Comments on: Being Bartholomew Cubbins

By: CIOs Don’t Need Two Heads to Wear Two Hats « Lundberg Media

CIOs Don’t Need Two Heads to Wear Two Hats « Lundberg Media — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:00:25 +0000

[...] the other but not both at the same time. They argue that when it comes to tech-enabled innovation, CIOs should offer advice but leave the heavy lifting to product designers and marketers. I disagree. What do you [...]

By: Bartholomew Cubbins, Redux « The Effective CIO

Bartholomew Cubbins, Redux « The Effective CIO — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:09:22 +0000

[...] use a full post to reply rather than add to the comment stream. You may want to read the comments that prompted this post before reading further. It’s OK; I’ll [...]

By: Chris Siefken

Chris Siefken — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:17:34 +0000

Chuck, I’m glad to see you’ve started the debate on this topic I certainly never gave it much thought until our conversation the other day. What role do I play and how are my responsibilities at odds with themselves on a day in and day out basis. More to come as I ponder our discussion and observe my actions.

Chris

By: John Charnovich

John Charnovich — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:14:56 +0000

Relevant post in today’s Information Week:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220000039&cid=IW_nl_cio_2009-09-17_h

By: Chuck Musciano

Chuck Musciano — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:59:37 +0000

Thanks so much for these deep, insightful comments. The best part of blogging is what you learn from your readers! I started to reply here, but realized that a full reply would be too long. Instead, I'll post a broader response next Monday. Check back then; I hope you'll want to respond in kind.

By: John Charnovich

John Charnovich — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:17:47 +0000

I rarely read blogs let alone comment but this struck a cord with me Chuck. I would have to heavily agree with your readers comments as a CIO/ IT Executive in Industry (CPG/Electronics vs Rocks!) and have also led 5 successful software companies from designing/building products to implementing, marketing and selling. If you have the right skills and/or experience to take on these expanded initiatives, I say “Why not the CIO”, especially for technology based products. IT Executives can only improve their view of the end customer as a result which will help drive better alignment and credibility with the business. At the end of the day, we are all consumers and I have seen my share of egotistical marketers absolutely kill new products and market launches…ouch!

By: Susan Mazza

Susan Mazza — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:29:06 +0000

I think it all comes down to the capabilities and desires of the individual and how well that matches the opportunity. While we need to be mindful of thinking we have skills we don’t have when expanding the scope of what we are accountable for, a strong leader will find someone to fill the gaps. The current limitations of our own knowledge and/or experience should never be a reason to stay in our “box”. And sometimes it can even be the source of new thinking that leads to competitive advantage.

On the other hand I completely get your point that just because something involves technology doesn’t mean the technology professionals that are asked to be involved understand anything about domains outside of their expertise and experience. And I do think there is a tendency to make assumptions in that regard that can get you into trouble.

By: kumud

kumud — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:57:11 +0000

For some companies and CIOs, Chuck, what you say is perfectly valid. In many other companies, your definition of the CIO would be deemed ‘classic’ rather than contemporary. The CIO is increasingly expected to be a business leader first, the IT leader second. In order to achieve this, the pure-play tech role is often allocated to a separate member of the team, sometimes called the CTO.

I too would be a sceptic if anyone were to continually add to his or her scope of responsibility without any adjustment to their team, org structure and working relationships with colleagues. That amount of weight would crush anyone.

But just at there is nothing wrong with someone moving from a generalist to a specialist role, the converse is equally applicable. Or do you also object to CFOs becoming CEOs – will they too stray outside their area of competence and also ultimately fail? Of course, adjustments will have to be made – incumbent responsibilities will be relinquished, reallocated, delegated – to create the space to work on new opportunities.

To suggest that CIOs are one-trick ponies that should all perform to a role template – what a dull world that would be! That CIOs should not fulfil their potential and become the best business leaders that they can be – that is not only a disappointing message to hear from a leader, but also an affront to the many CIOs that are very capably applying their talents in other areas.

Some will agree with your position, some will take issue with what you say. I for one, do not agree that one size fits all. Agent provocateur, Chuck?

By: abbielundberg

abbielundberg — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:17:13 +0000

I have to disagree on this one, Chuck. If the widget is standalone, with no potential for accessing, generating or exchanging data, sure, the CIO could just fill a consulting role. But if the tech-enabled product is also an information-based product (think Kindle, OnStar, any web or mobile-device-based service at all), then the CIO should absolutely be centrally involved, because there’s so much opportunity for spin-off information-based products. The question of who leads the effort — marketing, product development or the CIO — depends on the specific situation and the abilities and aptitudes of the individuals involved. But who better than the CIO to really understand how to gather, manage and leverage information? Sure, many CIOs will need to learn some new things about marketing and research, but with IT becoming as commoditized as it is, what CIO wouldn’t want to do that anyway?