259: What IT Professionals And Bridge Builders Should Have In Common with Tom Gilb

<p>Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Tom Gilb, the author of ten books and hundreds of papers on requirements, design, project management and related subjects. His ideas on requirements are the acknowledged basis for CMMi Level 4, which were based upon his pioneering book, ‘Software Metrics’, where he also coined that term.</p> <p>Tom has lectured at universities across the globe, and has been a keynote speaker at multiple technical conferences. In 2012, he was named an Honorary Fellow of the British Computer Society.</p> <p>Tom joins Phil today to discuss his extensive business journey, his outlook upon the analytical approach to solving problems, and why the future of IT may lie in adopting an engineering approach.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>KEY TAKEAWAYS:</strong></p> <p><strong>(4:08) TOP CAREER TIP</strong></p> <p>Always try to volunteer to help people who may be facing a challenge. Gain permission to help, make friends and learn along the way. Even if you aren’t always successful, you will mark yourself out as a useful colleague.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(9:08) WORST CAREER MOMENT</strong></p> <p>Tom tends not to think of his career in best or worst terms, but there have been scary moments. The most memorable involved his being asked to solve a complex problem by Israeli rocket scientists. Tom succeeded, despite his reservations, and was rewarded by having his computer confiscated!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(14:15) CAREER HIGHLIGHT</strong></p> <p>Working in India, Tom was able to convince the workers there to increase the quality of their workmanship instead of selling themselves as the cheapest. Soon all the workers were accredited, and competing on a global scale, which in turn changed the face of IT services in India, which became a leading force.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>(19:20) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T</strong></p> <p>We need to do better in terms of failure rates when it comes to IT projects, which often leaves our clients disappointed. By adopting engineering principles