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Anon:
<> I recently interviewed with a company I will be assigned to as a
consultant,
<> but I am at a loss for lack of prior, in-depth experience in the
particular
<> tasks and responsibilities I would be assigned. [details deleted]
Ah! Two of my most interesting projects were consulting gigs for IT
strategy groups at Bureaucratic Megacorp [name changed because I want
to work for them again some day]. One project involved writing the
departmental strategy docs from the ground up---sitting in on group
meetings, writing up what I thought they meant, asking questions,
pointing out potential potholes in the strategic road map, and
producing everything from the formal departmental 5-year plan to the
PowerPoint presentation used to pitch the plan to the CIO. Lots of
fun. The second project was part of a major corporate restructuring
effort, which gave some fascinating glimpses into the way an elephant
can be taught to dance.
Anon:
<> >2. Develop a style or styles that are both extremely technical,
yet easily
<> >and enjoyably read. It must take hold of their attention so they
actually
<> >read it.
Karen Lunsford:
<> A book you may find helpful is Joseph M. Williams's _Style: Toward
Clarity and
<> Grace_, Chicago: U of Chicago P.
<> Joe submitted the next update of the book this past summer; I'm not
sure when
<> it's due to come out. The current paperback version, though, is
only about
<> $10.00.
_Style_ is an excellent choice as a guidebook. Another book you may
want to skim through, as an example of one appropriate style as well
as a background primer on the topic of IT strategy, is _Building
Enterprise Information Architectures: Reengineering Information
Systems_ by Melissa Cook. Surprisingly readable for an IT textbook
<grin>.
Good luck with your project. If you want to discuss particular
problems, or just vent frustrations to someone who has been there,
done that, and chewed on the T-shirt to keep from snarling at
meetings, drop me a line offlist.
