InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
September 15,
1998
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 lovelace@home.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.
Dear Herb:
I look forward to reading your column whenever a new one comes out. In the past, you have answered questions regarding careers. Accordingly, I have sent mine. Thank you for your time!
I have a fairly varied background. Immediately after receiving a B.S. in MIS (minor in business administration), I worked for a large aerospace company, performing systems quality assurance on a large systems project. The last 10 years have been spent performing engineering in a nondestructive testing (NDT) organization, working on space shuttle components. During this time, I studied for and obtained internationally recognized engineering-level certifications in several NDT disciplines. I recently moved to IT because, even though I was in charge of many large projects, my advancements were limited in engineering because of my MIS degree. I am now working as a systems analyst on large-scale projects, including data warehousing.
I would like to continue working for the company where I am, but feel that my experience in project management, engineering, hardware, and software should afford more opportunities. Have I put myself out in the cold, or is my varied background valuable in today's market?
Thanks,
Harry
Dear Harry:
You have not put yourself out in the cold at all. You have shown the ability to adapt to several very difficult projects and have a good range of experience. When people are hired for the long term, rather than just for a specific project, almost always the main thing a manager looks for is the ability to learn and the ability to fit in with the rest of the team. It sounds as if you may score high in both areas.
I would not give up, however, on your present employer. Sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with your boss and, if appropriate, with his or her boss. By doing so, you may have a better feel for the best way to capitalize on your talents.
Dear Herb:
I seek the friendship of beings of power. I am not alone in this quest, but the powers have a limited capacity for friendship. What are the qualities that must be present or absent to gain favor?
"It was not necessary that he be your friend, it was not even important that you had no means with which to repay him. Only one thing was required. That you, you yourself, proclaim your friendship. And then, no matter how poor or powerless the supplicant, Don Corleone would take that man's troubles to his heart. And he would let nothing stand in the way to a solution of that man's woe."
-- "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo
Henry C.
Dear Henry:
Do your job with a pleasant disposition. Get results. Give the boss more than you are paid to do. Don't engage in gossip in the office. Volunteer for assignments periodically. Oh, and avoid any situation where someone has reason to give you a big kiss on your cheek and whisper, "It's just business, Henry."
Dear Herb:
It was very refreshing to read your "/673/73uwhl.htm">So You Want To Be A CIO" column in InformationWeek. As an aspiring CIO (currently network services manager at age 34), it was refreshing to see a column that did not provide the answers. Reading through the questions caused me to question if these were really the decisions I would have to make.
I go through many magazines every week just to keep up in my field. Every so often, I read something really enlightening. Thanks again for the "real world" perspectives.
Joe V.
Dear Joe:
Thanks for your letter. It was pleasant to read your comments. I did not provide the answers because a) they depend on the situation, and b) no matter what you do, someone will be aggrieved. So far as to whether they really are the decisions you might have to make, read on.
Dear Herb:
Before submitting my humble addition to the CIO questionnaire in "So You Want To Be A CIO," I would like to repeat the sentiments so often expressed before:
I look forward to your column and wish it were longer.
Now for the questions. Here's my submission:
Your boss has just told you that he sits on the board of some group where one of the members is a high-tech founder that "has this thingy -- I'm not sure what it's called, but it allows him to do voice, or is it video, through the Internet, or is it E-mail, but we need to get that, give it top priority. You can take the money from that database project accounting wanted -- nobody will see the end results of that project anyway."
Do you:
a) Find out who he's been talking to, find out what exactly he means, and take the money from that database project.
b) Make up a technical reason he can't have it for security reasons.(This is where you're told you can't explain things clearly and must be hiding something.)
c) Explain to him that he'll need at least an ISDN line to each sales guy's house in order for it to work. (This is where you're told you can't explain things clearly and must be hiding something.)
d) Tell the CFO that his database project can't be done after all and explain that it's all the CEO's fault (always good for the reputation -- especially since they own a building together, live next door to each other, and belong to the same golf club).
e) Password the boot-up sequences on all your severs, quit, and come back the next day as a consultant.
I guess there are others -- but I have to go password a boot-up sequence.
Drew F.
Dear Drew:
Wonderful -- an excellent addition to the quiz. Maybe we should issue an extra-credit
supplement to the original. If we do, your question deserves to be included.
Dear Herb:
Loved the column "So You Want To Be A CIO." I have encountered every one of these situations as a CIO.
Here's another one:
Your CEO has found a consultant he loves, but you doubt he has the qualifications to do the job. Do you:
a) Raise your objections, thereby criticizing your CEO's judgment? b) Say nothing, knowing full well you'll have to pick up the shattered pieces of the project? c) Try to help, therefore being to blame for any delay that occurs?
Best regards,
Leilani A.
Dear Leilani:
An excellent question, and a valid addition to the supplement.
Reading back over your options, I would not be surprised to find that most of us do each of them in sequence. First, we voice our objections, then we shut up after being criticized, and finally we try to help minimize the damage since we indeed will have to pick up the pieces.
Dear Herb:
Just read "So You Want To Be A CIO," and I just want to say thanks!
My former life as a paramedic prepared me for the brutal sense of humor needed to survive in the corporate world.
Andy
Dear Andy:
If I could get it in our budget, I would hire a paramedic so that we would have a medical safety
net under us for when we get faced with the situations that we all do.
Dear Herb:
No, I never thought I wanted to be a CIO. But I took your quiz anyway. I got a good laugh. Here's my answer to each question.
Tell different people different answers, guessing which one you think they will like the most. Transform it in the middle of the conversation if you find that they feel differently than you expected. Then when everyone gets together to discuss your decisions they'll each defend your answer because they like the one you told them.
How's that? Do I pass?
I know there's some holes in that plan. I'll have to work on it if I ever expect to get anywhere. I've already climbed the corporate stepladder here, only to find that the top rungs are occupied by people that enjoy being on stepladders.
Edward C.
Dear Edward:
Thanks for your letter. And your observation that the people on the top rungs enjoy being on
ladders is a good one. Unfortunately, however, your answers would cause you to fail the course.
You see, here's how it works: Everyone on the ladder knows that being too candid will get you in trouble. On the other hand, when they all sit down and discuss what you've said, they will not each defend your answer; rather, they will compare notes and your credibility will be blown to bits. Being viewed as telling everyone just what he or she wants to hear doesn't have a chance of working -- unless, of course, you talk only to the boss.
Dear Herb:
I have climbed the IT corporate ladder in the last 10 years. This includes positions as a computer operator, programmer analyst, senior programmer analyst, project leader, systems and programming manager, and now director of IS. My career has been with two different companies, one a large manufacturing company, and the other a service-based organization.
I have accomplished this all without a college degree. My question is how important is a degree, if I wanted to move into a CIO position at another company? Would they even consider me without one? I have been told that it's mandatory, yet I struggle with that.
Fisher
Dear Fisher:
I could not make the blanket statement that a company would not consider someone without a
degree for a CIO position. Certainly, a track record of experience and accomplishments is more
important that a college degree. However, there are probably many people against whom you
would be competing who could bring the same professional credentials as well as a degree or
two. In that case, it would not be unreasonable to believe that the extra effort that they put into
getting the formal education could well give them a leg up in a job evaluation.
Herbert W. Lovelace is CIO at a multibillion-dollar international company. Herb practices his day job under an alias and has changed the names of colleagues to protect the guilty.
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