Dear CIO,
“I wish I can relate the budgets my CIO is spending with my own objectives, but I cannot.” Said the CEO. “I wish I can reject spending them either, but I also can’t.” If this sounds familiar to you, keep calm and read on. If it doesn’t, you are in good shape already, and the rest of this letter will just serve as a reinforcer.
As a consultant who is specialized in Digital and Smart Strategies and their positive impact on the organization’s top and bottom lines, I must say this is quite familiar. The frustration CEOs are going through is obvious. Clearly there is a problem, and every problem has a cause, effect and solution. Let us you and me analyse each one of those.
Cause
I will be very blunt with you and say the cause of the problem is not from the CEO. A sailing ship’s crew must follow the captain’s queue, or they risk drowning. Soldiers must obey their commander in battlefield, or they risk defeat. Players must do as their coach say, or they risk losing the game. You get the idea. If the CEO sees a problem in this relationship, it is your duty, not hers, to go back to the drawing boards and strategize your organizational alignment techniques. In my previous letter to you, I advised you to “Have an Open Mind” and align primarily with the CMO and CFO. I know your intentions are towards the good of the organization, but you and me are speaking a language that others don’t understand, and it is our duty to align and explain, in the CEO’s language.
Effect
Be frank with me, aren’t you frustrated that it is mostly your budgets that get scrutinized? What do you think of the size of marketing budgets or sales operations’? I hope I am not the one breaking it to you, but their budgets are increasingly IT related. Gartner predicts that “By 2017 the CMO will Spend More on IT Than the CIO”. Stop gasping, you know your budgets aren't being “cut”, they are being “transferred”! And this is just the beginning. What do you feel about “Shadow IT”? Is it shattering your vision of securing the enterprise data? How about when Engineering resorted to you to fix their IT problems, only to uncover that they have purchased their system without your permission or even knowledge? And don’t get me started on the new joiner, the CDO. An article in Forbes titled “Why The Rise Of The CDO Role Represents A Power Grab” thinks that “the CDO role is a real threat to the CIO”. If you are not living all of these struggles, it is time to pay more attention, your journey is only set to intensify.
Solution
How many times did the CEO call you to ask about a technical challenge she is personally facing? Remember when the CFO called you to get your advice on that new high tech gadget he is thinking of buying? Whether you like it or not, you are a consultant, just like me, only you get to travel a lot less! As a consultant, the first thing to look at is your organizational context. Below, you will find my recommended framework, add to it your personal twist and you will create the elixir:
What are the CEO’s priorities? How about the CMO’s? List down the desired outcomes of the rest of your executive suite.
How can you measure your progress and contribution to those outcomes? List down the indicators and metrics to successfully guide you through achieving those outcomes.
Are there any potential risks associated with these outcomes? Take note and make sure your credibility is intact by setting the correct expectations.
What will be the value to the organization from achieving those outcomes? Is there going to be a revenue increase? cost decrease? asset utilization & efficiency benefits?
What should or shouldn’t happen to successfully achieve those outcomes? Make sure you take note of every possible critical success factor you might come across.
Now map the functional capabilities of the technical solutions you are proposing with the objectives of your business and CEO.
Once you are fully aligned with the organization’s objectives, metrics and value, you can then start drawing your goals, strategies and tactics to achieve these objectives.
“I am not interested in technology or systems” said the CEO. “What keeps me up at night is my shareholder value. I am sure that my CIO’s activities are contributing to my success, I just cannot quantify it”.
All what CEOs are asking for is the value structure; the link between her objectives, and the functional capabilities of the technologies you are introducing. If the value introduced by achieving the CEO’s outcomes outweigh the cost of the solutions you are proposing, I can guarantee you Mr. CIO, all your budgets will be approved.
Kind Regards,
Usama
