He took a
calculated risk with a new solution from a start-up vendor for a critical part
of the business. The project started well and then ran into huge issues during
a recessionary trend that hit everyone; under pressure the users started taking
a cautious approach to every bit of functionality and wanted every remote
condition part of the solution. Everyone who had signed off on the risk matrix
now conjectured about the decision putting the CIO in a spot which lead to his
movement.
Fast forward to
another era, the CIO now with another company took on the challenge to rescue
the underwater reputation of IT. He took a bold step to choose a smaller and
relatively unknown vendor for an even larger business critical project; the
selection process was unquestionable with sign-offs from all CXOs. The project
went live with flying colours and was recognised by the users, the company –
locally and globally, and acknowledged as a paradigm shift in the industry.
News about his
risk ability and success was coupled with the many awards he and his team had
collected. The business too was bestowed with many industry awards as they leveraged
the technology solutions with due credit to the IT team. The Midas touch was
such that even though the company had normally been on the leading curve of
technology adoption, now it was a playing ground for every IT company wanting
to invest and explore use cases that the weak hearted would shy away from.
Through the years
many started seeking coaching and mentoring from the CIO; he acknowledged all,
was ready with a piece of advice, networked across layers with ease, growing in
stature feeding on the recognition. Industry bodies and forums wanted him as an
advisor, conferences vied for his participation; everyone was satiated with his
response and participation. He became larger than life in his embodiment of
success and the persona became bigger than the person.
One fine day he
sold the Ferrari like the Monk from the famous book and gave up all the glitz
and fame to start all over again. There was shock and rumbles of “something must have gone wrong; after all he
was taking too many risks; it was too good to last”. Puzzled people who
knew him or thought that they did, queried “Why ??”. A few bold ones asked the
question in vain, others wondered, the void he left behind was too large to
fill and thus remained a vacuum with his absence being felt by everyone.
I caught up with
the CIO who had retreated into a dark hole, asking the obvious hoping to gain
some insights into the compulsions and rationale that had many wondering. He
quizzed me instead to postulate the reasons of which I denied him the
possibility instead pushing for words from his mind and heart. I found it hard
to believe his story but it was his story only in a way that he could think of
the future. I sought his permission to write about it which was granted. In
brief I reproduce the same.
I thought I was invincible; I always took calculated
risks though they appeared to be undue from the outside. Every success fed my
ego, my success went to my head until I failed; I could not believe it, I tried
justifying it to myself, oscillating between being the victim, blaming
circumstances and everyone else. Until I realized that it was not about others,
it was about me. That made me introspect on what success means to me; I
analysed my situation, my behaviour, sought feedback, and decided to use it.
I shared my ideas with my teams and the business who
took them on as their own thereby reducing the risk of failure. Success brought
rewards and recognition which slowly and steadily began to once again boost my
ego and self-esteem where I was becoming uncomfortable with the situation. I
had been to the peak and had fallen hard. The heady feeling of invincibility
beckoned again and was difficult to resist. So to put to rest the temptation, I
quit; to start all over again. I feel at peace and excited to once again
conquer new peaks !
