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

Alter Perceptions

Those first 30 days are also a perfect time to begin changing perceptions about IT, both inside and outside the IT organization. John Phillips is currently the CIO at Briggs Medical Service Company. He shared a great story from earlier in his career at a different firm, when he turned a chronic IT skeptic into a trusted partner by listening carefully, and then acting promptly.

I was the CIO at a large, publicly traded company . . . and in my first 30 days there I met with the heads of all the business units. There was one particular executive who told me he didn't particularly like IT, no matter who was running it. And I said to him, “What would change your mind to get you to like IT?” He said, “If I could just get a PC on an employee's desk within three days after we ask for it . . .”

As you can imagine, we kept a very close watch on the help desk and when the first ticket for a PC came in from an employee from that division, we got the PC on that employee's desk the next day. Well, that made an immediate difference in our relationship with the executive. And that, in turn, enabled us to move forward and form a closer and more effective partnership with that business unit because now they had a different perception of IT.

From John's perspective, the first 30 days offers a window of opportunity for winning hearts and minds across the enterprise—and within the IT organization itself. He has a seven-point IT Value System that he uses to shift perceptions internally: ...