Guild Companies

Once again, just as last year, I find myself writing this column on September 11. I didn't plan to be writing today; I'm just running late. What is also the same this year is that I find myself in a completely different frame of mind on this day. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened two years ago and how it affected all of us.

Today I don't want to ignore it. I want to take it all in again, like it just happened. My reason for doing so is primarily that, as much as I have tried to learn and grow from that experience, I don't feel I've done as well as I could have. I want the memories to slap me in the face and wake me up just as they have done each of the past two years.

Last year I wrote about getting the proper perspective and how we can use September 11 to remind us of what's really important. But I didn't want it to stop on September 12. I looked for each of us to collect some of the love, respect, and perspective that was so evident two years ago and to cultivate it throughout the rest of the year and for the rest of our lives.

But now I realize that's not possible. We've moved forward. We are working, paying bills, shopping, shuffling kids around, and playing just as we did on September 10, 2001. Our reserves of love, respect, and perspective are back to their dangerously low levels, and that bothers me.

I don't expect us to mourn like we did two years ago, and I don't expect that we should stop living, working, and enjoying life, but what seemed so painfully obvious to me seemed to rush past many others like a project deadline: that with all of the horror of that day two years ago, at least we would take a look in the mirror and question our own existence.

From that questioning we would realize that we could do better. We could treat people with more respect, both at work and in our social lives. We could love our friends and family just a little bit more, and we could carry a new perspective on life that would allow us to spread that love and respect. Getting a little too touchy-feely for the IT crowd? Probably so, but I want us all to take a look back to find out if you see what I've seen.

I want to focus on IT specifically, because this is supposed to be an IT-related column and also because I think we've failed in our responsibilities. First of all, many of us have gone right back to pointing fingers at our user community and ridiculously thinking that they are the problem, when in fact it is the user community that allows us to have our jobs in the first place. To put it bluntly: We in IT are generally the problem. The company is not in business to keep IT folks employed; it is in business to make and sell a product or to provide a service of some kind. We in IT are here to support that effort. We need to stop talking so much and listen to what our users are telling us and asking us. Some of them can be more difficult to deal with than others, but we should have patience. Maybe there is reason why someone we are dealing with is in a foul mood. Could he have a sick child, a car that doesn't work, or some other issue at home? Could it be IT's track record is the reason? Try to look at things from his perspective, and you will be a better human being.

This doesn't just go for the user/IT relationship, of course. It goes for all relationships, in all walks of life. But, sticking with the IT theme, let's look how we live each day. For one, we still seem to have issues relating to anyone on a different technology. Whether it is the iSeries versus the Web, the iSeries versus the mainframe, or programmers versus operators and administrators, it's like we have our own little race issue, represented by technology as opposed to skin color. Can we just stop this nonsense? The absurd lengths we've gone to in order separate ourselves from one another based on technology, and the subsequent time wasted in putting any energy into this sort of thinking, is mind-boggling.

Then there are the long hours, the demanding deadlines, and the unnecessary stress. Have we learned nothing? Our jobs are important and we should do the best we can, but if we place an unreasonable value on our jobs, we soon become defined by them. In my opinion, we should not define ourselves by our profession, and we shouldn't expend every last bit of energy on it.

I don't mean to generalize. Maybe those in other IT shops, in other parts of the country or the world, deal with these issues better than what I've seen. And not every person in every IT shop is at fault. I don't mean to judge, either. My harsh tone--if it is indeed that to your ear--is meant as a rallying cry, not a judgment against you. We all need to do a little better.

Maybe September 11 can be used to fill up the reserves, so to speak. It can be used as a time to remember the events of the past and to do what we can to help others. Use it as time to gather strength, to reevaluate and get a fresh start, if you need to. We all have work to do, relationships to improve, families to take care of (even if that family is only you). Taking a little time to fill our reserves with love, respect, and the proper perspective on life will return much more in the long run than the effort put forth to disperse it. Give it a try. Don't wait until next September.