Many business owners and managers have historically had a love-hate relationship with Information Technology. They love it for the benefits it brings to the business but hate how it troubles them. If you are like most CEO's you bristle when your advisors mumble in strange dialects. Here is some sound though seemingly harsh advice...if they babble...throw the rascals out of your office!
Tough medicine? Let's reflect for a moment. When your sales manager wanted to hire that new rep to handle a new market you understood him. You could talk to your plant manager about buying computer controlled milling machines...and those even had computers! You asked them how much money they needed up-front and what they needed to maintain the new investments over time, they told you what the benefits were and how much return you would get.
So why do these computer "experts" keep you up at night tossing and turning even though computers are "supposed" to be a good investment? We need to listen to Clemenceau 's words that, "War is too important to be left to the generals..." when we recognize that Information Technology is too important to be left to the technicians.
The nature of the beast is that as perhaps the most dynamic field this side of DNA research, Information Technology has been operating under a double standard in many organizations. It seems many computer specialists don't know how to justify investments to the boss so as the saying goes, "If you can't dazzle `em with brilliance - baffle `em with bull". Computer experts have learned anxiety provoking words like baud, megabytes, token-ring, ethernet, and modem in an attempt to get their way. Then when they sense you're weakening they throw in the acronyms - these aren't even words but insidious letters like SNA, OSI, CICS, RAM, ROM, DMA, and WYSIWYG. Would you let your plant manager get away with this? Your sales manager? How are you to sort it all out? Most executives either give up or resist. In this installment let's discuss the first group and leave the second for next time.
When I say "give up" I was just making the point that these executives often try to do the best job possible in a no-win scenario. They recognize that information technology can make a positive impact on their business even if it's poorly presented as a potential for investment. The technologists are snowing "the big guy" into swallowing their program without playing by three important rules which are: Speak in plain English, Take the education and leadership role, and Justify the investments.
The most important rule to enforce is, Speak in plain English. The babbler's tactic is to make the CEO feel dumb or inadequate so they will let them have their way. Don't internalize what is actually just a bad or confusing presentation. The best way to counter a poorly presented investment opportunity is to boot everyone out of your office and let them read this article. I was tossed out of an office early in my career and continue to thank that CEO profusely. Since then I have always tried to educate without using confusing jargon and to present investment opportunities with clear financial justification. The key point is that the CEO's failure to understand the benefits should be turned back upon the presenters.
The element of urgency is often added to increase the pressure to accept a substandard presentation. Resist the temptation to "go along" until everything is well justified with an implementation plan including hidden costs. Your computer people will thank you later and you'll sleep better knowing the decision is a sound one.
The second rule is an Information Technologist's role is to educate and lead. It is their job to advocate new technologies that can leverage a competitive position for the organization. Strategic technologies need to be presented to management over time, so they can fully appreciate the benefits. If the first time you've heard about it is when they want you to invest in it you should be crystal clear on the benefits. If not, your technologist has ignored rule two. The CEO is the strategic eye of the firm, and it's investment manager. He or she must depend on the technology experts to be advised as breakthrough technologies become practical.
The whats are not so important as the whys. The CEO must understand the benefits and the pitfalls that are associated with a new tool or method. Seek out the advice of experts but channel it into this area. Let them know how and when you expect to be informed and tune out the rest. Then listen and keep a notebook. Label it "TOP SECRET - Competitive Technologies" and organize it by categories. When you read articles on new technologies that seem promising, clip them out and pass them on to your advisors. This will tell them what areas you are interested in and help them teach you. The technology advocate is usually the most underutilized asset in any organization. The CEO can remedy this by these simple steps.
The final rule is, Justify the investments. Let's introduce five measurements, net productivity, dollar impact, payback, asset life, and return on investment (ROI). These items often have blurry edges. Do your best to separate them and you will see the value of the investment clearer. We'll cover these more in detail in another article. Remember, you first must make money on your investments if you are to survive in today's business climate.
You no longer need to dread those meetings with your information experts. Give them clear expectations of how you want investment opportunities presented, make them follow the rules, and you'll enjoy harnessing their expertise to keep your company in front of the pack.
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Copyright© 1994 Theo Gantos, CCP - All Rights Reserved.
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