Four Lessons CPOs Can Learn From

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.

  Career Development   Communications Management   Lessons Learned   Strategy  

After spending nine years as a CIO (Chief Information Officer) and member of the leadership team, 30+ years as a CPA, an accomplished project manager and an innovator in the Business Process Improvement (BPI) space, one thing is for sure: I learned a lot of lessons along the way, lessons that I believe can help CPOs (Chief Program/Project Officers) to find their way to success.

Truth be told, there are only three organizations within an enterprise that work cross-functionally to help it better deliver value to its stakeholders: IT, the BPI group and the PMO (Program/Project Management Office). Yes, HR (Human Resources) might also be considered in that group, but it’s role is quite different as it role typically falls into screening applicants, managing compensation grids, training and reviewing performance reviews.

CIOs and CPOs share a few things in common. First, they provide value across the landscape of the enterprise and thus are pulled in many directions at once. Second, they are experts in areas that often confound their business unit counterparts: technology and projects. Third, they tend to accumulate a great deal of knowledge about the organization more so than their silo-focused peers.

If you are new to the CPO position or reaching for success, the guidance in this article might be just help a little. So, what are the most important lessons I …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.