The CIOs First 30 Days, Part I

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.

  Strategy  

Congratulations, you just accepted a job as CIO, now what?  Having survived nine years as a CIO, I can assure you that your success is more dependent on how you are thought of by the CEO and your peers than on what you know.  So, let’s explore some possible success strategies.

Over the next few weeks the following strategy shaping areas of being a new CIO will be explored:

• Building Peer Constituencies & Assessing Perceptions
• Assessing the IT Organization - Culture, Talent, Infrastructure & Maturity
• Assessing the Service Levels – Satisfaction, Issues, Complexities

Each installment will present a series of questions, the answers to which will influence the strategies, tactics and actions you pursue as you establish your foundation for success as a CIO.  Keep in mind that each question may have multiple answers that apply.

PART I - ASSESSING EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP & PEER GROUP PERCEPTIONS
When starting a new position as a CIO it is critical to assess how top management views the IT organization and specifically the performance of the last person in the job. No matter how good a CIO you think you are, you are never better than how the CEO and the executive management team (your peers) perceive you to be.  Within the first 30 days of becoming a CIO you need to do a rapid 360-degree assessment of what peers, IT …

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