Category Archives: Leadership
IT Farming
…One interesting aspect to explore here is not the comments or absence of them, but how the situations being commented on came to be. While many times these comments can refer to specific events, more often than not, when you dig beneath the surface, you will find that what is being reacted to is a systemic condition, the seeds (either crop or weeds) of which had been planted long ago. Continue reading
Top 10 Posts of 2009
The best audience is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.
-Alben W. Barkley Continue reading
Hey CIO, How Are Your HR/OD Skills?
Organizations morph. Sometimes the change is slow over time, sometimes rapid as part of a merger. What was effective structurally at one point inevitable deconstructs as the organization it supports changes. As people move in and out of the organization personalities change the roles and by association how the work gets done. Informal structures emerge and at some point the formal organization becomes a hinderance as opposed to a means to facilitate and support successful results. Continue reading
Hey CIO, How Are Your Financial Skills?
It can be argued that nothing is more important to executives than knowing exactly how the money with which they entrust people translates into results. This is a fundamental frame of reference for all those who hope to sit at the proverbial table. It also moves the CIO requirement set to be inclusive of the world of finance. Continue reading
Hey CIO, How Are Your Marketing Skills?
Marketing skills cannot be left to those in the marketing department. There is a heavy dose of marketing in IT. The job of the CIO depends on getting the marketing part right. Continue reading
The Inflection Point
As organizations grow the technology needs of an organization change – and sometimes change quickly and profoundly. Continue reading
Soft Statements vs Hard Reality
If your company is like most, your mission statement and set of corporate approved values portray your company as being very compassionate. The picture painted is that people who work at your organization are more like family members than employees. The family will take care of itself and protect itself from all those not part of the family. While these words sound very “Mafia-esque” the messaging demonstrates that your organization is a great place to work. Continue reading
Blindspots
…Every so often reality hits. An outside entity steps in to hold a mirror up to ourselves that provides a stiff body check to our egos. Sometime this is in the form of a player who has not been part of our league and provides a benchmark to compare to. Sometime, and this is the ego crushing part, it is in the form of a videotaping performed by a local tavern to entice vulnerable old men to watch their game while sharing a refreshment or two. Continue reading
The Walls Came Tumbling Down
IT organizations have seen several changes – walls came tumbling down types of changes – over the last few decades. Here are a few as I remember them. Continue reading
Why Do People Work For You?
As a leader of your organization, you can shape your ecosystem. One of the hard parts of building out your ecosystem is determining your set of value propositions to your employees – or “why would people want to work for you?”. Recruiting for new people may cause you to think through your value proposition to fill a role. This is different however, than value proposition to your workforce as the focus is smaller and typically less lasting. Continue reading
