Accountability vs Ownership (Chapter 6)

As CIO, your role is to work with the rest of the executive committee to define the direction and goals of the business.

You articulate that business strategy to your IT organization and develop a strategic plan to drive and support it.

The challenge is during the execution or implementation of projects, CIOs are the only ones left to carry the issues or challenges that will arise.

The Fact is that both IT and the business are still haunted by the old perception that delivering IT is simple, and both sides wind up frustrated and disappointed.

Solve this paradox by remembering that…

Governance is different from Shared Accountability

• It is a mistake to believe that good governance alone will ensure project success.
  
  
• Set the boundaries and decide with your executive peers who is accountable for what.
  
  

• Discuss with the involved departments the specific roles each play on projects.
  
  
• Explain that just because IT is a part of the project, it does not mean that IT should run it.
  
  
• If you have a risky and contentious project, a third party can be useful. This person can do a “project readiness” audit and bring in an outside perspective.
  
  

• When everyone has general agreement about accountability, governance does play an important role in keeping all parties on the same page.
  
  

• The most important element of good governance is getting the right people at the table.
  
  
• If you have the real decision makers at the meetings, that’s when you can truly establish transparency and talk about projects in a direct way.
  
  
• When everyone has general agreement about accountability, governance does play an important role in keeping all parties on the same page.
   

• The most important element of good governance is getting the right people at the table.
  
  

• If you have the real decision makers at the meetings, that’s when you can truly establish transparency and talk about projects in a direct way.
  
  

• The governance of IT should be integrated into the governance of the company or institution.
  
  
  
  

Let the Business Lead

• Large programs within the organization should led by the business but getting the business to lead an IT project can be like getting your kids do their own laundry.
  
  
• The truth is the business is never going to embrace a program that involves significant change if they don’t feel in truth that it is business led.
  
  
• CIOs need to have egos that are big enough to initiate transformative projects but small enough to let someone else take the credit.
  
  
  

Effectively execute this by:

Picking the right leader

• The choosers are not the users: always remember the difference between the users and the choosers.
  
  
• Do not lost sight of the users. Think about how the users will feel excited about the technology.
  
  
• Talk to everyone: don’t take your advice in terms of platform or strategy or value creation from one source.
  
  
• You need to build broad alliances throughout the business. When it comes to delivering value, don’t pin your hopes and dreams to one executive leader.
  
  
• Make sure you’re checking with other functions to anticipate the downstream effects of what one leader wants.

   

Back up your leader

• Once you have the right business leader signed on to the project, someone who is respected by the business and plugged into the user base, you need to back her up. 
  
  
• You may be pulling the wires behind the scenes, but the program has to look like it’s totally business led.

  
  
  

Accept the fact that you will not get all the credit

• You drive the project from the backseat, a paradox unto itself, and when the project is a success, the business gets the credit.

   

  Bring your business leaders along
  
  

• Educate your team while you are executing, and to bring the business along, IT alone cannot own the project.
  
  
• Teach the organization, users, and the whole business on what would it be like once the project is done.
  
  

   

Do not rush.

• CIOs have a bias for action. They respect deadlines and they want results.
  
  
• Because of the need for speed, with tight budgets & deadlines  CIOs sometimes bow to pressure and move too quickly to get to the end.
  
  
• Without shared accountability with an active, invested, and engaged set of business partners, an IT-enabled business project is doomed.
  
  
  
  

Refuse to start the project

• If the project is important enough for the company to fund, it is important enough to justify the time and attention of your business partners.
  
  
• Start only when you have adequate people for each part of the project that has the expertise on that field.
  
  
  

   

Help everyone understand everything

• Management studies have shown that people accept decisions that are not in their favor if they can see how the decision was made.
  
  
• The same goes for IT: everyone will be happier if they have some understanding of costs, cost drivers, and what they, as consumers, can control.
  
  
• Services model work, says Horner, is to make sure the consumers of IT understand market benchmarks for the services you are providing.

  
  
  
  

Conclusion

• Establish cognitive dissonance: The key to solving this is credibility. If everyone knows your reputation for delivery, you will get  the opportunity to get ahead of the problem.
  
  
• Assess your credibility: A solid track record is an essential ingredient to establishing the cognitive dissonance.
  
  
• Assess your business leadership: Do an inventory of your major IT projects. know who are the business leaders for each project.  Act now to engage a business leader to whom you can pass the baton.