My aim as CIO is to do less

The aim of golf is to play the least amount of golf. If you are good at the game, you hit the ball a few times and then have a pleasant walk through the countryside to find the ball each time and send it back on it’s direction towards the flag. It you have experience of the golf course, or can follow the guides effectively, you can avoid the rough and keep to the fairway, making each little re-direction easier.

Leadership has analogies to golf. You set your distant goal – it is unlikely you will get there in one stroke, but you still aim for it. Your experience and skill – either from past knowledge or taking advice from those more knowledgeable than yourself – will allow you to steer and aim towards the goal. Sometimes there are areas that are more difficult to get out of, but with practice you can recover and get back on track.

My aim as a CIO is to do less.

Once I have set the vision and direction, based on the company goals and aspirations (guided within my own knowledge of technology trends and direction), I communicate this to the IT team and the organisation so that we all know where we are heading. If I have done it right, then I can trust that my team has the skills and capability to make their own judgements on achieving the strategy. I can’t prescribe every activity and responsibility, and need to provide sufficient guidance and direction to architects, managers, specialists and all staff, so that they understand not only the direction, but also the reasoning behind the direction so that they don’t need to ask for re-direction when something does not fit.

My aim as CIO is to ensure that the organisation has the right practices, processes and tools to improve efficiency and capability. With well designed and implemented systems, that do not need constant management, the organisation can focus on being a business. Manual processes should be automated to improve performance and consistency.

Decreasing my workload as a CIO from reactive management to predictive leadership

If I have done my job right, my workload should be gradually decreasing, as efficiency and effectiveness take over. Automation and improvement of processes to remove manual and repetitive tasks from people, challenging the old ways of working to focus on business agility and proficiency. As old ineffectiveness is removed and systems that need constant management are replaced, my workload is no longer on reacting to and managing issues.

As the fires are put out, and stay out, and are prevented from ever coming up again – the role transitions into developing new visions, new directions and new strategy – built on the strong foundation of low-maintenance systems and processes.