Creating An Innovative IT Mentality

Last month's article on IT and innovation cast IT as more of an innovation barrier than an innovation enabler. IT needs to be, and can be, an innovation enabler—it's already in our DNA. So why is it so difficult to fill this role? In my previous column, I discussed how mastery of IT delivery is the key to driving business success and re-establishing IT's role as an innovation engine. But what does that actually mean for your organization? And how do you become the transformation engine, the hotbed of innovation? It may seem like a tall order, especially in an environment where IT is still pressured to deliver more services with fewer resources. There are a few initial steps to consider if you're trying to create an innovation mentality for yourself and your organization. In my opinion, the first step is to create a culture of execution where you instill confidence in your organization's ability to deliver. Being an innovator means taking risks. This can be a scary proposition, and one that isn't feasible without first winning the confidence of not only your staff and the employees you serve, but also your business partners—usually, the company's line-of-business managers. Before you can be taken seriously as an innovator, your company's leadership must have confidence that the IT department will provide software and services on time and within budget, and actually deliver measurable value to the business. As CIO, you must present initiatives, ideas, and projects to your board and the CEO—regardless of how big or ambitious they are—with the self-assurance that you'll meet or exceed expectations. I've seen CIOs approach innovation in two ways. Some devote most of their efforts to fixing "lights on" problems before they go to the boardroom with a list of new ideas. Others tackle operational issues and innovation simultaneously by splitting their department into two groups—one focused on executing the basics, the other on advancing the art of IT. Regardless of approach, everyone agrees that no CIO who wants to be taken seriously as a change agent can afford to neglect basic services. From my experience as a CIO in financial services—an industry where IT is seen as a center of innovation—and in working with many CIOs on developing their own skills within their respective organizations, I've identified the following three key steps for building the confidence you'll need to become an innovative IT organization.

Institutionalize a commitment to quality.

Almost daily, we're bombarded with statistics and anecdotes that destroy confidence in IT. There are statistics showing that the majority of IT projects are delivered late and over budget; reports of implementations and projects running rampant, consuming resources for months or even years until they're finally abandoned; and case studies of completed projects that fail to deliver business value. And then there are those (thankfully rare) stories from various industries where IT or software glitches brought business to a halt before being corrected. It's true that corporate execs lose confidence in IT a little more with every runaway project and each unsatisfactory application or system we deliver. That's why the first step to creating an environment that promotes IT innovation is to bring quality to the forefront and involve everyone—from the business stakeholders who define the requirements to the teams that will be maintaining the applications. Address quality at every phase of your IT delivery process, and you'll inspire confidence by building a solid track record upon which future innovations can be judged. If you can't demonstrate the quality in your delivery process, there's no foundation for innovation.

Find a way to get—and share—visibility into the inner workings of your delivery mechanisms.

In financial services, where IT is essential to delivering core business services, visibility is more than just a goal; it's an absolute requirement. In fact, the U.S. Federal Reserve, just one of the many regulators in this market, demands visibility into the inner workings of all banks, including their IT departments. Banks are audited and rated on performance against a number of IT-process benchmarks, and receive a grade as a result. As you put in place a plan to bring innovation back to IT, take a cue from financial institutions and make sure that if anyone asks, you can present a good picture of what you're doing, why you're doing it, and exactly how you grade your progress.

Establish and enforce a process that's effective and repeatable so you have a level of predictability in what and when you can deliver.

Finally—and this is absolutely critical to winning confidence—make sure you have a solid and predictable process for delivery. Process provides structure and lays the foundation for repeatable results. Process doesn't have to be cumbersome or complicated; it's simply an established series of activities to ensure a desired result. Whether you go out into the market and adopt a process that already exists (agile, CMMI, ITIL), or you develop your own processes for delivering innovations, good processes will let you succeed. CIOs who take the time to invest in execution and delivery—by understanding and improving their processes, training their teams to use those processes to create repeatable results, and automating processes using tools and technologies—will be the IT leaders who deliver innovation. Frank J. Fanzilli is the former managing director and global CIO of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). He currently serves as chairman of Interwoven and sits on the boards of several leading technology companies.