InformationWeek

Ask The Secret CIO

By Herbert W. Lovelace
Issue date: Oct 7, 1996

Your letters to my print column and this E-mail forum ask some serious questions about managing information technology in today's world. Since today's world is essentially absurd, my serious responses may sometimes sound a little whimsical, and my occasional whimsical one, serious. In any case, if you want to participate, write to me at secret@cmp.com . I'll respond to those letters that I can. I reserve the right to edit for size and content. Just sign your E-mail the way you want it to appear online.

Due to a technical glitch (I bet this sounds familiar) I never received the mail that you sent to me from late June to early August. So, if you are willing to take the time to resend it, I would be delighted to see it. Sorry about the problem.

Dear Sir,

I read your recent article in InformationWeek's Sept. 2 issue titled " Avoid Foot-In-Mouth Disease " (p. 112). I have just recently taken on a management position in my company. I work for a small private company and come in contact with all levels of management. I was just wondering, what advice can you give to someone in my position. What types of things should I focus on, and what should I avoid doing? Also, how do I stand out and make a good lasting impression on other members of the management staff?

Thank you.

Dean

Dear Dean,

Focus on communicating information, not on impressing people, especially with your bosses and individuals in other organizations. It is far too easy to confuse people with technical jargon, and when people are confused they feel stupid or wind up not trusting the person who is confusing them. Neither of these reactions is desirable. Short and clear explanations are best. Give facts, and venture opinions only when appropriate. If people want more information, they will ask. Key to making a good lasting impression is to able to be relied on to do what you promise and never, never say something about a person you would not say to his or her face.

Dear Herb:

The newest executive title appears to be CKO, Chief Knowledge Officer. What is your understanding of this role in a company and your opinion on how it affects or relates to the IS/IT group within an organization?

Signed,
Nicole in New York

Dear Nicole:

The proponents of this new title view the person who is responsible for worrying about intellectual capital as the CKO. The idea of a Chief Knowledge Officer arose from the concept that a corporation's value is measured by its intellectual capital -- the knowledge resident in the organization. Some people are very intense about this role, and others view it as just a pretentious notion. There is potentially a lot of overlap with the CIO position as well as individual departments. After all, people do view themselves as the chief knowledge keepers in their own areas. The bottom line is that just as with the CIO position, it will take a lot of time -- and meetings -- until the respective roles are all understood.

Dear Herb,

Since I'm a young neophyte and can't always read between the lines, can you finish the story of your first encounter with Gornish and tell us what an appropriate response would have been? ( "A Paradoxical People's Picnic" Aug. 19 p. 108) I'm trying to imagine deflecting Gornish's ISDN interrogation by asking him to check with me later, "since we're presently in a sales meeting, and we don't want to waste everyone else's time on such a technical issue." But how do you pull it off without offending the Gornishes?

Thanks for sneaking into our day!

Cheryl
Siloam Springs, Ark.

Dear Cheryl,

What I should have said to Sid was something like, "Let's get together and discuss this over lunch. But if everyone here would be interested, I'll give a technical update, now."

An answer like that would have put us back on an even footing ("over lunch") and been cooperative. The idea would have been to avoid negatives such as "I don't want to discuss it here," which can sound as if I am dodging the subject or assuming for others that they don't want to hear the answer. After all, they might. If they agree, I would have had the floor and the opportunity to enlighten all of them.

Dear Herb:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders (" You Call This Progress? " Aug. 5, p. 116) about the price of instant access. Aside from the increase in stress, I frequently wonder if we're actually gaining anything by these gizmos, or simply using them as status symbols. (How many of your boss's musings REALLY require attention in the middle of the night? Most of my inspirations can wait quite nicely for morning, thank you!) Remember when we planned far enough ahead to put business correspondence in the regular mail, instead of having to overnight express every scrap of paper?

My favorite ad in a trade publication was for one of these glorious products that allow the active businessperson to be in constant contact with his or her office. There was a beautifully framed and shot photo of a couple on holidays...the lady of the family was relaxing in the pool, sipping something cold and alcoholic, while the man of the house reclined on a lounger, busy tapping away at a blessed keyboard! Wonder who she found to amuse herself wi th, while he was tele-climbing the executive ladder?

Keep up the great columns!

Tom

Dear Tom:

Now that is an interesting question. On the other hand, did anyone check to see if he was typing a memo or checking out one of the more arcane web sites with his cellular connection?

Dear Herbert:

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know I enjoyed your article in InformationWeek about the company picnic. We used to have a company picnic, but they dropped it two years ago...needless to say, our company has a weak human resources department and morale is low companywide. I agree, a company picnic helps bring everybody together and just have fun. HR says it costs too much money...like other things they've dropped...anyway thanks for the column...keep it up!

Bernie

Dear Bernie,

Actually, the real reason was that everyone in HR is terrible at softball. They probably don't like hot dogs, either.

Hello Mr. Lovelace,

I just read the 8/19 issue of InformationWeek . (Company Picnic) I'm busy, but I read it!!! Comment: Next picnic, observe carefully who takes on (or takes over) the grill responsibility if it's not an outside person hired for the task. I was given this wise bit of advice just before my very first company picnic by a fellow Organization Development colleague. I watched, and it was very revealing. The task became rotated, and what you saw was a kind of jockeying for power that mirrored what was going on in the company.

Regards,

Mila

Dear Mila,

Napoleon said that an army moves on its stomach and so does a company (see " Consider The 'Kiwi Factor ,'" Feb. 26). Watch if any of the big bosses take a turn at the grill. Sir Marmalade (Philip T. Whitestone, our president) did when he was an executive vice president. It allowed him to be considered a regular guy, and I am sure did not harm him when the Board was looking for a new president. They needed someone who could boost the morale and who better than a person who spent time with the common folk?

Dear Herb:

In the "Secret CIO" article of the Sept. 2 InformationWeek ("Avoid Foot-In-Mouth Disease"), you made mention of a meeting you attended in case discussion of payroll processing was necessary.

I am an MIS manager who will soon be charged with locating a payroll processing package. This will be for the City of Oakland, which has about 3800 employees (unions, retirement plans, time management, etc.)

Are you using a package? If so which one? For how long? Do you like the vendor? Ever looked at any others? Having fun with Year 2000 yet?

Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

Gail

Dear Gail,

Yes, I use a payroll package. Even with significant specialized labor agreements, it is difficult to beat the price/performance of a package over home-grown code. The Year 2000 situation is not much of a concern for us in the payroll area since the package is certified to avoid that problem and our testing indicates that we are okay.

Since payroll packages vary greatly, it pays to shop around. There are many good alternatives, including PeopleSoft and Dun & Bradstreet, to mention just two. Of course, you can outsource the whole thing to a place like Automatic Data Processing (ADP). If you run your own, obviously, a big decision is whether to go with a package that will work on your existing infrastructure or change the infrastructure. The best approach is to talk to other municipalities of similar size and find out what they are doing and why. Make sure that the contract is tight as a drum and that you have all sorts of performance guarantees, since messing up someone's paycheck is a lot more emotional than most things.

Dear Mr. Lovelace:

Your column is consistently the most interesting and provocative in the magazine. Others have more specific information, but only yours gives me thoughts and concepts about how the people part works -- something that I've always been fairly inept at. Your comments ("Avoid Foot-In-Mouth Disease," Sept. 2) about your VP of planning, J. Karen Lovell, who always talks about "fundamental questions" is an excellent example. I have never thought of "real people," let alone "successful real people," as valuing that. Thanks a lot. Good stuff.

Bill

Dear Bill,

Karen Lovell is very smart. Actually, not only do successful real people value that stuff, it is about all that they do value. The further up you go in an organization, the softer the reasons for advancement. The people part dominates at the higher levels, regardless of the function, not the technical skills.

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