![fresh mortar on the arch, hauled wood, and prepared for sugar-
making. They resolved to tap but few trees at first, in order to have
more leisure to work on their boat. The greatest mechanical skill was
required to shape the outside. This pertained entirely to Charlie; but
the most laborious portion of the work was the digging out such an
enormous stick, and removing such a quantity of wood at a
disadvantage, as, after they had chopped out about a foot of the
surface, it would be difficult to get at, and the work must be done
with adze and chisel, and even bored out with an auger at the ends.
They decided to remove a portion of it before shaping the outside,
as the log would lie steadier. Charlie accordingly marked out the
sheer, then put on plumb-spots, and hewed the sides and the upper
surface fair and smooth.
He then lined out the shape and breadth of beam, and made an
inside line to rough-cut by, and at leisure times they chopped out the
inside with the axe, one bringing sap or tending the kettle, while the
other worked on the boat.
“John,” said Charlie, stopping to wipe the perspiration from his
face, “I’m going to find some easier way than this to make a boat;
it’s too much like work.”
“There is no other way. I’ve seen hundreds of canoes made, and
this is the way they always do.”
“Don’t you remember when we were clearing land, that we
would set our nigger[1] to burning off logs, and when it came night,
we would find that he had burned more logs in two than we had cut
with the axe?”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Isaac told me one night, that the Indians burned out
canoes, and I am going to try it.”
“I thought they always made them of bark.”
“He said they sometimes, especially the Canada Indians, made
them of a log, in places where they had a regular camping-ground,
and didn’t want to carry them.”
“You’ll burn it all up, and we can never get another such a log.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/434-250305232117-7d2dac7e/85/eBook-PDF-IT-Strategy-Issues-and-PracticesIssues-and-Practices-3rd-34-320.jpg)
(eBook PDF) IT Strategy Issues and PracticesIssues and Practices 3rd
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- 6. Contents vii Section II IT Governance 87 Chapter 7 Creating IT Shared Services 88 IT Shared Services: An Overview 89 IT Shared Services: Pros and Cons 92 IT Shared Services: Key Organizational Success Factors 93 Identifying Candidate Services 94 An Integrated Model of IT Shared Services 95 Recommmendations for Creating Effective IT Shared Services 96 Conclusion 99 • References 99 Chapter 8 A Management Framework for IT Sourcing 100 A Maturity Model for IT Functions 101 IT Sourcing Options: Theory Versus Practice 105 The “Real” Decision Criteria 109 Decision Criterion #1: Flexibility 109 Decision Criterion #2: Control 109 Decision Criterion #3: Knowledge Enhancement 110 Decision Criterion #4: Business Exigency 110 A Decision Framework for Sourcing IT Functions 111 Identify Your Core IT Functions 111 Create a “Function Sourcing” Profile 111 Evolve Full-Time IT Personnel 113 Encourage Exploration of the Whole Range of Sourcing Options 114 Combine Sourcing Options Strategically 114 A Management Framework for Successful Sourcing 115 Develop a Sourcing Strategy 115 Develop a Risk Mitigation Strategy 115 Develop a Governance Strategy 116 Understand the Cost Structures 116 Conclusion 117 • References 117 Chapter 9 The IT Budgeting Process 118 Key Concepts in IT Budgeting 119 The Importance of Budgets 121 The IT Planning and Budget Process 123
- 7. viii Contents Corporate Processes 123 IT Processes 125 Assess Actual IT Spending 126 IT Budgeting Practices That Deliver Value 127 Conclusion 128 • References 129 Chapter 10 Managing IT- Based Risk 130 A Holistic View of IT-Based Risk 131 Holistic Risk Management: A Portrait 134 Developing a Risk Management Framework 135 Improving Risk Management Capabilities 138 Conclusion 139 • References 140 Appendix A A Selection of Risk Classification Schemes 141 Chapter 11 Information Management: The Nexus of Business and IT 142 Information Management: How Does It Fit? 143 A Framework For IM 145 Stage One: Develop an IM Policy 145 Stage Two: Articulate the Operational Components 145 Stage Three: Establish Information Stewardship 146 Stage Four: Build Information Standards 147 Issues In IM 148 Culture and Behavior 148 Information Risk Management 149 Information Value 150 Privacy 150 Knowledge Management 151 The Knowing–Doing Gap 151 Getting Started in IM 151 Conclusion 153 • References 154 Appendix A Elements of IM Operations 155 Mini Cases Building Shared Services at RR Communications 156 Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance 160 IT Investment at North American Financial 165
- 8. Contents ix Section III IT-Enabled Innovation 169 Chapter 12 Innovation with IT 170 The Need for Innovation: An Historical Perspective 171 The Need for Innovation Now 171 Understanding Innovation 172 The Value of Innovation 174 Innovation Essentials: Motivation, Support, and Direction 175 Challenges for IT leaders 177 Facilitating Innovation 179 Conclusion 180 • References 181 Chapter 13 Big Data and Social Computing 182 The Social Media/Big Data Opportunity 183 Delivering Business Value with Big Data 185 Innovating with Big Data 189 Pulling in Two Different Directions: The Challenge for IT Managers 190 First Steps for IT Leaders 192 Conclusion 193 • References 194 Chapter 14 Improving the Customer Experience: An IT Perspective 195 Customer Experience and Business value 196 Many Dimensions of Customer Experience 197 The Role of Technology in Customer Experience 199 Customer Experience Essentials for IT 200 First Steps to Improving Customer Experience 203 Conclusion 204 • References 204 Chapter 15 Building Business Intelligence 206 Understanding Business Intelligence 207 The Need for Business Intelligence 208 The Challenge of Business Intelligence 209 The Role of IT in Business Intelligence 211 Improving Business Intelligence 213 Conclusion 216 • References 216
- 9. x Contents Chapter 16 Enabling Collaboration with IT 218 Why Collaborate? 219 Characteristics of Collaboration 222 Components of Successful Collaboration 225 The Role of IT in Collaboration 227 First Steps for Facilitating Effective Collaboration 229 Conclusion 231 • References 232 Mini Cases Innovation at International Foods 234 Consumerization of Technology at IFG 239 CRM at Minitrex 243 Customer Service at Datatronics 246 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management 251 Chapter 17 Application Portfolio Management 252 The Applications Quagmire 253 The Benefits of a Portfolio Perspective 254 Making APM Happen 256 Capability 1: Strategy and Governance 258 Capability 2: Inventory Management 262 Capability 3: Reporting and Rationalization 263 Key Lessons Learned 264 Conclusion 265 • References 265 Appendix A Application Information 266 Chapter 18 Managing IT Demand 270 Understanding IT Demand 271 The Economics of Demand Management 273 Three Tools for Demand management 273 Key Organizational Enablers for Effective Demand Management 274 Strategic Initiative Management 275 Application Portfolio Management 276 Enterprise Architecture 276 Business–IT Partnership 277 Governance and Transparency 279 Conclusion 281 • References 281
- 10. Contents xi Chapter 19 Creating and Evolving a Technology Roadmap 283 What is a Technology Roadmap? 284 The Benefits of a Technology Roadmap 285 External Benefits (Effectiveness) 285 Internal Benefits (Efficiency) 286 Elements of the Technology Roadmap 286 Activity #1: Guiding Principles 287 Activity #2: Assess Current Technology 288 Activity #3: Analyze Gaps 289 Activity #4: Evaluate Technology Landscape 290 Activity #5: Describe Future Technology 291 Activity #6: Outline Migration Strategy 292 Activity #7: Establish Governance 292 Practical Steps for Developing a Technology Roadmap 294 Conclusion 295 • References 295 Appendix A Principles to Guide a Migration Strategy 296 Chapter 20 Enhancing Development Productivity 297 The Problem with System Development 298 Trends in System Development 299 Obstacles to Improving System Development Productivity 302 Improving System Development Productivity: What we know that Works 304 Next Steps to Improving System Development Productivity 306 Conclusion 308 • References 308 Chapter 21 Information Delivery: IT’s Evolving Role 310 Information and IT: Why Now? 311 Delivering Value Through Information 312 Effective Information Delivery 316 New Information Skills 316 New Information Roles 317 New Information Practices 317
- 11. xii Contents New Information Strategies 318 The Future of Information Delivery 319 Conclusion 321 • References 322 Mini Cases Project Management at MM 324 Working Smarter at Continental Furniture International 328 Managing Technology at Genex Fuels 333 Index 336
- 12. Preface Today, with information technology (IT) driving constant business transformation, overwhelming organizations with information, enabling 24/7 global operations, and undermining traditional business models, the challenge for business leaders is not simply to manage IT, it is to use IT to deliver business value. Whereas until fairly recently, decisions about IT could be safely delegated to technology specialists after a business strategy had been developed, IT is now so closely integrated with business that, as one CIO explained to us, “We can no longer deliver business solutions in our company without using technology so IT and business strategy must constantly interact with each other.” What’s New in This Third Edition? • Six new chapters focusing on current critical issues in IT management, including IT shared services; big data and social computing; business intelligence; manag- ing IT demand; improving the customer experience; and enhancing development productivity. • Two significantly revised chapters: on delivering IT functions through different resourcing options; and innovating with IT. • Two new mini cases based on real companies and real IT management situations: Working Smarter at Continental Furniture and Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance. • A revised structure based on reader feedback with six chapters and two mini cases from the second edition being moved to the Web site. All too often, in our efforts to prepare future executives to deal effectively with the issues of IT strategy and management, we lead them into a foreign country where they encounter a different language, different culture, and different customs. Acronyms (e.g., SOA, FTP/IP, SDLC, ITIL, ERP), buzzwords (e.g., asymmetric encryption, proxy servers, agile, enterprise service bus), and the widely adopted practice of abstraction (e.g., Is a software monitor a person, place, or thing?) present formidable “barriers to entry” to the technologically uninitiated, but more important, they obscure the impor- tance of teaching students how to make business decisions about a key organizational resource. By taking a critical issues perspective, IT Strategy: Issues and Practices treats IT as a tool to be leveraged to save and/or make money or transform an organization—not as a study by itself. As in the first two editions of this book, this third edition combines the experi- ences and insights of many senior IT managers from leading-edge organizations with thorough academic research to bring important issues in IT management to life and demonstrate how IT strategy is put into action in contemporary businesses. This new edition has been designed around an enhanced set of critical real-world issues in IT management today, such as innovating with IT, working with big data and social media, xiii
- 13. xiv Preface enhancing customer experience, and designing for business intelligence and introduces students to the challenges of making IT decisions that will have significant impacts on how businesses function and deliver value to stakeholders. IT Strategy: Issues and Practices focuses on how IT is changing and will continue to change organizations as we now know them. However, rather than learning concepts “free of context,” students are introduced to the complex decisions facing real organi- zations by means of a number of mini cases. These provide an opportunity to apply the models/theories/frameworks presented and help students integrate and assimilate this material. By the end of the book, students will have the confidence and ability to tackle the tough issues regarding IT management and strategy and a clear understand- ing of their importance in delivering business value. Key Features of This Book • A focus on IT management issues as opposed to technology issues • Critical IT issues explored within their organizational contexts • Readily applicable models and frameworks for implementing IT strategies • Mini cases to animate issues and focus classroom discussions on real-world deci- sions, enabling problem-based learning • Proven strategies and best practices from leading-edge organizations • Useful and practical advice and guidelines for delivering value with IT • Extensive teaching notes for all mini cases A Different Approach to Teaching IT Strategy The real world of IT is one of issues—critical issues—such as the following: • How do we know if we are getting value from our IT investment? • How can we innovate with IT? • What specific IT functions should we seek from external providers? • How do we build an IT leadership team that is a trusted partner with the business? • How do we enhance IT capabilities? • What is IT’s role in creating an intelligent business? • How can we best take advantage of new technologies, such as big data and social media, in our business? • How can we manage IT risk? However, the majority of management information systems (MIS) textbooks are orga- nized by system category (e.g., supply chain, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning), by system component (e.g., hardware, software, networks), by system function (e.g., marketing, financial, human resources), by system type (e.g., transactional, decisional, strategic), or by a combination of these. Unfortunately, such an organization does not promote an understanding of IT management in practice. IT Strategy: Issues and Practices tackles the real-world challenges of IT manage- ment. First, it explores a set of the most important issues facing IT managers today, and second, it provides a series of mini cases that present these critical IT issues within the context of real organizations. By focusing the text as well as the mini cases on today’s critical issues, the book naturally reinforces problem-based learning.
- 14. Preface xv IT Strategy: Issues and Practices includes thirteen mini cases—each based on a real company presented anonymously.1 Mini cases are not simply abbreviated versions of standard, full-length business cases. They differ in two significant ways: 1. A horizontal perspective. Unlike standard cases that develop a single issue within an organizational setting (i.e., a “vertical” slice of organizational life), mini cases take a “horizontal” slice through a number of coexistent issues. Rather than looking for a solution to a specific problem, as in a standard case, students analyzing a mini case must first identify and prioritize the issues embedded within the case. This mim- ics real life in organizations where the challenge lies in “knowing where to start” as opposed to “solving a predefined problem.” 2. Highly relevant information. Mini cases are densely written. Unlike standard cases, which intermix irrelevant information, in a mini case, each sentence exists for a reason and reflects relevant information. As a result, students must analyze each case very carefully so as not to miss critical aspects of the situation. Teaching with mini cases is, thus, very different than teaching with standard cases. With mini cases, students must determine what is really going on within the organiza- tion. What first appears as a straightforward “technology” problem may in fact be a political problem or one of five other “technology” problems. Detective work is, there- fore, required. The problem identification and prioritization skills needed are essential skills for future managers to learn for the simple reason that it is not possible for organi- zations to tackle all of their problems concurrently. Mini cases help teach these skills to students and can balance the problem-solving skills learned in other classes. Best of all, detective work is fun and promotes lively classroom discussion. Toassistinstructors,extensiveteachingnotesareavailableforallminicases.Developed by the authors and based on “tried and true” in-class experience, these notes include case summaries, identify the key issues within each case, present ancillary information about the company/industry represented in the case, and offer guidelines for organizing the class- room discussion. Because of the structure of these mini cases and their embedded issues, it is common for teaching notes to exceed the length of the actual mini case! This book is most appropriate for MIS courses where the goal is to understand how IT delivers organizational value. These courses are frequently labeled “IT Strategy” or “IT Management” and are offered within undergraduate as well as MBA programs. For undergraduate juniors and seniors in business and commerce programs, this is usually the “capstone” MIS course. For MBA students, this course may be the compulsory core course in MIS, or it may be an elective course. Each chapter and mini case in this book has been thoroughly tested in a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs at Queen’s School of Business.2 1 We are unable to identify these leading-edge companies by agreements established as part of our overall research program (described later). 2 Queen’s School of Business is one of the world’s premier business schools, with a faculty team renowned for its business experience and academic credentials. The School has earned international recognition for its innovative approaches to team-based and experiential learning. In addition to its highly acclaimed MBA programs, Queen’s School of Business is also home to Canada’s most prestigious undergraduate business program and several outstanding graduate programs. As well, the School is one of the world’s largest and most respected providers of executive education.
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- 16. xvi Preface These materials have proven highly successful within all programs because we adapt how the material is presented according to the level of the students. Whereas under- graduate students “learn” about critical business issues from the book and mini cases for the first time, graduate students are able to “relate” to these same critical issues based on their previous business experience. As a result, graduate students are able to introduce personal experiences into the discussion of these critical IT issues. Organization of This Book One of the advantages of an issues-focused structure is that chapters can be approached in any order because they do not build on one another. Chapter order is immaterial; that is, one does not need to read the first three chapters to understand the fourth. This pro- vides an instructor with maximum flexibility to organize a course as he or she sees fit. Thus, within different courses/programs, the order of topics can be changed to focus on different IT concepts. Furthermore, because each mini case includes multiple issues, they, too, can be used to serve different purposes. For example, the mini case “Building Shared Services at RR Communications” can be used to focus on issues of governance, organizational structure, and/or change management just as easily as shared services. The result is a rich set of instructional materials that lends itself well to a variety of pedagogical appli- cations, particularly problem-based learning, and that clearly illustrates the reality of IT strategy in action. The book is organized into four sections, each emphasizing a key component of developing and delivering effective IT strategy: • Section I: Delivering Value with IT is designed to examine the complex ways that IT and business value are related. Over the past twenty years, researchers and prac- titioners have come to understand that “business value” can mean many different things when applied to IT. Chapter 1 (Developing and Delivering on the IT Value Proposition) explores these concepts in depth. Unlike the simplistic value propo- sitions often used when implementing IT in organizations, this chapter presents “value” as a multilayered business construct that must be effectively managed at several levels if technology is to achieve the benefits expected. Chapter 2 (Developing IT Strategy for Business Value) examines the dynamic interrelationship between business and IT strategy and looks at the processes and critical success factors used by organizations to ensure that both are well aligned. Chapter 3 (Linking IT to Business Metrics) discusses new ways of measuring IT’s effectiveness that pro- mote closer business–IT alignment and help drive greater business value. Chapter 4 (Building a Strong Relationship with the Business) examines the nature of the business–IT relationship and the characteristics of an effective relationship that delivers real value to the enterprise. Chapter 5 (Communicating with Business Managers) explores the business and interpersonal competencies that IT staff will need in order to do their jobs effectively over the next five to seven years and what companies should be doing to develop them. Finally, Chapter 6 (Building Better IT Leaders from the Bottom Up) tackles the increasing need for improved leadership skills in all IT staff and examines the expectations of the business for strategic and innovative guidance from IT.
- 17. Preface xvii In the mini cases associated with this section, the concepts of delivering value with IT are explored in a number of different ways. We see business and IT executives at Hefty Hardware grappling with conflicting priorities and per- spectives and how best to work together to achieve the company’s strategy. In “Investing in TUFS,” CIO Martin Drysdale watches as all of the work his IT depart- ment has put into a major new system fails to deliver value. And the “IT Planning at ModMeters” mini case follows CIO Brian Smith’s efforts to create a strategic IT plan that will align with business strategy, keep IT running, and not increase IT’s budget. • Section II: IT Governance explores key concepts in how the IT organization is structured and managed to effectively deliver IT products and services to the orga- nization. Chapter 7 (IT Shared Services) discusses how IT shared services should be selected, organized, managed, and governed to achieve improved organizational performance. Chapter 8 (A Management Framework for IT Sourcing) examines how organizations are choosing to source and deliver different types of IT functions and presents a framework to guide sourcing decisions. Chapter 9 (The IT Budgeting Process) describes the “evil twin” of IT strategy, discussing how budgeting mecha- nisms can significantly undermine effective business strategies and suggesting practices for addressing this problem while maintaining traditional fiscal account- ability. Chapter 10 (Managing IT-based Risk) describes how many IT organizations have been given the responsibility of not only managing risk in their own activities (i.e., project development, operations, and delivering business strategy) but also of managing IT-based risk in all company activities (e.g., mobile computing, file sharing, and online access to information and software) and the need for a holistic framework to understand and deal with risk effectively. Chapter 11 (Information Management: The Nexus of Business and IT) describes how new organizational needs for more useful and integrated information are driving the development of business-oriented functions within IT that focus specifically on information and knowledge, as opposed to applications and data. The mini cases in this section examine the difficulties of managing com- plex IT issues when they intersect substantially with important business issues. In “Building Shared Services at RR Communications,” we see an IT organiza- tion in transition from a traditional divisional structure and governance model to a more centralized enterprise model, and the long-term challenges experi- enced by CIO Vince Patton in changing both business and IT practices, includ- ing information management and delivery, to support this new approach. In “Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance,” CIO Jane Denton endeavors to make IT more flexible and agile, while incorporating new and emerging tech- nologies into its strategy. In “IT Investment at North American Financial,” we show the opportunities and challenges involved in prioritizing and resourcing enterprisewide IT projects and monitoring that anticipated benefits are being achieved. • Section III: IT-Enabled Innovation discusses some of the ways technology is being used to transform organizations. Chapter 12 (Innovation with IT) examines the nature and importance of innovation with IT and describes a typical inno- vation life cycle. Chapter 13 (Big Data and Social Computing) discusses how IT leaders are incorporating big data and social media concepts and technologies
- 18. xviii Preface to successfully deliver business value in new ways. Chapter 14 (Improving the Customer Experience: An IT Perspective) explores the IT function’s role in creating and improving an organization’s customer experiences and the role of technology in helping companies to understand and learn from their customers’ experiences. Chapter 15 (Building Business Intelligence) looks at the nature of business intelli- gence and its relationship to data, information, and knowledge and how IT can be used to build a more intelligent organization. Chapter 16 (Enabling Collaboration with IT) identifies the principal forms of collaboration used in organizations, the primary business drivers involved in them, how their business value is measured, and the roles of IT and the business in enabling collaboration. The mini cases in this section focus on the key challenges companies face in innovating with IT. “Innovation at International Foods” contrasts the need for pro- cess and control in corporate IT with the strong push to innovate with technology and the difficulties that ensue from the clash of style and culture. “Consumerization of Technology at IFG” looks at issues such as “bring your own device” (BYOD) to the workplace. In “CRM at Minitrex,” we see some of the internal technological and political conflicts that result from a strategic decision to become more customercen- tric. Finally, “Customer Service at Datatronics” explores the importance of present- ing unified, customer-facing IT to customers. • Section IV: IT Portfolio Development and Management looks at how the IT function must transform itself to be able to deliver business value effectively in the future. Chapter 17 (Application Portfolio Management) describes the ongoing management process of categorizing, assessing, and rationalizing the IT application portfolio. Chapter 18 (Managing IT Demand) looks at the often neglected issue of demand management (as opposed to supply management), explores the root causes of the demand for IT services, and identifies a number of tools and enablers to facilitate more effective demand management. Chapter 19 (Creating and Evolving a Technology Roadmap) examines the challenges IT managers face in implement- ing new infrastructure, technology standards, and types of technology in their real- world business and technical environments, which is composed of a huge variety of hardware, software, applications, and other technologies, some of which date back more than thirty years. Chapter 20 (Enhancing Development Productivity) explores how system development practices are changing and how managers can create an environment to promote improved development productivity. And Chapter 21 (Information Delivery: IT’s Evolving Role) examines the fresh challenges IT faces in managing the exponential growth of data and digital assets; privacy and account- ability concerns; and new demands for access to information on an anywhere, any- time basis. The mini cases associated with this section describe many of these themes embedded within real organizational contexts. “Project Management at MM” mini case shows how a top-priority, strategic project can take a wrong turn when proj- ect management skills are ineffective. “Working Smarter at Continental Furniture” mini case follows an initiative to improve the company’s analytics so it can reduce its environmental impact. And in the mini case “Managing Technology at Genex Fuels,” we see CIO Nick Devlin trying to implement enterprisewide technology for competitive advantage in an organization that has been limping along with obscure and outdated systems.
- 19. Preface xix Supplementary Materials Online Instructor Resource Center The following supplements are available online to adopting instructors: • PowerPoint Lecture Notes • Image Library (text art) • Extensive Teaching Notes for all Mini cases • Additional chapters including Developing IT Professionalism; IT Sourcing; Master DataManagement;DevelopingITCapabilities;TheIdentityManagementChallenge; Social Computing; Managing Perceptions of IT; IT in the New World of Corporate Governance Reforms; Enhancing Customer Experiences with Technology; Creating Digital Dashboards; and Managing Electronic Communications. • Additional mini cases, including IT Leadership at MaxTrade; Creating a Process-Driven Organization at Ag-Credit; Information Management at Homestyle Hotels; Knowledge Management at Acme Consulting; Desktop Provisioning at CanCredit; and Leveraging IT Vendors at SleepSmart. For detailed descriptions of all of the supplements just listed, please visit http:// www.pearsonhighered.com/mckeen. CourseSmart eTextbooks Online CourseSmart is an exciting new choice for students looking to save money. As an alter- native to purchasing the print textbook, students can purchase an electronic version of the same content and save up to 50 percent off the suggested list price of the print text. With a CourseSmart etextbook, students can search the text, make notes online, print out reading assignments that incorporate lecture notes, and bookmark important pas- sages for later review. www.coursesmart.com. The Genesis of This Book Since 1990 we have been meeting quarterly with a group of senior IT managers from a number of leading-edge organizations (e.g., Eli Lilly, BMO, Honda, HP, CIBC, IBM, Sears, Bell Canada, MacDonalds, and Sun Life) to identify and discuss critical IT manage- ment issues. This focus group represents a wide variety of industry sectors (e.g., retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, banking, telecommunications, insurance, media, food processing, government, and automotive). Originally, it was established to meet the com- panies’ needs for well-balanced, thoughtful, yet practical information on emerging IT management topics, about which little or no research was available. However, we soon recognized the value of this premise for our own research in the rapidly evolving field of IT management. As a result, it quickly became a full-scale research program in which we were able to use the focus group as an “early warning system” to document new IT management issues, develop case studies around them, and explore more collaborative approaches to identifying trends, challenges, and effective practices in each topic area.3 3 This now includes best practice case studies, field research in organizations, multidisciplinary qualitative and quantitative research projects, and participation in numerous CIO research consortia.
- 20. xx Preface As we shared our materials with our business students, we realized that this issues- based approach resonated strongly with them, and we began to incorporate more of our research into the classroom. This book is the result of our many years’ work with senior IT managers, in organizations, and with students in the classroom. Each issue in this book has been selected collaboratively by the focus group after debate and discussion. As facilitators, our job has been to keep the group’s focus on IT management issues, not technology per se. In preparation for each meeting, focus group members researched the topic within their own organization, often involving a number of members of their senior IT management team as well as subject matter experts in the process. To guide them, we provided a series of questions about the issue, although members are always free to explore it as they see fit. This approach provided both struc- ture for the ensuing discussion and flexibility for those members whose organizations are approaching the issue in a different fashion. The focus group then met in a full-day session, where the members discussed all aspects of the issue. Many also shared corporate documents with the group. We facilitated the discussion, in particular pushing the group to achieve a common understanding of the dimensions of the issue and seeking examples, best practices, and guidelines for deal- ing with the challenges involved. Following each session, we wrote a report based on the discussion, incorporating relevant academic and practitioner materials where these were available. (Because some topics are “bleeding edge,” there is often little traditional IT research available on them.) Each report has three parts: 1. A description of the issue and the challenges it presents for both business and IT managers 2. Models and concepts derived from the literature to position the issue within a con- textual framework 3. Near-term strategies (i.e., those that can be implemented immediately) that have proven successful within organizations for dealing with the specific issue Each chapter in this book focuses on one of these critical IT issues. We have learned over the years that the issues themselves vary little across industries and organizations, even in enterprises with unique IT strategies. However, each organization tackles the same issue somewhat differently. It is this diversity that provides the richness of insight in these chapters. Our collaborative research approach is based on our belief that when dealing with complex and leading-edge issues, “everyone has part of the solution.” Every focus group, therefore, provides us an opportunity to explore a topic from a variety of perspectives and to integrate different experiences (both successful and oth- erwise) so that collectively, a thorough understanding of each issue can be developed and strategies for how it can be managed most successfully can be identified.
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- 22. her husband. Sailor was at her side, wagging his tail with frantic violence, ready to jump upon his master as soon as Sally should release him. There were also warm water, soap, and towels to wash the “gurry” from their hands, and the salt of the spray from their faces. Great was the physical and mental happiness of these tired, hungry men, as they sat down to eat, conscious that they had succeeded in their efforts, and obtained the means of comfort and support for their families. Perhaps some of our readers may think it strange that Ben should want to go fishing when he had been engaged in that business all summer; but the fish caught in the hot weather were salted very heavily, in order to keep them, and that they might bear exportation to all parts of the world; but these were to be slack salted for their own use.
- 23. CHAPTER III. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. Before his father and friends returned home, Ben agreed with Uncle Isaac and Sam to come and commence work on the house whenever he should send for them, and at the same time made an arrangement with his father to take some fish and lumber to Salem in the schooner, and procure for him some bricks, hearth-tiles, window-glass, door-hinges, latches, materials for making putty, and other things needed about the house. “My nephew, Sam Atkins,” said Uncle Isaac, “who is a capital workman, is coming home to stay a good part of the winter. He works on all the nicest houses in Salem. I’ll bring him on with me.” It may not be amiss, for the information of those who have not read the first volume of the series, to glance for a moment at the house, in respect to which all these improvements were contemplated. Ben wanted to dig a cellar, a few rods off, and build a good frame house, of two stories; but Sally preferred to finish the old walls. She said it was large enough, that the timber walls would be warmer than any frame house, and she loved the first spot. “Better save the money to buy cows, or to help some young man along that wanted a vessel.” The kitchen extended the whole length of the house, and occupied half its width. At the eastern end a door opened directly to
- 24. the weather; there was no entry. In the corner beside the door was a ladder, by which access was gained to the chamber through a scuttle in the floor. Against the wall at the other end were the dressers, and under them a small closet. There was no finish around the chimney, and on either side of it two doors, of rough boards, hung on wooden hinges, opened into the front part of the house, which was in one large room. The cellar, which only extended under the front part of the house, was reached by a trap door. The floors were well laid, of clear stuff, and the kitchen floor was white and smooth by the use of soap, and sand, and much friction. The first thing Ben did when his men, Uncle Isaac, Atkins, and Robert Yelf, came, was to build a porch, into which was moved Charlie’s sink, and at one end of which a store-room was made, where Sally could do part of her work, while everything was in confusion. During the time the joiners were at work upon the porch, Ben and Charlie dug a cellar under the rest of the house, hauled the rocks from the shore, and Uncle Sam built the wall, and also took up the stone hearths in the front part of the house, and laid them with tiles, and built two fireplaces. He also laid a hearth with tiles in the kitchen, leaving a large stone in one corner to wash dishes on. “Ben,” said Uncle Sam, “I told you, when I laid your door-steps, that they were the best of granite, and would make as handsome steps as any in the town of Boston, and that whenever you built a new house, if I was not past labor, I would dress them for you. I have brought on my tools, and now am going to do it.” “I’m very much obliged to you, Uncle Sam, but I am able and willing to pay you for it now.” “No, you ain’t going to pay me; ’twill be something for you to remember me by.” They now set up their joiner’s bench in the front part of the house, where they could have a fire in cold days. Ben and Charlie worked with them, and the work went on apace. At Sally’s request,
- 25. they began with the kitchen, removing the dressers from the western end, and finishing off a bedroom, leaving room sufficient at the end for a stairway to go down into a nice milk cellar, which Uncle Sam had parted off, and floored with brick, and the joiners put up shelves, with a glass window in the end, and another in the top of the door that led to it from the kitchen. They also replaced the dressers in the kitchen. At the eastern end they made an entry, on one side of it a dark closet to keep meats in from the flies, and on the other chamber stairs, instead of the ladder, and under these cellar stairs, replacing the old trap door. They then finished the room, ceiling it, both the walls and overhead. It was not customary then to paint. Everything was left white, and scoured with soap and sand. Carpets were not in vogue, and floors were strewn with white sand. Sally was jubilant, and declared it was nothing but a pleasure to do work, with so many conveniences. “I thought I was made,” said she, “when I got a sink, and especially a crane, instead of a birch withe, to hang my pot on. Now I’ve got a sink, a crane, porch, meal-room, cellar stairs, chamber stairs, milk cellar, and kitchen, all ceiled up.” In the front room the work proceeded more slowly, as there was a good deal of panel-work, and this occupied a great deal of time. There were then no planing mills, jig saws, circular saws, or mortising machines, but all was done by hand labor. There were no cut nails then, but all were wrought, with sharp points that split the wood, which made it necessary to bore a great deal with a gimlet. A happy boy was Charlie Bell in these days, as Uncle Isaac and Atkins gave him all the instruction in their power; and to complete the sum of his enjoyment, after he had worked with them six weeks, Uncle Isaac set him to making the front and end doors of panel- work, under his immediate inspection. He also had an opportunity to talk about the Indians, and seemed to be a great deal more concerned to know about their modes of getting along, and manufacturing articles of necessity or ornament, without tools of iron, than about their murdering and scalping.
- 26. Uncle Isaac could not, from personal knowledge, give him much information in respect to these matters, as, at the time he was among them, they were, and had been for a long period, supplied, both by the French and English, with guns, knives, hatchets, needles, and files; but he could furnish Charlie with abundant information which he had obtained from his Indian parents; for, as they have no books, but trust to their memories, they, by exercise, become very accurate, and their traditions are, in this way, handed down from father to son. “But,” said Charlie, who had heard about Indians having cornfields, “how could they cut down trees and clear land with stone hatchets?” “They didn’t cut them down; they bruised the bark, and girdled them, and then the trees died, and they set them on fire.” “I should think it would have taken them forever, most, to clear a piece of land in that way.” “So it did; but they did not clear one very often. When they got a field cleared, they planted corn on it perhaps for a hundred years.” “I should think it would have run out.” “They always made these fields by the salt water, and put fish in the hills. They taught the white people how to raise corn.” “I have heard they made log canoes. How could they cut the trees down with their stone hatchets? and, more than all, how could they ever dig them out?” “I will tell you, Mr. Inquisitive. An Indian would take a bag of parched corn to eat, a gourd shell to drink from, his stone hatchet, and go into the woods, find a suitable tree,—generally a dead, dry pine, with the limbs and bark all fallen off,—and at the foot of it would build a camp to sleep under. Then he would get a parcel of wet clay, and plaster the tree all around, then build a fire at the bottom to burn it off. The wet clay would prevent its burning too high up. Then he would sit and tend the fire, wet the clay, and beat off the coals as fast as they formed, till the tree fell; then cut it off, and hollow it in the same way.”
- 27. “I should think it would have taken a lifetime.” “It did not take as long as you might suppose; besides, time was nothing to them. They did no work except to hunt, make a canoe, or bow and arrows. The squaws did all the drudgery.” Uncle Isaac now went home to stay a week, and see to his affairs, and Atkins with him. In this interval, Charlie began to think about his long-neglected boat. He had already the exact model of the fish, but he wished to get it in a shape to work from. Mixing some more clay and sand, he filled the mould with it, into which he had pressed the fish, having first greased it thoroughly, that it might not stick. He now set it to dry, putting it in the cellar at night. When thoroughly dry, he turned it out, made an oven of stones, and baked it, so that it was in a state to be handled without crumbling. He did not wish Ben or Sally to observe his proceedings; and, as it was too cold to stay in the woods or barn, he resorted to his bedroom. Uncle Isaac, when there, slept with Charlie, and kept his chest beside their bed. Charlie was sitting on the bed, with the model in his hand, looking at it, and contriving how to work from it; and so intently was he engaged, that Uncle Isaac, who, unknown to him, had returned, and wanted something from his chest, came upon him before he could shove it under the bed. “What have you got there, Charlie?” “O, Uncle Isaac, I’m so sorry to see you!” “Sorry to see me, Charlie? Indeed, I’m sorry to hear you say so.” “O, I didn’t mean that,” replied Charlie, excessively confused. “I— I—I—only meant that I was sorry you caught me with this in my hand.” He then told Uncle Isaac what he was about, adding, in conclusion, “You see, when I am trying to study anything out, I don’t like to have folks that know all about it looking on; it confuses and quite upsets me.” “But if you ever make the boat, you will have to make it out of doors, in plain sight.”
- 28. “Yes, sir; but if I succeed in making a good model, I know I can imitate it on a large scale, and shan’t be afraid then to do it before folks; but if I can’t, why, then I will burn the model up, and nobody will be the wiser for it, or know that I tried and couldn’t. I’m not afraid to have any one see me handle tools.” “You have no reason to be, my boy. Yet, after all, it was a very good thing that I surprised you before you got any farther; for, had you built a large boat after these lines, she never would have been of any use to you.” “Why not?” “Because this is precisely the shape of a mackerel, to a shaving.” “Well, don’t a mackerel sail?” “Yes, sail like blazes, under water; but I take it you want your boat to sail on top of water. All a fish has to do is to carry himself through the water; but a boat or vessel has to carry cargo, and bear sail. A vessel made after that model wouldn’t stand up in the harbor with her spars in, and a boat made like it would have to be filled so full of ballast, to keep her on her legs, that she would be almost sunk; and the moment you put sail on her, in anything of a working breeze, her after-sail would jam her stern down, and she would fill over the quarter.” Charlie looked very blank indeed at this, which seemed at one fell blow to render abortive all his patient toil, and annihilate those sanguine hopes of proud enjoyment he and John had cherished, when they should appear in their new craft among the fleet of dug- outs, then below contempt, and witness the look of mingled astonishment and envy on the faces of the other boys, especially as he began to feel a growing conviction that what Uncle Isaac had said was but too true. Still struggling against the unwelcome truth, he replied, after a long pause, “But a mackerel keeps on his bottom.” “Yes, because he’s alive, and can balance himself by his fins and tail; but he always turns bottom up the minute he is dead.” “I heard Captain Rhines say, one time, that if a vessel could be modelled like a fish, she would sail. I thought he knew, and so I
- 29. determined to try it.” “Captain Rhines does know, but he spoke at random. He didn’t mean exactly like a fish, but somewhat like them,—sharp, and with a true taper, having no slack place to drag dead water, but with proper bearings.” “Then this model, with proper alterations, would be the thing, after all,” said Charlie, a gleam of hope lighting up his clouded features. “Sartain, if you should—” “O, don’t tell me, Uncle Isaac, don’t! It’s no use for me to try to make a boat if I can’t study it out of my own head. I think I see what you mean. I thank you very much, and after I try and see what I can do, I want you to look at it, and see how I’ve made out, and tell me how and where to alter it. I hope you won’t think I am a stuck-up, ungrateful boy, because I don’t want you to tell me.” “Not by any means, Charlie; it is just the disposition I like to see in you. I have no doubt you will think it all out, and then, my boy, it will be your own all your life.” “Yes, sir; for, when I went to school, I minded that the boys who were always running up to the master with their slates, or to the bigger boys, to be shown about their sums, were great dunces, while the smart boys dug them out themselves.” “I never went to school, but I suppose they forgot how to do them as fast as they were told.” “That was just the way of it.” The next day there came a snow-storm and a severe gale; the sea roared and flung itself upon the ramparts of the harbor as though it would force a passage; but, with roaring fires in the two fireplaces, the inmates of the timber house worked in their shirt sleeves, and paid very little attention to the weather. “It is well you got on when you did, Uncle Isaac,” said Ben; “but you will have to stay, now you are here, for there will be very little crossing to the main land for the rest of the winter.”
- 30. “But what if any of my folks are sick? I told Hannah to make a signal on the end of the pint if anything happened.” “In case of necessity, Charlie and I could set you off in the schooner.” While Uncle Isaac was putting up the mantel-piece in the front room, which had a great deal of old-fashioned carving about it, he set Atkins and Charlie at work upon the front stairs; thus Charlie was so constantly and agreeably occupied as to have but little leisure to spend upon boats. But when this job was over, which had been most interesting and exciting, he began to give shape to the ideas that had been germinating in his brain at intervals during the day, and in his wakeful hours at night. He wanted some plastic material that would become hard when dry, with which to make his alterations, and determined to use putty. Leaving that portion of his model which was to be under water as it was, he made it fuller from that mark, by sticking on putty, and then, with his knife and a chisel, paring off or adding to correspond with his idea of proportions. For a long time did he puzzle over it, striving in vain to satisfy himself, and several times scraped it all off to the bare brick. At length he came to a point where he felt he could accomplish no more. The next night, at bed-time, with a palpitating heart, he brought it forward for Uncle Isaac’s inspection. After looking at it long and carefully, he said,— “I wish Joe Griffin was here. I ain’t much of a shipwright, though I have worked some in the yard, and made a good many spars for small vessels; but he is, and has worked in Portsmouth on mast ships. But I call that a beautiful model, and think it shows a first-rate head-piece. She’s very sharp, and will want a good deal of ballast; so there won’t be much room in her as far as depth is consarned; but then she’s so long ’twill make up for it. She’s a beauty, and if you can ever make another on a large scale like her, I’ll wager my life she’ll sail. I suppose you’ll kind of expect me to find some fault, else you’ll think I’m stuffing you. It strikes me, that in the run, she comes out from the first shape a thought too quick; that it would be better
- 31. if the swell was a leetle more gradual, not sucked out quite so much; but then I don’t want you to alter it for anything I say; but I’m going to call Ben and Robert Yelf up to see it.” “O, don’t, Uncle Isaac! Father knows all about vessels, and Mr. Yelf is a regular shipwright.” “So much the better; they’ll be able to see the merits of it.” Ben and Yelf made the same criticism as Uncle Isaac, upon which Charlie amended the fault, till they expressed themselves satisfied. “That boy,” said Yelf, as they went down stairs, “if he lives, and gives his mind to it, will make a first-rate ship-builder.” “Ever since he has been with me,” was the reply, “he has been, at leisure moments, making boats. I believe he has a fleet, great and small, as numerous as the whole British navy.” Not the least industrious personage among this busy crew was Ben Rhines, Jr. From morning to night, with a devotion worthy of a better cause, he improved every moment, doing mischief, till his mother was, at times, almost beside herself. One moment she would be startled by a terrific outcry from the buttery. Ben had tumbled down the buttery stairs; anon from the front entry he had fallen down the front stairs; then, from the cellar, he was kicking and screaming there. This enterprising youth, bent upon acquiring knowledge, was determined to explore these new avenues of information. Twice he set the room in a blaze, by poking shavings into the fire, and singed his mischievous head to the scalp, and had a violent attack of vomiting in consequence of licking the oil from Uncle Isaac’s oil- stone. His lips were cut, and he was black and blue with bruises received in his efforts. Despite of all these mishaps, Ben enjoyed himself hugely; he had piles and piles of blocks, great long shavings, both oak and pine, that came from the panels and the banisters; he would bury the cat and Sailor all up in shavings, and then clap his hands, and scream with delight, to see them dig out; he would also hide from his mother in them, and lie as still as though dead; he could pick up plenty of nails on the floor to drive into his blocks, and
- 32. didn’t scruple in the least to take them from the nail-box if he got a chance. The moment Uncle Isaac’s back was turned, in went his fingers into the putty; he carried off the chalk-line, to fish down the buttery stairs, and, when caught, surrendered it only after a most desperate struggle. “What a little varmint he is!” said Uncle Isaac. “If he don’t break his neck, he’ll be a smart one.” “I believe you can’t kill him,” said Sally, “or he would have been dead long ago. He’s been into the water and fire, the oxen have trod on him, and a lobster shut his claws on his foot; why he ain’t dead I don’t see.”
- 33. CHAPTER IV. THE WEST WIND. It was now the middle of March, and the lower part of the house was finished. “Ben,” said Uncle Isaac, “we want to go off now. Charlie can finish these chambers as well as I can.” “I have not seasoned stuff to finish but one of them now, and hardly that. It’s too rough to go off in your canoe; stay till Saturday afternoon, and part off some bedrooms up stairs with a rough board partition, and make some rough doors, so that we can use them for sleeping-rooms, and then Charlie can finish them next winter, for he will have to go to making sugar soon. If you’ll do that I’ll set you off in the schooner.” Uncle Isaac parted off the chambers, and they now had plenty of room. They put the best bed in one of the front rooms; the family bedroom was off the kitchen, and there were bedrooms above. Charlie was now desirous to complete his boat, but his mother wanted the flax done out. He therefore concluded to put it off till John came on to help him make sugar. When Uncle Isaac reached home, John’s school had been out a week; but the weather was so rough he could not reach the island; and when he did arrive, Ben and Charlie were just finishing up the flax. The boys now cleared out the camp, scoured the kettles, put
- 34. fresh mortar on the arch, hauled wood, and prepared for sugar- making. They resolved to tap but few trees at first, in order to have more leisure to work on their boat. The greatest mechanical skill was required to shape the outside. This pertained entirely to Charlie; but the most laborious portion of the work was the digging out such an enormous stick, and removing such a quantity of wood at a disadvantage, as, after they had chopped out about a foot of the surface, it would be difficult to get at, and the work must be done with adze and chisel, and even bored out with an auger at the ends. They decided to remove a portion of it before shaping the outside, as the log would lie steadier. Charlie accordingly marked out the sheer, then put on plumb-spots, and hewed the sides and the upper surface fair and smooth. He then lined out the shape and breadth of beam, and made an inside line to rough-cut by, and at leisure times they chopped out the inside with the axe, one bringing sap or tending the kettle, while the other worked on the boat. “John,” said Charlie, stopping to wipe the perspiration from his face, “I’m going to find some easier way than this to make a boat; it’s too much like work.” “There is no other way. I’ve seen hundreds of canoes made, and this is the way they always do.” “Don’t you remember when we were clearing land, that we would set our nigger[1] to burning off logs, and when it came night, we would find that he had burned more logs in two than we had cut with the axe?” “Yes.” “Uncle Isaac told me one night, that the Indians burned out canoes, and I am going to try it.” “I thought they always made them of bark.” “He said they sometimes, especially the Canada Indians, made them of a log, in places where they had a regular camping-ground, and didn’t want to carry them.” “You’ll burn it all up, and we can never get another such a log.”
- 35. “You see if I do.” Charlie got a pail of water, and made a little mop with rags on the end of a stick, then got some wet clay, and put all around the sides of the log where he didn’t want the fire to come. He then built a fire of oak chips right in the middle, and the whole length. The fire burned very freely at first, for the old log was full of pitch, and soon began to dry the clay, and burn at the edge; but Charlie put it out with his mop, and forced it to burn in the middle. When the chips had burned out, Charlie took the adze, and removed about three inches of coal, and made a new fire. “Not much hard work about that,” said John, who looked on with great curiosity. They now went about their sugar, once in a while stepping to the log to remove the coal, renew the fire, or apply water to prevent its burning in the wrong direction. When he had taken as much wood from the inside as he thought it prudent to remove before shaping the outside, he began to prepare for that all-important operation; but as he was afraid the clear March sun and the north-west winds would cause her to crack, he built a brush roof over her before commencing. Now came the most difficult portion of the work, as it must be done almost entirely by the eye, by looking at the model and then cutting; but as the faculties in any given direction strengthen by exercise, and we are unconsciously prepared by previous effort and application for that which follows, thus Charlie experienced less difficulty here than he had anticipated, and at length succeeded in making it resemble the model, in Ben’s opinion, as nearly as one thing could another. Now their efforts were directed to finish the inside; and, having used the fire as long as they thought prudent, they resorted to other tools, as they wished so to dig her out as to have the utmost room inside, and to make her as light as possible. The risk was in striking through by some inadvertent blow. Though it may seem strange to those not versed in such things, yet Charlie could give a very near guess at the thickness by pressing the points of his fingers on each side, and when he was in doubt, he bored a
- 36. hole through with a gimlet, and then plugged it up. They at length left her a scant inch in thickness, except on the bottom and at the stern and bow. There she was so sharp that the wood for a long distance was cut directly across the grain. “I wish,” said Charlie, “I had shaped the outside before digging her out at all.” “Why so?” said John. “Because, in that case, I could have left more thickness at the bow; but I couldn’t leave it outside and follow the model.” In order to avoid taking the keel out of the log, and to have all the depth possible, they put on a false keel of oak; as the edge was too thin to put on row-locks, they fastened cleats on the inside, and put flat thole-pins in between them and the side, which looked neat, and were strong enough for so light, easy-going a craft, that was intended for sailing rather than carrying; they also put on a cut- water, with a billet-head scroll-shaped, and with mouldings on the edges. As it was evident she would require a good deal of ballast, to enable her to bear sail, they laid a platform forward and aft, raised but a very little from the bottom, merely enough to make a level to step or stand on; but amidships they left it higher, to give room for ballast. Their intention was, at some future time, to put in head and stern-boards, or, in other words, a little deck forward and aft, with room beneath to put lines, luncheon, and powder, when they went on fishing or sailing excursions; but they were too anxious to see her afloat to stop for that now. They therefore primed her over with lead color, to keep her from cracking, and the very moment she was dry, put her in the water. Never were boys in a state of greater excitement than they, when, upon launching her into the water, with a hearty shove and hurrah, she went clear across the harbor, and landed on the Great Bull. They got into the Twilight, and brought her back, and found she sat as light as a cork upon the water, on an even keel, and was
- 37. much stiffer than they expected to find her. She was eighteen feet long, and four feet in width, eighteen inches deep. Having persuaded Sally to get in and sit down on the bottom,— for as yet they had no seats,—they rowed her around the harbor. “Now we can go to Indian camp ground, or where we are a mind to,” said Charlie. “Yes,” replied John, “we can go to Boston; and if we want to go anywhere, and the wind is ahead, we can beat: how I do want to get sail on her!” There was still much to be done—a rudder and tiller, bowsprit, thwarts for the masts, and masts’ sprits, a boom and sails to make. They did not, however, neglect their work; but now that they had succeeded in their purpose, and the agony was over, though still very anxious to finish and get her under sail, they tapped more trees, and only worked on her in such intervals as their work afforded. In these intervals Charlie made the rudder, and tiller, and thwarts for the masts. We are sorry to say that he now manifested something like conceit, which, being a development so strange in him, and so different from the natural modesty of his disposition, can only be accounted for by supposing that uniform success had somewhat turned his head, and produced temporary hallucination. From the time he made his own axe handle, when he first came on the island, till now, he had always succeeded in whatever he undertook, and been praised and petted; and even his well-balanced faculties and native modesty were not entirely unaffected by such powerful influences. Ben advised him to secure the mast thwarts with knees, as is always done in boats, to put a breast-hook in the bow, and two knees in the stern, to strengthen her, as she was dug out so thin, and the wood forward and aft cut so much across the grain; but, flushed with success, Charlie thought he knew as much about boat- building as anybody, and, for the first time in his life, neglected his father’s counsel. He thought knees would look clumsy, and that he
- 38. could fasten the thwarts with cleats of oak, and make them look neater; and thus he did. They were now brought to a stand for lack of material, cloth for sails, rudder-irons, and spars. Elm Island, although it could furnish masts in abundance for ships of the line, produced none of those straight, slim, spruce poles, that are suitable for boat spars. It was very much to the credit of the boys, that, although aching to see the boat under sail, and well aware that Ben would not hesitate a moment, if requested, to let them leave their work and go after the necessary articles, they determined to postpone the completion of her till the sugar season was over. Meanwhile, they painted her, and, after the paint was dry, rowed off in the bay: they also put the Twilight’s sail in her; and, though it was not half large enough, and they were obliged to steer with an oar, they could see that she would come up to the wind, and was an entirely different affair from the Twilight, promising great things. They hugged themselves while witnessing and admiring her performance, saying to each other,— “Won’t she go through the water when she gets her own sails, spars, and a rudder!” It must be confessed, Charlie was not at all sorry to see the flow of sap diminished; and no sooner was the last kettle full boiled, than off they started for the main land. Immediately on landing, Charlie bent his steps towards Uncle Isaac’s, on whose land was a second growth of spruce, amongst which were straight poles in abundance. John, after bolting a hasty meal, hurried to Peter Brock’s shop; there, with some assistance from Peter, he made the rudder-irons, a goose-neck for the main-boom, another for the heel of the bowsprit, which was made to unship, a clasp to confine it to the stem, and the necessary staples. When Charlie returned the next night with his spars, they procured the cloth for the sails, and went back to the island.
- 39. Ben cut and made the sails; and, in order that everything might be in keeping, pointed and grafted the ends of the fore, main, and jib-sheets, and also made a very neat fisherman’s anchor; but he persisted in making the sails much smaller than suited their notions. They had some large, flat pieces of iron that came from the wreck that drove ashore on the island the year before; these they put in the bottom for ballast, and upon them, in order to make her as stiff as possible, some heavy flint stones, worn smooth by the surf, which they had picked up on the Great Bull. Until this moment they had been unable to decide upon a name, but now concluded to call her the “West Wind.” They put the finishing touch to their work about three o’clock in the afternoon, and, with a moderate south-west wind, made sail, and stood out to sea, close-hauled. All their hopes were now more than realized; loud and repeated were their expressions of delight as they saw how near she would lie to the wind, and how well she worked. The moment the helm was put down, she came rapidly up to the wind, the foresail gave one slat, and she was about; then they tried her under foresail alone, and found she went about easily, requiring no help. “Isn’t she splendid?” asked John; “and ain’t you glad we built her?” “Reckon I am: what will Fred say when he sees her? and won’t we three have some nice times in her?” “It was a good thing for us, Charlie, that we had Ben to cut the sails and tell us where to put the masts.” They avoided the main land, as they did not wish to attract notice till they were thoroughly used to handling her, and knew her trim; and, after sailing a while, hauled down the jib, kept away, and went back “wing and wing.” “Some time,” said Charlie, “we’ll go down among the canoes on the fishing-ground, and when the fishermen are tugging away at their oars with a head wind, go spanking by them, the spray flying right in the wind’s eye.”
- 40. At length, feeling that they knew how to sail, they determined to go over to the mill and exhibit her. Notwithstanding their efforts to keep it secret, the report of their proceedings had gone round among the young folks. Some boy saw John at work upon the rudder-irons in Peter’s shop, though he plunged his work into the forge trough the moment he saw that he was observed. Little Bob Smullen also saw Charlie hauling down the spars with Isaac’s oxen, and when he asked Charlie what they were for, he told him, “To make little boys ask questions.” The wind came fresh off the land, which suited their purpose, as they wished to sail along shore on a wind, and desired to display the perfections of their boat to the greatest advantage, and above all show her superiority to the canoes, which could only go before the wind, or a little quartering. The wind was not only fresh, but blew in flaws; and as they could not think, upon such an occasion, of carrying anything less than whole sail, they put in additional ballast, and took a barrel of sap sugar, which Fred was to sell for them, and five bushels of corn, to be ground at the mill. They were to spend the night at Captain Rhines’s, intending in the morning to go down to Uncle Isaac’s point and invite him to take a sail with them. Charlie considered that the best part of the affair. They beat over in fine style, fetching far to the windward of the mill, in order to have opportunity to keep away a little and run the shore down, intending to run by the wharf, and then tack and beat back in sight of whoever might be there. When about half a mile from the shore, they were espied by little Tom Pratt, who was fishing from the wharf. He had heard the talk among the big boys, and, rushing into the mill, he bawled out, “It’s coming! it’s coming! I seed it! that thing from Elm Island.” Out ran Fred, Henry Griffin, Sam Hadlock, and Joe Merrithew. In a few moments another company came from the store and the blacksmith’s shop, among whom were Captain Rhines, Yelf, and Flour.
- 41. John was steering, and every few moments a half bucket of salt water would strike in the side of his neck and run out at the knees of his breeches, while Charlie baled it out as fast as it came in. “Only look, Charlie! see what a crowd there is on the wharf! I see father and Flour, and there’s old Uncle Jonathan Smullen, with his cane.” “I see Fred and Hen Griffin,” said Charlie: “when we get a little nearer, I mean to hail ’em.” “Slack the fore and jib sheets a little, Charlie. I’m going to keep her away and run down by the wharf.” As they ran along seven or eight hundred yards from the wharf, Charlie, standing up to windward, waved his cap to Fred, and cheered. It was instantly returned by the whole crowd. At that moment a hard flaw, striking over the high land, heeled her almost to upsetting; and as she rose again, she split in two, from stem to stern. Charlie, who was just waving his hat for a second cheer, went head foremost into the water. One half the boat, to which were attached the masts, bowsprit, and rudder, fell over to leeward; the cable, which was fastened into a thole-pin hole, running out, anchored that part, while the other half drifted off before the wind towards Elm Island. John and Charlie clung to the half that was left, while the barrel of sugar, the corn, both their guns, powder and shot, went to the bottom. It was but a few moments before Captain Rhines, with Flour and Fred Williams, came in a canoe, and took them off. Every one felt sorry for the mishap, and Fred felt so bad that he cried. It was the first boat that had ever been made or owned in the place, or even seen there, except once in a great while, when a whaleman or some large vessel came in for water, or lost their way; the inhabitants all using canoes, as did also the fishermen and coasters.
- 42. As the anchor held one half the boat, it furnished a mark to tell where the contents lay; and while Fred and Henry Griffin were towing back the other half, the rest grappled for and brought up the corn, guns, and sugar, not much of which was dissolved. It was a bitter disappointment to Charlie and John, but they bore it manfully, and went up to Captain Rhines’s to put on dry clothes and spend the night, Fred walking along with them, striving to administer consolation. “I wouldn’t feel so bad about it, Charlie,” said he; “we’ve got the other half; why couldn’t you fasten them together again?” “So you could, Charlie,” said John, “and she would be as good as ever.” “But what would she look like? No, I never want to touch her again; let her go; but I know one thing, that is, if I live long enough, I’ll build a boat that will sail as well as she did, and not split in two either.” Uncle Isaac, hearing of the shipwreck, came in to Captain Rhines’s in the evening to see and comfort the boys. “It’s not altogether the loss of the boat makes me feel so bad, Uncle Isaac,” said Charlie. “I’m sure I don’t see what else you have to feel bad about.” “It’s because father told me to fasten her together with knees, and put a hook in the eyes of her; but I thought I knew so much, I wouldn’t do it. I wanted her to look neat; and see how she looks now! I never was above taking advice before, and hope I never shall be again.” Notwithstanding Charlie’s resolution never to touch the boat again, he changed his mind after sleeping upon it. The two boys now reluctantly separated, as it was time for John to go to his trade. Fred and Henry set Charlie on to the island, putting the masts, sails, c., in their canoe, and towing the two halves. Ben never said to Charlie, “I told you so,” but did all he could to cheer him up, and told him he had made a splendid boat; that he watched them till they were half way over, and that she sailed and
- 43. worked as well as any Vineyard Sound boat (and they were called the fastest) he ever saw. The boys put the pieces of the boat and the spars in the sugar camp, and then Henry and Fred returned. Charlie seemed very cheerful and happy while the boys were there; but when they were gone, he put his head in his mother’s lap, and fairly broke down. Sally was silent for some time: at length she said,— “Charlie, I think your goose wants to set. I should have set her while you was gone, but the gander is so cross, I was afraid of him.” Charlie started up in an instant. This was a tame goose, that had mated with a wild gander they had wounded and caught, and Charlie was exceedingly anxious to raise some goslings, and instantly put the eggs under the goose. The wild ganders have horny excrescences on the joint of their wings, resembling a rooster’s spur, with which they strike a very severe blow, and are extremely bold and savage when the geese are sitting. They seize their antagonist with their bills, then strike them with both wings, and it is no child’s play to enter into a contest with them.
- 44. CHAPTER V. HAPS AND MISHAPS. It is frequently the case that trials, which are very hard to bear at the time, prove, in the end, to be the source of great and permanent benefit. The sequel will show that the wreck of the West Wind, which was so galling to Charlie and John at the moment, was, in the result, to exert a favorable influence upon their whole lives. The spring was now well advanced, and there were so many things to occupy Charlie’s attention that boat-building was altogether out of the question. Indeed, for a time, he felt very little inclination to meddle with it, and thought he never should again. There were sea-fowl to shoot, and Charlie had now become as fond of gunning as John. The currant bushes were beginning to start, the buds on the apple, pear, and cherry trees in the garden, whose development he watched as a cat would a mouse, were beginning to swell, and early peas and potatoes were to be planted. The robins also returned, and began to repair their last year’s nests, bringing another pair with them,—their progeny of the previous summer. Charlie was hoping and expecting that the swallows, who came in such numbers to look at the island and the barn the summer before, would again make their appearance; but, notwithstanding all these sources of interest and occupation, and though he felt at the time of his misfortune that it would be a long time, if ever, before he
- 45. should again think of undertaking boat-building, it was not a fortnight before he found his thoughts running in the accustomed channel, and, as he tugged at the oars, pulling the Twilight against the wind, he could but think how much easier and pleasanter would have been the task of steering the West Wind over the billows; and he actually found himself, one day, in the sugar camp, looking at the pieces of the wreck, and considering how they might be put together; but several other subjects of absorbing interest now presented themselves in rapid succession, which effectually prevented his cogitations from taking any practical shape. A baby, whose presence well nigh reconciled Charlie to the loss of the boat, made its appearance. He was exceedingly fond of the little ones, and was looking forward to the time when he could have the baby out doors with him. Mrs. Hadlock had come over to stay a while, and one day undertook to put the baby in the cradle; but little Ben stoutly resisted this infringement on his rights. He fought and screamed, declaring, as plainly as gestures and attempts at language could, that the cradle was his; that he had not done with it, and would not give it up. In this emergency, Charlie bethought himself of the willow rods (sallies), which the boys had helped him peel the spring before, and determined to make the baby a cradle, which should altogether eclipse that of Sam Atkins. The rods being thoroughly dry, he soaked them in water, when they became tough and pliant. He stained part of them with the bright colors he had procured in Boston the year before, some red, others blue and green. He then wove his cradle, putting an ornamental fringe round the rim, and also a canopy over it. The bottom was of pine, but he made the rockers of mahogany that Joe Griffin had given him. When the willow was first peeled, it was white as snow, but by lying had acquired a yellowish tinge, and was somewhat soiled in working. Charlie therefore put it under an empty hogshead, and smoked it with brimstone, which removed all the yellow tinge, and the soil received from the hands, making it as white as at first. When finished, it excited the admiration of the
- 46. household, none of whom, except Ben, had ever seen any willow- work before. “Well, Charlie,” said Mrs. Hadlock, “that beats the Indians, out and out.” “It will last a great deal longer than their work,” said he; “but I don’t think I could ever make their porcupine-work.” Ben, Jr., appreciated the new cradle as highly as the rest, instantly clambered in, and laid claim to it, and was so outrageous, wishing to appropriate both, though he could use but one at a time, that his father gave him a sound whipping. He fled to Charlie for consolation, who, to give satisfaction all round, made him a willow chair, and dyed it all the colors of the rainbow. Charlie now prepared to give a higher exhibition of his skill. He selected some of the best willows of small size, and made several beautiful work-baskets, of various sizes and colors. He then took some of the longest rods, of the straightest grain, and with his knife split the butt in four pieces, two or three inches in length; then took a piece of hard wood (granadilla), made sharp at one end, and with four scores in it; inserting the point in the split, he put the other end against his breast, and pushed it through the whole length of the rod, thus dividing it into four equal parts. He then put the quarters on his thigh, and with his knife shaved off the heart-wood, leaving the outside sap reduced to a thin, tough shaving, like cloth. This he made up into skeins, and kept it to wind the rims and handles of his baskets. He told them that a regular workman had a piece of bone or ivory to split the rod with, and an instrument much like a spoke- shave to shave it to a ribbon, but he made a piece of wood and a knife answer his purpose. Charlie’s West India wood was constantly coming into use, for one thing or another, and Joe Griffin could not have given him a more acceptable or useful present. He also used his skeins of willow for winding the legs of the three chairs he made, one for his mother, one for Hannah Murch, and one for Mrs. Hadlock. The legs were made of stout willow, and wound with these bands.
- 47. He presented work-baskets to his mother, Mrs. Rhines, and her daughters, and Aunt Molly Bradish, and expressed his determination to make some baskets the next winter to send over to the mill, that people might see them. What was his delight on going out one night, after supper, to get some willows he had put to soak in the brook, to see a company of swallows he disturbed fly off in the direction of the barn, with their bills full of clay! Following them, he saw, with great joy, some of them fly into the holes he had cut in the barn, while others deposited their burdens beneath the eaves outside. By that he knew that two kinds of swallows had come to take up their abode, and were building their nests—barn-swallows and eave- swallows. He was not long in getting to the house with the glad tidings, which delighted his mother as much as himself. “I think,” she said, “eave-swallows are the prettiest things in the world, they look so cunning sticking their heads out of a little round hole in their nest!” “Yes, mother, and I’ve seen them two stories on Captain Rhines’s barn—one nest right over the other.” It seemed as if a kind Providence had determined to remunerate Charlie for his disappointment in respect to the boat. He kept his goose, with her goslings, in a large pen near the barn, while the wild gander was let out every day to go where he liked. The great body of wild geese were now gone; but a few stragglers from broken flocks still remained, and were not considered worth the attention of gunners. A brush fence ran across the island behind the barn, dividing the field from the pasture. Great was Charlie’s surprise, when coming one day to dinner, he saw the gander in conversation with a wild goose through the fence. He could not fly over the fence, as one wing was mutilated, therefore was trying to persuade the goose to fly over to him. The goose, on the other hand, being lonely,—the rest of the flock probably having been shot,—was desirous of
- 48. company, but afraid to venture. The gander would walk along one side of the fence, and the goose the other, a little ways, and then stop and talk the matter over. Charlie ran and made a hole in the fence, right abreast the back barn doors, while they were down under the hill out of sight, and opened the barn doors that led into the floor, then hid himself and watched them. They continued walking along till they found the gap, when the gander instantly went through, and joined the goose, making the most strenuous efforts to entice her to follow him through the hole, and finally succeeded; he evidently wished to coax her to the barn, but the goose held off; she would venture a little way, and then go back, her head erect, turning in every direction, and her eyes flashing like balls of fire. It seemed as if the gander would fail in his efforts, and she appeared about to rise and fly away. At this juncture, Charlie, in his concealment, flung some corn around the barn door: the gander now redoubled his efforts; he would run ahead, pick up some corn, then run back and tell her how good it was. The goose, evidently hungry, now approached slowly, and began to pick the corn, a train of it extending into the floor; Charlie was so excited he could hear his heart beat. He now crawled out of the barn, and concealed himself outside, and the goose, following up the scattered kernels, entered the floor, when Charlie slammed the door to. He could hardly believe that he had a veritable wild goose unhurt; he flew into the house, where they were all through dinner, and replied to his mother’s question, of where he had been, by taking her and Ben by the hand and dragging them to the barn, where they found the wild goose on the collar beam, and the gander on the floor, vainly striving to entice her down. After being chased from beam to beam, she buried herself in the hay, when they caught her and clipped her wings. The flax being done out, Sally, with a good smart girl to help her (Sally Merrithew), had linen yarn to bleach to her heart’s content. One forenoon, about eleven o’clock, Ben and Charlie were in the field; Sally had spread some linen yarn on the grass to whiten, and gone in to get dinner. All at once a terrible outcry arose from the
- 49. house; Sally was screaming, “Ben! Ben! get the gun;” the baby was bawling for dear life, and Sailor barking in concert. The cause of the outcry was soon manifest. A large fish-hawk was seen sailing along in the direction of the eastern point, with two skeins of Sally’s yarn in his claws, screaming with delight at the richness of his prize. “Why don’t you fire, Ben?” screamed Sally. “It’s no use,” said Ben; “he’s out of range.” “Well, get the axe and cut the tree down this minute.” “I will, mother,” said Charlie, running to the wood-pile for the axe. “Stop till after dinner,” said Ben, who had not the most distant idea of cutting the tree down; however, he felt very sorry for Sally, and like a prudent general, permitted her feelings to exhaust themselves. “If I’ve got to cut that great pine down this warm day, I think I must have a cup of tea.” He well knew the soothing effect of a cup of tea. When they were seated at table, he said,— “What a nice dinner this is, Sally! you do make the best bread, and such nice butter!” Not a word about the fish-hawk. But as dinner was most over, Ben began to unfold his purpose. “Sally,” said he, “do you love that little creature?” pointing to the baby. “How can you ask such a question?” “Haven’t you taken a great deal of comfort in making his little dresses? and wouldn’t you feel bad if some one should come and tear down this house, break the furniture, and destroy all that we’ve worked, scrubbed, and contrived so long to collect around us, for these little ones?” “Why, Ben, how you talk! Of course I should. But what makes you talk so? Who’s going to hurt us?” “Nobody, I hope; but suppose somebody had taken some little thing from us,—an axe, a shovel, or a milk pan,—would you want their house torn down over their heads for it?”
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