And we knew -- or hoped -- that the next technology wave could hit us at any time, washing out whatever planning and processes we had in place. So there was no point in buying into rigorous processes and inflexible planning, was there? We needed the agility to ride that new wave when it came crashing in on us.

Or anyway, that's what we told ourselves. So we have shelves groaning with unused methodologies and architectures. Fair is fair: Much of that shelfware was rigid. It would have required large investments in training and discipline. And if it didn't survive a technology transition, that all would have been wasted.

Besides, it sure didn't look like much fun. And if that was the alternative to IT heroics, who needed it?

And that's the way we've seen the choice: heroic adventure or brittle tedium. No surprise, then, that we've chosen to keep fighting IT fires.

But as our Premier 100 winners demonstrate, there's plenty of room for heroism, even when planning, processes and communication give us rock-steady IT. It's just not old-fashioned IT heroism.