Effecting Corporate Culture Change through Project Management Methods

This article is about a company (name purposely not provided) faced with an IT culture of little accountability and even less transparency in project operations. The leadership team was focused on business and had always counted on IT to support operations. Over time, the importance of IT evolved from a necessary evil with little impact on the bottom line to an essential partner with weighty influence on corporate profits. With this change in position, the IT status in the company changed from that of a back bencher to a front-line player. What did not change was how IT operated; they were still a black box and kept their inner processes and methods to themselves. Finally, there came a point in time when top management realized IT had to become more transparent, accountable, and efficient. Great idea, but what was the best solution to spark and sustain this change? Before this could be determined, top management decided to gain a deeper understanding of how it got into this predicament.

How Did we Get Here?

Three factors combined to create the circumstances facing the company. First, the IT leader was a 30-year employee, who changed his technology of choice with the times, but not his operational philosophy. He was stuck in the old IT mindset, which embraces the philosophy: “We know what you need. We will let you know when we are finished.&rdquo…