The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World

Organic Innovation

Rich says that he resisted the idea of setting up a special group within IT to lead innovation. I'll let Rich explain the rationale for this in his own words:

We take the same approach to innovation that we do to project management. I don't buy into the model where you create a specialized team for project management that was made popular by an academic group of IT analysts. We don't have a separate team of project management specialists because we want everyone at the manager and above level to be good project managers. Project management is central to our success, and we want those skills to be integrated throughout the IT organization.

For us, innovation has to be an organic activity. So we don't have a special group driving innovation. There's no “ivory tower” or “think tank” within IT. We want everyone in IT to think of themselves as innovators, and we encourage everyone to bring their innovative ideas to the table.

The organization's organic approach to innovation has produced a steady stream of positive results in the form of new solutions for clinical applications, new programs for tracking payments to healthcare professionals, and a new enterprise-wide financial management system.

“It's been a sea change for all of us, and I'm delighted by our progress in this next step in our transformation,” says Rich. “I am wildly proud of how my team has consistently made fundamental changes in the IT organization without disrupting our service to the business. Today ...