Forced Out But Vindicated

Gordon Graham accepted an IT position at a public utility district in rural Washington because its core values and guiding principles aligned with his. The PUD’s culture started spiraling downward after a new general manager with narcissistic tendencies pushed an agenda with financially damaging outcomes. These behaviors and other bizarre actions resulted in Gordon’s inexcusable termination, which he tells in his book, The Intrepid Brotherhood: Public Power, Corruption, and Whistleblowing in the Pacific Northwest.

Interview Highlights

• Multiple audiences for The Intrepid Brotherhood
• An explanation of public utility districts
• Gordon’s focus on turning his IT department into a customer-centric service provider
• Reasons an IT team needs to be at the strategy table
• What drove Charlie’s behavior? Why are people like him prone to these tendencies?
• The right and wrong ways to approach an ERP implementation
• 2x’ing the cost of an ERP solution and how an $8 million project turns into $17 million
• The lack of Board input during troubled times and a crippled culture
• Revisiting corporate governance
• The jury’s award to Gordon for wrongful termination

At some point in your life, you realize that integrity may present an impediment to acquiring some of the things you had always thought you wanted. You become aware that you will need to make some hard decisions regarding ethics and the example you want to set.

Gordon Graham

Books Mentioned

1. The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
2. Beyond Command and Control by John Seddon
3. Vital Integrities by George Brymer
4. On Organizational Learning by Chris Argyris
5. Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us by Brian Klaas
6. The Psychopathic CEO: An Executive Survival Guide by Jack McCullough

Peter Senge laid out a strong case that the most competitive and productive organizations adopted learning organizations’ strategies. They were moving into the future through continual learning by becoming a “learning organization,”

Gordon Graham

Who Should Read This Book?

I read this book in three sittings. This book is about human nature–the really good side and the bad version of people. This five-star book has several audiences:

1. Any young IT professional who is a lifelong learner and wants to see the connection between their work and the organization’s strategy will draw inspiration from Gordon’s point of view in technology leadership. The entire storyline on the PeopleSoft implementation was insightful and instructive. This part of the story was a mini MBA and a case study for failed ERP implementations.
2. Every board member of PUDs and electrical cooperatives should read this along with a simple book on corporate governance.
3. Any employee dealing with a supervisor or boss who is a narcissist, psychopath, or sociopath will also gain insights into how Gordon persevered in this situation.
4. Finally, CEOs in growing organizations will gain value in Gordon’s discussion about leadership and the PUD’s transformation from a strong to a poor culture.

Why Five Stars?

This is our last podcast and post of the year for 2022. I will finish the year having completed 94 books. That count includes audio and text.

The Intrepid Brotherhood was book number 92. When I finished, I was certain this would be in my Top 10 books for the year. I have not gone through my entire list, but this will probably be my 7th favorite book. Why?

I love narrative nonfiction. I like history, memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies too. Mix in business, and I have the perfect recipe for a great read.

I was not sure what to expect. This book was suggested to me by Book Launchers, and I’m glad they did. They also recommended Gordon as a podcast guest. Incidentally, I agree to these requests about 2% of the time.

The story arc is simple:

• The setup: the history of the PUD and Gordon’s background and points of view for IT leadership
• The climax: the rise of a narcissistic leader, ERP chaos, a toxic culture, and wrongful termination
• Vindication: family matters, going to court, and the verdict

This is a business book without trying to be one. There’s a strong human element permeating every single page. I get a glimpse of a person’s human nature at its very worse. On the flip side, I see logical, pragmatic, and sensible ethics that seem to come across as instinctual (and I’m referring to the author, whom I can tell is humble and wants the right thing at all times).

I cannot stress enough the great insights about the story of the ERP selection process and the implementation. This is great case study material for any organization. Other themes included corporate governance, the learning organization, and IT’s role at the strategy table.

If I could offer one suggestion for a future update to the book, that would be to include a 2-3 page appendix on whistleblowing. There are other Gordons of the world who have not been as fortunate as he was in terms of the final chapter of this story. When should someone become a whistleblower? How? And what are the next steps? If this topic fascinates you, I recommend reading Cynthia Cooper’s book about her time at WorldCom.

If I’m wrong about this being my seventh-favorite book in 2022, it’s because the number is too low.

Important Links

• Gordon’s Website
• Amazon author page
• LinkedIn

Public Utility District

I’m familiar with electric cooperatives, but I had never heard of a public utility district until I read Gordon’s book. Below is a short video describing how a PUD works by Gordon’s former employer.

Title Image Attribution: Ken Lund via Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic