5 Reasons Why Lightworkers (in IT) are like Luke Skywalker

I’ve often written about Lightworkers and Darkworkers. There are similarities between the boy-hero and Lightworkers I thought might be fun.

1. He trusted his instinct and acted upon it:Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope switched off his targetting computer and trusts his instinct when firing that bomb thing into the Death Star. What a guy. Lightworkers in IT also know when to stop looking at their screen and act upon what they think is right. For example, how much analysis can you do until you lose sight of what your purpose is? Sometimes you need to get up off your ass and get something done, even if it’s not perfect. Let your instinct guide you. I use my instinct often when the situation is complex. I’d rather be 80% with a decision, than 100% right of no decision
2. He listened to the voices in his head:OK, they might have been the voices of his daddy, Yoda or good ol’ Obi Wan, but he listened to his conscious as a guide. IT can be frought with BS because vendors and professionals think their solutions are right. Lightworkers use their conscience to make decisions. A CIO I know well in NYC made an unpopular buying decision because his conscience told him it was the right thing, which was proven to be the case when the other leading vendor went bust 3 weeks after the decision was made
3. He faces up to people:Luke doesn’t use a sniper, he faces his enemies hand to hand with his fancy light-saber. Lightworkers face ‘enemies’ head on and don’t run away from problems. IT is a complex environment and firefighting is commonplace. Lightworkers in IT roll their sleeves up and face the challenge and fight to resolve problems with determination. Some of my dear friends who are in senior roles still work through the night with the troops when there are big system problems
4. He makes good friends in bad situations:Luke befriended the furry things on Endor – the Ewoks. He didn’t burn them to a crisp with his Jedi might – he created an illusion to pacify them. IT lightworkers always look for solutions in a bad situation that don’t burn people. I made a good friend when a deal was going bad with a key client of my company, where a colleague had totally stuffed up. I could have exposed him there and then and jumped into save the day. Rather than expose him I helped him rescue the situation by coaching him through it, receiving no formal recognition myself
5. He didn’t kill his daddy:Luke could have made mincemeat of Darth Vader – a darkworker. Lightworkers are not on a mission to kill darkworkers. IT lightworkers also don’t go out of their way to discredit, undermine or generally piss off darkworking colleagues.