The little spot of bother at the itSMF USA

The little spot of bother at the itSMF USA is in the public domain now. The good news is that the Board acknowledge there might be an issue here and it bears looking into. The bad news is they chose ITIL's big party day to do so.

Julie Linden notified the itSMF USA of her evidence on the 15th. It takes a large group of volunteers several weeks to sort out a response to allegations this ugly so I cannot imagine how they could have responded much sooner.

Dr. Linden appears determined to discuss these matters in a public forum (and I am not saying that is the wrong approach) so the USA Board could not have held off going public either.

I respect Dr. Linden's determination and courage in taking this issue on. Some powerful people will not be happy, but she evidently believes her information is true and is prepared to stand up and say so.

The allegations made by Dr. Linden are serious enough (they involve what Americans call a “felony”) that I am not willing to make them public at this time, nor do I wish to speculate on their veracity, for legal reasons. I leave it to the itSMF USA to inform us of that.

Rumour has reached the IT Skeptic that the initial reaction of one or more Board members was to shoot the messenger. We all hope that the Board is going to conduct this process in an open minded and transparent manner. As one of the bodies that holds itself up as a global champion of governance and best practice, it behoves itSMF to demonstrate strong capability internally. Justice must be done and be seen to be done.

I will bring you more on this - one way or the other - once I feel confident several large organisations' lawyers won't nail my ass to the wall. Fortunately my country does not write its laws solely to feed the legal industry like the USA does, so they have a little less scope for vexatious attack here. But corporate lawyers are scumsucking lackies who will leap to their paymaster's bidding regardless of the ethics or legal principle involved, and at least one of the organisations involved has a history of flexing that muscle to silence critics, so I will watch my back believe you me. Other bloggers - especially US-based ones - take note.

Comments

The itSMFUSA has become an adult toy

Voluntary associations have been as essential part of American social and political life from the country’s origins, but during the past ten years their role has become even more important. The debate about the role of the itSMFUSA has been increasingly extensive and acrimonious lately.

I believe it has a lot to do with leadership. Leadership is different from management! Leadership encompasses good management, but it is more, leadership is by far the tougher challenge. The membership numbers of the itSMFUSA have surpassed other industry groups not because it possessed the enthusiasm necessary to search out that myriad of untapped leadership and management talent. It grew in spite of itself.

The primary function of an association is to keep its members abreast of events and conditions which may affect them. This exchange of knowledge may take many forms, unless you're the itSMFUSA. It is the attitude of the board of directors, which more than anything else, will bring about its unfortunate conclusion. The solutions to today’s problems will be obsolete tomorrow. Their equilibrium will be their imbalance of the days to come.

The individual who wants to make an invaluable contribution to his industry through the association which represents it, will continually remind himself that successful organizations are created by self motivated men out of human ardor and conviction. By virtue of the position they hold, they are the only one who can inspire and motivate a board to greater success. This is the reason, and the heart of successful associations.

Shoot the 'blagger' not the blogger

Skep,

Well said - I need to say a big thank you, to you, as a member of the itSMF USA, for limiting the allegations offered by Dr. Linden and allowing the 'proper authorities' to consider and respond. There are a large number of concerned members who have contacted me for comment due to my history as a co-founder of the Association. I share their concern but have reinforced the view that the Board has promised to investigate the allegation with vigor and speed.

I sent a letter of support to the Board and wished them well in their investigations, I also mirrored your concern about the messenger. Assuming the allegations have an element of truth, and I was able to read the full blog entry before you removed it pending further verification, the Board must be quick to answer a few key questions many have posed to me:

1) Is is true?
2) If true, what was the scope of the interference?
3) Who did it, for who and why (this is where I hope the Board will ask for Dr. Linden's help rather than see her as the 'enemy' in all this?
4) Did it undermine the mandate of the current Board and what should be done to fix that?

Like you I look forward to a sensible approach to all this. It will not detract from the ITIL launch as far as I can see, why should it? That will require breadcrumbs that lead to a person or persons involved who are also directly involved in any inappropriate dealings that are also close to the ITIL v3 program. Not a chance - I hope...

Again thanks.

Actions speak louder than

Actions speak louder than words! These people will never uncover what happened, why should they. There should be a new election! If they have nothing to fear, they should move forward with a vote of confidence from the members. They won't do that either. ITSMFUSAgate.

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