Recently I read a great article about tapping into the hidden potential of the IT department (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120467900166211989.

html), and it got me thinking about all the ways past employers missed opportunities towards improving customer satisfaction, internal productivity, product development ? simply by "boxing me in" as the "IT Guy." When I think about this situation, it concerns me. Most employers are looking for someone that has the "know how" to get technological things done, or the "creative drive" to come up with original great ideas that can possibly make a company very profitable. Then they hire them, and then turn around and tell them how to do it "their way;" ultimately get work that is poor and mostly oriented around the employer's personal interest. Employers need to trust that they hired the right person for the job, and give them the latitude to propose and execute the employee's vision.

Have you ever heard this? ? "Yes it's good and might make money but the boss won't like it." This is a pure example of decisions and influences based on politics and personal preference rather than what is best for business. Within the IT department, for example, there is a gold mine of talent that can increase the revenue potential of any company no matter what the industry, but it is not "mined" correctly, if at all. Instead IT guys are passed off as "the computer guy", the guy to call when a computer problem occurs or the server is down. This can affect the morale and the inner psyche of "they computer guy" since the only time someone comes to him is when a problem occurs; no IT guy I know actually loves to go to work to fix a "windows crash" issue.

While this is certainly a part of the job, these same individuals can offer a great deal more in terms of creative solutions to complex delivery and customer-oriented issues. If you think about that concept it falls in line with an old proverb "The greatest threat comes from within", which was certainly the case of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Gates used to "work" for Jobs at Apple, and was able to "steal" the idea of a Graphic User Interface and come out with it a year before Apple could, with a little tweaks here and there. (Don't worry Steve Jobs "stole" the idea from Xerox, who in turn just "gave" it away apparently; Also Steve's doing pretty fine in my opinion). This is one example of where an idea was made better by an "employee" and taken to the next level.

My point: All employees are potentially valuable resources that can contribute mightily to the bigger picture if given the opportunity, the open forum. The Wall Street Journal's article that inspired this writing discussed ways to integrate the IT department into top management staff meetings. The exclusion of IT personnel has been more the norm than the exception; this deprives the company of a most valuable resource and potentially efficient and cost effective solutions to complex problems.

A simple but expensive example is the junk mail credit offers everyone gets in the mail. I get a credit card offer from Capital One for example and filled it out and get a Capital One credit card. Then I get another offer about 1-4 months later from Capital One again, for the same credit card! A simple IT process of scrubbing the current customer list against potential customers, or even simply removing a customer from the potential customer list would save Capital One additional unnecessary expenses, not the least of which is credibility and professionalism. Think about it, how many times you have received the same credit card offer within the same week. This practice makes Capital One, et al look very silly if not right out idiotic Simply put, better use of IT can improve performance, productivity and profitability across the entire spectrum of company operations. Technology is meant to help people; so to all C-Level management, don't be afraid to get to know your IT department and their skill-set.

You may be sitting on a wealth of new ideas and energy.

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