Earlier this week we shared 14 bad habits that IT leaders told us were the biggest barriers standing in the way of CIOs' success. We found three more in the news this week. Take a look, and see if there are any bad habits you need to break in your own IT organization.
Helicopter CIOs: stop micromanaging [CIO]: IDG contributor Francois Estellon says that the first job of a CIO is to be a leader, but acknowledges that, “sometimes we cannot stop ourselves from diving too deep into a topic, especially ones close to our heart, like the technologies that gave our careers their start.” But Estellon goes on to point out the consequences of micromanaging – from increasing the stress of the team to curbing their initiative and reducing their accountability. His top technique for avoiding the helicopter role: “Be clear and precise of expectations from your team — you define the What and the When but stay away from the How.”
CIOs and CMOs: Make peace, work together, keep customers happy [FierceCIO]: This article explores a recent Forrester Research report that emphasized, “business technology is needed to power change in an enterprise.” The report, titled “Winning in the Age of the Customer,” included a strong call to CIOs and CMOs to work together to develop a technology agenda to satisfy changing customer needs. In the framework of bad habits to break, the article states, “A marketer shouldn't be making technology decisions without input from the CIO. In turn, a CIO shouldn't put in place technology that doesn't address customer needs.” Notably, the report also highlights Agile as a must-embrace methodology for every process across the business.
For a great example of CIO-CMO alignment, read this article by Jay Ferro.
Culture change in federal IT starts at the top [NextGov]: The takeaway from this article is that successful digital transformations depend more on culture than any technology or tool. Author Frank Konkel highlights the FCC's modernization, led by Enterpriser David Bray, as an example in which the status quo was not working and a new approach was needed. Unlike the nine different CIOs in eight years that preceded him, “Bray focused on people – hiring established IT leaders like (John) Skudlarek and other less-seasoned but idealistic personnel from the West Coast – and the technology followed. Skudlarek said the formula isn’t complex: A leader plus top cover plus the right people equal great technology, he said.”
More news for CIOs
IBM’s Watson has a new project: Fighting cybercrime [Wired]
IT talent gap an ‘existential threat’ in need of new tactics [CIO]
CIO alert: Information technology is a $4 trillion global business [ZDNet]
