. Despite the university having an impressive group of information technology professionals, there were several diverging ideas about where Penn State should be going technically. This divergence created tension and frustration, proving to be a stumbling block in several areas. It was even leading to teams developing competing services with each other.
So, we tried a simple exercise. We developed principles.
According to one technical architectural model, principles are:
general rules and guidelines, intended to be enduring and seldom amended, that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission.
In other words, principles are clear statements about what matters to your organization. Ideally, they are concise, clear, and unambiguous. A quick review of an organization’s principles should give one a good understanding of its aspirations and priorities.
A representative group of IT leaders generated the early drafts of the PSU technical principles, and we quickly reached out to get input from a broad set of people in all parts of the institution. After a couple of months of work, Penn State Technical Principles (April 2018) included some of the following:
- We will relentlessly pursue automation
- Automation allows us to do more at better service-levels
- We will avoid the proliferation of functionally-redundant technology
- Redundant technologies waste the university’s valuable resources
- We are “cloud first” for the selection of applications and infrastructure
- When selecting a delivery platform, we’ll consider a broad set of factors including: total cost of ownership, opportunity costs, strategic alignment and operational sustainability
- We will buy solutions rather than develop them ourselves
- We prefer Software-as-a-Service cloud-based solutions over traditional software licensing models
- We will become integration experts
- Our mix of applications and business practices will be unique from other institutions, so we’ll need to have the skills and knowledge to integrate our systems where out-of-the-box integration is inadequate
- The network is the digital foundation for learning and discovery
- Penn State’s ability to lead in teaching, learning and research requires a world-class network
And it worked. We socialized the principles across the organization, and there was strong support. Many people expressed thanks for the clarification of direction that the principles brought to the team. Of course, not everyone agreed with the principles, and some even left the organization over them. Looking back, I think even those people that left would agree that it was better to surface our disagreements and make clear decisions than try to co-exist while pulling in different directions.
Expanding our principles
Our technical principles were so successful we used the approach several more times. Each time, having to write down our principles in succinct statements helped us think through what we believed and aspired to.
One of the more unusual uses of principles we had at PSU involved staff layoffs. In the summer of 2020, it was becoming evident to me and my colleagues that layoffs would be necessary in our organization. Months before any layoff decision was made, I met with my leadership team and asked, “What principles should guide us if we are eventually asked to lay off some of our staff?”
With no input from me, the leadership team came up with these principles:
- Leverage non-salary cuts as much as possible
- But don’t cut non-salary expenses so much that we undermine our ability to successfully support Penn State
- Try to maintain or grow staffing levels in areas of strategic importance
- Try to make sure teams have enough personnel to do the important work that Penn State requires
- Many teams are understaffed already due to previous reductions and the recent job freeze
- Try to keep the ratio of managers to staff as optimally balanced as possible
- Consider re-organizing work where it could lead to gains in efficiency
Later in 2020, when the decision was made to lay off staff, I was able to make the cut decisions independently using these principles. One of the benefits of this approach was that it meant that I, not my leadership team, was held accountable for the layoff decisions, but the cuts were consistent with our leadership team’s vision and priorities. It also meant that I could easily explain my choices clearly and understandably. Frankly, the cuts were still painful, especially to those staff members that lost their positions, but our use of principles helped the members of our organization understand how and why the decisions were made.
Hints on developing principles
Are you unprincipled? Maybe you and your organization could benefit from defining your principles too. Below are a few ideas for putting them together.
- Get a lot of people’s fingerprints on them. When complete, you want as many people to feel ownership as possible.
- Present draft principles in settings where people have a real opportunity to make suggestions and challenge assumptions. Don’t presume that silence is assent. Try to get real, meaningful feedback.
- Avoid jargon and ambiguity. For example, our principle “cloud first” is too vague and confusing. The term “cloud first” means different things to different people.
- Keep the principles as succinct and clear as possible. Most of ours were less than 15 words. If necessary, include accompanying text or sub-bullets to clarify the principle.
- Remember that principles shouldn’t change much over time. They are intended to be so foundational that change is rarely necessary. That said, you should review them every year or two to keep them in everyone’s mind and to make adjustments when appropriate.
- When you are making important decisions, make a point of referring back to the principles. This will not only help with your decision-making, but will help reinforce the principles and build alignment across the organization.
Would developing a set of principles help strengthen alignment in your organization?
- We’re well aligned, so I don’t think the development of principles would help us much.
- We’re well aligned, but it might be worth developing principles to help reinforce things.
- We lack alignment, but I don’t think this tool would help in our context.
- We lack alignment, and I think the development of a set of principles could really help.
- None of the above – we already have principles.
Last week we asked about moving or not in your current career journey.
- 29% said they’re happy with their current position and not seeking.
- 14% said while they’re not happy where they are, they’re staying put for now.
- 25% said while they’re happy where they are, they are open to new career possibilities.
- 19% said they’re looking for a next step while staying at their current institution.
- 13% said they’re looking for a next step, likely somewhere new.
There was lots of engagement in last week’s survey – over twice as much as usual. This shows the interest in this topic to so many readers. 54% said they’re happy where they are, although roughly half of this happy group are open to new career possibilities. While 54% are happy, that also means 46% are in some state of unhappiness, including almost 1 in 3 who are actively looking. There are two ways we can look at these results. From an individual perspective, know you are not alone regardless of which category best describes where you are (and especially if you’re looking to move, with so many others looking to move, this can create favorable conditions for you). From an organizational perspective, consider your team and how they may be feeling. How can you best help them thrive either as a member of your team or elsewhere?
- October 2024 (1)
- September 2024 (4)
- August 2024 (4)
- July 2024 (5)
- June 2024 (4)
- May 2024 (4)
- April 2024 (5)
- March 2024 (4)
- February 2024 (4)
- January 2024 (5)
- December 2023 (3)
- November 2023 (4)
- October 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (4)
- August 2023 (4)
- July 2023 (4)
- June 2023 (4)
- May 2023 (5)
- April 2023 (4)
- March 2023 (1)
- January 2023 (4)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (5)
- October 2022 (4)
- September 2022 (4)
- August 2022 (5)
- July 2022 (4)
- June 2022 (4)
- May 2022 (5)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (5)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (4)
- December 2021 (3)
- November 2021 (4)
- October 2021 (3)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (4)
- June 2021 (5)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (5)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (4)
- November 2020 (4)
- October 2020 (6)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (4)
- July 2020 (7)
- June 2020 (7)
- May 2020 (5)
- April 2020 (4)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (4)
- January 2020 (4)
- December 2019 (2)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (3)
- August 2019 (3)
- July 2019 (2)
- June 2019 (4)
- May 2019 (3)
- April 2019 (5)
- March 2019 (4)
- February 2019 (3)
- January 2019 (5)
- December 2018 (2)
- November 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (5)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (3)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (5)
- January 2018 (3)
- December 2017 (3)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (5)
- September 2017 (3)
- August 2017 (5)
- July 2017 (3)
- June 2017 (8)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (4)
- March 2017 (4)
- February 2017 (4)
- January 2017 (4)
- December 2016 (2)
- November 2016 (7)
- October 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (8)
- August 2016 (5)
- July 2016 (4)
- June 2016 (12)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (4)
- March 2016 (7)
- February 2016 (4)
- January 2016 (10)
- December 2015 (4)
- November 2015 (6)
- October 2015 (4)
- September 2015 (7)
- August 2015 (5)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (12)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (10)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (4)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (5)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (6)
- August 2014 (4)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (4)
- May 2014 (5)
- April 2014 (5)
- March 2014 (5)
- February 2014 (4)
- January 2014 (5)
- December 2013 (5)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (10)
- September 2013 (4)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (8)
- June 2013 (6)
- May 2013 (4)
- April 2013 (5)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (4)
- January 2013 (5)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (4)
- October 2012 (5)
- September 2012 (4)
- August 2012 (4)
- July 2012 (5)
- June 2012 (4)
- May 2012 (5)
- April 2012 (4)
- March 2012 (4)
- February 2012 (4)
- January 2012 (4)
- December 2011 (3)
- November 2011 (5)
- October 2011 (4)
- September 2011 (4)
- August 2011 (4)
- July 2011 (4)
- June 2011 (5)
- May 2011 (5)
- April 2011 (3)
- March 2011 (4)
- February 2011 (4)
- January 2011 (4)
- December 2010 (3)
- November 2010 (4)
- October 2010 (4)
- September 2010 (3)
- August 2010 (5)
- July 2010 (4)
- June 2010 (5)
- May 2010 (4)
- April 2010 (3)
- March 2010 (2)
- February 2010 (4)
- January 2010 (4)
- December 2009 (4)
- November 2009 (4)
- October 2009 (4)
- September 2009 (4)
- August 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (3)
- June 2009 (3)
- May 2009 (4)
- April 2009 (4)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (3)
- January 2009 (3)
- December 2008 (3)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (3)
- August 2008 (3)
- July 2008 (4)
- May 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (2)
- March 2008 (2)
- February 2008 (1)
- January 2008 (1)
- December 2007 (3)
- November 2007 (3)
- October 2007 (3)
- September 2007 (1)
- August 2007 (2)
- July 2007 (4)
- June 2007 (2)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (2)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (1)
- November 2006 (1)
- October 2006 (1)
- September 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- June 2006 (2)
- April 2006 (1)
- March 2006 (1)
- February 2006 (1)
- January 2006 (1)
- December 2005 (1)
- November 2005 (2)
- October 2005 (1)
- August 2005 (1)
- July 2005 (1)
- April 2005 (2)
- March 2005 (4)
- February 2005 (2)
- December 2004 (1)