Managing Your IT Career In Turbulent Times

A while back, I asked for a few suggestions on potential topics that I could explore in this blog.  Some people left comments, but most contacted me directly.

One of the better suggestions came from Bill Bonin, a fellow EMCer.

He observed that I probably spent more time with senior IT executives than most people he knew.

As a result, maybe I could offer up a few observations as to what most IT executives see as the most valuable skills that they're looking for in their organizations going forward?

I thought that was a great idea.

The Disclaimer

There is no survey or methodology involved here -- just lots of face-to-face conversations. 

The conclusions here are highly subjective and anecdotal.  There is inherent sampling bias (I tend to meet with larger IT organizations in a hurry to get somewhere), and forward-leaning bias (I tend to focus on emerging trends).

That being said, you may find some useful insights here.

The Backdrop

Many of us see the next few years as a period of significant and turbulent transition in the IT industry.

It affects not only the people who build the stuff but also the people who use the stuff, primarily enterprise IT organizations.

So, what are the big themes here?

First, a dramatic shift to restructuring IT infrastructure as an on-demand service: think virtualization, private clouds, service providers and the like.

Most IT organizations aren't set up to operate effectively as an internal service provider, using a mix of internally provided and externally provided services.

Second, many organizations are still struggling with how to gain a competitive advantage through IT, or even if that's a good idea in the big scheme of things.

I'm aware of many organizations where IT is nothing more than a cost of doing business -- these groups will invariably drift in the direction of service providers, outsourcers and system integrators.

Other organizations understand where their competitive advantage will come from in the future, and are desperate to wield IT as a strategic weapon in the marketplace.

Third, there's an overall consolidation that's started in the industry.  IT organizations want to work with fewer vendors, and smaller companies are continually being snapped up by bigger ones.

This implies a different way of working with vendors -- more as a business partner, and less as a commodity supplier.

A Changing CIO Profile?

I'm meeting more and more CIO and senior IT leadership that haven't come up through the ranks of IT. 

They're business leaders, doing a sequence of career rotations in anticipation of bigger and better roles at their organizations.  Their current rotation is leading the IT organization.

They are not motivated to perpetuate the legacy.  They are highly motivated to shake things up and move them forward in a big and visible way.  They are career business leaders, and not career technology professionals.

They want to make a significant impact, declare victory, and move on to the next big challenge.

So, how might these new CIOs be thinking about things?

A Dramatic Oversimplification

Step way back from IT, and just draw a simple box on an imaginary org chart labelled "IT".

On one side of the box, make a list of the services that IT should provide to the business.  Call these the "outputs" of IT to the business.

Some of them will be more pragmatic, like "keeping the lights on".  Necessary, but hardly differentiating. 

Surely, taking dramatic costs out while improving service delivery is high on the new CIO's list -- but there's more to it than that.

There's a strong interest in growing internal "consulting services" to help business units understand how to use IT as a business tool. 

What new CIO wouldn't want their organization to morph into a respected business advisor?

Words like "speed" and "flexibility" and "responsiveness" come to mind, in addition to the table stakes of good, reliable IT services provided cost-effectively.

Now, go to the other side of the "IT organization" box, and let's look at inputs.

There will likely be a smaller list of strategic technology vendors.  A small roster of trusted external service providers.  And perhaps a few consulting or system integration organizations to provide a little extra intellectual capital when needed in a few areas.

Now, what functions are inside the box labelled "IT"?

Change Management Leads

If you accept the premises that the IT industry is changing, and therefore IT organizations have to change, then it's a foregone conclusion that organizational change management becomes perhaps the most important IT leadership skill in the next few years.

Technology is relatively easy to change; organizations are notoriously difficult.  I call them the "three P's": people, process and politics.

I believe this requires leadership at its finest -- the ability to communicate a compelling vision, encourage people to get on board, get support, overcome resistance, and lay out a plan for incremental progress that moves the game forward in a logical (yet accelerated) fashion.

Unfortunately, many IT professionals were hired for their operational and technological strengths.  Personally, I've observed that it takes two distinct skill sets: one to run the organization, and a very different one to change it.

I get to meet a fair amount of prototypical change agents in IT organization.  Unfortunately, they're usually near the bottom of the hierarchy, and end up getting frustrated as a result.  Hopefully, some of these people can break out, and become the new leaders going forward.

A Consultative Bias

The best consultants are good at two things: helping you figure out where you want to go, and helping you figure out how to get there.

Unfortunately, I see many IT organizations present just the opposite to their internal clients. 

They have only a poor idea of how the business units make money, or (more importantly) how the business would like to do it in the future.  The IT people struggle to map all this wonderful technology potential into a few key ideas that the business can get excited about.

You don't need an MBA to do this, just a natural intellectual curiosity on how the business wants to make money.

And, unfortunately, IT groups can present a very unpleasant interface in helping the business getting from A to B with a technology-based initiative.  Business people want answers that help, not more problems to go solve from the IT group.

So, clearly, one dominant theme in critical IT skills will be the ability to approach internal clients on a consultative basis -- to mask the complexity of using IT as a business tool.

From Vendor To (Business) Partner Management

I get to see the whole spectrum of customer/vendor interactions. 

At one meeting, we have the commodity mentality, e.g. "I need 50TB of storage, what's your price?".  Fine, I get that.

And from that meeting, I'll go right into the next one where the discussion is more like "we have a number of business challenges, how can you help?".

One could debate where the ideal balance point between these two extremes might be, but there's no arguing that most IT organizations will end up with fewer suppliers over time, hence a secular shift in how you deal with all of us vendor types -- learning to think of us as problem solvers, and not always shameless technology peddlers.

And that implies a new skill: the ability to get the very best from your chosen vendor partners - and avoid the worst!. 

I don't see leaving this role to the purchasing or procurement department :-)

The New Skills Portfolio?

Just hitting the highlights here, we've got three big themes going forward:

* a shift to a consultative relationship with the business

* a shift to a business partnership with a smaller number of providers

* the need to accelerate the transition within IT itself

So, it's fair to ask, what kind of skills help in all three areas?

To my way of thinking, exceptional communication skills rise to the top of the pile.

I'm not only talking about being clear and articulate, but being empathetic with who you're communicating with -- whether it be an internal client, a business partner provider, or an internal IT organization trying to move forward.

It's one thing to have great ideas, it's another thing entirely to communicate them effectively in such a way that the other party buys in to what you're saying.

Quick note to those of you interested in improving your communication effectiveness: you'd be surprised how many people read blogs :-)

I'd put strategic thinking a close second. 

By "strategic thinking", I'm talking the ability to visualize various big picture in a future state, do so from multiple angles, and then work backwards in such a way that incremental progress can be made, while retaining the "strategic flexibility" to move in different directions should the need or opportunity present itself.

In my work, I end up drawing a lot of different pictures that represent different strategic views and scenarios.  There's no "one view", just like there's no "one plan". 

Instead, there are scenarios to evaluate and options to choose from.

Going down the list, I'd want to put "coalition building" a close third -- the ability to enlist people in support of a bigger cause, regardless of their role or organization.

I've found that you can get amazing things done simply by patiently enlisting people to help: getting their intellectual contribution and influence, while respecting their existing challenges and obligations.

And I'd end my list with "combining patience with sense of urgency".  Getting the balance right is very difficult -- you need to know when you can press ahead, and when it's time to let people catch up with you -- or, perhaps, a shift in the context.

The New IT Leader?

We all want to manage our careers effectively -- at least, most of us want to!  Most of us would like bigger roles, more authority -- and potential to make more of an impact in our organizations.

I meet many bright people in IT -- people with good ideas, passion, intelligence and drive -- who aren't being listened to.

Your time may be now.

I'll make the argument that what constitutes an "effective IT leader" -- at any level of the organization -- is up for discussion right now. 

The old, traditional model is still needed, but the new model is very much in demand, and obviously very scarce in supply.

Personally, I've found that navigating shifting supply/demand curves for skills through various industry transitions can be very helpful to your career :-)

People who can jump into new, poorly defined roles, set direction, assume de-facto leadership and move things forward in non-traditional ways will be very much in demand going forward. 

If not in your present organization, then certainly in another one.

How many of us in the IT industry -- whether vendor or customer -- will recognize the fundamental shift, and navigate our careers accordingly?

I can only be hopeful.

Comments

[twitter.com/stephenodonnell]

Really interesting blog post Chuck and pretty much on the money. What we need now is the maturity to absorb the surfeit of technology we have already got, wrap it in business aligned processes and keep it simple.

We need partners who can help us with best practice and templated solutions and who have the scale to do it properly.

Thanks

Steve

[gkumaran]

You are a genius. Strong powerful message and well articulated.

I am strongly moved by the conclusion,

"People who can jump into new, poorly defined roles, set direction, assume de-facto leadership and move things forward in non-traditional ways will be very much in demand going forward.

If not in your present organization, then certainly in another one."

Typing this from the other side of the Outsourcing spectrum in India, I am moved by your blog.

[Chuck Hollis]

@Kumaran

You are too kind. Frankly, I think I'm just stating the obvious -- at least to me!

I am very pleased that I am able to provide a small bit of inspiration to others.

Thanks for the comments!