As I have written before, one of the great problems in IT management is that the big bosses typically haven’t a clue what is happening, what is needed to happen, and what it all should cost. There is a role for trust here, but if the Big Guy is signing off on a budget he can’t even read, much less understand, well something is wrong. Some IT departments like this, of course, just like my students liked it when class had to be cancelled (they liked getting LESS for their money), but in tough times, facing reality and speaking the truth is usually the best course. ...when jobs have to be eliminated, they tend to come off the bottom of the organization when they should more logically come off the top — or at least from near the top. A tech who directly helps users is more important than a manager who can’t manage. This is especially true if that manager is making 2-3 times as much as the tech...