Am I a resource?

First time I had contact with ITIL library, I got really pissed. There one can find the definition of “Resource: A generic term that includes IT Infrastructure, people, money or anything else that might help to deliver an IT Service. Resources are considered to be Assets of an Organization.”.

During my professional life I have heard several times the expression “I can give you one resource”, referring to people and that always also made me feel furious.

Today I saw a post of the fantastic Simon Sinek (in my opinion, of course).  I strongly recommend his 2009 TED Talk – “The Golden Circle” as well as his articles in LinkedIn and the following of his profile in the same network. Anyway, he says in his post: “Great leaders don't blame the tools they are given. Great leaders work to sharpen them.”.

There we go: Now I am a tool?? (Someone indeed asked him in the comments “Have you just called me a tool?”, without answer).

So let´s think a bit about that. It´s the dream of IT users and software development companies owners that developers, analysts and everybody in the IT Team from infrastructure to codification, passing through business analysis, help desk etc. really act as robots, or resources or “tools”. The expression “software factory”, as if we could make code like McDonald’s make burgers is indeed another thing that always pissed me off.

(Allow me a big bracket in here: I´m not saying that standards are not important, if “things” like variables names, structures of classes, description of cases and functionalities, use of the ports in a hub, labeling cables, tables names and all sort of IT “stuff” had an easy and recognizable way of being defined and which anyone entering a company could be able to understand, regardless of the country, the language used, the operational system and so on, IT wouldn´t be so unpredictable and sometimes “illogical”. A great friend has a saying about that: “Standard is such an important thing in IT that every professional has his/her own” – Luis Claudio Batista da Silva. End of the bracket)

Maybe someday we won´t have people anymore developing systems. The user will record a message and a series of algorithms will ask him/her some questions and another series of algorithms will develop, test and deploy a flawless, fast, economic (in terms of hardware use) and scalable application. Maybe…

Maybe I´m being radical, my personal experience being treated like a resource, many times during my career, especially as a developer, makes inflexible and obstructs my vision of a “bigger context” on ITIL (and Simon’s) conception of people. Maybe…

Maybe, just maybe, we should consider that we are people and we are not disposable or exchangeable like machines, cables, money… We are sometimes, needy, sometimes sad, sometimes happy, sometimes overreacting, sometimes genius, sometimes dummies, sometimes something-that-only-people-can-be and that should be considered.

(Second bracket: It’s crucial to highlight, of course, there are a lot of companies that understand people are not mere resources and indeed, take in consideration the dreams, the aspirations, the inspirations, the unpredictability of human beings, with managers and users and decision makers that act and think like human beings, companies labeled GPTW which are growing and having success where other “more conservatives” are struggling or failing. Closing bracket)

Maybe I´m just being a fool after all… here is part of what I think when I hear/see people being treated as resources or tools. Think of it. Is it ok for you to be just a “piece of something”? Am I not seing something here?

Are we just resources, tools, or fools?

Be well,