One thing that I have always felt to be true about people is that most of us want to leave some indelible mark on the world, a testament, if you will, to our existence.
Some do this in very palpable and significant ways.
Whether you’re a religious person or not also doesn’t necessarily seem to be that important in this regard so while fears of nothingness in the afterlife or some transcendent outcome are retribution may be concerns, simply having existed and leaving some mark seems to be important.
These thoughts on the metaphysical were not part of the conversation but were merely my after-thoughts as I considered how I wanted to describe the concept of builders versus fixers.
Separating innovation and maintenance functions
In organizations that I have worked in, in the past, it has been very clear that the most successful operational sustainment model is one where a separate team provides support for projects and innovation and another the ‘lights on’ or maintenance activities. 3
Maintenance tasks ideally should not be blended with innovation, if they are, they can be disruptive to the innovation cycle.
Some of my colleagues asserted that splitting the two functions was a problem conceptually, because in the realm of software development, everyone wants to be working on the new stuff, the innovative piece, the new code, and the new outcomes. This means that if you have an exclusively maintenance focused team then they feel that they are losing out on the opportunity to build stuff.
Maintenance work is dull, you’re working with someone else’s crappy code, perhaps a bad design or architecture and you’re trying to shoehorn fixes or corrections in and it is isn’t much fun or particularly glamorous.
This suggestion that maintenance should be dull didn’t seem to be very satisfactory and started me thinking.
On the one hand I completely get it. I completely get the idea that we all want to be builders of something – architects of our own pyramids. We all want to make new stuff, create something from nothing and leave our mark on the world – it is possibly something that distinguishes man from the beast.
On the other hand I challenge this assertion that everyone feels that they have to be a “builder“.I think that the personality traits of builders versus fixers are constantly evolving.
If the logic of everyone wanting to be a builder was the only mind-set that people have then surely that would also extend to other occupations?
The construction industry, medicine and health care, manufacturing and commerce and others. Not all doctors are involved in genetics and creating new drugs or cures, does that make them feel less satisfied about their occupation in healthcare?
It is very easy for our own personal aspirations, hopes and dreams to contaminate the reality of the world and I know that I am as guilty of this as anyone else but I fundamentally don’t believe that everyone feels that the only work worth doing is work that involves creating something new and innovative.
I contend, that if those are the personalities that your business is attracting exclusively then there is probably something wrong with what you’re doing or saying and there will be rocky times ahead for business continuity.
About the author
Clinton Jones has experience in international enterprise technology and business process on four continents and has a focus on integrated enterprise business technologies, business change and business transformation. Clinton also serves as a technical consultant on technology and quality management as it relates to data and process management and governance. In past roles Clinton has worked for Fortune 500 companies and non-profits across the globe.
Categories: Career
