ITIL

Happy August, one and all.

I spent the first half of today at a workshop, an ITIL workshop, trying to figure out the difference between CIs, categories, change management and service level agreements.

If I'd been lounging in my living room in my underwear, sipping some Gin and Juice (laiiid back, with my mind on my money…) it wouldn't have been bad. As it was, I felt like a child wandering into a dark room, naked and high on crack. As befits a programme developed by a government office (a UK government office, no less!), it's filled with jargon and skull-busting terminology.

We spent the better part of the morning attempting to decipher what several words meant and then, soon after, attempting yet again to use those half-understood words in a logical manner. Hilarity ensued when it was quickly discovered that as many people attending the workshop had as many different understanding of what each of those words meant:

“Well, when a ticket is generated,  …”

“What do you mean, 'a ticket'? Don't you mean a 'service request'?”

Roll eyes. “No, a ticket.”

“I think you're using that term incorrectly.”

Sigh.

From several sources lately, I've come to understand the value of simplicity. Guy Kawasaki talks about distilling an idea (#7) and explaining it in the time it takes for an elevator ride. The newest manifestation of my age-old disease, Made To Stick (thanks, Garr), starts out with the word Simple.

ITIL, at least from what I've seen so far, is anything but. I will give it another chance tomorrow, as one of the feedback items we've given the trainers is that we don't understand the fucking concepts. Tell us a story, give us examples, don't throw us in the deep end of the pool armed with word definition floaties and expect us to swim.

We'll see.