In the 2004 Olympic games, Matt Emmons, considered by his peers to be the best air- rifle shooter, needed only a meager score in his final shot to win gold. He concentrated on his breathing, sighted in his target, and fired a perfect shot – at the wrong target. The penalty slipped him to eighth place.

Welcome to 2020. Is your focus on doing things right or doing the right thing? Both are essential, but leaders know the difference. You have a team to ensure that things are done right. You must stay clear on the right target.

This is why you have risen to the top of the pack. In particular, the CEO, CIO and C-Suite are hyper-sensitive to being distracted from what matters most. Especially, the CEO and CIO have moved into a working relationship different than before and more essential than ever.

The CIO is no longer the lead of a technology department that fixes what goes wrong so that work is done right. They are the unique center of company value, working with all business strategies to ensure that digital transformation and customer experience are seamless and forward in movement.

The CEO and CIO have moved into a working relationship different than before and more essential than ever.

InfoTech released a CIO report outlining priorities for the coming year. In the next series of articles, I want to reframe their findings and sight for you the right targets for 2020. I have the pleasure of leading CIO Mastermind, a peer-advisory group of technology leaders. In the past year, members dealt with each of these issues. The insights in these articles are owed by your peers who wrestled with real-time issues and, through the benefit of their peers, emerged with unbiased and customized solutions. For more information about CIO Mastermind or on how to start one near you, see www.ciomastermind.com. And CEO, if your CIO is not part of such a group, the consultative value of years of experience in the room is irreplaceable, and your CIO needs to be involved.

Our companies exist to benefit different groups, but in the end, we are providing value in exchange for value. Value is no longer defined by the commodity or service itself. Value is defined by global customers, and discerning what they value is key to competitive edge. The chief driver of value for global customers is their experience with you. They may make concessions in other areas, but they will not tolerate long an experience that is inconvenient, impersonal, impractical or generally irritating.

The gold medal podium is reserved for the master of customer experience.

The way to the podium is paved with stops wherein competitive targets must be hit with bulls-eye focus. These are the A.C.T.S of an effective CEO and CIO shaping digital transformation and customer experience culture

• Adoption-Adaptation of Technology
• Collaboration
• Talent mobilization
• Security

Adoption-Adaptation of Technology

Technology is more than getting it right. Business processes must be examined and addressed. Putting right technology to bad processes simply result in bad outcomes.

The unexamined process is not worth automating.

The right thing in technology adaptation is to automate as a whole, even if one must scale, so as to avoid silo technology adoption that results in varied customer experiences (and internal customer frustration with security issues, redundancy and unfairness). How you augment and customize so as to avoid the disconnect between automation and legacy technology is the right target. Hit this, and you increase productivity, reduce cost and error and heighten your customer experience.

Collaboration

I have argued for years that the CIO needs a seat at the table. Now that this is happening more, it’s time to solidify their responsibility to ensure that business value is achieved.

The CIO is the guardian of value and the facilitator of process. Your work with all departments and strategies is to ensure that business value is clear and kept in sight; your work within IT is to ensure that the process (such as how we adopt and adapt technology) is effective and efficient.

Missing the target of collaboration results in too many end users employing software they acquired on their own because of decisions they made without consultation. The risk to security and system failure is too great. Such action is taking place because units are focused on their tasks and transactions rather than staying focused on company-wide digital transformation.

The stakeholder approach to planning, purchasing and deploying advantageous technology aims at consistent customer experience and best possible solutions that guard value and facilitate process.

Talent Mobilization

Robotic science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning engineering, along

with increased need for cyber-security specialties is driving the shape and search for talent. AI is a business priority that is underserved with existing skill.

Though companies rightly develop internal customers, the demands for these skills are requiring outside hiring and laser-focused onboarding. Companies who are being successful at attracting the right talent are using technology to attract technology. Your posture as a technology innovator catches attention.

The CIO is no longer the lead of a technology department that fixes what goes wrong so that work is done right. They are the unique center of company value

Our CIO Mastermind has addressed talent mobilization at length. I look forward to sharing their insights in an upcoming article. For now, talent as a target requires clear understanding of what is coming, who is needed and changing ways in which such talent is secured.

Security

Security requires a united front. Shadow technology and silo mentality has increased attack surfaces. Successful digital transformation and customer experience is coherent. Divide and conquer is still the enemies’ primary strategy. Hackers are using AI to monitor, wait and then strike. Business is in a literal race as to whose technology can defeat the other’s.

DR will continue to remain a right target that insists on also being done right. Training and onboarding will need to be specific to emerging technology. Legislative awareness will demand attention.

None of the above targets are new. We have been adapting and collaborating and hiring and guarding for some time. The effective CIO must evaluate, however, if each dynamic has become a life of its own so that activity is being equated with right attention: “because we are doing it, we are doing something about it.” Such thinking misses the mark.

You cannot afford to fall into management. Take a deep breath. Secure the sight. Pull the trigger. But make sure your sight is set on the right target.