Thanks to all for your interest in yesterday’s post about Forsman & Bodenfors, Svenska Kyrkan, and Google. It led to many interesting conversations both in the comments of the post, on Twitter in my email inbox, on Facebook, and over the phone. Wasn’t quite prepared for that kind of response. So, thanks!
Today I want to talk to you about something else. I want to talk to you about clients. Because even though it is our responsibility as consultants to provide know-how and ideas, clients also need to take their share of responsibility. In short – everybody needs to do their job.
Yesterday I met a prospective client who had great knowledge and understanding of communication and the internet. He almost cried over how he had to actually teach his expensive consultants how to do their jobs. Clients such as this one are a pleasure to meet, and the projects with them always turn out great. They have passion and they understand their role in a successful project.
But sometimes… just sometimes… you bump into something dark and completely different. Let me tell you one of these stories:
On one April morning earlier this year I sat on the balcony with at cup of coffee and a copy of Dagens Nyheter in my hands. I started reading about a topic that I have a particular interest in – computers and learning. The project described in the article is called Skolwebben (The School Web) and is intended to be an information hub for teachers, students, and parents alike. A great idea to be sure! The internet could be an amazing tool to move
learning into a whole new era, but only if competence and ability is
blended into the mix. Here, this didn’t happen.
As I continued reading, I almost choked on my coffee. This project took on enormous costs. 17 000 000 SEK was poured into the project which was to be carried out by TietoEnator. For anyone of us who has ever worked with communication systems 17 000 000 SEK is a huge sum. For that kind of money we could create amazing strategy, amazing tactics, and amazing implementation. The money would be put into streamlining efficiency for the users based on their actual behaviors, and would be built on open source technology. But this is not what TietoEnator does. Instead, the produce a buggy, complicated and expensive system, hated by teachers, students, and parents alike. From what I could tell from the article in Dagens Nyheter, the project was on it’s way to the garbage can and would then be restarted from scratch.
There is plenty to read about this project and you can find much on Google. Try for example this search. But be prepared to get upset.
As I was sitting there on my balcony, I felt I had to do something. I picked up my computer and wrote an email to Anette Holm, the IT-director of Stockholm City, and also the person who had been commenting the story in Dagens Nyheter, explaining to her my ambition to help out. I told her that I would put mine and my agency’s resources at her disposal to figure out how to turn this catastrophe into something useful. I offered to do it for free*(see edit below).
When I received her answer I had to read it over and over five times before I could believe what it said. I could have understood if she wasn’t willing to involve a new agency into the project, but I had never expected this. It was just too much. Here is the email:
“The School Web is not primarily a matter of communication. Thanks for your offer, but I don’t see the need.” I read in the email.
Not primarily a matter of communication! What?!?! Suddenly it didn’t seem so strange anymore that projects governed by this kind of thinking would make communications projects crash, and take 17 000 000 SEK of tax money with them in the fall. How could anyone with the title of IT-director even write something like this, apparently without flinching? It’s almost Kafta-like.
I sat there looking at the email for a while, trying to figure out what to do with it. It just felt so hopeless. I printed the email and posted it on my wall for while see if I would eventually figure this out. “Not primarily a matter of communication…” echoed in my head. What is it a matter of then? If not communication?
A client like Anette Holm is one that I wouldn’t take on. Good projects can’t emerge from somebody who’s philosophical view of the internet doesn’t include the word communication. I would recommend you all not to take on such projects either. Eventually, we’ll get the clients we deserve, and our clients will get the brilliance they deserve.
Excellence is a business of ideals.
Edit:
FYI, here is a link to the email I sent.
Edit:
The offer was intended as free, though I realize now that I’m looking back at the email that it could possibly have been interpreted otherwise, as commenters “vän av ordning” and Magnus Nilsson have rightfully pointed out. The main point however, is not whether or not we actually did offer our services for free, but that Anette Holm’s thoughts on the project were that “…the school web is not primarily a matter of communication…”.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for posting this. Either they’re stuck with the Frankenstein of it-management, or I don’t understand a thing… Wonder what she thinks she means…
I meet this kind of people frequently in my business but it is usually people without real interest or knowledge in the subject, but to hear it from a person in a position like Anette Holm comes as a real surprise and it is really frightening. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.
Would it be possible to see your email to Anette, just for the record? So we know what she was answering to.
Hi Fredrik! Should have had that in there form the start of course! My bad.
I updated the post with a link to the original email.
Thanks Walter! Your mail was very straight to the point and honest. Can’t imagine how she could turn this down… She must have misunderstood something about what you do.
Thanks for sharing this. It saddens me immensely, though.
Still, there are schools out there trying to do different things. Some of my clients are exploring what you can do with blogs, twitter, and Facebook. These are “friskolor” but their budgets are considerably smaller than the state budget you mentioned.
Information Technology (IT) should be regarded as the tools we use to communicate and any organisation that isn’t in the business of prioritizing communication with staff, customers and so on is going to come face to face with a big surprise very soon because generations of people are making informed decisions on the basis of the communication channels they use.
Like @ Frebro I’d like to see your email published here just to keep things transparent; however, I think Anette’s response is shocking! She should be ashamed.
I’m not sure, though, how appropriate it is to publish a personal email here though. I know it’s a bit nit-picky but I would be furious if an email I wrote was put in the public domain without my consent.
Great post! And this is an important issue for not just Swedish state organisations. We ALL have to put the emphasis on communicating effectively.
Okay, I see you were updating whilst I wrote my post (and dealt with a phone call). You’re email was fine. Feel free to delete this and edit my original comment as you see fit.
@Jon, thanks for commenting.
First, you are right about the transparency. I updated the post with a link to my original email. Thanks!
Second, by “Offentlighetsprincipen” her email is already in the public domain.
I just can’t believe it. She’s either missed the point completely or she’s had so many bad experiences of people trying to tell her what to do that she just doesn’t want to deal with it anymore.
“I offered to do it for free.”
Where in your original email does it say “for free”?
been waiting for you to post this… what took you so long?
Thanks for posting your initial email. Your offer to consult for free might be a little unclear, and she might have taken you for any other salesperson. However, this doesn’t explain how she can write that this huge communication project is “not primarily a matter of communication”. That’s a scary opinion.
btw, this qualifies for failblog.org. I can actually visualize Anette Holm’s mail with a big red FAIL on it.
@vänavordning and @Magnus, granted my email may have been unclear about free or not free, though I would interpret “ställa till förfogande” as free. I wrote that email in a furious 1 minute rush and could perhaps have put it better. But still. Free or not free is not exactly the main point I’m trying to make. How the school web project can “…not primarily be about communication…” is.
I’ll make an edit in the main post about the free part to avoid ambiguity.
Okay, if I really want to, I understand what she actually says. I believe she uses ”communication” as in ”marketing, advertising”, which is a popular use in Sweden today (and, I believe, everywhere).
However, this does not make it much better, since that’s one of the possible benefits of the project (aimed at teachers, pupils etc.).
So, all in all: pure depressing.
I don´t see why you are even the slightest surprised or upset by this – unless you haven´t read the details (some of them are still pretty unclear though) of the largest IT-purchase done in a long time. In May, the very same Anette Holm, proudly presented the deal with Volvo IT. As I said above, the details are now a bit more clear. Neither Volvo IT nor their partners (Zipper and Infocare that will implement it) has worked with schools before or any similar type of implementations, by that I´m not saying that they aren´t capable of doing it – just stating that they have never done anything like this. To that it turns out that Stockholms Stad is choosing an all in Microsoft strategy. Which means that all the computers (around 50 000) will get thrown out and to be replaced by standarised Dell´s with very limited options and Windows 7. Yes, they are actually choosing a system which hasn´t even been tested in this scale, along with everything that is already running, or in an environment like the one in Stockholms Stad. The schools are right now finding out the costs of this and the first impressions are that this will, in many ways, kill the progress of ICT and IT in Stockholm Stad for the next five years (the length of the deal with Volvo IT – option for a longer period). They will have locked down environments and very limited options for the schools themselves to progress with their ICT. And what I just wrote is just the tip of the iceberg – to me Holm´s letter perfectly follows their “big vision” for ICT in Sthlm Stad – a vision that should have been dead five years ago, not a vision for the flagship of ICT in Sweden. Or wait, did I mention Microsoft is a close partner to the whole conference? – http://www.kvalitetsmassan.se/prod/sk/kvalitetsmassan/dalis2.nsf/vyPublicerade/E24FDB520D28A084C1257495002A7547?OpenDocument
The schoolweb is just another brick in the already crackling wall that is ICT and IT + schools in Stockholm.
And also, Eva Pethrus (m) who is one of the most influential persons in Microsoft Sweden Education, is sitting in the commune-board for Täby. And if you follow my link above, you can see that Täby is one of the other three communes – http://www.taby.se/Om-Taby-kommun/Den-politiska-organisationen/Kommunstyrelsen/Fortroendevalda-ordinarie/
Sad to read!
Glad that you reacted!
Sad that she is socially retarded!
But Walter, you sounded just like a spin doctor, citing brands etc. I believe she means that her problem is in technolgy and implementation, not in how to spin, or “communicate” about the project. Different worlds colliding, and you did not reach through to her. Is that her fault?
Peter,
Good to hear from you.
Granted, my email was not perfect. That is also why I’m posting it for reference. But still. If you look at how the project turned out, and how many other Anette Holm-projects have turned out, I’m not so sure I can interpret her email as mildly as you do.
If by spin doctor you mean public relations expert or communications expert, this is precisely the competence missing from this project. Modern public relations is about enabling people to communicate with each other and with you, in that order of priority. And that is precisely what the school web is all about. And THAT is precisely what seems to have passed Anette Holm by. Anette isn’t open to bring in communications competence, because she doesn’t realize this is a communications project (hence the answer in her email). She is looking for system engineers because she thinks that the goal of the project is to build a system. Systems are largely commodities these days and do not cost 17 000 000 SEK. Making communications efficient requires communications sompetence, which can be costly, but not THAT costly. A system of commoditized open source components, expertly designed, put together and marketed by competent expertise had done the job to a third of the cost with money to spare.
Hello!
We enjoy good communication.
Please feel free to contact me at any time about any suggestions on good online communication.
Peter,
Reading about the 17 Millions in April made my morning coffee choke. My reaction was similar to yours – I did contact the IT Director Anette Holm and was directly turned aside (but I must say that the answer she delivered to you is amazing in this context – InesUsaman 2.0).
At that point we had a minor research project called “Koll på Läget” which was turned into two simple community services http://www.skolanimobilen.se and http://www.forskolanimobilen.se.
My suggestion was that why not use a simple and free tool that people use compared to the hulk Skolwebb?
Her quick response was more a bit more sophisticated than yours:
Hej Aage,
och tack för ditt mail.
Staden har idag problem med den s.k. skolwebben, skolportallösning för
föräldrar, elever och lärare inom grundskolan. Jag har påtalat
prestandaproblem, bristande funktionalitet och inloggningsproblem. Många
är berörda och det är olyckligt att det fungerar så
otillfredsställande.
Inom utbildningsförvaltningen är nu initierat ett projekt i syfte att
komma till rätta med problemen. Projektet leds av
utbildningsförvaltningen, som också är systemansvariga, och du är
välkommen att höra av dig till dem om du önskar diskutera detta och
erbjuda dina tjänster.
mvh Anette Holm
Then, this is amazing, they came back and wanted us to expand this project. The temptation, I thought, was the bottom up solution where the local initiatives ruled (teachers, parents or students could start a class community) versus the top down approach. Now I don’t know other than
That the service is growing (anyone can start a class community – that is the point) – and that the officials still believe in the skolwebb. Politics and to much money is already built in this solution – I assume that in a year from now this project will cost far more than 17 MSEK in total as well as the 110 SEK per student and year.
This story will continue
Aage
Research summary: PreschoolOnline – a simple online community to improve
information dissemination in preschool
http://www.sics.se/~stny/Pub/PreschoolOnline2009.pdf
Walter,
I believe you are hitting on an open door, and I too have critized the Skolwebben a lot, starting in February 2008 with http://www.weconverse.com/2008/02/07/stockholms-skolwebb-suger-skitsurt/
Before the summer an article titled “Krafttag för en bättre Skolwebb” (Great efforts to improve…”) was published in LÄRA Stockholm (their magazine for school staff), see p. 27 http://redirectingat.com/?id=593X1004&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstockholm.se%2FPageFiles%2F116200%2FL%25c3%2584RA3_2009.pdf
The article starts off (translated by Google) as follows:
“Stockholm Skolwebb has not functioned as it was intended. A variety of problems and shortcomings have been reported by teachers, school managers, computer technicians, and parents. Teacher testifies inter alia, that the login takes too long time for the School Web will play its role as an effective aid in their daily work. – There are major problems with the school web, especially in terms of performance, functionality and sign, confirming Anette Holm, IT Director at City of Stockholm. – From the Educational side, we see obviously concerned about this, “says Education Director Thomas Persson. We should take the measures needed to overcome problems. Stockholm Skolwebb will be a resource for school staff, students and parents. Stockholm Skolwebb is because the schools communications platform, a common portal to support collaboration between teachers, pupils and parents.”
I am still trying to get a foothold with the School board as an advisor in the project. Mats Östling, their newly assigned IT director has pretty good insights and some very interesting ideas about this really complex problem. My ambition is still to open up the process as much as possible.
Unfortunately there are other challenges facing Stockholm and it’s schools, and as always there is the matter of priority. Even so, let us not give up the idea to support the development of a state-of-the-art solution for our kids, their teachers, leaders, and even politicians.
Keep on helping
/richard
p.s. one issue is the public procurement system, which makes it hard for Stockholm to just shop around consultants. d.s.
I applaud you Aage, and will now check out your project.
I love how they propose EXPANSION of the project as a solution to wasting 17 MSEK. on this horrible Frankenstein they have created. (Hey! Let’s add another layer to him!)
Let’s keep in touch about this. It is, after all, our money that she is spending.
p.s. Most people just the the surface functionality (aka “communication”) not the administrative parts (grade management, attendancy tracking, portfolio management, lecture planning, course content, you name it.
d.s.
Isn’t the biggest problem right now to fit Frankenstein into the project? I mean, is the project of creating an efficient digital platform for collaboration between institutions, parents, teachers and students really that complex? The argument reminds me of the ones you often hear in… well… bureaucracies. Oh… (*lamp going off over my head*)
And for >17 million?! Couldn’t we build a school web for… say… 5 million?
Yes, I do agree that the public procurement system is awful, and reminds me of Wesley Mouch’s “equal opportunities bill” in Atlas Shrugged, but just how much will we allow that kind of system to cost us? If TietoEnator burns 17 million on a useless bonfire after winning one of these rounds, the system is obviously a failure. We need to let the most able people create these systems. Not the most politically shrewd. And THAT is the responsibility we have towards our children, our teachers, our parents, and even – yes – towards our politicians.
But thank you for commenting Richard. I appreciate your experience, your knowledge, your passion, and your engagement. I read your blog, so I know that you know that creating an awesome and efficient school web is not that complex in terms of technology or even strategy or implementation. The problem is political.
(…and BTW, I have taken into account all the tracking parameters you mention above. I’m an engineer, not your average ad-guy. Despite the glasses.)
I can tell you the problem – it is spelled TIETO ENATOR
they do whatever they want to who ever they want ask 200 of our countries Municipals….
I myself is an educator, DSV and Berghs student…the poroblem is NOT technology
Yepp,
Richard – I agree, of course there is some stuff for creating a more efficient administration, but surface counts to – first impression last. And by using Bank ID as default login is not the best way to start.
Walter, yes you are right in one way that you could do this for 5 Mill – but more importantly is that you should start with something for 500K – easy simple functions and then grow with the user needs.
Hey, you’re absolutely right about that of course Aage. I for one is a fan of the 37 Signals school of software design. Simplicity rules.