No, not a misspelling. Very few organisations have a really good understanding of their customers. Organisations in retail, such as Tesco, are probably much better at it than almost anyone else. But across industries and in most sites, this information may as well be kept in a sieve. Last night we had a discussion around this subject led by Tony [...]
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I’m not sure I haven’t spoken to anyone that didn’t think things were going to continue to be tough here in the UK, and across the rest of Europe. The Irish certainly think so. What do we do about it? We can pull up the douvet and use it as an excuse, or we can review our business plans and [...]
Sitting on the train into London on a Friday, reading about the potential strikes on the underground and thinking about the future – as you do. Transportation into London can barely cope with peak hour traffic now, and we know that the Olympics is going to turn the difficult to the impossible. CIOs are starting to think about how they [...]
In many ways, talent has always been – and will always be – a critical area. Take McKinsey’s seminal ‘War for Talent’ article, which 10 years ago was one of the first calls to arms for leaders in the talent area. But now, more than ever, it is important to take an all-encompassing approach to talent. And that approach needs [...]
I am always taken with counter-trend ideas and wanted to share some thinking I have been developing during the past few months. We have matured beyond seeing outsourcing as the “silver bullet” that we – or at least our CEO and CFO colleagues – believe it to be. In my work with colleagues on our forthcoming outsourcing report, it is [...]
What an experience! Most of us negotiate constantly with our families, our colleagues, our suppliers and our customers. But how different it is, when peoples lives and liberties are at stake. And as Terry’s story played out – his own.
Got your attention! We were talking about the need to be a radical leader at CIO Connects ‘Stepping Forward – How and when to be a Radical Leader’ event last night. The term has both positive and negative connotations. Mostly, as IT Leaders, we are seen as nerdy, staid, safe, detailed oriented and more words along the same line from [...]
One of the most important things we all need to do as CIOs is to increase significantly our focus on managing the show. By managing the show, I mean paying attention to the impression that you, and your teams, create for IT and for your organisation as a whole.