Having It All For Free
Who Is This Guy? The Accidental CIO Author of two books and numerous articles Spent last 17 years doing IT turnarounds
How do we solve the Leadership Paradox? Deliver operational excellence while... Driving innovation Technology Business model Business rule Product and service
Characteristics of High Performing Cultures 9 Focus on sustained, profitable growth 1 Clear identity & purpose. Common definition of goals and implementation 2 Persistent customer focus 8 Committed, transparent and independent governance Commonly-held basic beliefs, lived values 3 Innovation, learning and development 7 A good corporate citizen 6 Entrepreneurial behavior 5 Continuity in leadership approach 4 Non-hierarchical, participatory culture at all levels
WHY DOES THIS MATTER SO MUCH?
The currency is now speed Collaboration Model Everything is moving fast. We need to move fast too.
We are swimming in oceans of uncertainty and ambiguity We must move fast but move where?
We are buried in data and so need to be really good at personalizing the filters
the individual is the device and there is no difference between organizational and personal computing
Unleashing Innovation Collaboration Process think BIG technology trends towards perfection
We need to be in the experience business
Trustworthiness A study predicts that 40% of the Fortune 500 will not exist in 10 years
Are you kidding me? How can that be? Reluctance to embrace the looming technology-driven changes
Teams know HOW! Let them do it! Let them make mistakes. Build safety net
If not us, who? Our organizations need someone to lead them through this transition Collaboration Model why not have that someone be us?
Leadership Challenges Get More Done by Doing Less Lead Change Deliver the Right Product Meet Customer s Changing Needs Meet Market Windows How can we survive in this world? How can we thrive in this world?
Change everything! Transform our role Then Transform our organizations Then Transform our organizations some more
Sounds Nice But How?
Tools of Transformational Leaders Models: Business Value Model Purpose Alignment Design for Information Pro-active Risk Management Trust / Ownership Collaborative Leadership Delivery Practices: Agile / Beyond Agile Agile Project Management Production Change Proactive Service Improvement Meaningful Metrics
What does it take to win at decision-making?
and, how we decide to decide?
Why This Matters Our Credibility Is On The Line Never or Rarely Used: 64% Rarely 19% Sometimes 16% Never 45% Often 13% Always 7% Always or Often Used: 20%
Ideally, we decide based on value But, what s that?
Defining Value Costs calculation Value Calculation Benefits Business Value
Business Value Model Purpose Considerations Costs and Benefits
where we do start?
Business Value Model Purpose
My Operating System: Purpose Alignment Model High Market Differentiating Low Partner (very rare) Who cares (hopefully rare) Differentiating (Better Than) Parity (As Well As) Low Mission Critical High
In Practice High Market Differentiating Low Do we take this on? Minimize or Eliminate Innovate, Create Achieve and Maintain Parity Low Mission Critical High
The Differentiating Rules Rules Always Be the Market Leader Focus Own Differentiating How? Innovate now and forever Have 1-3 specific things you do better than anyone else You cannot outsource your innovation
The Parity Rules Rules Fill Any Gaps Because Gaps Kill Eliminate Risks Because Risks Kill Create Capacity To Focus Resources on Innovation How? Adopt Best Practices adopt the innovation of market leaders Simplify complexity increases risks and reduces agility Standardize there is only downside to exception handling of Parity activities
How about an example? OC Tanner world leader in employee recognition
The Situation Two complex, fragile SaaS platforms massive, monolithic applications Enterprise systems customized beyond recognition Low credibility IT (order takers) Suspect culture (permission / micromanagement) Decent financial support (5.6% of revenue) A company in transition (even if we did not know it)
Where Do I Start? The dual role of IT Improve operational excellence (complexity is the enemy of operational excellence) Improve IT speed-to-market (complexity is the enemy of agility) Focus innovation on what creates competitive advantage Teach and use Purpose Alignment!
How Do We Create Competitive Advantage? High Market Differentiating Recognition Best Practices or Whatever You Want? Low Low Mission Critical High
We Can Sort It Out Later but... High Market Differentiating Low Low Everything Else (catalog, orders, accounting, et cetera Mission Critical High
The Recognition Platform Service (Time) On-boarding (Time/Points) Performance (Points) Innovate, but what? Wellness (Points) Community Family Personal Refactor OC Tanner Recognition Platform (tracking, nominations, approvals, budgets, best practices, communication, et cetera) Refactor Integration Layer (publish, subscribe, API, data hub, et cetera) Fulfillment Platform (orders, items, pricing, merchandising, accounting, manufacturing, inventory, et cetera)
Refactoring to Common Services Does our user authentication create competitive advantage? Does our database design create competitive advantage? Do our email services (we have several) create competitive advantage? Why do we build what we could buy? Why do we have so many overlapping pieces of code? Why not be happy with good enough? Now, let s prioritize based on pain / gain and change it all Any new gets done as a common service Anytime we touch something, we turn it into a common service
For Example: Re-doing ERP No customizations Simplify everything What to do about personalized awards? I have to convince everyone but me that this is possible How?
How Does Standardization Support This?
Our Approach SCRUMMY ERP 3 week configuration sprints Demo of working software at the end of each sprint prove by showing that it works In parallel, Purpose Alignment for Accounting and ecommerce (items, catalog, orders, pricing, et cetera) to soften the beach
Results: Invest creativity in recognition (now engagement) Re-architect the rest of the business (CRM, ERP, EDW, et cetera) Improved the fragile products IT as strategic Hope for the hopeless
The Challenge? Strategy High Partner? Differentiating Market Differentiating Who cares? Parity Low Low Mission Critical High
strategy = sustainable Competitive advantage
4 important questions: 1. Who do we serve? 2. What do they need and want most? 3. What do we do better than anyone else to meet these needs and wants? 4. What is the best way to provide this?
the billboard test
For OC Tanner Recognition? Who cares? You should see our super cool invoices!
strategy creates decision filters a HUGE idea!
decision filters make daily decisions schedule projects what to develop
cascade decision filters throughout organization
Our (new) Decision Filter Will this deliver life-changing engagement? If so, amaze the world (directly or through partnerships) If not, adopt, standardize and simplify
Future Great Work Platform Vision (Extending Vision Beyond Recognition & Rewards) Software Manufacturing Consulting Verifiable Customer Outcomes/Value Milestones Retention Great Work Platform Performance Welbe Smarts Pulse Symbolics Yearbook Catalog Custom Design Services Institute Consulting Professional Services Satisfaction Wellness Productivity Learning Future Other Financial Growth Insights Customer Satisfaction Three Profit Centers Great Work Is Making a Difference People Love 61
caveats
treat exceptions as exceptions
Managing Risks common sense not List Three Professional Options common practice
parity is mission critical
purpose is not priority
Differentiating changes over time
innovate! Leadership Influence
The Rest of the Business Value Model Purpose Considerations Costs and Benefits
considerations Important factors that we cannot quantify: Risks (uncertainty / complexity) Time to benefit Market window Competition
Business Value Example Replace MS Office Purpose Considerations Save $350,000 per year
Balancing Considerations Office Suite = Parity Replace Excel = Dead CIO Or, = Split Support Model Save $350,000 per year
Where Do I Start?
CHANGING HOW WE DEFINE LEADERSHIP
Leadership focused on... Creating a culture of Trust and Ownership
Trust Ownership Model If we operate here, we are the speed, operational excellence, and innovation bottleneck
Collaborative Leadership To be long-term successful as a leader, I need to: Be in the What and Why business and GET OUT of the How business Create a culture of trust.
Old school manages change knows the answers bureaucratic leader decides Authoritarian the subject matter expert
New school embraces change fosters new ideas collaborates gives ownership influences expert in culture Believes that...
Leadership Challenges Get More Done by Doing Less Lead Change Deliver the Right Product Meet Customer s Changing Needs Meet Market Windows the answers are in my organization
None of us are as smart as all of us. - Japanese Proverb
Unleashing Innovation Collaboration Process create a Culture of trust
Trust First
Leading Agile Collaboration Model Collaboration Process Team-based measurements
build confidence
short iterations early wins Collaboration Model
protect team Boundaries
Authentic
purpose over personal agenda
Project Management Trustworthy How Do We Deliver?
Grow Ownership? Focus on Why and What never How Link all work to Why Communicate Why Expose team to user s lives and goals
What We Did In Collaboration Established two goals (Long-term) IT that amazes customers and employees (Short-term) IT that we don t apologize about Defined three themes to achieve those goals Innovate our products Improve our capabilities as a software products company Improve our support of the business Cascaded these to projects
Simiplify our products and services Leverage the work of others Use technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness Attract, retain, and develop our people Always work on the highest value projects Configured SFDC as a comprehensive CRM (Chase S.) Contact center that integrates with SFDC (Mila D.) New phone system (Cary G.) New product prioritization and review process (Niel N.) Internal self-service reporting and insight tools that improve decision-making (Jake B.) Reduce Oracle consumption (BJ V.) Internship and internal training program (lower priority - not yet assigned) Craftsmanship program (Matthew T.) Develop a new approach to file upload (Jake B.) Inception planning including acceptance criteria (Niel N.) 2015 Improve Business Support X X X Single system for all prospect and client interactions X X X X Prioritize globally X X X X X X Minimize customizations X X X X X Train all staff on current practices and standards X X X Use data to make decisions X X X X Get IT out of the administration business X X X X X This Year's 1st Level Annual Improvement Priorities 3-5 Year Breakthrough Objectives This Year's Deliverables and Metrics
A way to think about my leadership role: I am the designer of the container
Never problem solve Push out decision-making
Focus On Relationships We need to build relationships of trust with multiple groups: Our bosses Our peers Our staff Our internal customers Our external customers Our service providers
What Does It Take To Build Relationships of Trust? Days in the Life Get out of the office Build credibility through Operational Excellence Understand the engine that drives the organization so that you can Enable Strategy
A Final Thought On Trust - Ownership Establish two decision filters: Will this improve team / individual ownership? Will this improve trust?
Leadership Is Not For The Faint Of Heart What you need to do varies by team, individual, and situation. Be trustworthy, be honest, be self-aware, and expect to fail, reflect, and change. Ask if you have influential or positional authority. If your authority is positional, think of how to use trust and ownership to change.
Where We Are Today Board Meeting Agenda: Sales Transformation Differentiation (IT led) Engagement Platform (over recognition platform) (IT led) Strategic Planning (IT led) Acquisition (to fill out the engagement platform) (IT led)
Where Do I Start?
Questions? nnick@octanner.com