Hell yeh! Who wants to go into a career that’s caricatured by nerds and geeks (and not the good kind), dark dank offices, thankless tasks, unrelenting work, small budgets, disgruntled users and little promise of redemption. On the back of two reports just out, the first by Deloit.

When signals like Do I.T. professionals have an image problem emerge, organisations that engage early have the advantage of choosing their response rather than reacting to events. That gap between those who prepared and those who did not is where competitive positioning is actually made or lost.

The most important question is not whether Do I.T. professionals have an image problem will matter, but how quickly it will matter in your specific context. Leaders benefit most from mapping the ripple effects early — not just the direct impact but the second and third-order consequences that arrive later and hit harder. That is the practical work of foresight.