So you need to change leadership....is that all?
January 16, 2023
It’s a statistical phenomenon that an unequal percentage of senior technological roles begin to be changed in the New Year period, Maybe this is because some organisations tend to defer changes until after Christmas or because they start thinking about new directions with the new calendar year or the impending financial year end. Maybe people decide to leave over their Christmas break. Whatever the cause change is now hotting up.
But stop! Have you, as an organisation, considered what you want to change to, not just what you want to change from. For example, why not split any aspects of data management, storage, security and analysis out of IT into a separate data organisation? Give data real focus and remove any technology shackles from it? Or carve out your security organisation and make it independent of the technology gatekeepers and give it a strategic seat. After all security is the responsibility of the Board of Directors. Too edgy or too scary for them? Consider implications for getting projects done – central PMO maybe? Or Procurement – its own silo?
The conundrum is which is best for your organisation? And who should decide?
One way to at least approach this, and at the same time bring some mild commonality to spread across the IS leadership team is to ask them for the basic top 3 things they would each like to see resolved in the coming year with a view to making IT/IS altogether more efficient. Do you know this is rarely done!! Make them agree, by vote, if necessary, which three should be top. It is also a good way of finding something out about your leadership team. Are they mentally silo’d or highly commercial? Strategic or operational? Can they see the greater good in other’s perspectives? Are they persuasive? If a leader is changing then this a good way to ensure some team spirit, or at least dialogue, and share out the thinking.
The brief message from this is – don’t just replace. Use the inevitable disruption to change for the better as well