Business Technology Strategy Template

Well thought out template for business technology strategy from Forrester Blogs.  " .... What is it that almost every organization believes it needs, many organizations have, and few organizations use? The answer is an IT strategy.  ... "

At first I thought the template was free, but it is not.  Just reading the justification for it is worth the click.

When Core Values are Strategic

Received via the P&G Alumni Network, to be read, their description below.

When Core Values Are Strategic: How the Basic Values of Procter & Gamble Transformed Leadership at Fortune 500 Companies Hardcover by Rick Tocquigny

" ... What do legendary leaders from Disney, GE, GM, Johnson & Johnson, Boeing, eBay, Microsoft, Time Warner, LensCrafters, Chiquita, Walmart, Pepsi, and Saatchi+Saatchi have in common? They all learned the critical importance of core values as managers at Procter & Gamble. Many of these leaders have remained members of the P&G Alumni Network and now you can share in their powerful lessons learned with The P&G Alumni Network's When Core Values Are Strategic. 

This practical resource for emerging leaders offers no-nonsense insights into why values really are so important, and identifies practical ways to propagate, strengthen, and act on them. Bringing together contributions from influential P&G alumni worldwide, it offers a legacy to future leaders across organizations of every type and size. 

Discover why core values are timely, universal, and the secret to long term success and learn how top executives were shaped at P&G to make historic change in energy, aviation, technology, government, transportation, entertainment, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and other industries. Find out how to build a learning culture that increases shareholder value, see why values and marketing initiatives are inseparable, and much more.... " 

Life as a Negotiaton

Life as a Series of Negotiations.   And the most important ones:  " ... Actually, the most important negotiations we have — the ones that determine the quality of our lives and the impact of our actions — are the ones we have with ourselves. Learning to communicate well and to influence other people are essential skills in business. But even more fundamental to your success is learning to negotiate effectively with yourself. ... " 

On Better Decisions

 Interesting piece from Bain & Company:  Steps to better decisions.  The technical and social aspects of the decision process have been a long time interest.  We studied how the decision and innovation process intersected.  Often it is done poorly and haphazardly.  Technology gives us the opportunity to support the decision process,  and mobile devices make it available anytime and anywhere.

' ... Decisions are the coin of the realm in business. No company can reach its full potential unless it makes good decisions quickly and consistently and then implements them effectively. Good companies can’t become great. Troubled companies can’t escape mediocrity. Our 10-year research program involving more than 1,000 companies shows a clear correlation (at a minimum 95% confidence level) between decision effectiveness and business performance. And it isn't just financial results that suffer. Organizations that can’t decide and deliver are dispiriting to their employees. From the C-suite to the front line, people feel as if they’re stuck in molasses or trapped inside a depressing Dilbert comic strip. ... "

About Disengaged Employees

In the HBR blogs.  (Some registration required)

New data on employee engagement is in, and it's downright discouraging. As this post by HBR's Gretchen Gavett noted, Gallup's research shows that engagement among US workers is holding steady at a scant 30%. This means seven out of ten people are either "checked out", or actively hostile toward their employers. Seven out of ten.

Study after study shows that employee engagement, an index of bringing one's best and full self to work, is not just an organizational nicety. It is a business imperative, linked to a number of performance outcomes, including profitability, customer satisfaction and turnover. A 2012 report on human capital from McKinsey added to the evidence, noting that organizations with top scores in employee motivation are about 60% more likely to be in the top quartile for overall business health. Companies I work with in my consulting practice who have done their own internal research have found similar linkages. ... " 

Uncomfortable CEOs

Former colleague José Ignacio Sordo Galarza  has a new site: The Uncomfortable CEO.   And I have just finished his new book:  The Uncomfortable CEO: Making Information Technology Overcome Business Uncertainty.

An unusual book, based on his years of executive experience at Procter & Gamble, during roughly the same time I was there.  So I can vouch for some of the experiences and related ideas.   In particular this book looks at the interaction between business and technology management.

A book excerpt.

So what exactly is an uncomfortable CEO?   It s one that has strong curiosity, the ability to face reality, drives for results and never settles. Strong words.  Especially in a time of uncertainty.

The book deals not so with the nature of the CEO, but how the CEO works with the CIO, and other management that deals with information technologies.  I think it is clear now that information technologies are now strategic, so making this interaction work is key.

I particularly liked the chapter called "Resilience in an Uncertain Marketplace".  We do live under many dimensions of uncertainty, and the role of the CIO is reduce that uncertainty in the realm of techology.  And today it is not just the internal uncertainty, but also the uncertainty of how the consumer is using technologies.    What a challenge!

In particular, we do live in a VUCA world ... a Volatile, Uncertain, Challenging and Ambiguous world, the CEO, uncomfortable as they are, must ally themselves with the CIO to address many kinds of risk, which are enumerated in the book.  Which then includes a statement of what this kind of resilience looks like, and is followed by a case study.  Nicely done.

The final chapters describes how to bring it all together, with a good check list of issues to be considered.  A good book to use in a training or collaboration session with your executives or with a board.

Changing CIOs

A view of how the role of CIOs is changing.   The short article makes the point that we have known for a long time.  CIO's cannot be players that are in love with technology, they have to care deeply about the workings of and innovations in the business.

The Uncomfortable CEO

Former colleague José Ignacio Sordo Galarza  has a new site: The Uncomfortable CEO.   I will follow with more about his new book mentioned: " ... Exceptional CEOs approach work in a very consistent fashion: They are uncomfortable! They are interested in what’s right, rather than who’s right; they have a general dissatisfaction with the status quo, and are always looking for ways to explore new boundaries.The Uncomfortable CEO: Making Information Technology Overcome Business Uncertainty is a handbook for CEOs and other senior executives that lays out the argument for leveraging IT’s key role overcoming business uncertainty and provides guidance for doing so successfully.Be prepared for something different from a typical business book. ... "