Copyright © 2011 by Hunter Muller. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Muller, Hunter.
The transformational CIO: leadership and innovation strategies for IT executives in a rapidly changing world/Hunter Muller.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-64755-4 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-01932-0 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-118-01978-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-01979-5 (ebk)
1. Information technology—Management—Case studies. 2. Chief information officers—Case studies. I. Title.
HD30.2.M875 2011
004.068'4—dc22
2010045216
For Sandra, Chase, and Brice
None of the essential transformative processes can be achieved or sustained without information technology. As a result, the chief information officer, more commonly known as the CIO, will play a central and indispensable role as a leader and enabler of business transformation. The CIO’s new role is vastly different from the roles played by the previous generation of CIOs.
Unlike the CIOs of the recent decade, the modern CIO must take an active hand in developing and guiding the multiple processes required to achieve the company’s strategic goals. This represents a sharp break with the past, when the primary responsibility of IT was serving internal customers and responding to the expressed needs of business units operating within the traditional boundaries of the enterprise.
The modern CIO works in the cloud, both figuratively and literally. There are no boundaries—just an infinite set of potential futures, waiting to be brought into existence.
In this truly quantum universe, the CIO’s portfolio of responsibilities includes hundreds of duties. Some of these duties are abstract, some are concrete; some are obvious, some are subtle. Some require patience and humility; some require risk-taking and hubris.
Over the next 200 pages, we will look at the role of the transformational CIO and see how it is actually very similar to the roles played by other senior corporate executives. We will assemble a portrait of the “modern CIO” through stories, anecdotes, case studies, and topical research.
All of the sources interviewed for this book will provide actionable guidance, based on their own personal experiences and accumulated wisdom. You are free to follow their counsel or chart a path of your own. I promise that you will learn something useful from the stories they tell, and that you will come away with a stronger understanding of transformational IT leadership when you have read the book.
Ideally, this book will serve as a helpful and very general guide for CIOs, IT leaders, and IT suppliers. It is by no means exhaustive, but it does cover many of the critical topics that concern IT executives struggling to manage successfully in today’s rapidly changing markets.
The book’s opening chapters are arranged loosely around a four-step process model. The subsequent chapters deal with crucial matters, such as partnering with the business, how to think like a CEO, what to do in your first 30 days on the job, and how to prepare for the next steps on your career path.
I have included as many charts and graphs as possible to help you visualize the main points of my argument. I have also included numerous examples of real-world situations in which IT leaders successfully managed the types of challenges and issues that, sooner or later, you are likely to confront in your career. I sincerely hope that you find these examples both interesting and useful.
Before plunging onward, a few brief words on methodology are appropriate. I have been actively involved as a consultant in this field for more than 20 years. Much of what I'm writing is based on my own personal observations of top executives at leading organizations operating in major markets all over the world.
For the purpose of this book, I assembled an experienced editorial team that interviewed dozens of respected IT executives and industry experts, and crafted these interviews into stories and anecdotes revealing the multitude of challenges and opportunities facing transformational leaders in various sectors of the global economy.
Additionally, we combed through hundreds of books and thousands of articles, searching for clues that would lead us to a better understanding of how transformational strategy plays out in the real world.
I also leveraged the capabilities and resources of my firm, HMG Strategy LLC, to conduct surveys, analyze data, and generate information that will likely prove useful to anyone who is involved in a transformation project. The results of these surveys are interspersed throughout the book, and will also be available on my web site, www.hmgstrategy.com.
Although this book is based primarily on the knowledge and experience that I acquired over nearly three decades as a consultant in the IT industry, the book is also a work of journalism and reportage, and I could not have completed it without leveraging the collective wisdom of many knowledgeable sources. To them I am deeply indebted. I thank them sincerely for their time, their energy, their intelligence, and their support.
I am especially grateful to Rich Adduci, Yuri Aguiar, Saad Ayub, Shawn Banerji, Roger Berry, Laxman K. Badiga, Ramón Baez, Eric Belove, Marc Benioff, Mitch Bishop, Larry Bonfante, Greg Buoncontri, Lee Congdon, Jay Crotts, Stephen Davy, John Dietrich, José Carlos Eiras, Dan Fallon, Philip Fasano, Greg Fell, Rich Gius, Stephen Gold, Katie Graham, Mark Griesbaum, Tarun Inuganti, Sheila Jordan, Emmet B. Keeffe III, Steven Kendrick, Winnie Ko, Harvey Koeppel, Roberta Kowalishin, Frank Kovacs, Robin Johnson, Andy Lark, Tony Leng, Beverly Lieberman, Peter Logothetis, Brian Lurie, Bryan MacDonald, Mark P. McDonald, Stuart McGuigan, Diana Melick, Rajeev Mehta, Tim O'Malley, Keri Pearlson, Mike Pellegrino, John Phillips, Mark Polansky, Joseph A. Puglisi, Perry Rotella, Howard Rubin, James Satterthwaite, Stephen Savage, Kara Schiltz, Phil Schneidermeyer, Tony Scott, David Smoley, David Somers, Patrick Toole, Pamela Warren, Robert Webb, and Hank Zupnick.
Additionally, I am grateful for the assistance and support of my colleagues at HMG Strategy, Melissa Marr and Michaela Cerrone.
I also extend my sincere thanks to Sheck Cho and Stacey Rivera, my editors at John Wiley & Sons, who had faith in the value of the project and were patient when I missed my deadlines.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Mike Barlow, the co-author of Partnering with the CIO (John Wiley & Sons, 2007) and The Executive’s Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy (John Wiley & Sons, 2011). Mike served as my editorial director for The Transformational CIO book project, and his guidance was truly invaluable. In addition to being a talented writer and communicator, Mike is an all-around good guy. Thank you, Mike!
Most of all, I want to thank my wife, Sandra, who put up with long nights of writing, endless phone calls, and lost weekends of heavy editing.