Staying the Course as a CIO: How to Overcome the Trials and Challenges of IT Leadership

CHAPTER 7 Bleeding Budgets

“Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.”

(Joe Biden)

Hobbits and Elves get very excited about “rings of power” and “ring-bearers” in the world of myth and fiction (Tolkein, 1954). But in corporate life the true source of earthly power and influence is an ancient, mysterious resource known as the “budget”. If you are fortunate enough to be a “budget-holder”, you can be sure that you will never be short of friends (or enemies for that matter). Indeed the bigger your budget, the more power you will be able to wield and the more followers you will acquire. Many elves and goblins who live in the realm of the corporate world regard the budget as a crock of gold at the end of their rainbow. With lots of glittery stuff potentially lurking just beneath the surface, it's not difficult to see why people get so excited. Many believe that budgets are not only wondrous things, but they also believe that the treasure is curiously infinite (at least for their purposes). As a result there are always hordes of pilgrims to be found chasing these rainbows with their metaphorical spades and shovels (otherwise known as project proposals). But there are challenges for any who tread this path. Budget-holders, no matter how powerful they may be, will know that once their precious cash has been dissipated, their strength will fade as fast as Samson's on the day he decided to visit his barber.

If your strategy is the plan which ...