The IT Leadership Deal

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Disabler : “More and more decisions on my team and projects are being made outside of my team; sometimes I am not even consulted.”

Choice A : This is totally unacceptable. Go to the managers concerned and make it clear that you or your people must be involved in any and all key decisions.

Choice B : If you are not advised, then you are not trusted. Most organisations are federal and don’t run on hierarchal lines. Embrace and encourage this, and lead the process as a facilitator and business leader.

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Position :“We need to innovate more – how can we find time to do this?

Choice A : Never innovate, or worse still, hold an innovation session outside of day to day work, and stack up hundreds of ideas, piles of paper, all adding to work pressure.

Choice B :Innovate within the projects you are working on, by focusing on what you want to achieve (dreams and outcomes), not want you want to avoid (fears and risk).

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Situation “My key suppliers are at the root of many of my problems – they need to be brought into line. We are always in dispute"

Choice A : Wave the contract at them, no – hit them with it. Tell them as the customer you are always right and most importantly, threaten them, professionally of course.

Choice B : Take the Supplier out for a drink, and each take five minutes to share, openly, professionally and privately, what has gone wrong and what you most need from them.

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Challenge ““You say that to get promoted onto the Board my CEO has to like and trust me, and I don’t like or trust them, what can I do?”

Chjoice A : Make a long and logical presentation to them about how personalities should not come into such decisions, and that it is far more important that your area is represented at Board level. Good luck with that one.

Choice B : Take ownership of your relationship with your CEO - start liking and trusting them, or find another job.

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

What's happening?: “One person in my organisation seems to have a go at me / us no matter what we do – and they are a key influencer. It is getting me down.”

Choice A: Show them the last three Service Level Agreements and availability / project success figures and tell them to get off your back. Then ignore them.

Choice B : Invite them to work in your department for a period, asking for their help and experience to improve what you do. I'm thinking this.

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Opportunity :) : “Our projects are not clearly prioritised. How can I be expected to plan resources?”

Choice A: Ask the CEO / Board to prioritise projects, please. And when they don’t, simply ask them again. When they finally do it, watch how many will be this.

Choice B : Do it yourself, on the basis of the deliverable business value that each will deliver. And every project must deliver such measurable value, and present at the Board meeting. After the arguments subside you will have a prioritised list.

Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

Your success, for you, your team, project and department, ultimately comes down to the choices that you make, especialy when faced with a big challenge (a "disabler")

The Disabler : “How can I write a departmental Strategy when we don’t have a business one?”
Choice A : Wait for a business strategy to be written. And here you are.

Choice B : Go to your CEO and offer to help write such a strategy, facilitating the input from all areas in the organisation.Make your choice, and put it into practice, always asking yourself that one key question - does this choice help me/us move forwards, or not...

...Come down to one thing and one thing alone - how many choices you believe you have. And two is fine, as are three, as are more - as long as the number does not prevent you making a true decision and taking action. That's a different challenge. And you always have a choice - always - and if you don't believe me, you are making a choice, proving that you do...

"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" Albus Dumbledore

What choices are you going to make today,or this weekend, to make a difference?

Next week - Nostalgia week - I will revisit some of my Inside Track columns from CW from 100 years ago, and see what actions we can take, to stop history repeating itself, it wil be like hindsight on speed...

used to write a column for CW - called Inside Track. "Like - anyone cares?"
For one week only I am revisiting a selection of the challenges - if you think it is still a problem, some ideas to stop history repeating itself. If you don't, go enjoy enjoy enjoy enjoy...

Originally published on 26th August 1999

Board Level Value

“What has the IT Director ever done for us?” shouts the CEO to his board, echoing Monty Python Romans ever done for us question. When the list begins, the CEO side steps, ignores, or looks the other way – his feelings are all about perception, much more powerful than reality.

When faced with this position, tinkering with the real world will do nothing, one has to go deeper, in order to counter, deflect and dissolve the massive, negative publicity.

Such CEOs are often suffering from spending too long with their heads stuck in sandcastles. After all…

• Who changed the dates?
• Who altered the budgets?
• Who changed their minds after asking for a swing, then a slide, then a roundabout, then a swing that only swings forward, then one for half price, then one in three days time, then?

Time for positive, powerful and proactive action from the IT leader. Time to stand up and be counted, to announce that he/she and their entire department will, from this moment on, be measured against the return on investment (ROI) they will bring for their company.

The IT priority on CEO’s lips remains financial. Y2k, total cost of ownership, budget expenditure, all combine eto support the view that IT is there to take, and not to add. A drain on natural resources.

This has to change – by the IT leaders deciding to measure the real ways they and their department are adding real value to the business, at every level. That they are all, fundamentally, business people.

The IT Director who is serious about delivering a quantifiable, and measurable ROI must do many things differently.

• Create outstanding measurement/reporting/communicating infrastructures
• Provide a clear contract (Service Charter) balancing what a company wants with what a company can afford
• Put in information systems that track the use of desktops/PCs – and quantify the value they bring
• Market the IT department through powerful interpersonal relationships, at all levels
• Quantify the real costs and benefits for all projects
• Relate everything you do, and plan to do, directly with the company’s bottom line

When the cry goes up, “down with the Romans/IT department, what have they done for us?”, IT leaders must have the allies who immediately leap to their feet and point out, “what about the aqueducts/inventory systems?”; “what about the roads/payroll and pensions systems” etc.

Work to put those allies in place, and take ownership of the relationship with your CEO, so that the original question never arises.
IT Directors who run their departments like a business, delivering on ROI, focus their attention on being a strategic business asset. Achieve this, and it will not be long before the ‘allies’ are queuing at the gates and then going out into the marketplace to spread the ‘word’ themselves.

Then the laughter can stop, and IT will be seen as a value, and not simply a cost.

Please DO NOT READ tomorrow's post...

A Business Director, James Palmer, once told me about a dream he had. As with many leaders who have major problems on their hands, James always slept like a baby – waking up on the hour, every hour.

In his dream, James was in work as normal, until he was visited by the senior partner of the consultancy firm they had been using on one of their major projects. The work was nearing completion, and the partner had requested a meeting. He knew perfectly well in advance what it would be about – the consultancy would want to extend their contract, and would use every trick in the book to do so.

The consultant walked in, they shook hands and James put on his negotiation hat. The consultant spoke first:

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Mr Palmer. As you know the project we have been assisting you with is coming to an end. General opinion is that it has been an outstanding success, and I just wanted to thank you for using our company, and to let you know that as long as you are happy with our work and contribution, we will be pulling our people out a week on Friday.”

James was so taken aback he simply stammered out something like, “fine – thank you,” and shook the partner’s hand. He did make a mental note, however, to make sure he used this company again.

Continued tomorrow...

He needed fresh air, but before he had a chance, his phone rang. It was his Chief Executive Officer. James braced himself, and put on his grovelling hat. The CEO said:

“Good morning James, I hope you are well.”
“Very well, thank you, eh, Vince” James replied
“Great – just a quick call to say I received that new sales report from your department last night, and it is absolutely brilliant. It tells me everything I need to know, and I just wanted to ring and say well done.”

The phone went down, and before he could be interrupted again, James left his office and headed for the door. He walked quickly around the car park, the only fresh air alternative being a five mile drive away. However, soon he was not walking alone, he had been joined by Claire, the HR Director.

“Keeping fit, James?” Claire enquired.
“It has been a strange morning – I am just gathering my thoughts” James said
“I’m glad I caught you, anyway” Claire continued “This new corporate initiative – Total Quality…”she paused as James put on his angry hat, “…we’ve decided to dump the whole thing, along with Continuous Improvement and all the ideas schemes. They cause far more problems that they are worth, and actually had the effect of reducing ideas and effectiveness, rather than enabling it. In future all company schemes will have to pass a clear cost v benefit analysis at board level before we even consider them”

And with that she said goodbye and walked inside the building.

Continued tomorrow...

James was beginning to enjoy his day now, strange as it was. However it looked like taking a distinct turn for the worst when he met the Claims Director, Adam Michael, at the coffee machine. Adam was the business manager in charge of a major project that had just gone off the rails – late, over budget and no prospect of delivery.

“Ah, James, I’ve been looking for you” Adam began in hushed tones, James put on his defensive hat,
“I wanted to have a quiet word with you about the project. As you know I am the business owner for the project, and, no matter what the cause of the problems, as owner I am taking full and total responsibility for the problems, and resolving them.”

James looked at him in silence. Adam walked away as he uttered the last words:

“There is no point being accountable for something and not owning up when it goes wrong, is there?”

James sipped his coffee, and made his way back to his department. He decided to call in at the help desk to say hello. It was an area under great pressure, and he wanted to raise their morale. The help desk supervisor, Mike, greeted him:

“Hi James – how are you today?” Before James could put on his morale-boosting hat, Mike continued:
“This has been a great day James, everyone who has called us has been really polite and understanding. They seem to know that the problems they have are not our fault, and that we are here to help.”

James stayed for half an hour and, sure enough, the atmosphere supported Mike’s comments. His team were going about their business, answering the calls and helping their customers.

As he returned to his office, James saw a visitor waiting for him outside. His heart sank, she was from a supplier that James had agreed to see because the company had talked about “guarantees” and “shared risk.” ‘Now that she has made it to my office,’ James thought, ‘let’s see if she remembers those words.’

After exchanging the usual pleasantries, James decided to be very direct:

“Diane, when we spoke on the phone, you said that you would share the risk on this project, what did you mean by that?”

There was a pause as Diane seemed to struggle for a reply. James put on his killer hat, for the first time that day.

‘Got you now,’ James thought, ‘today may have been the most amazing I have ever had, but some things never change – suppliers would never put their money where their mouths are.’

The silence seemed to last an eternity, until Diane spoke at last:

“Yes, Mr Palmer, yes indeed. That is exactly what we will do – our company will undertake to resolve the issues you face, and be paid strictly according to the results we achieve. If, at the end of the project, our product does not deliver what we say it will, you may have it completely free of charge.”

The silence that followed was far longer than the first. And then, for the first time in over six months, James put on his happy hat. ‘That’s strange’ he thought ‘it feels just like a pillow.’

Next week - Welcome to The Top Ten Characteristics of The Next Business Age - The Leadership Economy

Have a great weekend

David

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

1. Outside In

A focus on change from outside in, not inside out. It has been about change happening to people, not by people, about applying external processes rather than releasing internal passions. Many organisations have the belief that people outside of the organisation have more good ideas than people working within, and that is simply not true. As an organisation, your next big idea lies within, not without. This outside-in approach encouraged both consciously and unconsciously by far too many so called Business/Management Consultants, has led to a culture of external reliance and dependence…

THE FUTURE

1. Reinvent your organisation from inside out

So many people have spent so much time and money on ‘organisational change’ – and this is always a waste of energy, money and time, because an organisation cannot, ever change; only its people can. This is often the key reason that IT projects fail, not because the software does not ‘work,’ but because of the people changes that the software needs, in order to work.

What is your organisation if not your people? What is your organisation, if not you? And as it is people that change, and not organisations, people have to be our core focus. And those people will only ever change, or indeed, do anything to the best of their abilities, for one reason, and one reason alone – because they want to. And, they will make ‘want to’ that decision based on their emotions.

Unstoppable organisations realise that truly lasting change only happens through their people.

Choices and Ideas…

* Replace Change Programmes with Choice Programmes
* Ask each person in your organisation for up to three specific ideas that would transform their company – ignite culture where imaginations and innovation thrive.
* Every single key supplier / consultant must transfer their key skills and knowledge to enable you to do what they do – their number one aim must be to disappear, and focus on the state you are in after they leave

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

2. Why are you here – what is your cause?

…When organisations do not feel in control of their own destiny, especially in tough economic times, they focus on survival, and internal operations, at the expense of their big picture, dreams and cause. When organisations first start, they are clear on why they are starting. As they grow, and day-to-day operations take over the agenda, the big vision starts to disappear. I frequently ask Boards and senior leaders to write down what their organisation stands for. I have never had two people agree, and, more worryingly, almost all the contributions focus on internal, rather than external thinking and agendas, and has not delivered business as a force for good in our world…

THE FUTURE

Have a relentless Cause – a reason for being - not a mission statement

And never compromise on it, make it laser clear that this is why you exist. And focus on your core constituents, those who believe in your cause. You will always have differences of opinion on ‘How’ to achieve it; never compromise on the ‘What’

* Advertise your Cause to attract the right people to you like a magnet
* Be evangelical about your Cause, and what it means for you, society and the world
* Everything you do, 100%, must ultimately focus on whether it helps bring your Cause closer

(And a 4th – how is what you do, and who you are, helping your community, our society, our
world? Be clear, open and proud on this – and these messages are stronger and more easily
accepted from your people than from your Managing Director).

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

3. Ah yes, people. I remember…

…If an organisation’s perception in the world (read ‘customers’ and ‘potential customers’) is low, people in that organisation feel low, and they are not valued as they could be, as an organisation’s only asset. Organisations do not change, people do, and it is the re-awakening of people’s energy, talents, ideas, gifts and potentials that will play a massive part in being a next business great, especially in difficult times. Senior business leaders talk a good story about leaders being everywhere in their organisation. Few do very much about it. Terms like ‘empowerment’ have not helped – it is not possible to ‘empower’ another human being, they are already empowered. The last 15 years have implied that senior people in an organisation have some kind of hold over other people, which is simply not true. Real, cultural (read: people) transformation, reflected in openness, communication with no fear, and unleashed ideas and opinions, has not happened, and this has combined with financial uncertainties to make people focus more on their pension, than their passion…

THE FUTURE

3. Leadership – at last, its time has come

Place leadership at the very heart of your organisation, in all that you do. Make it your number one priority to awaken the natural gifts, energy and potential of all of your people. Everyone has value, so welcome and value our differences, while ensuring people play their part through openness, trust and liberation. Control your people, by setting them free.

• Hold genuinely open forums
• Appoint a Leadership Director to the Board – this is absolutely critical to your success
• You only need one supplier on leadership training and development – yourselves

(And a 4th on this one - confront the ‘negs’ those people who disagree with everything you do, behind your backs - just before they put the knife in)

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

4. Strategy and Initiatives separated from day to day operations

…Few people get really passionate about Business Process Re-engineering, or Total Quality Management, or Competency Based Frameworks. Such initiatives have too often been seen, or operated. As separate from day-to-day operations. Some, such as ‘right first time’ tried be different, but actually led to inaction everywhere, with people being too scared to take risks or decisions in case things went wrong…

THE FUTURE

4. Strategy and Initiatives as one with day to day operations

Ensure your Strategy becomes a ‘how-to achieve it,’- make it live and breathe in the eyes, experiences and lives of everyone. And relate all of your initiatives to the Cause, and to ensuring you have real, bottom line value and measurable benefit. This ensures you will not be over-run with initiatives, and that people will not suddenly find themselves doing two jobs, the day job plus some randomly selected new idea.

* Revisit and review all of your initiatives – do they help your Cause? If not, ditch them
* Ensure every project has clear. measurable value
* Link your overall strategy with each of your departmental strategies

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

5. The Power of Nightmares

…And so, over time, we became obsessed with what we are doing wrong, or worse, what might do wrong anytime soon. This has led to a focus on what is ‘wrong’ with us as employees, and as organisations rather than on what we do well. The only two drivers for human beings are fear and pleasure. When we focus on the former we look at protecting what we have, or not losing more, we go towards the fear agenda. This has led to a surge in ‘risk management’ by companies, many of which couldn¹t take a risk if their lives depended on it…

THE FUTURE

5. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want

What do you do well, what do your people do well? Celebrate your successes, and map out how they happened so they become repeatable and sustainable. Keep the vision, dream, cause, whatever word works for you, uppermost in your mind, and make true decisions each and every day at each and every meeting – a true decision is one in which you decide what you want, and then close off all other possibilities.

• Reward people through specific and personal praise. As a team leader or manager, take the blame for everything that goes wrong, while ensuring your people always receive the praise for all that goes well
• At the start of project meetings, ask people what is fantastic about this project, what the results will be for th e company and your customers, and keep these thoughts uppermost in your mind – and form your project teams based on people’s strengths (skill teams)
• In times of crisis, ask a different question e.g. instead of ‘Who’s to blame’ ask ‘How does this event help us achieve our objective on time?’

Have a lovely weekend

David

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

6. We automatically move in the direction of our most dominant thoughts

…Many initiatives have focused on not making mistakes – total quality, right first time, but they are focused on process, and not people, and, furthermore, on increasing our knowledge about process. Such data / knowledge, by itself is totally useless, and more of it only increases the jargon, hype and mystery of what is going on. We have enough information, thank you very much, and we have done sufficient analysis – analysing anything that moves, and quite a lot that doesn’t. An irony of the focus on process and not people is that process can’t work without people, and we have seen many examples of this over the last years, with Sainsbury’s stores depleted of stock, MFI losing two members of its board, and many public sector process projects going millions over budget. This is partly because organisations have become too complex. Often as a result of initiative piled onto initiative, poor communications horizontally, and organisational structures become more to do with control than clarity. This has led to duplicated work, teams at war with each other, and an overall lack of focus on releasing ideas, passion and true customer value…

THE FUTURE

6. People and Passion over Process and Procedure

All of your internal procedures must serve a purpose, that of your company and therefore your customers. We must remove our obsession with internal process, and constantly ensure they serve our purpose, and not a software supplier or consultancy. Place ownership at the heart of your organisation, and a culture that it is not only OK to belong to more than one team, it is imperative that you do. And, critically, there are no right or wrong ways to structure your organisation - achieve the best balance for your customers and costs and run with it, centralised or decentralised.

This is an area I have seen customers waste billions on, as one year they bring everything into head office, and a few years later it’s back out again, and so on.

• Ensure your frontline people have the freedom to intervene and override processes
that may not be working
• For every process, ask yourselves, so what?
• Process software works only if you install it alongside a leadership / cultural transformation programme – if your people decide a system will not work, it won’t

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

7. ‘I never knew such service was possible’

Poor customer service is often the result of decisions being made well away from the front-line. Decision-making is too often held in centralised senior positions away from customers, so at best, when all is well, additional opportunities are not seized on (if a customer comes into your shop to buy a dress, and they buy a dress, that is not a sale, it is a transaction. It only becomes a ‘sale’ if they buy something else).

And, at worst, when things go wrong, your frontline people cannot do anything about it, and you lose not one customer, you lose many, as your ex-customer’s tale of woe spreads like wildfire.

The main reasons for these situations is lack of front-line decision-making authority, and exposing an organisation’s internal processes and procedures to our customers, rather than ensuring organisations have front-line decision makers…

THE FUTURE

7. ‘Delight your customer – make them want to buy’

Do your customers love you? Harley-Davidson’s do. Do your customers sing your praises from the rooftops? Once you have released the awesome potential of your people, focus that new power on serving, delighting, gobsmacking your customers, every day, in all that you do.

• Know your customers better than they know themselves, particularly online. Segment your customers into your own (not an industry’s) buying types.
• Yes, have a loyalty card; however you will learn so much more from customers who buy from you without needing a card. And card or no card, make it very very easy for your customers and potential customers to buy from you,
• In an age of technology and push button services, put real people at your front line, and make sure they have the real power to make decisions i.e. whatever decisions your customers need them to be able to make.

(And a 4th - and finally, every customer purchase (that’s every customer purchase) is an emotional decision. And they get very, very emotional, when things go wrong – this is a great opportunity to make them love you; however you only have a few critical minutes, sometimes seconds, to make it happen. This is where, and when, you need your very very best people)

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

8. Do as we say, not as we do

…Talked, and not acted. Most decision-making has remained in the Board Room. And the Board Room is still too much the domain of well educated, connected, white, middle class white males. Many organisations do not reflect the cultural diversity of their customers, let alone their geography, and the male / female divide has been appalling, in particular when it is female skills that are now top of the must-have agenda for business leaders – empathy, communication, and personality…

THE FUTURE

8. Do as we say, as we do, and as we are

Ensure that your organisation reflects the cultural diversity of your society, and most certainly your customer base. Not because you want to be politically correct or look after minorities, but because you want to, because it is the morally right thing to do, and because it is commercially a very good idea! And check out your male / female numbers where they really count – on the Board, in key positions around your company and most importantly at the frontline.

• Your Board of three or more must have at least one female – selected on ability, if you have to appoint just because she is female you have some serious work to do on leadership! (This is the only time in this whole document must has been used)
• Ensure you have different spokespeople for different situations
• Country and cultural differences play a big part here – if you are international, or travel abroad, respect and understand cultural differences

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

9. Softer skills just got real

…The recruitment of people has too often been done on the basis of technical skills, and ability to do a particular role, rather than on the personality of the person. Yet when we part company with people it is almost always on the basis of personality, or behaviour. This has had the effect of suppressing people’s true opinions and ‘selves.’

THE FUTURE

9. We are the same people, 24 hours a day

We are all living, breathing, emotionally charged human beings. We do not have a work/life balance, because work is part of our life, and we do bring our lives to work. If you can reverse the culture of ‘work,’ or ‘soon be the weekend’ etc. you have indeed transformed your culture. Why can our workplaces and companies not be fun, fulfilling and centres of energy and excitement? Yes, of course we work to live, and we can also live to work.

* Appoint a Leadership Director
* Be flexible with your people (your number one asset) on working hours and ensure they can work at home as easily as at work (e.g. how much time do you take travelling to meetings – you can help your time, your self and your sanity by not doing this)
* Ensure people have time during the day to chat, and allow them to surf the net within the obvious general guidance – they will put in the hours at home if you trust them

The ten biggest problems with the last business age - the so called knowledge economy and information age - how much more information do we need, before we make a true decision, and take action...and ten suggestions...

THE PAST

10. Information Technology has delivered a lot more

…Information, and technology. However it has not delivered in perceived value. Technology has revolutionised our lives, the way we do business, how we communicate and major advances in our health and education systems. However, in too many organisations, CEO's and tax-payers remain concerned about cost, its benefit delivery and overall, its reputation.

THE FUTURE

10. IT’s Time to Deliver

OK – we could write a book on this one, however, enough is enough. The IT industry has become the last great manual industry of our time. This does not have to be the case. IT projects are like every other project – they must be clear in goals, concise in explanation and compelling to do (related directly to the bottom line, to your Cause). Strip away the hype, jargon and mystery surrounding IT

* Appoint a CIO (Chief Information Officer) to the Board with the approach and characteristics as below – This is absolutely critical to your success
* There is no such thing as an IT project; everything is a business / organisational project
* If anyone internally or externally uses a term you think someone will not understand, ask them what it means, and do not apologise for asking.