What Keeps Me Up at Night (And What I Can Do About It) Part 5

Issue #6 – Fill in the Blank

Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. "As I stood there," he said, "an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage. I observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. I remarked to the attendant: ‘You certainly are a brave man.’ ‘No, I ain't brave,’ replied the attendant as he continued to sweep. ‘Well, then, that cat must be tame.’ ‘No,’ came the reply, ‘he ain't tame.’ ‘If you aren't brave and the wildcat isn't tame, then I can't understand why he doesn't attack you.’” Armerding said the man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence: "Mister, he's old -- and he ain't got no teeth."

The sixth thing that keeps me up at night are those items that irritate, frustrate, and exasperate me at work. What are those things? Fill in the blank! For each of us, the list of things that irritate and frustrate is as unique as a fingerprint. But unlike the story above, more than likely they do have teeth! Let me explain by giving you one example that I have wrestled with on numerous occasions – our Board.

This Board has members that are smarter than anyone else. It speaks with the language of one having a “long-term” view but acts like one having a “short-term” view. It sees IT as being a cost center and capable of cutting expenses indefinitely. It has mandated an outside assessment to evaluate the competency and expected opportunities for additional waste reduction three years in a row! The fact that IT spend as a percentage of revenue has dropped from 2.9% in 2009 to 1.9% in 2011 (actual IT spend dropped $4 million) is not good enough. The fact that IT headcount has dropped drop by 10% in the same period of time is seen as merely a down payment in cost reduction. This Board even reviewed annual bonuses – employee by employee – a year ago.

Because of this rather non-supportive Board, I have had many sleepless nights. On several occasions it was due to having another outside consulting firm (a set of IT experts who are supposed to know more about IT than S-K’s IT management team) assessing our organization, strategy, and spend. On other occasions it was the frustration of building a budget that drove down costs and increased productivity only to be told: “It is not enough!” On one occasion it was a wrestling match to justify technology that had been in place for several years (and was benefitting the company) that they no longer liked. It would be bad enough if each “event” only caused one night of lost sleep. The truth is – each event usually resulted in days, if not weeks of lost sleep.

Do not take away from this posting that I am “trashing” the Board. For purposes of this posting, I wanted to openly and honestly share with you an example of an irritant that keeps me up at night. If I did not provide you with some of the details (there are many more that I have withheld), the sense of frustration that I face would make no sense. And truth be known – each of us has at least one “dragon” like this that they need to slay.

Since I do not like to be a victim, how did I handle this repetitive struggle? What were the strategies that I invoked to solve this problem? While these strategies will not work for each of you and for each of your irritants, maybe they will be of value. First, I never linked my self-esteem to what the Board thought. S-K’s IT management team of five had an accumulative 125+ years of IT management experience. We have had a long history of delivering success. We could even mentor most of the consultants who “assessed” us. If the Board was uncertain of how I was managing IT, I did not allow their skepticism to destroy my self-esteem. Not wanting to be arrogant or blind, I sought and found validation for our efforts from peers, outside consultants, and vendors that we worked with.

Second, I focused on doing what is right and allowing the chips to fall where they may. We are hired to do a job, to be a good steward, to transform department and companies. It is important that we not allow skepticism or ignorance to de-rail what needs to be done. CIO’s are hired to be confident and decisive. We need to take a position and boldly execute a strategy. If we are convinced that it is the correct strategy, then we need to execute that strategy and reap the results and consequences. We need to allow the outcome – not the perception of a Board – to be the basis for our appraisal.

Third, I worked to build deep and broad partnerships with other members of the Executive Team. Benjamin Franklin said it best: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” There is strength in numbers. There is wisdom that may be gained from others. There is support in a group. We must choose to link our success and career to that of the company team. Otherwise, it is easy to become the proverbial “sacrificial lamb.”

Fourth, I performed and marketed those achievements. While this may sound arrogant, it is a fact of life. CIO’s should be measured on how they increase revenues, decrease expenses, increase efficiencies, and decrease risks. Since most of our successes are beyond the understanding of non-IT employees (and Board members), it is imperative that we educate and market those successes continually.

A logical question must be asked – “Did these strategies actually work?” Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that all three assessments confirmed what we knew – S-K IT was doing a very good job. No, in the sense that in the end -- they don’t really care. Their perception of the world remains unchanged and IT continues to focus on delivering value and aiding the business in growing revenues and profits.

In closing, I want to encourage you. First, you will face irritants and frustrations as an IT leader. Those irritants may be common to others or unique to your situation. You are not alone. All of us will have our set of challenges at one time or the other. As such, reach out to others and share your compassion as they do the same with you. Second, don’t play the “victim.” Do not sit back and lose sleep, night after night. Be proactive. Be decisive. Undertake tactics and strategies to diminish or eliminate those irritants. It will enable you to sleep better at night – even if the problem never goes away!