Fostering Innovation

Introduction xxv Part I Become an Empathetic Leader 1 1 Hey, What Do You Know? 3 Build Your Skillset 3 Grow Through Listening 4 A Proactive Mindset 5 2 An Amazing IT Department? What’s That? 7 3 Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong 9 A Tale of Two Projects 10 The Downward Spiral of Micromanagement 11 Part II Four Steps to Innovate 15                                           4 The Right Foundation 17 Set Expectations 17 Build Trust 18 Share Your Values 19 5 The Laudato Hierarchy of IT Needs 21 6 Keep the Lights On (KTLO) 23 7 Lean and Efficient IT 25 8 Create Value 27 Cost Reduction 28 Increase Revenues and Enable Opportunities 28 Reduce Risk 29 9 Let’s Innovate 31 Develop the Mindset 32 Dedicate Resources 32 Embrace Risk 33 Idea Generation 33 Rapid Prototyping 34 10 CIO Report Card 35 Part III Develop a Winning Culture 37 11 Culture Eats Eggs and Strategy Eats Bacon, or Something to that Effect 39 The Wrong Way to Develop Culture 41 Building a Strong Culture 42 How Can a CIO Influence Culture? 42 The Blue Bloods 43 12 The Boxes, the Lines, and the Dashes 45 Step 1: Identify Your Functions and Business Needs 46 Step 2: Create an Org Chart 46 Step 3: Run Use Cases 46 Step 4: Identify Skills 47 Step 5: Review Your Team 47 13 Org Design—Just Show Me the Answer 49 Support 49 Cyber-Security 50 Portfolio Manager 50 HR Partner 51 Finance Partner 52 Executive Assistant 52 14 Organizational Design and Culture 53 15 It’s Not the Play, It’s the Player 55 16 Take Care of Those Peeps 57 Ask People What They Want from Their Career 58 Spend the Most Time with Your Best People 58 Provide Career Development Planning 59 Always Support Your Team, Even When They’re Wrong 59 Be a Diode 60 Have a Real Open-Door Policy 60 Listen 61 Only Make Changes that Are Necessary 62 Provide Fair and Timely Feedback 62 Be Kind Enough to Let Someone Go 63 17 Hire the Best 65 18 The Best Team Is a Diverse Team 69 19 Using Mercenaries—I Mean, Consultants 71 Management Consultants 71 Project-Based Consultants 72 Offshore, Nearshore, Onshore 74 Staff Augmentation 75 Boutique Firms 76 20 The Power of Experts 77 21 Build that Network 81 Formal CIO Networks 82 Navigating a Cocktail Party 83 Social Media 84 22 Good Advice Doesn’t Come Cheap; It’s Free 87 Part IV Deliver to Delight: a Collection of Usable Tips and Tools 89 23 The Written Word—a.k.a IT Strategy 91 Align Your Strategy 91 Create Your Strategy 92 Put Your Strategy into Action 94 24 It’s the Uptime, Stupid 95 Measuring Uptime 96 Nuances of Measuring Uptime 97 Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) 98 When You Have a Problem, Proclaim It Loudly 98 Troubleshooting 99 Let Them Eat Cake 101 Change Management 101 Daily Meeting 101 Annual Readiness 102 25 If It’s Important, You Better Get Two 103 Redundancy and Probability Math 105 The Only True Test 106 Does Any of This Matter in the Cloud? 106 26 Lock It Down 107 27 Lean and Efficient IT 109 Software 110 Legality 111 Cloud Services 111 Telcom 112 Professional Services 113 Capital Expenses Drive Operating Expenses 114 The Small Stuff 114 Reduction in Force 115 Less Is More 116 28 What Should I Work on First? 117 29 Limit Your Work in Process (WIP) 121 30 One List to Rule Them All 123 Create Your List 124 Rank Your List 124 Create a Standard Deviation Report 125 Communicate Priorities 126 Cumulative Total 126 Operationally Required Projects 127 Be Ready for Line Jumpers 128 Moving Forward 129 31 Portfolio/Program/Project Management 131 Consistency Creates Speed 131 Ranked Project List 132 A Unified Calendar 132 Big Room Planning 133 Project Charter 133 A Project Schedule Is Not a Project Plan 134 Kanban 134 Agile Mindset 135 Keep Teams Intact 135 Part V Develop Key Business Proficiency for Maximum IT Efficiency 137 32 Love Your HR Department, Just Don’t “Love” Your HR Department 139 Compensation 140 Employee Relations 141 Learning and Development 142 Payroll and Benefits 143 Organizational Design 143 Talent Acquisition 143 33 If I Wanted to Be a Lawyer, I Would Have Gone to Law School 145 Licensing Models 145 The Cloud 146 Indemnification 147 Limitation of Liability 147 Breach/Litigation 147 Force Majeure 147 Accounting Considerations 148 Data Ownership and Preservation 148 Cyber-Security 149 Unsavory Practices 149 End-User License Agreement (EULA) 150 Changing Terms on an Invoice 151 Virtualization 151 Hyperlinks 151 Relationships over Contracts 152 Software Audits 152 Other Involvement with the Legal Department 152 34 Let’s Make a Deal 155 35 Accounting, My Worst Subject 157 Chargebacks 158 Showbacks 159 Remedial Accounting Starts Here 159 General Ledger 159 Accruals 159 Balance Sheet 159 Income Statement 160 Statement of Cash Flows 160 Capital Expenses (CapEx) vs Operating Expenses (OpEx) 160 Capitalized Internal Labor 161 Depreciation 161 Write-Off 162 EBITDA 162 Return on Investment (ROI) 162 Lookback ROI 163 36 Learn Your Business, Inside and Out 165 Part VI Straighten Up and Fly Right 167 37 What You Should Have Learned in Kindergarten 169 38 Professionalism Isn’t Just Wearing a Suit 173 Complain the Right Way 174 Don’t Allow Gossip 174 Make Your Word Gold 174 Keep a Secret 175 Don’t Yell, Curse, or Pound the Table 175 Assume Everything Will Get Out 175 Remove Stress from Your Boss 176 Just a Little Bit Better 176 39 What You Do Matters—You’re Always on the Clock 177 40 Vendors and Frendors 179 41 A Word to the Vendors 181 42 Be a Cool Customer 183 43 Get Your Butt in Shape 185 Sleep 185 Weight Management 186 Nutrition 186 Exercise 187 Part VII Final Tips and Advice 189 44 When Something Goes Wrong 191 Step 1: Leap into Action 191 Step 2: Assess Things 192 Step 3: Plan Your Response 192 Step 4: Communicate 192 Step 5: Monitor the Situation 192 Step 6: Learn from It 193 45 When Others Come Knocking 195 46 What’s Wrong with Outsourcing? 197 47 Switching Jobs 199 Should I Stay, or Should I Go? 200 Make the Move 200 On-Board Yourself 201 48 Technology Matters 203 49 Conclusion 205 Notes 207 Index 213