InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
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January 8, 2001 |
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The Strategic CIO:
A Force For Change
In the next five to 10 years, the CIO will become an infomediary within a company, tying technology to business
s the new millennium begins (no, that wasn't last year), I've come across a slight but very important change in the use of the title CIO. I recently talked with Ken Bohlen, CIO and executive VP of Textron, the global company that's into aircraft, automotive, industrial, and financial operations. His title doesn't stand for chief information officer but chief innovation officer. Could this be the new title for the new millennium?
If it is, I have a couple of questions: How does someone grow into the title of chief innovation officer? And how does a chief innovation officer differ from a chief information officer?
Apparently, it all started back when Ken was studying computer science at Iowa State. "I knew that computers were going to be an enhancing and enabling opportunity for business," he says, and he wanted to take advantage of that opportunity.
After getting a degree in computer science (along with seven minors), he spent years at John Deere and AlliedSignal working in supply-chain management and information systems. In one assignment at AlliedSignal, he was director of supply chain and reported to both the CIO and the VP for worldwide manufacturing.
Ken became a real innovator when he started building a strong bridge between IT and business. He clearly saw the impact technology could have on the customer experience and the company's bottom line. By the time he went to Textron in November 1999, Ken had become an innovator in both business and technology.
In April, Textron's board named him chief innovation officer and executive VP. Ken says his CEO, whom he calls a visionary, "understood that this boundaryless title wasn't about technology, but about new models of doing business. I'm spending more time working strategically, looking out in front, seeing where the opportunities are." In addition to looking at mergers and acquisitions and going to board meetings, Ken still has operational responsibilities. "We have to focus on speed, challenging the existing status quo in a very large company." This really hit home to me.
When I was CIO for the sate of Pennsylvania, I often asked my staff why we had various bureaucratic processes. They usually admitted that "it's because we always have." Ken understands that "the world is moving so fast, we have to ask those kinds of questions if we're going to stay competitive." The government's greatest disadvantage is the lack of market pressure. If people in other states don't like the long wait to get their driver's licenses, they unfortunately can't buy them from Pennsylvania, where we guarantee a 14-minute turnaround.
Ken's priority in 2001 is to put in place a talent-review process. He wants to identify the IT people in Textron who are trying to make things happen. "I want to find the innovators throughout the different lines of business. I'm focused on the people who see the big picture and are trying to understand the business processes." Ken says that IT staff must articulate what IT can do for business. "They have to focus on the return on investment and must learn the vocabulary of business people."
Ken's advice for other IT executives and chief information officers, especially in the manufacturing sector, is to concentrate on integrated supply-chain opportunities. "Look at how the data flows from the customer to the supplier's supplier. Speed from the dot-com community will add pressure." He also suggests branching out into the business side of your company. "Take nine to 12 months and work within business operations, outside of IT." We both agree that it's important to build a broader base, so you can see other opinions and ideas. There are no right or wrong answers; you need to live it.
Ken also says the CIO's role in the next five to 10 years will become an infomediary within a company, tying technology to business. "The CIO will morph into something different. The CIO needs to prepare the organization to accept whatever tomorrow might bring without knowing what that is." If we're going to be the innovators of the new millennium, we'll need to foster an attitude of wanting to learn, to be different, to change.
Larry A. Olson is a principal at Aligne Inc., a strategic technology practice and a Safeguard Scientifics company. He's the former CIO of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; reach him at lolson@safeguard.com.
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