What Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean Says About Software Spending: The Chair Is Not My Son

I’ve always thought that Michael Jackson, belting out the chorus of Billie Jean, sounds like he’s saying, “The chair is not my son.”  Of course, he’s actually saying, “The kid is not my son.”  The same kind of confusion – misinterpreting words – applies in most big organizations, particularly when it comes to runaway IT spending, and is driven by different internal political agendas that lead to a waste of money.

I’m a big proponent of using out of the box thinking to reduce IT budgets, which are an incredible boondoggle at most sizable companies, including law firms.  In fact, Greg Lambert from 3 Geeks and a Law Blog has an intriguing post up on encouraging open source software use in law firms right now.  But pursuing budget saving alternatives is not as easy as it may seem.

There’s a fundamental internal political obstacle to surmount in encouraging companies (including law firms) to use open source software and other lower cost opportunities.  I remember attending a worldwide meeting once for an organization that employed me, and after a presentation by our senior technology expert, he asked for questions.  I asked whether we could radically reduce our IT budget by going to lower powered computers exploiting browser based software and open source applications.  He brushed off the question.  A number of our IT experts came up to me afterward and explained that, while they would love to pursue this approach, the IT department’s power base depends on the size of its budget, so IT leaders will oppose an approach that reduces the budget and thereby reduces this power.  Since then, I’ve paid a close eye to the organizational dynamics that can create perverse incentives which prevent efficiency gains.

What I failed to understand when I asked the question, is that when I said, “Let’s reduce the budget and save the company money,” the IT executive heard me say, “Let’s reduce your power base, stall your career, and let non-IT experts waste your resources.”  For that reason, he wasn’t interested in a good opportunity.

Instead, he was too focused on telling everyone that the chair was not my son.

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