Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Alignment Requires Proactive, Progressing CIO Leadership
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.
Given IT has played a significant role in business since the 1960s, it seems almost inconceivable that CIOs are still alignment challenged. Perhaps the challenge isn’t so much getting aligned but staying aligned given the pace and nature of change companies must cope with and adapt to in today’s global economies.
In an article from October of 2007 entitled “Business Process Alignment – The Next Evolution of BPI”, I used a model to identify the areas within the enterprise where things can get misaligned. As seen below the chart illustrates the various properties of an organization that can create alignment issues that impact IT.
The challenge for IT is to create a culture and level of maturity that promotes Continuous Alignment Adaptability (CAA). To achieve this culture, the CIO needs to accomplish the following:
- Along with other key IT staff become a student of the IT and Line of Business industries they serve so they can understand pending events and trends that might affect IT’s alignment to the enterprise and thus position the IT organization and technologies to rapidly adapt to such events. For example, if a pending dock strike might hit the industry hard, the CIO might want to partner with Supply Chain stakeholders to develop scenarios that help …
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
ADVERTISEMENTS
|
Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. - Jerry Seinfeld |