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The CIO as Driver of Organizational Change
Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.
The world of computers and information technology has been with us for only about 50 years. In that time, it has evolved from a back-office accounting support tool to an integral part of our day-to-day lives.
Virtually every organization of any size and complexity depends on information technology to effectively grow and compete. With this dependence comes rapid and continuous change. The demand for new infrastructures and applications that are faster, more flexible and innovative is a constant and with that the stress of change on the organization and the human element is escalating. Enter change management and the emerging focus on the CIO as the lead change agent.
Managing organizational change use to be the domain of HR, but that is rapidly changing in favor of the CIO. Ironically, throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the debate raged that whether there was really a need for a Chief Information Officer; now CIOs are being tasked to lead organizational change. But are CIOs really ready for such a daunting role? For the majority of those holding the title, the answer is not yet. Many CIOs still report to the CFO. Many CIOs have no training in the disciplines of organization behavior and behavioral psychology, let alone change management.
With the emphasis on their ability to drive change, there is a growing requirement for CIOs also to change; they need to become …
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