Talented jerks. Every organization has them. They’re knowledgeable and relentless. They’re the “go-to” resource whenever there’s a crisis or an important project. They get things done but they leave bruises by micromanaging and intimidating their colleagues and reports.
You hate their behavior, but love their results. You don’t want to fire them; you want to fix them.
I finished reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs over Christmas break and I can’t stop thinking about it.
The book disturbed me. I love Apple products; I wanted to admire Steve Jobs. But I don’t.
Great leaders don’t call people names. They don’t treat a person like a prince one day and a serf the next. They don’t practice intimidating stares in the mirror. They don’t treat relationships as if they were commodities to be traded.
Smart people can make stupid decisions. Case in point: business executives who decide they can address their technology needs without involving IT, responding to the IT supply-and-demand crunch that afflicts so many enterprises today. In my experience, nobody wins in these do-it-yourself projects.
There’s a chill in the air, the chill of fear. Sales and profits are down. A new CEO is in town. The head of manufacturing is gone, and the supply-chain head may be the next to roll -- unless she can deliver some wins. She has a plan: Rationalize the vendors, realign accountabilities, and roll out new technology to the field.
A productive CIO-CFO relationship is critical to the successful exploitation of technology. And, in general, CIOs find the relationship difficult and frustrating to navigate.
One of the root causes of the frustration stems from the fact that when it comes to IT, CFOs serve multiple and often conflicting roles: CFO's are IT's business partner, banker, and in some cases, boss. This means that in a given work week, it's not unusual for CFOs to request additional IT support, cut the IT budget, and criticize the CIO's progress in strengthening the company's competitive position.
Every profession has its stereotype. Operations guys are risk averse. Marketing types are emotional. Finance wonks are narrow-minded. CIOs are interpersonally awkward and out of step with the business.
In a large ballroom with 250 CIOs, an industry leading CIO takes the podium to discuss how his company leveraged cloud-based email services to quickly deliver email capability to a newly acquired company. He delivers a punchy, succinct presentation and finishes with about 30 minutes to spare. I start packing up, certain that the Q&A will be short and sweet. Instead, I witness 30 minutes of collective handwringing about cloud-based email: What about the service levels? Aren't the costs higher? Are you really comfortable putting company information into the cloud? Can the vendor really deliver?
You've got senior level buy-in, authority, and resources for your project. But you're lacking a few critical supporters. A few people in the middle of your organization are making it tough for you to get your job done. Their mouths say, "Yes," but their actions say, "Yes, but..."
There's only one kind of leadership malpractice: wasting the lives of those we lead.
Question: When working with IT, how can you tell the difference between an introvert and an extrovert?
Answer: The extrovert looks at your shoes.
We label people. Everyone does it.
My last post raised the question, "Why does management behavior often diverge from "broadly accepted" theory or best practice?" In response, you shared insights as to why best practices aren't always practical or desirable and, instead, what should be done to (in your words) avoid "giving up on differentiation" and use best practices as "the basis for innovative practices."
Why does management behavior often diverge from "broadly accepted" theory or best practice?
Something out of the ordinary arrived on your desk today: an"IT Annual Report" brought to you by your internal IT department.
Resist the temptation to throw it away. Instead, see it for what it is: a cry for help.
My last blog discussed how to promote innovation by dismantling the mistrust that exists between IT and the rest of the business.
A seasoned IT vet responded with a self-described "dumb question" that's far from dumb: "I graduated in 1978 from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a BBA in what is now called Information Systems, which is business applications of computers. This was when both the degree and the university were new. I understood this degree was created to address this issue. Why hasn't it?"
Interested in nurturing technology-enabled innovation? Start by nurturing relationships.
Are you a customer or partner of IT?
If you answered "customer," guess again. IT only has one customer — and that is the customer who buys the company's products and services. Serving this customer requires an effective IT-business partnership.
The book Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) discusses the psychological need to feel competent — even when evidence to the contrary abounds. The AIG debacle revealed a classic illustration of this in the denial of responsibility by ex-CEO Maurice Greenberg. He said, "I don't feel any responsibility at all...how can I be responsible for something that happened when I'm not there?"
In this messed up economy, everyone is working overtime, second-guessing every decision and every dollar.
IT changes fast, but how we manage IT doesn't.
One day, your company "encouraged" managers to attend a two-day workshop on business unit manager's role in managing IT.
