After more than a half year of blog entries perhaps it’s time to take stock, see what we might have learned. Partly this is because we have covered more than two dozen subjects, partly because we will be taking a summer break. There will be no more entries for a while.
The topics have been diverse, from cloud computing and risk management to mobile computing, embedded systems, and new Web-based applications. From long term storage and big data to inter-enterprise IT and PR for IT organizations. Each one has posed some sort of dilemma for CIOs.
But there must be a bigger pattern here, some overriding dilemma for CIOs. Some choice that will determine for a long time to come the success of IT within their organizations and the success of their careers.
I think I see it. Each of the blog entries discusses a new technology, practice, or usage trend. Sometimes we draw on some of CRITOs cutting edge academic research. But most of the challenges posed by the dilemmas we discussed seem ageless. Strategizing on ways to influence business units, cajoling end user departments into sharing resources, finding “organizational will” to get done what needs to be done.
I think the CIO’s “meta” dilemma is embodied in the tension between the need to master technology – fast moving, ever-changing – and the need to master the persuasion of others, which is as old fashioned as a Dale Carnegie “How to Win Friends and Influence People” class (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People).
The problem is, the technology is incredibly alluring. I have been saying for five years now – even during the economic depths of 2008 and 2009 – that we are in the middle of a great technology renaissance. Only the third one since mainframes entered businesses en masse in the 1960s. Each era has had a boom-bust cycle that starts with about five years of technology introduction and “irrational exuberance,” followed by a sharp high tech stock market collapse, and followed by a long, steady period of growth. The second era, that of the PC, ended when the Worldwide Web came on the scene in the mid 1990s. We are living now in that Internet era growth period 12 years after the bust.
So, success will require new technology, and CIOs will be responsible for helping their organizations make the most out of it. In fact, there has never been a better time for using technology to competitive advantage. But as in the past eras, the CIO’s responsibility for the success of new technology deployments may put him or her in a position counter to the business. It can mean putting on the brakes, bringing order to chaos. The organization doesn’t always know what’s best for it.
Mastering the new technology is a necessary-but-not-sufficient condition for success. Winning friends and influencing people will be even more important going forward as the consumerization of IT continues. You need to mirror the whole organization in your own approach. Salesperson some of the time, marketing expert some of the time, finance wizard some of the time, and operations some of the time. It’s a multifaceted role unique to IT.
Over the years I’ve had the honor of judging a number of “CIO of the Year” awards, in China, Europe, and the U.S. The successful CIOs I’ve come in contact with all seem to have not only knowledge of the most up-to-date technology, but also a deep understanding of how their own organizations work. They enlist allies in the business units and keep the CEO in the loop, and they think of themselves as business people first, technologists second. They are personable, impressive, engaged and engaging.
Some of these CIOs seem like they come by these traits innately. But others have to work at it, which gives us all hope. We don’t have to be salesperson of the year to influence others. We can each make our case our own way.
There is a final condition to being a successful CIO and that is attention to the team. An IT department must have the same multifaceted personalities working within it as the CIO has within him or her. The CIO is CEO of this department. You need to deal with a mix of egos, talents, and operating styles. You need to help them deal with adversity – end user departments blaming IT for their own mistakes, vendor shortcomings, external business conditions – and win their own friends and influence their own people.
I know this advice is platitudinous. But while the success of so much in the enterprise depends on IT, the success if IT depends even more on the rest of the enterprise. It’s your job to help the enterprise fulfill its role in your success.
Signing off, your colleague, John
CIO Dilemma 