I am going to miss the second day of the ASAE & The Center Technology Conference today because of the icy road conditions (for the record, I tried to take the bus to the Metro, but my bus was actually stuck in the snow and ice at my stop—not an encouraging sign).
I enjoyed the meeting yesterday. The opening plenary had Nick Carr (author of Does IT Matter?) and Bob McDowell from Microsoft (who assured us that Microsoft is NOT trying to rule the world, they’re just trying to save it. I’m not so sure that’s better, actually). When asked about the role of Technology in leadership (specifically the role of the Chief Information Officer), Carr made an interesting point about that position needing to be able to translate technology needs and business needs.
I agree, of course, but I hear the same thing said about the HR function in organizations. The HR people talk about the need for HR to be a “strategic business partner” or have a seat at the executive table. The whole argument strikes me as odd. It is as if the IT people (and the HR people for that matter) want to spend their whole careers focusing on the technical aspects of their field, and then when they get into a top position, they have to add on the responsibility of understanding the business or the organization as a whole.
Yes, department leaders need to understand the business, but I think that responsibility should be pushed much further down in the organization. You shouldn’t have to REMIND CIOs that they need to be able to integrate their work into the overall business needs. They should have been doing that in their previous positions. Most positions should be doing this. Or at least more should be doing it than are right now, apparently.