In explaining the importance of creative people in the film business, Louis Mayer of MGM said, "the inventory goes home at night." The same ,can be said of any high-tech company. Add to that the notion that the half-life of the knowledge of a new Ph.D. is computer science is said to be about seven years and you have a piece of why succeeding as a leader and a manager in a high-tech firm is no mean feat.

Book Notes:
Managing People is Like Herding Cats
by Warren Bennis
Executive Excellence Publishing, 1997.

Bennis has spent decades studying leaders and leadership. In "Herding Cats" he notes that good leaders are adept at the management of four things:

1. Attention: Keeping the outcome or goal clear and uppermost in employee's minds. Bennis refers to this as "an extraordinary focus of commitment."

2. Meaning: More than just an act of communication, meaning comes "from the whole person." It is conveyed through an integration of metaphor, action, symbol, and language.

3. Trust: Being a person who can be counted on. Of these leaders, followers often say, "Whether you like it or not, you always know where he is coming from."issues to include in consulting partnership.

4. Self: Knowing your strengths and nurturing them." Leaders accept, and even relish, the inevitability of mistakes.

Each of these plays a key part in managing in the turbulence of a high tech company.

Turbulence in High Tech

There are at least four aspects of high technology companies that collectively make the environment more turbulent.

While many non-technology companies may be affected by one or two of these qualities, it is the combination of all four that creates the volatility and chaos so characteristic of high tech companies.

This article looks at the role of leadership in managing the forces of instability in high tech companies.

First, a brief review of the forces of turbulence with which you are undoubtedly familiar.

Rapid rate of technological change. This is one of the defining characteristics of the world of high tech. The rate of obsolescence in the core technologies is incredibly fast and still accelerating.

Market volatility. Customers can be quite fickle, ready to try out a new gizmo just because it's new and exciting.

Competition. Leap frogging the competition is essential. In addition, the barriers to entry are very low in some segments of the market (for example, applications software). Thus the need to create the next need in the market is constant.

Characteristics of the employees. The employees who are the lifeblood of high tech are creative, independent thinkers. Their loyalty to a technology or discipline is often stronger than their loyalty to the organization.

Leading in a Turbulent World

1. The management of attention requires the leader to have one foot on each side of the fence. The leader must create a clear and constant focus that holds the organization's attention while simultaneously encouraging the exploration of new and unknown territory. Changes in technology, market, and competition are constant and rapid. And yet the development of a complex technical product can take months or years to complete. Thus, while attention must shift quickly, the changes of direction must not occur so often or be so severe that nothing gets finished. A steady focus is key.

2. The management of meaning in this turbulent environment is also a razor's edge to walk. For the highly creative, technical wizards, much of the meaning of work is related to technological advance. So, working on the latest and greatest isn't just cool, it is essential to the engineer's feeling that the work is meaningful.

   The leaders' management of meaning needs to support this while also valuing and actively creating other kinds of meaningful context. This might include the value of the product to the customer, further development that will be enabled by this project, and importance of the product to the company's future. While you can't shift what has meaning for a person, you can manage attention and context to enhance the meaning of a project or increase an employee's awareness of other dimensions of meaning.

3. The management of trust by "staying the course" is one of the most crucial things a leader can do to create trust in a turbulent environment. This does not mean being slow to change or sticking with outdated products or technologies. It does mean being very clear and explicit about who you are as a leader and what your organization can expect from you.

   If these two things are clear to your employees and do not shift with the winds of change, employees have a rock of stability in the stormy seas of change - you.

4. The management of self by the leader is intimately connected to risk taking in the organization. In a rapidly changing world, where innovation is essential, you must exude your belief in risk taking. Your day to day words and actions are a reflection of the extent to which you embrace mistakes as a natural part of growth and creativity. Be an active experimenter. Talk to your staff about your goofs and bloopers. Share the learnings from those mistakes.

Being decisive also encourages risk taking. Your willingness to decide without all the data and move forward tells the organization that you prefer the consequences of acting on partial information to the consequences of not acting or acting too slowly.

It's Still Turbulent, But

By excelling at the management of attention, meaning, trust, and self, you can add a core of stability in the turbulence. You will focus the chaotic motion of the organization into a powerful machine for progress.

Leadership Action: Do you have a "leadership credo?" If not, begin writing yours by jotting down the five "unarguable truths" about managing in your organization. Discuss what you've written with a trusted colleague.