InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
Ask The Secret CIO
By Herbert W. LovelaceIssue date: Feb. 11, 1997
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 ones, 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.
Hello Herbert:
I am writing in response to your article " The First Law of Meetings " (Nov. 4, p. 150), which I enjoyed reading very much.
Yes, your First Law of Meetings is profound and pertinent, but what can we do about it other than read about it in Dilbert and laugh?
Perhaps you have a law that states how or why one boring meeting degenerates into three or four lively meetings all in the same conference room at the same time with the same result, namely that no coherent, enforceable, unanimous decision is made.
Sincerely,
Arthur T.
Dear Arthur: Well, actually, the best thing we can do about the meetings is laugh, since reading Dilbert during a meeting may get you into trouble with your boss. Besides, just imagine if we all started to spontaneously giggle during these meeti ngs. The person who called it might either: 1) join in, 2) be so embarrassed that no more meetings would be called, or 3) fire us. On second thought, two out of three is not bad odds.
Why does one boring meeting degenerate into three or four lively meetings with the same useless result? That's easy. The participants control what they say and how they behave, but they can rarely control the results of a meeting in a structured corporation. So as long as nothing is going to be accomplished, everyone might as well go for the lively conversation.
Dear Herb:
Liked " Team Building Is For You " (Oct. 7, p. 164). However, a better idea would be to give a VP position to the first employee, outside management, to find management's hidden agenda.
J.B.
Dear J.B.:
They do. That's how they find the talent to continue the process.
Mr. Lovelace:
I work for a large national company -- most meetings are big (and hence long) and take up too much time (in my opinion) addressing issues that could have (should have) been solved outside the meeting. However, the bright side is that we use teleconferencing, so I have mastered the art of keeping one ear to the speaker while doing productive work, like reading InformationWeek . I dread the day we institute videoconferencing. I guess I'll have to tape a picture of me to the camera.
Thanks.
Bill P.
Dear Bill:
Not to worry. Most video conferencing cameras are voice-activated, so as long as someone else on your end is talking, you will not be seen. If you are the only person on your end, or if you have to talk (for example, while reading InformationWeek -- a noble idea), hold a pen in your hand as if you are writing and periodically nod intensely. Everyone will think you are taking notes on their brilliant ideas since the resolution of the cameras is not good enough to pick up the image of what is on the paper on the table.
Hi:
I read your "The First Law of Meetings" (Nov. 4, p. 150) article in which you said the length of a meeting is proportional to the square of the number of attendees (T=kP^2)
I would be interested in reading your comments on what increases or decreases the constant, k. Do Japanese or Theory X (or is it Z?) managed organizations have higher or lower k? What effect does taking chairs out of conference rooms have on k? (I think Cabletron has no chairs in conference rooms and CEO Robert Levine has none in his office either.) How does k increase with size of company or across industry?
I enjoy your articles. Keep them coming!
Drew W.
Dear Drew:
The study of Japanese-implemented management practices of American management concepts, primarily around quality, led to William G. Ouchi's book "Theory Z." Theory X is the old, "you have to watch them and control them" method, as opposed to Theory Y, which is the "people love to work, so get out of their way" idea.
Actually, all organizatio ns that adopt any management technique (be it X, Y, Z, or whatever) have a high k factor, the reason being people are continuously being called together to be motivated or berated. Only hungry companies (regardless of size or industry) who are spending time with their customers and being paranoid about competition have low ks.
Taking the chairs out of the conference rooms is a good first step. Removing the conference table and lowering the thermostat to freezing are even better.
Herb:
About " Choose Your Allies " (July 8, p. 112): I love this article! It so much mirrors the scenario I'm playing out now as a member of the User Group. There was so much truth in your article that it has been passed on for reading material throughout the IS Department and the User Group that works with them.
Great job!!
Darice S.
Dear Darice:
Thanks. Are they still talking to each other?
Mr. Lovelace:
I am intrigued by the CIO position, but I don't really understand it yet. How does one become a CIO? What kind of path should one take? What kind of experience and background is expected of a typical CIO? What constitutes the common daily challenges of the CIO?
Thank you.
David C.
Dear David:
There is no specific path to becoming a CIO, no training such as going to medical school to become a doctor, no going to Harvard Business School to prepare to be an executive. Today's CIOs have many different backgrounds, and studies have failed to identify any predominate educational discipline. There are CIOs with degrees in literature, business, music, engineering, and even computer science.
It is the track record, more than anything else, that determines whether a person is qualified in the eyes of other executives to become a CIO. The major attributes are whether the person can understand business problems, apply technology to their solution, get the job done, and communicate the results.
Many of today 's CIOs came up through the technology ranks and thus have a strong technical background. Those who made it to the top job have shown the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget while still having a good presence in the executive suite. A few years ago, business people began to be put in CIO jobs to counter the problem that many heads of MIS or EDP did not come across as individuals who could understand business conditions and produce what was being asked in a reasonable time for a reasonable cost. There is some indication that the pendulum is swinging back and a strong technical background is being valued again, so long as the individual's communications skills are good.
The challenges faced by a CIO daily are, not surprisingly, many. There is the phone ringing with irate users who don't understand why their system is not working as they thought it should, or wanting what they perceive to be a minor change, which in reality may require a major shift in resources. There are the members of y our own staff who don't seem to understand why they cannot work on the latest whiz-bang gadget which they feel has terrific potential -- and they may be right, but you need the money and the people for something else. Next comes the gnawing concern that you may be making a serious error when you authorize a project using one technology instead of another, or that you are missing something in the review of the security procedures for your intranet. Then there is the realization that you have to catch up on the latest product announcements if you want to avoid being behind in your profession, but that unless you spend some time with the business people you won't have a clue as to what the corporation is going to need to be competitive in the marketplace in the future. It's a doable job, but it can be draining -- but so are many other corporate spots.
Mr. Lovelace:
I enjoyed your article "The First Law Of Meetings" (Nov. 4, p. 150).
This law closely resembles what I have come to ca ll the Iron Law of Estimates. "To determine the length time required for a given task, take the best estimate, double it, and change it to the next higher unit; i.e., hours to days, days to weeks, etc." This law has proven helpful on many occasions.
Joe B.
Dear Joe:
Thanks for the insight! Now I understand why so many people have blown their SAP implementation estimates.
Dear Herb:
Your first law of meetings is derivable:
1. If there are two people, there are two communication paths between them. 2. If there are three people, there are six such paths. 3. If there are n people, there are n(n-1) such paths (each is bi-directional), or O(n^2) when n gets large.
Presuming time is proportional to the number of paths: T ~= k n^2 where k is Herb's Constant (I move that it be renamed H).
Moral: The bigger the crowd, the faster one needs to talk. But in the end, it's no help, 'cause talk can only be speeded up linearly.
Enjoyed the column, even though it spells a sort of logorrheic doom.
Best,
Bill G.
Dear Bill:
Thanks for the derived mathematical presentation of the empirical formula. I appreciate and accept the idea of changing the constant k to H, for Herb's Constant. By the way, how many boring meetings did you have to attend to find the time to derive the formula?
Dear Mr. Lovelace:
I believe the square factor in your first law of meetings formula is an insight comparable to that of another famous equation (E=MC^2). Any connection between these? Perhaps useless energy expended is equal to the square of attendees?
Tim E.
Dear Tim:
I don't think there is any correlation, although it would be nice to think we could wrap up the laws in that fashion. If there were, it would allow us to figure out a way of nuking a useless portion of corporate life. On the contrary, I have heard of conference rooms where those automatic light switches that monitor motio n have had to be removed because the illumination was frequently lost during management meetings, although I understand a lot of those were audit reviews. In another case, a friend had his self-winding watch stop after having to sit in a week-long series of user-documentation reviews.
Got a question for The Secret CIO? Just send an E-mail .
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