Mark Smalley

This presentation explores IT-related stress through the lens of an ancient Buddhist concept. It is for people who are concerned about IT's impact on people and their business, and who have the compassion to do something about it.

Old is not necessarily outdated. Old ways of thinking and working sometimes just need to be adapted to a new context. With that in mind, I adapted Buddhism's Four Noble Truths of Suffering to describe suffering in the IT domain. Yes, IT suffering. IT is stressful, for both users and providers. Users are anxious at the mere thought of having to call a service desk. Years after IT engineers have been on pager duty, they get a physiological reaction when a phone buzzes. IT affects people’s well-being. We need to take this seriously.

In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths acknowledge the universal existence of suffering and its root causes. They offer a framework for understanding suffering, its origin in desire and attachment, the possibility of its cessation, and the path to liberation from suffering through mindfulness, self-awareness, and transformative action.

My four noble truths of IT suffering are:

• The truth of IT suffering: IT services have an impact on people’s emotional well-being.
• The truth of the cause of IT suffering: inconsiderate behaviour and uncompromising algorithms cause IT suffering.
• The end of IT suffering: IT suffering is alleviated by a focus on IT’s impact on people and their business.
• The path to the end of IT suffering: acknowledge the existence of IT suffering and apply empathy and compassion to continually improve the IT service experience.

I will also touch on my XLA work and other related or unrelated topics.