IT Strategist’s Dilemma


Every strategist faces the "stay the course" or "cut and run" choice at least once in their careers. How do you decide which course is the correct one? More importantly, is this even a correct or complete set of choices?


Simply put, every strategist, including the CIO, faces the "stay the course" or "cut and run" choice at least once in their career. Usually, it is many more times than one!

The strategist's, in this case, IT Strategist's, dilemma is: should I do as planned or change the plan?

In answering this question, there is the risk of prematurely and incorrectly changing a strategic plan that would have worked. There is also an acknowledgment that a carefully crafted strategic plan did not stand the test of time, i.e., somehow, somewhere, the CIO failed. Is this the correct conclusion to draw? I disagree.

No matter how hard you try, the unexpected will happen. In today's dynamic business environment, the only constant changes. Economies and industries change. Disruptive technologies appear on the horizon. Competitors change, or they change tactics. Internal capabilities change. The list is endless.

These unanticipated changes are not a sign of failure of your plan. But they do require a response. That is where the strength or weakness of a plan is tested.

So what do you do when faced with change? Do you continue with the playbook? Do you punt? Do you modify the playbook?

The simple answer is to be flexible. This agility often determines the success or failure of an IT strategy.
But this is easier said than done. Agility depends on three key things. Let us look at each and see how.

Monitor your environment

Continuously and diligently. So you are not blindsided by change.

I would bet that most leaders know this.

But I am equally confident that IT organizations operating as cost centers do not monitor their environment. They do not have a well-defined process or champion for business changes that affect IT. Consequently, they are continuously reacting to these changes. Ironically, this focus on cost management has the opposite effect because a reaction is often more expensive than a carefully planned response!

IT Organizations task the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with monitoring and managing change. However, CTOs often focus on technology changes - new applications and hardware - not business changes. Often, their role is advisory, therefore lacking the authority to affect change in an IT Organization.

On the business side, teams usually monitor changes in the business environment. However, often, these teams do not have the skills to assess the impact of these business drivers on technology.

A lack of well-defined processes for collaboration, between business and IT, on this front exacerbates this situation. Hence, the proverbial dots are not connected till it is too late.

This was never a good situation. It is even worse now with the increased pace of change and competition. Thanks to advances in IT, information is delivered in real-time to its users - where they are and when they want it. Now, one must not only connect the dots but also connect them before their competitors do.

To succeed in this fast-paced business climate, business and IT must collaborate on monitoring and responding to three fundamental categories of changes:

  1. Environment - changes in the economy, regulation, industry, etc., that can have an impact on your organization
  2. Technology - improvement in current technology or introduction of new technology that can alter the effectiveness or efficiency of your organization
  3. Internal competencies - changes in skills, processes, or intellectual capital that can give the organization a competitive advantage or vice versa

This is a process, i.e., it must be done continuously in conjunction with developing and implementing an IT Strategy.

Plan for the changes
An IT Organization should have a well-defined plan to deal with these changes. This plan should be thorough but recognize that it is based on a prediction. The real thing might turn out to be very different. Hence, there is a need for flexibility in this plan.

We can only hope to identify all the changes in time. Some will invariably slip through.

Do not let this concern about an "incomplete picture" get in the way of action. Some of what we did not get will pass by without impact. The rest, one can deal with through improvisation.

One should not - and practically cannot - act on every identified change on the horizon. Only a few will be relevant to us. We should also learn to differentiate between a temporary blip from a fundamental shift. To my knowledge, this is not an exact science but a matter of instinct and agility. Over time, we hone in our instincts. But agility must be built into the system.

Build flexibility into the system
Agility is essential to the success of an IT Organization. Because even the most carefully crafted plan will face facts on the ground that will render some or all of it ineffective - hopefully the former!

So, how does one build agility into the system?

First, through an IT Strategy that adapts. This assumes that an IT Strategy is never completely "done" but is crafted over time through multiple "learn and do" cycles. One creates a "big picture" and then takes baby steps to refine it as needed. This process includes periodic checkpoints - much like the six sigma tollgates - that evaluate the current position. Monitoring the environment tells us what the latest business drivers are. Then respond to these questions:

  • What has changed?
  • What should be our response?

This is analogous to driving in fog. One knows where they want to go, but their view is restricted to their immediate horizon at any given time. So along the way, evaluate where you are and give yourself time to respond. Drive too fast or over-commit in other ways, and you land in a ditch!

Second, we need a flexible enterprise architecture. Eliminating redundancy is job one. Then applying sound architecture principles such as "component-based", "plug and play," etc., results in a flexible architecture.

Most importantly, a CIO and their team need a flexible attitude. Nobody can predict the future. Stuff happens when you least expect it. The best of us make mistakes. Admit it when you are wrong.

Bottom line? Be willing to change because staying the course is neither good for the shareholders nor your career.


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