When Richard Rundle was 25, he took a risk that changed
the direction of his career.
Today, Rundle is the IT director of
BAA, which runs seven British airports, including Heathrow and
Gatwick. In his twenties, he was working as commercial manager for
the multiple supplies division of Trust House, the company that
morphed into Trust House Forte, then got taken over by Granada
before regaining independence as the Forte Group. Note: commercial
manager. Nothing so far to do with IT or an indication that he
would become a CIO.
It was around this time that the firm's multiple supplies
division, which was in the logistics business distributing
foodstuffs to hotels and restaurants, decided to call in the
consultants. The consultants had deliberated and delivered a set of
recommendations about how the company should be developed in the
future.
But Rundle did not agree with their ideas. He takes up the
story, "The consultants had come up with some very conventional
thinking - they wanted to redesign the manual processes - but I did
not think that was going to get the business where it wanted to
be." And where it wanted to be was a highly ambitious four-fold
increase in income over two years.
So Rundle approached the managing director with his own ideas.
He suggested re-engineering processes through automating, some of
them with IT. Today, such thinking would be unexceptional. In the
mid-1970s, it was pretty revolutionary, particularly for a business
of modest size. Despite this, the MD backed Rundle's ideas, and
started him on 30-year career in IT.
"We made my plan work, and then I recognised that there was more
opportunity to use technology for other purposes," Rundle says.
"The notion of somebody responsible for systems in the business
became clear and that is when they offered me a specific IT
role."
Yet, he says, "What I have never let go of is the fact that I
still do not regard myself as an IT person. I really think of
myself as a general management individual and my first instincts
are always towards how technology can be applied to the business."
That could well be the reason why, during the past three decades,
Rundle's services have been sought by organisations that want to
get a grip on their IT and make it deliver some real value.
CIO careers - lessons that can be learnt in climbing the
career ladder
Lesson one - take risks
Rundle's career contains three interesting lessons for young IT
professionals. The first of these is that there are times in one's
career when it pays to stick your neck out and take a risk. It does
not always pay to keep your head down and agree with everything
other people say - even costly consultants. Perhaps especially
costly consultants.
Yet when Rundle marched into the MD's office to tell him he did
not think the consultants' report did Trust House justice, he did
not see himself taking a risk. Even though, if his plan had gone
pear-shaped, it would not exactly have become a bull point on his
CV.
"In hindsight, that is true," he says. "At the time, I do not
think I assessed the risk. Not personally. I considered the risk on
the basis that we would achieve the outcome for the company - but,
even then, that was difficult for me to assess because there was no
real track record in that space. I still do not tend to assess
personal risks so much. I am reasonably confident in what I think I
can do and what I can achieve. And, in this case, I had built a
track-record of delivery from the time I took my first job after
university."
But Rundle has a good understanding of his own capabilities. He
knows what kind of person he is and what his strengths and
weaknesses are.
Lesson two - know thyself
In Rundle's case, he's what Brinley Platts, the IT career coach
and author, has called a "paratrooper" IT executive - one who is
capable of parachuting into a new situation, assessing quickly what
needs to be done, rolling up his sleeves and making the necessary
changes, if necessary fighting off the entrenched opposition.
There are plenty of examples of paratrooping in Rundle's career.
He helped to set up a new brand, Puritan Maid, at Trust House
Forte. At food manufacturer and distributor, Hunter Saphir, he was
a member of a team that integrated the IT from four acquired
companies. At Unigate, he was on the bid team that won an important
national distribution contract from Britvic.
The key point is not that all IT pros need to be paratroopers,
but that they need to know what their strengths and weaknesses are,
then play to them.
Lesson three - be "in flow"
In his own career, Rundle has always laid a lot of importance on
being what he calls "in flow". He says, "It means that, as you plot
your way through your career, what you are asked to do is matched
by your skills, knowledge, capability, competence, attributes and
so on. If you are not in flow, then you are either stressed,
because the job is asking too much of you, or you are frustrated,
because the job is not asking enough."
He points out that "in flow" holds good whether you are thinking
of moving to a job in a new company or one in the same business.
"You do not have to move on. It is about assessing your skills and
competencies and your level of performance. Some people are very
comfortable in undertaking a role and not necessarily progressing
wider or higher - because they are in flow. They are comfortable
where they are and get satisfaction from their job."
Does this mean that Rundle has ever turned jobs down if he felt
he would not be in flow? He recalls saying no to the offer of a top
job at a big PLC because he wasn't sure it had the right culture to
appreciate what IT could deliver to the business.
He says he looks at three key points when he is thinking about
whether he would be in flow in a new job. "First, I assess the
company. Second, I always want to meet the key people I would be
working with. And third, I like to make an assessment of the
environment they are asking me to step into."
But, in Rundle's book, being in flow does not rule out taking on
big challenges. After all, if it did, he would probably have never
moved into IT from general management.
He says, "In the very early days at THF, I had to put a huge
amount of effort into understanding the concepts of technology.
This was not so much in order to deal with any in-house capability
- because we had none - but to deal with suppliers and consultants
who would come and describe their view of the future in a technical
format which nobody in the company, including myself, understood in
those days.
"My first port of call was to understand the jargon - I still
have the Penguin dictionary of computing terms I used. But, as a
scientist, I had to understand how systems worked, how they hung
together and what the outcomes would be. Only then, was I confident
in advocating how we might use the technology."
So taking on new challenges can be a key career builder. But it
is not always enough, as Rundle's own 30 years' of IT achievement
testify. "I always have a personal sense that, if I have been given
a challenge I take it through to a successful conclusion. If I
start it, I will finish it."
Stepping stones
• 1971: Graduated from Nottingham University with a degree in
food science and engineering.
• 1971: Joined K J Produce, Trust House subsidiary that provided
chilled and frozen foods to the hospitality industry, in technology
and quality assurance role. Ended up managing 300 factory
workers.
• 1974: Joined multiple supplies division of Trust House in
London as commercial manager.
• 1976: Appointed general manager, IT systems for Trust House
Forte.
• 1980: Joined divisional board of THF chaired by Rocco Forte.
Helped create a new brand, Puritan Maid, a food supply
organisation. Quadrupled turnover and multiplied profit six-fold by
time left THF.
• 1984: Joined Hunter Saphir, food manufacturing and
distribution company, as systems director.
• 1990: Joined Unigate as IT technical services director with
focus on Wincanton, Unigate's contract distribution arm. Also
responsible for managing fleet of 12,000 vehicles.
• 1995: Joined BAA as IT director.
IT organisation
• Richard Rundle reports to Donal Dowds, BAA's director of
safety, security and services. About 600 people work in the IT
function.
• Rundle has four direct reports. These are: an investment
director, who handles business issues, opportunities and who
monitors the outcomes of IT investments a head of architecture a
head of sourcing and a service delivery director who is responsible
for the design, build and operation of systems.
• A key feature of the IT "model" at BAA is "the rummage". Says
Rundle, "If we have a business problem or opportunity, the first
thing we do is to rummage it rather than jump to an immediate
solution." The rummage moves through four stages: define the
problem or opportunity explore a range of options without choosing
a specific one decide which of the options is most promising and
then construct the system.