It was evident
that the project wasn't going anywhere in a hurry even though the CEO had
endorsed and inaugurated it in a gathering of all key stakeholders. It was (had
become) the CEOs project which no one believed in. The floundering state of
affairs had the IT team and the CIO wondering on the steps they could take to
come back on track. After all abandoning was not an option considering the
large sunk capital investment and the CEOs belief. The CIO started asking
around in the network to explore possibilities.
Almost a year had
elapsed since the licenses were procured and the hardware installed; everyone
had delivered to promise more or less within the timelines they had agreed to.
The IT team had done their bit and ensured that everything worked the way it
should. None of the business heads or the key users believed that the priority
set by the CEO mattered; their level of thinking was far removed from the ideas
perpetrated by the CEO. This disconnect resulted in sporadic half-hearted participation.
The IT team
discovered bottlenecks in the master data, correlations between systems and
disparate formula for the same KPI across functions. Getting everyone to the
same platform was resisted actively or met with indifferent attitude and claimed
conflicting priorities. The CEO in the infrequent status meetings pushed the
CIO and the team with little change in outcome. The CIO explored all advice
thrown at him and decided to take a few bold steps to recoup the situation.
The starting
point was revisiting the outcomes expected from the project; what is the need ?
Who benefits from it ? Do expected key users feel threatened with the new
process ? Is there a problem with the technology ? Did we get the architecture
right ? Are internal and external resources deployed the best ? Were timelines
set realistic ? The answers were what he thought they would be. Everything was
fine, it is just that people nit piking and splitting hairs, blaming the tools
and the result.
So what were the
real causes of the lack of traction and belief ? Evidence pointed to the fact
that the CEOs thinking process was ahead of the curve which his team found it
difficult to connect with. Sycophants in the team prevented others from raising
the issue and everyone was on a merry-go-round. End result, the CIO was left
with the orphan baby crying for attention and an adverse impact on his
performance bonus. So he had to find a solution and that too quickly.
Working
diligently through the layers with open communication flowing through the
hierarchy, the IT team and the partner worked step by step resolving all direct
and ambiguous queries. External Subject Matter Experts were brought over the next
six months to educate the users on why the CEO defined path was the way to go
in the future. Global benchmarking helped in reinforcing the way less trodden
locally. Finally one business head saw the value and agreed to be the guinea
pig and the proponent.
The BU head
worked with the CIO for further six months reaping the benefits and promoting
the cause to his peers who grudgingly began to acknowledge the benefit. The CIO
pressed hard this time and found no push backs The acceptance and traction was
good. Three years since the start and two years from the time the problem was
elevated, the solution was a big hit. Everyone quoted it in internal meetings
and external seminars as the strategic differentiator. People raved about it as
one of the best implementations.
Incidentally the
CEO had moved on just when the project started turning around. His last words
of advice to the CIO that he believed in the solution, he should continue to
pursue it. We all see such favorite projects of CEOs and other CXOs faltering
after a great pomp and show. They take away a lot of energy, budgets and
resources to see through to fruition though rarely anyone wants to challenge
the need or the relevance at that time. The emperor’s new clothes will always
be a parable with learning for everyone.
