Managing IT: A Mini-Primer for IT Line Managers

I have a developed a short video "Managing IT: A Mini-Primer for IT Line Managers". Let me know if you find it useful.

If you are a CIO or a senior IT manager there's no shortage of "advice" on how to manage or lead an IT organization. But what if you are an IT line manager? Aside from the usual and useless platitudes ( "align with the business", "drive innovation", "demonstrate value") there is very little available in the way of practical guidance for line managers. IT is the nervous system of the modern organization: every critical business function relies on IT systems and the IT line manager stands at the forefront of delivery. 

• What is the role of an IT manager?
• What are the different elements of IT and how are they inter-connected?
• What should be in the "language" and "vocabulary" of every IT line manager?

As a result of thinking about these questions for my own organization I have come up with the following "mental model" for managing IT. By a mental model I mean a parsimonious representation of a knowledge domain. A mental model provides the key concepts for understanding a knowledge domain and priorities for acting on that knowledge. In the video I elaborate each of the concepts of the mental model.