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Dog food
Greetings!
I'm in the midst of my third interim CIO role. That's the good news. The bad news? I have to eat my own dog food again.
I consult, coach and write about how CIOs need to improve their leadership abilities, become business leaders within IT, get IT strategically aligned with the business, and on and on.
But some dog food just isn't that tasty. And I'm not talking about the dry dog food that one could crunch up and swallow without much trouble. I'm talking about the mushy kind, with thick gravy and chunks of chunky stuff wooshing around your mouth.
For what it's worth, here's the dog food I've found easy to swallow, and not so easy to swallow, in my interim CIO tenures.
Easy to swallow
Team building - getting to hire the best talent possible
Chunky chunk
Having to release talented individuals who didn't fit
Easy to swallow
Becoming part of a client's business leadership team
Chunky chunk
Being asked to fix Blackberries in strategic planning meetings
Easy to swallow
Improving IT project success
Chunky chunk
Developing business relationships by committing to finishing in-flight projects that don't have clear scope, schedule or status
Easy to swallow
Rebuilding IT's credibility in the eyes of the business
Chunky chunk
Having to carrying the burden of IT's past failures
Easy to swallow
Getting IT strategically aligned with the business
Chunky chunk
Getting executives to sit still for two hours for an IT steering committee meeting
Easy to swallow
Reorganizing IT to improve performance
Chunky chunk
Getting all of the lines and boxes in Visio to line up
Easy to swallow
Telling the CEO you're not interested in the permanent CIO position
Chunky chunk
Having to eventually leave
Some of these chunks have been more difficult to swallow than others, but in the best interest of the client, they always do go down.
If you have your own chunks to swallow this week, I hope they go down fast and easy, and the returns far exceed any nasty taste you had to endure.
(I do feel compelled to mention that I've never actually tasted dog food...honest!)
John Hughes
Founder
GrowthWave
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