The CIO Assistant's Blog

Readers of this blog are now familiar with my stance on the Business-IT Alignment issue: that it would take an engagement from both sides and on a level-playing field. This is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the CIOs. Notwithstanding the constant struggle by the CIOs in the executive boardroom, the IT press coverage sometimes doesn’t help by portraying them as really out of touch with Business. Whether this type of reporting is done on purpose – for business reason – or not, I leave it to your judgment.

In the last post (Business-IT Alignment, A Twisted Tale), I’ve told you about an article by the CIO-UK magazine, reporting that Business should “Align with the IT, not the other way around“. This time, it’s about an article by Forrester Research, an influential technology and market research company that provides “pragmatic advice to global leaders in business and technology“.

The article was written by George F. Colony in his The Counterintuitive CEO Blog, with the title CIOs to CEOs: “Stay out of tech.” It was the results of a dinner discussion with 15 CIOs on the question of “How do you raise the tech IQ of your CEO?” You can read the entire article and the comments here, including mine which I reprint here:

“I find it unfortunate that your article raises some misinterpretations by a few. Your question was “How do you raise the tech IQ of your CEO?” (implying that it is a good thing to have).

The answer from the CIOs, and I quote here Bob Gregg, one of the participants, was “I recall our orientation was the CEO needs the ability to comprehend how IT can transform their business, make wise IT investment decisions, and drive business technology implementation.”

To me, that does not require a high Tech IQ, it required a high Business IQ. That also does not say “CEOs: stay out of tech.” as the title of the article suggested.

I would like to here from the other 14 CIOs. Otherwise, it looks like they are being used again as fodder for some controversial discussion, as suggested in my post at: http://tao-of-living.com/2009/07/business-it-alignment-a-twisted-tale/.”

I understand that it’s not easy to distil into less than 300 words the essence of 15 presumably opinionated voices, especially if expressed over a dinner party in Las Vegas. But to jump from a response that the CEOs don’t need to have a high Tech IQ to the conclusion that the CEOs should stay of Tech all together is a pretty strong leap to me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have the highest respect for Forrester Research, and for George Colony. I don’t envy their difficult and sometimes ungrateful tasks of finding and reporting controversial subjects. However, I find the article title was just a bit too strong. Who in his/her right mind would suggest such a thing? It carries a connotation that CIOs are (again) a bunch of out-of-touch individuals. Maybe some are, I have encountered a few myself, but the majority are not. I presume that the 15 participants to the discussion form part of the latter.

The disquieting fact is that it’s now over a month since the time that the article was published (June 5, 2009), and there was only one “clarification” made by one participant. Where were the other 14? Did they agree with Forrester’s reported statement that CEO’s should “stay out of tech.”? Again, I hope that the explanation is nothing more than the fact that they have other battles to fight than spending time to write a clarification, albeit an important one in my opinion.

Postcripts.- To continue with my “balanced” view, I am happy to find an example of reporting about positive  IT Leadership. This time, it’s about Coca-Cola’s new Freestyle dispenser. I will write about it in an upcoming post.

          alignment, business, CIO, CxO

If you “google” the phrase “roles of CIO” you will received over 1000 hits, not exactly a popular subject such as “Obama” (282 million hits) yet still of interest to many. Some of these entries will give you a laundry list of essential tasks or best practices. Others will focus on certain role-of-the-month jobs such as Champion of Green IT or Enterprise Architect/Corporate Strategist. And you would end up wondering aloud whether you have all the necessary skills or capabilities to make it as the CIO. My take on the essential roles of the CIO is much simpler. In my opinion, the CIO is first and foremost a business person, a leader of man (used in a generic sense, not gender-related) and a manager of resources.

1. CIO as a business person

The CIO is not an independent professional such as doctors, lawyers, teachers or even IT consultants. More often than not, the CIO works for an organization with a business purpose, be it profit-oriented or non-profit one. As the CIO, you need to associate yourself with the business that your organization is in. If your firm’s business is in Banking or Insurance, you need to think as a Banker or an Insurer. If yours is in Financial Well-Being, you need to think in broader terms then. When you start to think in terms of your firm’s business, you will see your mind opened to new perspectives, including those from the executive suite or the firm’s customers.

One of the dangers facing an aspiring CIO is to think exclusively in terms of IT as the business. Many IT Leaders coming through the rank have a rather detached view of the business they are serving. They tend to focus exclusively on the operational excellence aspect. While there are merits in such approach, the CIO is no longer just an IT professional whose skills can serve almost any organizations or industries. Just as in the chicken-and-pig story, IT professionals are “involved” but the CIO must be “committed”. If you don’t see yourself putting some skin in the game, stop asking for a C-level job.

2. CIO as a leader of man

Given the need for IT support in all aspects of business and the dizzying advancements in technologies, the job of a CIO requires the instigation of a lot of needed changes in the face of risk and uncertainty. The situation calls for a persuasive agent of change, an accomplished negotiator, an effective integrator but above all, it calls for a Leader.

In my view, the CIO is a prototypical Level-5 leader, a person who exhibits “a paradoxical combination of personal humility and professional will”, as described by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great [2001]. As a Level-5 leader, the CIO does not have a large ego, may appear to be less ambitious, yet has an interest in matters of long-lasting impact and is certainly not a pushover: a perfect counterpoint to a more charismatic (or dare we say more egomaniac, short-term oriented) CEO. If you are not comfortable with this role, your impact on the organization would not be as great as it could be.

3. CIO as a manager of resources

This is the most obvious role that all IT leaders can associated with. For years, IT has promoted the idea of managing data and information as a corporate resource. And the proliferation of IT infrastructure, networks, servers, desktops … has led to the practice of Asset Management beyond the realm of finance and procurement. However, my emphasis here is less on Resources and more on Management.

The CIO as a compleat Manager should be proficient in the art of making decisions, building a team and delegating responsibilities. A CIO who doubles as a Chief Technologist or an Enterprise Architect or an IT Operations Manager runs the risk of alienating the talents and not having enough time to be a Leader and a Business person.

Again, here is just my personal (and possibly simplistic) point of view which I will expand in upcoming posts. Agreed with them or not, I would like to hear from you.

          business, CIO, CxO, IT, leadership