Launched in 1998, HCL Technologies Ltd. has quickly grown to become a $2.3 billion provider of custom-IT applications, IT infrastructure management, and business processing outsourcing. During this time, Vineet Nayar, HCL's CEO, has completely transformed the way the company's 55,000 employees in 26 countries deliver IT services to customers. His emphasis on Employee First and a strong belief in values-based leadership has earned Nayar much leadership recognition from both the London Business School and the Harvard Business School. In fact, the latter wrote a case study called the Transformation of HCL.

With strong strategic vision and a global outlook, Nayar has charted a defining growth path for HCL, which has catapulted the organization to being one of the last IT services countries in the world. In 2007, Business Week named HCL to the list of top 100 technology companies. Meanwhile, IDC recognized Nayar as having "one of the most cohesive and articulate visions" in the IT services sector.

Enterpriseleadership.org recently sat down with Nayar to learn how his management philosophy is fueling HCL's double-digit growth rate.

EL. Can you briefly describe what steps you took to transform HCL Technologies to become a provider of value-based IT services, rather than as a provider of linear- scale IT services?

VN. First, we recognized that the true value-zone exists between the employee and the customer. We asked the question, 'What business should we be in?' We answered it with, 'We should be in the business of maximizing that value' Next, we asked ourselves, 'If we are in the business of maximizing the value-zone, then how should we structure the company?' We decided to invert the organizational structure so that it faces the value-zone. We call this the inverted pyramid of the organization. Our last question was, 'What should be management's role?' We realized that management's role should be to enable, and hence, be responsible to the value-zone. We call this reverse accountability. To achieve the answers to our questions, we created a cultural transformation based on Employee First, Customer Second.

EL. Tell me about some of things that make that possible?

VN. The value-zone is in the interface of the customer and my employees. My employees need to be close to the customer. Meanwhile, I need to make sure the employees look at that value-zone rather than look up in the organization to try and to please their bosses. I call the latter trying to please the hand of God. I figure that if I could invert the organization and make managers accountable to the employees in the value-zone, then employees, in turn, would be empowered to deal directly with the customer. Next, we needed to have an effective interface between our employees and the customer. I call this the value portal. This piece of software measures ideas and measures the value we have created in that interface for the customer. Ideas that employees enter can result in a revenue increase or a cost reduction for the customer.  The customer, in turn, rates each idea on a five-star scale. Each employee gets compensated based on each customer's rating. As a result, we have changed the employee's perspective to not only focus on the here and now, but what is he or she can do to contribute to the value portal.

EL. Are you paying your employees based on this system?

VN. We pay our employees based on a personal incentive.  They earn points. The more ideas they give, the more points they earn. They can monetize their points.

EL. When did you realize that you had to make changes within the organizational structure?

VN. That is a very important question. It is like aging. Companies will slowly age and then refuse to believe that they have aged. They believe that everybody else is getting older except them. In 2005, we recognized that we needed to make the change. At that time, we were growing slower than our competitors. On the other hand, we were still growing 30 percent year over year.  We also saw the controls of the industry dramatically changing, and changing needs of the customer. We were not changing and aligning our services to our customers' needs. We also realized that if we could experience this change, then we would come out way ahead of everybody else. Now look at what happened during the recession. During 2009, we grew year over year by 21 percent, including 21 percent growth in revenue. We are one of the few global IT services, which grew positively in 2009. Our growth proves that business models are changing, and that customer needs are changing. We started to take part in the journey way ahead of the recession. During the recession, we proved that our business model could accelerate our growth.

EL. Which key values are the most important?

VN. Any large approximation has to start with people looking at their current state of affairs and saying that they are not happy with it. That's what we did. We created a very exciting vision of tomorrow and laid out the roadmap for how we could move to that vision of tomorrow. We approached the governance structure by how we could transform the outlook of the employees.

We have three key values critical to the company. The first is Employee First, Customer Second. It is employee centricity.  Our senior managers believe that their first responsibility is to their employees, and their employees' responsibility is to the customer. That value is very important. The second value is Creating Trust Through Transparency. Trust is a most misused word across the world. We believe that you can create trust by pushing the trust envelope.  Our third value is flexibility. If something bad happens, a company must have the flexibility to respond to the situation in real time.

EL. What changes did you make to the enterprise architecture?

VN. Prior to the transformation, everybody ran their own small business, completely independently of each other. We had to integrate all of the business managers owning their businesses. We were focusing on the customer being the point of consolidation. The organizational enterprise structure changed from how we turn control into influence.  It does not mean how many people report to you. What matters is how much influence you have over the value your employees create for the customer. We moved away from this unit called every business manager does his or her own thing. Instead, we integrated that exchange to focus on creating value in the zone of the customer. We created trust through transparency. Much data have been thrown at the desktops of our customers and of our employees. To this end, our employees have access to much transparency of data. We had to create an architecture where the information role was virtual, and the collaboration was virtual. Thus, we depend on virtually collaborative teams working together. So to make all this happened, we implemented the enterprise architecture all over again. We did over all of our IT systems. We re-implemented the social networking technology on top of these systems. We used Web 2.0 for data availability and collaboration at the desktop.

EL.  I read that various employees can interact with management. What did you do with management to get them to accept this feedback?

VN. I, fortunately, believe that the management of any company must seek the right direction. There is the goal about winning. Upper management wants to win, and thus be part of a winning company or a winning team. Our management team realized several things: the architecture had changed, and the company transformed itself from a traditional company to a Generation Y company. As a result, the management team realized that they could lead us to a place where no other company had gone before.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

Buzz. Wall-E. Up. Walt Disney's Pixar is synonymous with animated films, which display creativity, magical stories, and unforgettable characters. Behind the fun of making these films, Pixar has a set of deeply rooted values that champion excellence, tap innovation, and encourage collaboration. Bill Capodagli, the co-author of Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World's Most Creative Corporate Playground, and co-founder of Capodagli Jackson Consulting, says, "These are just the starting points for pushing your own team or organization to unleash a Pixar-style creativity, innovation, and brilliance. From its humble beginnings in the 1990s, Pixar modeled its culture after Walt Disney's legendary studio of the 1930s. In fact, Capodagli has written one of the most authoritative books about Disney called the Disney Way. In deconstructing Pixar's success, Capodagli provides readers with a proven example of how an organization can cultivate innovative talent across all levels of employees and background.

Enterpriseleadership.org sat down with Capodagli to learn more about what fuels innovation at Pixar and how Capodagli's consulting practice applied similar techniques to technology-based organizations. Here is what he had to say:

EL. Why did you decide to write this book? 

BC. I have been studying the Disney culture more about 30 years.  I continue to speak on keynotes about Walt Disney's success. Pixar first came to our radar screen in 1995 when we were in the middle of writing the Disney Way. We watched this rather obscure boutique arise from being a subcontractor to Disney to replacing Disney animation in the late 1990s. Disney acquired Pixar in 2006 for a cool $7.4 billion. The Pixar president, the creative officer, and retired co-founder all admired and emulated Disney's creative genius. Pixar honors the legacy of Walt Disney by refusing to take short cuts and bringing the story to life in each of their movies. It lives by the simple formula that quality is your best business plan.

EL. What was your first-hand experience dealing with the Pixar folks?

BC. During the research of our book, Pixar was all consumed with the launch of UP, which ultimately got an Academy Award nomination for a feature film. We were fortunate to have one of the Pixar cofounders grant as much time as we needed to understand the inner workings of Pixar, especially how the organization was born in the spirit of collaboration and trust. We talked with other Pixar employees as their time prevailed. They shared with us some wonderful stories about the collaboration and this childlike playground Pixar has created.

EL. Can you describe some of the methods Pixar uses to innovation?

BC. The Pixar cofounders pioneered computer graphics technology back in 1974. The 1984 hiring of John Lassiter helped to bring all of the pieces together. Pixar's innovation brings technology and art together.  John was an animator and the cofounders were these computer graphics technocrats. Walt Disney said when art and technology come together magic happens. That is really Pixar's secret and that is how it works today. Everyone at Pixar works in a collaborative environment. The technical people and animators work hand and hand.

EL. If I want to make my organization more innovative, what things can I take from the Pixar innovation model?

BC. The culture of collaboration is the missing key in most organizations. At Pixar, everything revolves around the story boarding, which Walt Disney created.  In the traditional sense, it involves pinning up the story on the board and then starting to put the story together in that conceptual phase. Everyone contributes to the story during daily meetings.  In most film companies, the executive producers, directors, and some of the executives preside over the daily meeting. Everyone participates in the daily meetings at Pixar. An open discussion takes place about how they can make what they are doing better.

The brain trust is another interesting concept. Pixar has a brain trust whenever a director or a producer decides that their stock needs some input. The process includes a group of eight directors and other they would like to invite to this meeting. During the brain trust, they present segments of the film and have a lively two-hour discussion about how they can improve it. The key to the brain trust is that there are no mandatory notes, and no mandatory action. It has absolutely no authority. The director and his or her team make the changes as they see fit.

EL. Does Pixar normally have many people seeking them out for their innovation methods?

BC. I am sure they have many people seeking them out, but they are like a closed set. They are not like Disneyland or Disney World where you can visit and observe the innovation, creativity, and the customer service. They do know welcome people in to observe the process.  I have known many companies that tried to open Pixar's door.

EL. How does Pixar reward employees for outstanding innovations?  Do they have a specific rewards system?

BC. We asked the co-founder about that. The biggest reward system these people have is that they can publish their findings and their methods in technical journals and speak at technical conferences. Technical people value this more than to monetary rewards.

EL. What is the Pixar education program about?

BC. Pixar modeled its education program after Walt Disney's eight-page, 1938 memo to Don Graham. Don was an art educator in the Los Angeles area. Walt wanted his animators to, not only be technically competent in drawing, but he wanted them to be creative when they got into the story. This memo outlined ways of doing education in music and comedy and storylines as such. The two Pixar cofounders had a copy of this memo and decided this was a good way to provide an education program to everyone in the organization. As a result, everyone in the organization can take up to four hours of educational courses on company time at Pixar University. It offers more than 110 courses. They say someone can go to Pixar U as a janitor and take enough courses to obtain the equivalent of a BS in filmmaking.

EL. Can you provide an overview of your managing consulting business?

BC. I have spent most of my professional career in management consulting.  In 1980, my clients started asking us to benchmark the best-of-the-best companies. Disney would always appear at the top of the list, come up as one of the best of the best, not only in customer service, cut in areas of training, turnover, and even in production. Disney has the fifth largest laundry in the world. I have taken many clients behind the screen to Disney interviews. My firm has interviewed 1,000s of Disney employees. We started using Disney as a model for our consulting practice. In 1998, when we wrote the Disney Way, we did 90 percent consulting and about 10 percent public speaking and seminars. Because of the Disney Way, we spend more time doing the opposite.

EL. Where does the innovation initiative reside in many of your client companies?

BC. Our main thrust is to help our clients develop a culture of innovation. That means having a culture where you unleash the abilities of everyone in your organization.  Walt Disney and the cofounders of Pixar believed that innovation comes from everyone in the organization.  Because one person has the idea for a film, that person is not the only innovative genius. Rest assured that innovative ideas from everyone on the team went into making that film. Pixar promotes and encourages that. We have organization tell us that they cannot afford to have the Pixar-type innovators. We say that is not the case. 'You need to look at everyone in the organization as an innovator.' These people might not come up with the next Harry Potter novel or a flat screen TV. Instead, they need to be innovative about how they do in the cost-effective way to serve their customer.  Everyone has input into that.  Unleash that power on these things.  We encourage people to do that.

EL. Does that include IT? Is IT a different animal from everyone else?

BC. I do not think so. Pixar has taught us that the technocrats and the animators need to work in concert. One person is no more equal than another person is. In many technical organizations, engineers and IT people reign super. The production people and other support people feel like second-class citizens. In other organizations, the marketing people might have that perception.

Sure, you can train people on techniques like storyboarding, or improvisation that help stimulate those creative juices. On the other hand, everyone has a stake in helping to make people more creative. The good ideas come from everyone in the organization. We found that many of the ideas, especially in large corporations, come from the front-line people who are trying things out and saying, 'Gee, this seems to work better than what is coming from corporate. You need to unleash that capability and have a culture that nurtures that.

EL. Are you saying that storyboarding can apply to other things besides filmmaking? Have you ever applied it to IT people?

BC. Yes. I have storyboarded with many IT groups. One large IT group wanted to install a large computer system in many locations throughout a foreign country. We brought a group of 30 IT professionals from all over the world to convene at hotel for a week. We started storyboarding by throwing ideas out to the group.

To prioritize things, we said, 'What are the first things we have to do? What are the plans? How can we put it together to carry out a materials management system throughout this large organization?'  In turn, the group members put their ideas on a card, and then we posted the cards on the wall. It does not become that person's idea. The facilitator read all the cards after we presented the problem. We had a discussion around that. At the end of a week, we had this gigantic ballroom filled with cards, plans, and ideas that would have taken months to put together the comprehensive plan that emerged from this.

EL. Can you tell me more about what came out of that storyboarding?

BC. They started working on the implementation. They would meet quarterly and refine the plan-such as what barriers keep coming up? They would react according. What would normally take three years to four years to carry out took 18 months.

EL. Can you talk about another technology project you worked on?

BC. At Whirlpool Corporation, we worked with the global No-Frost team. It was very similar to this overseas IT team. The Whirlpool team had the task of designing a brand new no-frost refrigerator, along with a factory that could  be built and produce products anywhere in South America. Normally, individuals from marketing, purchasing, technology, and such would meet and say, 'You go do this and you go do that.' After a week, they would go off in their own corner of the world. Every six months, they would get together and start putting the pieces together. This process would take about four years.

This team had a 20-month time period to get this project off the ground. Instead of doing it the traditional way, we worked with this team throughout their 20 months. They brought in individuals from all over the world. They had full-time representation in Indiana.  Before they even began the project, we got together for an entire week of team building and planning. We did things similar to the IT team. We put strips of tape on the walls. We had cards and said, 'Now for January what are all of the things we need to do?'

This team came together with the common goal of getting this thing done in record time. The barrier with the organization broke down. When we had the entire plan up there, we asked everyone, 'What are the things you need to be involved in to make our goal of getting the plans for the factory and the no-frost refrigerator done on time?' We found that technicians were doing engineering tasks and purchasing people were saying, 'I could help with marketing.'  Everyone looked at accomplishing the goal rather than trying to work in his or her own silo. We had great results.  Despite a cut in the product cost half way through the project, the team still met all the milestones and deadlines.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a free-lance technology writer. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

With more than $26 billion insurance investment sales, New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, ranks as one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. It has the highest possible financial strength rating from all four of the major credit agencies. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life's family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments, and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investment Management LLC provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail mutual funds.

While the economic downturn has wreaked havoc with some major insurance companies, New York Life has held its own, if not exceeded its expectations for financial growth and stability. Much of the company's success builds on a solid IT strategy that supports both the present and future needs of the company.  Eileen Slevin, senior vice president and chief information officer for New York Life, say that the company looks seven years to ten years out to see what types of technology investments the company needs to make, what applications the business units anticipate, and what type of infrastructure needs to be built to support those applications.

Enterpriseleadership.org recently sat down with Slevin to learn more about the company's IT strategy and its approach to long-term planning for IT investments. Here is what she had to say:

EL. Can you describe your IT organization?

ES. I have a centralized group of 1,400 full-time staff members. About 1,250 of them are employees and the rest are consultants. We have an applications development group, an architecture group, an engineering group, an operations or service delivery group, a finance group, a human resources group, and a best practices group, which includes the project management office. I also have a security group. One of our senior executives manages our innovation program, which includes employees spanning the department.

EL. Can you describe a couple of the key technology initiatives that have helped to make the company more customer-centric?

ES. Over the last several years, we introduced some large systems in a couple of significant areas. In 2005, we introduced our new business system, which we have been continually updating. This mission-critical system firmly planted us on the Web. In fact, we call it the cash register for the company. For example, the customer applications the agents submit come through the system, where they get underwritten, and issued.

For the past several years, we have been updating our agency portal, which provides the agents with all of the sales support tools electronically. Since our dedicated, career force of agents provides the main interface with our customers, this portal is critical to our success. We also conduct our business through supplemental channels as well. We recently introduced a contact system as a major addition to the agency portal. Prior to that, we had delivered a collaboration platform to them.

EL. Any other key technology investments you care to mention?

ES. We have an entire program going which focuses on how we make technology investments to support the future needs of the business. We began the process about two years ago by sitting down and trying to understand what the business units would need in the future. We are talking about seven years to 10 years out. We needed to build the infrastructure in advance of the business units building applications upon it. By understanding what applications the business units would need in the future, we would have an easier job of defining the infrastructure they would ride on. We currently have approval for 14 infrastructure projects and nine business projects. The infrastructure projects are spread over seven years to eight years, and the business projects are spread over 10 years.

EL. What are some of the business projects?

ES. One project involves a new system for our sales proposals or sales illustrations that agents present to clients. It is actually part of the agency portal process. We are taking the former client server version of this system and bringing it to the Web. The basic agency portal was built around content and information the agents needed to get access to, such as forms. The contact system we just rolled out helps them to manage information about their customers. After the agents determine what they need to sell, they can use the illustration system to explain the finances around the offering. The new business system is at the end of the process. We will be developing some things that fit in the middle. We have a program for our agents to be able to turn over their business to their family members, such as children who may be taking over the business, or colleagues who may be doing so. We provide them a more effective way to do this as they are near retirement. It gives them the ability to slowly transition that business over to someone else to manage it for them, thereby providing the long-term support that our customers have come to expect from New York Life.

EL. Why have you gone out as many years looking at technology investments?

ES. In the past, we had done three-year planning.  We believe that seven years to -10 years gives us a more favorable time frame to build the infrastructure that these applications would need to run on. We need to make sure that we are building a full and robust infrastructure. The company has been doing rounds to plan and to set goals for ourselves for 2015 and 2020. Using that as a basis, we then spoke to the business unit leaders about the applications they would need to meet these goals and objectives. Preceding that, we needed to understand what infrastructure we had to build.

EL. Can you talk a little more about your strategic planning process?

ES. We have been working from the top down, including every business unit. This work has been around more of the wide-reaching scenarios, such as inflation. Because we have set our aspirational goals out that many years, we talked about breaking through some metrics that we have not yet achieved. For example, what happens if we double the number of agents, or what happens if we get to five million customers? How will our systems hold up? What will we need to be able to do to support them? The business would need to do some of these things seven years to 10 years from now. We needed to look at how we would support all of these different things based on our growth.

EL. Are there any particular tools that you used to help you through this process?

ES. We have a unit set aside for some of the strategy planning and economic scenario planning. Most of the effort has been task forces and publishing position papers.

EL. Has all of this planning changed your governance process?

ES. We set dependencies for building out these infrastructure programs and business programs. For example, if we were going to install this infrastructure, it would be needed for our customer service applications in the future. We need to make sure we tie these projects together between infrastructure and business. The importance of specific technology was one of the things we always had a difficult time explaining to the business units. As a result, the governance process is something we now look at for each of these projects. Specifically, we look at the relationships between the projects and in the interdependencies. We make sure that these relationships still hold, and we adhere to the things we said. We have brought this program to the executive management committee several times. For top management, the governance process has been around understanding and telling us what the business objectives are, then sizing how much we can absorb into our financial model and making sure all of that runs through all of our numbers going out in the future.

EL. Any specific methodology do you use for measuring the effectiveness of technology investments?

ES. We use most of the common techniques such as ROI. We did a rigorous cost benefit financial analysis. For example, we looked at what projects would drive down costs versus the projects that would promote growth. Where we had sales coming in, we did marginal value add. Where we had expense savings, we used net present value analysis.

EL. Have you driven cost out of the company?

ES. Because we just initiated this program in 2009, we have not driven out cost with it yet. Separately, we have some strategic initiatives looking at how to drive down some future costs. In doing the cost benefit analysis, we said we could see more cost savings if we could automate some of the work done by our service centers, or provide self-service capabilities. We have identified what the savings would be. We have done this very conservatively, and have made it part of our analysis.

EL. Are you looking at cloud computing for some of these applications?

ES. We are at the very early stages of looking into cloud computing. We are also looking at how we can do our own kind of cloud computing in addition to that. We think cloud computing has a definite place for us in the future. I still have some concerns around security. I am not as comfortable with the public cloud as I am with a private cloud.

EL. What are you doing in collaboration?

ES. We do have a collaboration platform right now for our agents. We built several custom applications for them to use on that platform. We introduced that three years ago. We also use Sharepoint at the team level, but we have not done anything with it across the board for our employees. We have developed some grassroots wikis. One of the 14 infrastructure projects looks at a collaboration suite and expands that. We were early in this space. Because of the large number of agents who use it, we now need to advance that collaboration platform.

EL. What was the catalyst or driving force for your strategic business technology investment program?

ES. Back in 1999 or 2000, we put together a seven-year technology strategy plan. It enabled us to rollout our initial Internet application capabilities in early 2000. We hit the end of that plan around 2007. At that point, we knew we had to start developing our next technology strategy for 2008 and beyond. As we spoke with the business unit heads about some of the infrastructure and technologies that had good business applications, we realized that they were not thinking about the future to the degree we needed them to. To this end, it made it difficult for us to understand what infrastructure we should build and what technology strategy we would devise. That is how we then went down the path of working with the businesses to understand the applications. About 18 months ago, the executive management committee, on which I sit, came up with the goals and objectives we need to aspire to going forward. Using these things, we worked with the business units to help them define the applications they would need to meet those objectives. That is what has enabled us to lay out the infrastructure plan. All and all, that is how we developed our technology strategy.

EL. Have you done anything in the meantime to help the businesses understand the significant of this technology?

ES. At the start of this process, we did several educational sessions for the business on such topics as networking, legacy modernization, and collaboration.

EL. Has the economic downturn affected your company?

ES. We did well in 2009. While we are not are immune to this type of economic environment, we had a great year. We maintained the highest ratings from the four major ratings agencies. We believe that we have seen a flight to quality. Our financial stability, which is one of our foundational pillars, served us well. Our history of conservativeness also served us well. Our agents got the right messages out to customers. Because we are a mutual company and not a publicly held company, we can plan for the future and not worry about the short term. I am glad that we have been able to invest in technology.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

Where would we be today without the Internet? It certainly has caused a global revolution in the way we live and work. You might say that it is the catalyst for  global connectivity.  Using a mobile device, you can do everything from connect to your office email to ordering a pizza. Emily Nagle Green, CEO of Yankee Group, a Boston-based global technology research firm, calls this phenomenon ANYWHERE, a world in which all people can connect to the things they care about from anywhere and at any time. In fact, Green has written a book called ANYWHERE: How Global Connectivity is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business. In the book, she examines the fast, unfolding changes in communications technology, and shows businesses how to harness the power of ANYWHERE to create new revenues streams and ignite dramatic business growth.

Enterpriseleadership.org recently sat down with Green to talk about the concepts she presents in her book. Here is what she had to say:

EL.  What motivated you to write this book?

ENG: For the past 40 years, Yankee Group has focused on the changes in connectivity. During the past year or two, we have seen an expansion and acceleration in making the universally connected environment a reality. It is a natural follow on to the commercialization of the Internet. We have essentially computers in our pockets. Connecting all of the devices we care about will become the next big platform in computing technology. Events such as the explosion of business people relying on devices such as the Apple iPhone motivated me to write this book. I also wanted to give people some advice about how they could benefit from the rewards from an expanding network infrastructure.

EL. Can you give me your elevator pitch for the book? 

ENG. ANYWHERE is the name for a time when all of us will be able to connect to all of the things we care about. It will become the largest technology revolution in our lifetime. Technology revolutions, like lots of other revolutions, bring risks and rewards. Much is at stake here. We will see trillions of dollars of new economic value created in aggregate from the maturation of this global ANYWHERE network. Businesses need some guidance in how to figure out to get ahead of that, such as how to identify the potential impacts of their business.

EL. How well-prepared are global CIOs for ANYWHERE? What two pieces of advice would you give to them?

ENG. Some CIOS are well prepared, but as I group, I do not think they are well prepared. The challenges of the recession, in particular, from disrupted them from thinking about how to anticipate the future. As for advice, I would tell them to first understand how quickly the unconnected world is becoming connected. The unconnected world includes the billions of people who have not been online in the last explosion of the Internet. About four billion of them will join the global network through adoption of digital mobile phones. The unconnected world also includes many assets in their own organizations. The organizations they partner with will add connectivity and transform the businesses world with those assets. In summary, they need to understand the pace of the unconnected world coming online and think about the diffusion of connectivity in their own businesses. They especially need to look at what activities have not yet benefitted from a pervasive network, and then think about how automating those activities could enhance the businesses' profitability.

EL. What changes in the enterprise architecture do they have to make in order to better prepared for ANYWHERE?

ENG. The two things one - they have to start the process of moving away from a proprietary IT infrastructure. We are moving to a world where businesses will not need to buy and manage their hardware and software. This transition will take some time for larges businesses to absorb. You need to start now. You need to plan your move away from your own investments and infrastructure. You also need to start looking at all of the employees' activities that mobile technologies do not support.  Last, you need to think about how to put technology, such as mobile apps, in the hands of your employees all of the time. This way you can recapture the lost productivity when they walk away from their desks.

EL. What are some of the key disruptive technologies beyond cloud computing that are driving ANYWHERE?

ENG. The three core technologies include the adoption of IP as a standard digital networking language, explosion of the broadband technologies, and the great economics of wireless. Today, we are building things on top of these technologies. We are most interested in how we think about information display and consumption.

For example, with maps from Mapquest, we can expect to see mapping displays for all kinds of things layered on top of them. It might include augmented reality where a camera points to a real-world environment and collects information about that environment. We will never see maps as things just having street names and points of interest. We will expect maps to identify buildings, commercial resources, and distances. We will expect them to come embedded with recent images -- if not in real time. We expect real-time congestion information to show up. Our concept of a map will require anywhere from six to 10 dimensions of information. This will happen because a network appears wherever we need it, and that network has the capacity to move massive amounts of information. We do not have to reply on text.

EL. Will things such as semantic Web technology capabilities contribute to put value to ANYWHERE?

ENG. The ANYWHERE network brings us some challenges. For CIOs, it is real-time information. How do we digest information when it comes from censored networks that can tell us the status of very complex environments? The Web is not ready for that yet. How are people going to digest petabytes of information that comes in on a regular basis? Any innovation around the semantic Web yet is not ready to deal with the volume and complexity of information that is coming from equipping the world with communications technology.

EL. Has the economic downturn hampered an organization's ability to get to ANYWHERE?

ENG. Yes and no. It had a negative impact at an aggregate level. The economic downturn delayed network operator's investment in transforming their networks.  The networks we have today are in transition to the networks of tomorrow. Today's networks have greater capacity and intelligence added to the network infrastructure. Billions of dollars of capital need to flow into existing networks to renovate them to meet our burgeoning appetites. That process slowed down quite a bit in 2009 as network operators carefully spent their capital. That delayed the maturation of the network infrastructure.

During 2009, everyone hunkered down and did not think about growth, but cost cutting and trying to keep their boat afloat. In that sense, it also had a negative impact. The phrase - necessity is the mother of invention - has much merit. People start turning to smaller solutions when they need to be resourceful. You see the explosion of mobile apps as one avenue where businesses could say to themselves: 'Gee, I want to create some capability. I have a workforce that carries iPhones or Blackberries in their pockets. How can I do this in a quick and simple way?' We do see some more inventive uses of technology emerging as people lower their technology spending level. They say, 'If I do not have the massive capital expense budget that I had in past and this will not change, then I have to get used to that idea and be more creative.' We have seen some emergence of creativity from that recession.

EL. Five years from now, will cloud computing be a pervasive utility we hear about?

ENG. I believe so. In five years, small- to medium-size businesses will depend on IT services from cloud computing. Small businesses starting now may never invest in much proprietary infrastructure because it is already so workable for them. We will see more widespread adopting of cloud computing in this space. For large companies, the move to cloud computing involves a long-term conversion process. These companies still have COBOL embedded in the guts of their IT organizations. It will take awhile for the current model for hardware and software computing to work its way out of the largest firms. Five years from now, cloud computing will be robust and widely deployed.

EL. Why did Yankee Group deliver a book now? Is this the first book written by a Yankee Group CEO in office?

ENG. This is the first book written by a Yankee Group CEO. I cannot speak for why Howard Anderson, the founder of Yankee Group, never wrote a book.  He left the company in 1995 at the beginning of the Internet explosion. Perhaps, he was preoccupied with other things and changes in ownership. Because I was not with the company then, I can only speculate.

EL. What are some of the major changes in enterprise architecture in global companies that will need to occur to make ANYWHERE possible?

ENG. They will start by integrating information from many more assets in the business. For example, the RFID space had a vision for years about how more objects in our lives could participate in the global network. RFID proponents have struggled to get the RFID tag cost down and sort out some network issues. The explosion of WiFi in business environments has brought with it the cost of activating the network and supporting tagging device. As a result, it makes RFID more affordable.

Another big enterprise network change involves alerting business assets to their status. We will see much less focus on fixed assets, such as real estate, as employees become increasingly mobile. We already see that now with working from home and remote offices. Businesses have to think more carefully about why they need offices in multiple locations, and how can they, instead, use the network as an umbilical cord to interact with their employees.

We will think more generously about what resources we need to give those employees at the other end of that cord. They need to have quality access devices at the other end of the network so that they can have a first-rate experience. We are not equipping them with an office any longer. We are not buying them coffee and Danish in the mornings. As a result, we need to make sure they have a device and a connection speed that will allow them to have a productive virtual work experience.

EL. Do you think the down the road there are going to be problems with this type of a workforce?

ENG. It is a huge shift. It is definitely disrupting in markets such as the North American and Europe. We have seen a disconnect about how employers and employees view their relationship. For examples, we are seeing a piecework model where work-at-home employees answering calls from a virtual call center. They get paid for their time on the phone. The issues we are starting to see include the following: Should an employee have one employer? If they can take calls for one employer, why can't they take calls for other employers?  If an employee has multiple employers, then who is responsible for the employee's benefits? This dilemma will cause some strange conversations for the next generation of workers.  We will see different attitudes about employment within the office bound environment.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

During the dot.com years, IT professionals had their pick of some top-paying positions. Searching for an IT position today has become an entirely new ballgame with lots of different rules. The economic downturn has prompted many companies to do more with less, thus cutting the size of the IT staff or deciding to either outsource some tasks or send them offshore.  Seasoned IT folks and their younger technology savvy counterparts can find themselves competing for the same jobs. The higher you go on the IT ladder the fewer the positions you will find. Older IT professionals might feel that age will keep them from securing a good position. Meanwhile, IT professionals in the United States, in general, face competition from lower-cost IT professionals in Asia and Western Europe.

So what does it take for an IT professional, especially one over 40, to get his or her next good position? Enterpriseleadership.org turned to Robin Ryan for some answers. She is one of the nation's top career coaches and best-selling career book authors. Based in Seattle, Washington, Ryan has coached many IT professionals, as well as conducted Boeing outplacement classes for laid off technical professionals. She recently came out with a book called, Over 40 & You're Hired. Her other books include 60 Seconds & You're Hired, Soaring on Your Strengths, Winning Resumes, and What to Do With the Rest of Your Life. She has appeared on dozens of TV shows including Dr. Phil, Oprah, and NBC Nightly News. Prior to starting her on firm, she was director of counseling services at the University of Washington.  Here is what she had to say:

EL. Because of the economic downturn, what is the first job strategy tip people need to consider if they want to find their job within a reasonable period?

RR.  What they should do and whether or not they will do it come as two different things. As a Seattle, Washington, resident, I have had much experience dealing with technology people from Microsoft and emerging technology companies. Most people have the idea that their next employer will somehow manage to find them. As a result, people have gotten used to being recruited. Now they have to get used to job hunting. You need a job hunter's mentality. That is a big switch for people. No one is going to find you; you have to find them.

EL. It seems like many people go on the hunt by putting their resume on job boards or responding to jobs on those boards. So, is this how you become a hunter?

RR.  The listing of your resume on job boards is usually a worthless endeavor. Instead, you first need to identify the best resources for you to find a job. Sixty-three percent of all jobs result from networking. That means contacts, lots of them. Many technology people work in Fortune 500 companies. If you see a job opening on Cisco's Web site, you will paste your resume into that job opening and hit send. You think you have applied to Cisco. Unfortunately, you have gone into Cisco's cyberspace black hole. Most likely, recruiters will never find you because that company averages about 80,000 resumes a month. If you see an opening, the more effective technique would be for you to contact your network of people, and say, 'Does anyone know someone who works at Cisco?' Your network might consist of former employees, former employers, former co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, and alumni network or members of your professional association, such as the Society for Information Management (SIM). You contact those types of people and organizations For example, your neighbor who is a nurse may have a brother who works for Cisco. You want to cast a wide net asking that specific question: 'Do you know anyone who works at that company?'

Once you have identified the person who works at that company, you then ask for a favor, such as, 'I am applying for a job internally. Would you be willing to submit my resume through your intranet and send it to your human resources department? I really appreciate this favor.' They are not endorsing you. They do not know you. They are just passing it along. By doing so, you bypass the 80,000 people who reside in cyberspace and you are being seen. You have just tapped into the hidden job market. When you do that, the recruiter will review your resume to see if you may or may not be a fit for that position. That is the best option you could possibly have. If you do not fit that job but the recruiter thinks you might fit another job, he or she might send your resume on to someone else. It is a more effective technique that going to Monster and pasting your resume. For IT people, Monster is the least effective job board. Dice is a better job board.

EL. Can you define some other networking techniques for IT people?

RR.  People need to get past the job boards to where they can reach out and talk to people at certain companies to see who needs, for example, a software engineer. Even if a company has a freeze on and if it is laying people off, the company may still be looking for someone with your skills. You will not see the listing on a job board because of possible internal backlash. The company might be doing a silent job search. Keep in mind, the company could be laying people off who no longer fit where the needs exists or have not performed to the required level.

A good way to network is to join a local chapter of SIM. You need to attend the meetings regularly. Part of networking includes talking to people, most of whom might be strangers. If you are an introvert, you probably would rather be shot in the morning than to talk to a stranger. Most technology people cannot stand the idea of talking to strangers. If this is the case, then you should look for other engineers, or other friends who you knew from your work. Ask them for names of people in their network. That may be easier. For example, you might want to find one or two other software engineers to talk to rather than trying to sell yourself to strangers at a conference.

EL. How do you feel about job fairs?

RR.  Job fairs do not provide an effective way for IT people to find relevant work. People can come away massively depressed. Who wants to be in a room with 5,000 people looking for a job? Imagine if none of the employers had what you wanted. If you do want to attend a job fair, then you should go with the attitude of looking for some job leads. Most of the time, however, you might see companies such as Hertz or Comcast. I doubt if you want to sell rental cars or take customer service calls for cable. You need to look for job fairs specifically designed as a technical fair.

EL. Is age still issue a big issue for people?

RR.  Age discrimination is difficult to prove in hiring. Certain organizations, such as hospitals and not-for-profits, make it easier for older people to land jobs. Many high-tech companies look for people who are up on the latest technology. They want people with fire in their belly and they still want to innovate. Some older people make the mistake of looking for a safe-haven until they are ready to retire, or they do not want to learn anything new.

Despite your age, you can still get a good job. You have to appear as if you still have something to contribute. Because a big gap exists between being over 40 versus being over 50, you, however, have to go about the process of how you present yourself differently.

EL. Can you provide an example of what you mean by this process?

RR.  As people age, they tend to become less enthusiastic and less emotional. You do not wear your emotions on your sleeve. When they are in a job interview, they appear to be more neutral. They refrain from saying, ' I am dying to take that on. I am willing to put in my 90 hours a week'. Some job hunters have told me 'Look, I have done that 90 hours a week thing. I do not want to do that any more. I want to make the bucks, but I don't want to kill myself.' On the other hand, the employer might not want someone who is not going to work that hard.

You have to come across with what you can deliver, such as innovations, contributions, and results. You need to do some self-analysis about the results you have delivered during the past five years. Your resume should emphasize your five-year to seven-year contributions, such as serious results that drove revenues, increased revenues, saved time, saved money, or made money. Next, you have to look in the mirror. Realize you need to show enthusiasm. You need to show professionalism.

EL. So what are some of the ways that an older person can look more contemporary?

RR.  I recently worked with a 62-year old accountant who looked like he was stuck in a time warp. This rather stocky man had on a suit jacket and a white shirt and tie. The shirt was so tight around his neck that it made his face puff up. His suit did not look like something worn by a highly paid accounting manager at a Fortune 500 company. I suggested that he go to a good men's store and select an entire outfit. Salespeople at these stores or at department stores, such as Nordstrom's, can help select clothes that mask figure imperfections. Although he could afford a good quality outfit, he did not want to buy a suit because he would not wear it that often. I told him that his shirt was too tight around the neck. He insisted on wearing dress pants to interviews. I told him that a suit would minimize his pot stomach. The more serious he looked, the better chance he had of getting the job.

He became my client because he had gone on five interviews and never received a second interview. I am willing to bet that his appearance made it difficult for him to get passed the first impression a potential employer had to him.

EL.  Any more examples you can provide about how older people can improve the impression they give to others?

RR.  I had a 69-year old woman who was looking for a fund raising position. She had completely white hair, but her face radiated with enthusiasm. She could not stop smiling. She brought copies of projects she had done. She had ideas she wanted to discuss with these potential employers. She wore a nice fitting suit. She presented herself to the very best of her ability.

Engaging people come across as being interested in the world around them. Life has not burnt them out. You can start by reading newspapers and magazines. As a technology person, you should regularly read trade publications so you know what is happening in the industry. You also need to be able to have an intelligent conversation about technology trends.

EL.  What is the biggest problem many older technology workers suffer from?

RR.  Many older workers, especially technology workers, suffer from job entitlement. Some of them have become extraordinarily angry about being let go and having to look for a job. Their resentment fuels their anger. They can come across with the attitude of 'What do you mean I am not the right one.' Companies want to get rid of people like this. Instead, they need to come across with the inner personal skills that will make them an asset to a company.

People contribute less on the job as they get older. They lack the fire in the belly. Because they do not want to work as hard, they tend to slow down.  If you have not had an original thought in five years, do not expect an employer to pay you big bucks. If I pay you to be a software engineer, I expect you to come here and create.

If you want to sell yourself in technology, you need to be able to be a solutions person for now and for tomorrow. All types of technology companies offer exciting jobs. Apple will hire you if you are a smart, innovative 70-year old with great ideas and can lead a team. Unfortunately, they do not see many people in that age bracket with those skills. On the other hand, some people think they can quasi-retire to a job in education or in government. These organizations have stepped up their efforts to make sure people are productive.

EL. How do you feel about using social media to look for a job?

RR.  I welcome people to discuss this job-hunting approach with me. I have not seen it to be effective for mid-level to higher-level technology professionals looking for job. Forget Facebook! It is for kids looking for dates. Linkedin, on the other hand, wants to position itself as a network for job hunting and job searching. It has executive recruiters on it, but primarily job hunters use the site hoping to meet someone who might know someone and who has a job for them. It has not proved to be worth the time. I have suggested that people use the contacts they know as opposed to waiting around for three people they do not know. I also tell people to use their college network. Most colleges have good networks that will help alumni with their careers. For example, say you plan to move to Portland, Oregon, and want to know about the current climate for technology job prospects. You can connect with alumni who live in Portland. Although you do not know these people, you have something in common with them -- where you got your BS or your MBA. If you really want to use a social network, then go back to your college and use your college network.

EL. How would you go about trying to sell a skill that you have not done in years?

RR.  Okay, say you are in quality assurance, but would like to get back to project management, which you have not done in five years. You first need to network with other project managers to get the lay of the land. What has changed and what has not changed? You might go online to the Project Management Association's site. Read the site's blogs. Look at upcoming conferences you can attend. Do not forget to check out dates and locations for local meetings. If nothing else, go to these venues and listen to what people say. If you are serious about project management, then perhaps you can take courses and obtain a certification in this area. If your certification has expired, then take a refresher course and take the exam again.

Elizabeth Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, Massachusetts. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.        

Enterpriseleadership.org recently sat down with Peter High, founder of Metis Strategy and author of the book World Class IT: Why  Businesses Succeed When IT Triumph.  Peter talks about the changing roles and importance of CIOs within a business's infrastructure.

EL. What motivated you to write a strategy book for enterprise IT?

PH.  For years, CIOs ranked as second-class citizens in the corporate structure. During the past decade, however, the best CIOs have recognized that they occupy a unique perch within that structure. Their relationship with the business units (like Marketing, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and the like) can often times run deeper than the relationship the business units have with each other. As a result, the best CIOs can leverage this relationship to add value and to build the top and the bottom line of the corporation. Likewise, they can drive innovation, as it is prudent for them to engage the very players that are mentioned . I have seen many cases where having the right IT leader in a well-oiled organization can help to bring a diverse group of people to talk about innovation on behalf of the company and on behalf of the customer. Thus, the CIO can facilitate a level of collaboration that does not normally happen. We are on the cusp of a real boom in the power of the CIO role. In fact, more and more CIOs are taking their rightful place as true peers of the other C-level leaders in the organization.

EL. Have you come across organizations that have separate IT innovation groups?

PH. Harrah's innovation group, for example, evolved from IT into something separate. In the beginning, many of Harrah's IT people populated this innovation group. As time went on, it drew from people across the organization, in areas such as Operations and Gaming Products. Tim Stanley, Harrah's CIO, was chosen to head this group. As the story goes, during a meeting with the CEO and other executives, Stanley wrote down on a note that the company needed an innovation team. He added a P.S. that he did not want to be the head of the team, however. The CEO convinced Stanley to assume the other "CIO" role- chief innovation officer-as well. As time evolved, the group had a link to IT through Stanley. The separation from IT gave the innovation group a separate degree of visibility. Stanley spent two days a week on innovation and the other three days on IT and product development.

EL. Can you tell me what Harrah's innovation group accomplished?

PH. It developed many innovative ideas that were new to the industry.  They worked on a virtual roulette project in which a dealer spins the wheel and gamblers place bets in front of a bank of screens throughout the casino rather than at a table. It's potentially a more efficient--and profitable--way of gaming.  Other innovative ideas that have been written about elsewhere include server-based casino gaming machines, leveraging Microsoft's Surface tabletop computer, and computer systems to control hotel room functions through televisions.  It all begins with IT's incredible gathering and synthesis of data, be it customer or company data.

EL. Do most of the companies you work with use some sort of an IT maturity index?

PH. Different organizations operate in different ways. Many organizations use CMMI and other means to determine where they are relative to best in class. The methodology described in the book World Class IT- with the five principles [people, infrastructure, project & portfolio management, IT & business partnerships, and external partnerships] and thirty sub principles, represents a maturity model of sorts. It depends on the number of principles and sub principles the organization uses to operate at a high level. We use a traffic light system to grade our clients. The higher percentage of those that are green and the fewer that are red suggest a greater level of performance and a greater level of maturity.  The best organizations have some means of evaluating how they are doing relative to a broader benchmark.

EL. Have you come across many organizations that have automated the IT management process for governance, where the organization has a common language across the organization?

PH. Many organizations have invested in systems to help with the management of all of their projects, to help determine the true business value of the investments they are putting together. Since high-performing organizations tend to grow very fast, the processes and tools do not necessarily grow at the same pace. Much of our business focuses on helping organizations measure the true business value of their investments. We have worked with some organizations that have gone from collecting data on spreadsheets to more automated, globally available methods, which both IT and the business units can use.

EL. Can you give me a historical account of how some CIOs have earned a "seat at the strategy-setting table," so to speak?

PH. In the 1980s, the best IT organizations could find ways to automate manual processes, and along the way cut costs for the company. In the 1990s, we began to see a greater number of organizations, , where IT began to weave itself into the knitting of the business. These IT-developed capabilities that helped to enhance revenues, such as customer relationship management databases, also helped to develop products that the Web could deliver, such as e-commerce. Within the last decade, and I believe to a greater extent in the decade ahead, a greater number of CIOs recognized that their strategic perch within the corporate structure allowed them to impact the overall strategy of the organization. Again, the strategic insights they garnered due to their relationships with the business leads to insights that in some ways they are better positioned to point out and articulate than the business units are themselves.

EL. Can you give me an example of an organization where the power of the CIO really helped to turn things around for the business?

PH. In the book, I reference an airline coming out of Chapter 11. During the course of the proceedings, this organization thought it was cutting costs dramatically throughout the organization. It also recognized that IT was a facilitator for that cost cutting, and as a result, IT was asked to cut its costs. However, the demand for IT services kept increasing. The CIO at the time highlighted this fact, and provided the rationale to ensure that the business leaders present their needs and plans for the future in a similar manner. By creating plans that were presented in a like fashion, and by presenting them together, there were strategic advantages that went well beyond solving the demand management issues highlighted by the CIO.  There was greater understanding of priorities across the company, and there was better collaboration and even the elimination of redundant efforts as a result.  IT can take a good portion of the credit in solving this issue.  This is just one of many examples where we see IT going from being an order taker to being a key driver of the strategic conversation.

As a result, IT can now push, pry, affect, and develop new aspects and wrinkles to the corporate strategy. They can eliminate waste by finding like needs across different divisions of the organization and attack those together. I see this capability as one of the emerging business values that IT will continue to have in the decade ahead. It is important to note that this requires a new type of IT leader.

EL. What type of a career path do you see for a CIO who can use IT to deliver greater business value to the organization?

PH. The organizations that develop these types of leaders will realize a tremendous amount of benefit. It is important to note that businesses as diverse as Walgreens, Schneider National, Ameristar Casinos, Drugstore.com, and Network Solutions have or had CEOs who were once CIOs.  A 2007 article in Baseline magazine included a survey that found that 56 CIOs had advanced to more senior business positions. Many on the list became CEOs as well as chief financial officers and chief operating officers.. This should be an encouraging message for those who once joked that "CIO" stands for "career is over."  Now it is just the beginning in many ways.

EL. In your dealings with CIOs, how have the best IT executives communicated business impact?

PH. Again, it gets back to this historical misunderstanding because of the differences in education, language, career path, and the like between the IT organization versus other departments. IT has always had the reputation of being the bastion of engineers who operate in a different and foreign manner. IT leaders have traditionally been more comfortable operating in "ones and zeroes" as opposed to "P&Ls."  This chasm has kept IT from securing a seat at the corporate table to present business plans and business value, or the projected ROI on the investments they are planning to undertake. Today we are seeing a confluence of many different issues - everything from increased knowledge that many companies are getting more value from IT, to a younger generation of business executives who are more curious and knowledgeable about IT. This younger generation will give way to a new breed of CIOs who are well-informed technology business leaders.  These are the so-called "digital natives."

Because of the economic downturn, organizations want more visibility and transparency into what they are getting from their investments. IT continues to comprise a large share of many capital investment portfolios. As the overall governance of the organization increases, IT will get its share of scrutiny, and CIOs need to be able to speak like any other business unit head as to the value that is expected from their portfolios. All of these factors are leading to a changing paradigm.

EL. How do the best CIOs communicate business impact with their peers in the business? 

PH. Sometimes they have their own communications department. Many organizations are taking people from the corporate PR department and placing them in IT to develop communications programs specific to IT. Before attempting this, however, we advise that CIOs define the right metrics. Developing the dashboards of how IT is performing and then communicating them is key.  Again ,the five principles and thirty sub-principles presented in World Class IT are just such a framework in which to do this. This involves everything from the performance of IT people as judged by business partners to the availability of infrastructure to the degree to which projects are delivered on-time, on budget, and on scope to the ability of IT to delivery business value to the performance of the external partners.  The book introduces both introductory and advanced metrics for IT to leverage and to communicate.  This constant flow of information will increase the confidence and understanding that the business has in IT.

It is also imperative that IT executives be honest about where there are issues. For example, where performance metrics are trending in the wrong direction, it is important to highlight this, but also to highlight how this will be resolved.  Business leaders don't expect IT to be perfect, but they do expect them to be on top of their domain.

Dashboards are an effective communications vehicle, as they provide a good way to communicate a lot of information in fewer pages.  This type of communication can help to increase the curiosity and scrutiny the business community has about the IT community.  I call this the "burning of the ships event" - there is no way back to the old world once you have done this. You have to stay in the new world where the business is better informed and will have a greater desire to remain informed. Once you begin to communicate this, you begin to put positive pressure on the IT department to perform at a higher level, constantly improving. Once you begin to open the kimono on all the things the organization is undertaking --  how it is performing, and where the warts are - you will find more of an appetite for that continued conversation.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. You can contact her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

The economic downturn has caused executives at all levels to scramble to find innovative ways to keep employees motivated and contributing to the organization. Enterpriseleadership.org turned to Ken Blanchard, the best-selling management book author, and leadership researcher and consultant, to learn how C-level executives can lead at a higher level. In fact, Leading at a Higher Level (Revised and Expanded) is the title of Blanchard's recent book. It  includes work The Ken Blanchard Companies have done with Nissan, Tyco International, and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Blanchard gain fame in 1982 when his 111-page One Minute Manager made the best-sellers list. It has sold more than 13 millions copies. This book remains on the list of best-selling business books. He has continued to turn out best-selling titles such as Whale Done, Know You Can, and The One Minute Entrepreneur. Blanchard frequently co-authors books with CEOs, such as Garry Ridge, the CEO of The WD-40 Company.

He teaches in the Executive Leadership Program at San Diego State University. Blanchard has received many honors and awards for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and inspirational speaking. He was inducted into Amazon.com's Hall of Fame as one the top 25 best-selling authors of all times.

EL. Why did you decide to write this book despite the economic downturn?

KB. For a long time, people have been asking us for our curriculum -- in what ways do we help companies? This book became an attempt to pull together everything we have been doing for 30 years. I have 15 co-authors. All of these people helped us build our company including my wife and my son. It was a good time to do it. I define leading at a higher level as essentially helping people accomplish worthwhile goals. It takes into consideration the needs and concerns of everyone involved. Making money is not a worthwhile goal; it is the byproduct of a goal. You need to consider why the economic downturn happened. It came about because of greed, short-term goals, and Wall Street. It is an entire value issue.

EL. What affect has the economic downturn had on C-level executives and what have companies done about it?

KB. I recently spoke at a major Siemens conference in Budapest, Hungary. The economic downturn has also affected this company, bringing about some ethical issues. Attendees included all of Siemens' major clients. The conference had the name Ascend to suggest leading at a higher level. So, what can we learn going forward? How do we operate in a more ethical way? European companies call it the three Ps-- people, profit, and the planet (the environment.). Companies today have much interest in these types of things. Some people will not get it. I am talking about people who evaluate their life on their performance and the opinion of others. They keep score on how much new money they make. Enough is never enough.

EL. Who are the leading-at-a-higher-level CEOs whom you admire?

KB. I wrote one book with Garry Ridge, the president of theWD-40 Company, called Helping People Win a Work: A Business Philosophy Called 'Don't Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A.' He is a good example of a CEO who leads at a higher level. I am also writing a book with Colleen Barrett who just stepped down as the president of Southwest Airlines. This amazing organization leads at a higher level. Bill Pollard, president of ServiceMaster, exemplifies another CEO who leads at a higher level. I have been impressed with the president of American Express Ken Chenault. He has gone through good and bad times with American Express. I am excited about Meg Whitmore, the former CEO of Ebay.com, who plans to run for governor of California. The California governor's race needs a candidate who knows something about business and who can take a leadership role. Some of these folks, including Obama, need a course in economics.

EL. What role does technology play in the ability to lead at a higher level?

KB. We have to look at technology in a positive light. A catalyst for Obama's presidential win included his ability to lead at a higher level. He had an honest desire to talk openly to people in other countries. He ran a 2010 campaign, while Clinton and McCain both ran 1990s campaigns. Obama twittered people and he also sent them email. He used technology to keep the communication open. I try to do the same. For example, every morning I leave a message for everyone in our company. I function as the chief spiritual officer and energy officer. I praise people. I also leave a conventional message about our vision and values. People can hear in on the voice mail and receive it via email. Now I also use twitter for communication.

I do not think electronic communication, however, should always function as the first line of communication. People ought to get away from their desks and talk to people, not send email to someone in the next office.

EL. Can you briefly describe how you helped Nissan executives lead at a higher level?

KB. We have done much situational leadership training throughout Nissan. We helped them to develop a common language around performance and a way to communicate with people. In situational leadership, we always say it increases the quality and the quantity of the conversations between leaders and their people. That has been a helpful thing to them. We have done this at Nokia and American Express.

EL. Do these companies use any other methods besides the common language?

KB. I do not know enough about what they do with technology. They used us as a way to deal with people face to face. We try to get managers to meet at least once every two weeks one-on-one with each of their direct reports at least for 30 minutes at a time. The direct reports set the agenda and managers meet with their people 26 times a year. That really can have an impact. I wrote about this in the book with Ridge.

EL. What would you tell executives and managers about using situational leadership in order to get the most productivity from people with different skill levels?

KB. People often ask me if they need to be face-to-face with people to use situational leadership. The answer is 'no.' It all starts with first having clear goals. Ridge defined very clear goals for WD-40 Company employees. This process replicates knowing everything that will be on the final exam before you take it. Once everyone understands the goals and objectives, then together they can analyze their development level. This includes their competency and their commitment to do that. For example, if you deal with self-directed achievers who know what they are doing and are committed to doing it, you need to use a different leadership style than for very enthusiastic beginners. The latter become very excited about a new assignment, but they do not have a true sense of what they ought to do.  You can delegate to self-directed achievers, but the enthusiastic beginners will need direction.

We also use a coaching style for disillusioned learners, people who find things more difficult than they thought. Then we have cautious people who know what to do but who are afraid to do it on their own. It really helps people to decide. You might have to do different strokes for different folks. Likewise, you might have to do different strokes for the same folks for different parts of their job. It really permits people who deal with others to focus on what part of someone's job needs more attention. You also need to determine the type of attention that will work the best. Should it be via telephone, face-to-face, or email? It gives you an entire strategy for dealing with people.

EL. Can you provide an example of when you had to use situational leadership?

KB. When I was a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, I got in trouble for supervising too many doctoral students. My students were in different levels of development in their doctoral thesis. Some people wrote better than I did. If they needed me, they would call me. I had other students who needed tender loving care once and awhile. I also had students who needed much direction and supervision. I could use different strokes for different folks. The assumption that you need to use the same leadership style with everyone is not true.

EL. You mentioned how the innovative use of technology helped the Obama campaign. Do you see innovation efforts in companies that lead at a higher level?

KB. Companies that lead at a higher level tend to treat their people as business partners. When you treat your people as business partners, you also share information with them, and create opportunities for them to be empowered and be creative. Whenever I lecture about innovation, I talk about the hourly 3M employee who developed the Post-it note. Now 3M welcomes employees at all levels to have ideas and come up with innovations and suggestions. If companies want to survive today, they need to have four characteristics:

• customer drive because today the customer is king;
• cost-effectiveness by managing the financial part of the business;
• speed and agility because it excites your customers to know the person they deal with can make decisions; and
• continuous improvement in innovation.

Leading at a higher level encourages the spread of innovation throughout the organization. As a result, not all brains lead up the hierarchy. Companies leading at a higher level do not use words like superior or brag about who works for whom.

EL. Are companies that lead at a higher level prone to embrace social media more than more traditional companies?

KB. Yes! These companies are constantly innovating and taking suggestions from their employees. All of the smart companies want bright Y generation types. Look at the people who ran Obama's election campaign! They were in their early 20s. We have been searching to get more young people into our organization. About 25 percent of our employees are Y generation. When we ask them to work on a problem, they usually do not go to their boss. Instead, they go to the Web and then they get in a chat room. It amazes me what they can do with technology because they grew up with it.

EL. What can C-level executives do to get other levels of management to lead at a higher level?

KB. What I call servant leadership has two parts: strategic leadership and operational leadership. Strategic leadership includes setting the vision and the values, the direction, and the strategic initiatives. This is the job of the traditional hierarchy. Operational leadership includes how you live according to the values, and how you accomplish the goals and the strategic direction. You have to turn the traditional pyramid upside down so that the people at the lowest part of the organization rise up. These folks are closest to the customers. That is the servant part of servant leadership. The strategic is the leadership part of servant leadership. Most organizations get into trouble because they become bureaucracies run by ego-driven leaders who want to keep the hierarchy alive and well for operational leadership. Everyone sucks up to the hierarchy away from the customers, and then senior management wonders why things do not work out. When you empower, you give power. People can make decisions and do things that excite the customers.

We did a study on which of those two leadership behaviors -- strategic or operational -- has the biggest impact on organizational success. We found that beyond 90 percent comes from operational leadership and the rest from strategic leadership. Strategic leadership is important because it starts the direction. However, your people and your customers do not know what strategic direction is. All they know is how they are treated. If you do not drive leadership throughout your organization, then you will never empower your front-line people who can get excited and build loyalty with the customer base.  The interaction between passionate employees and customers drives organizational success.

EL. What should executives look for in future leaders? How should they integrate older leaders with younger ones?

KB. Organizations should not throw out their older seasoned people, but perhaps create opportunities for them to mentor the young people. The young people have tremendous energy and creativity, but they do not always know the culture or the environment, and what they need to accomplish. You need to find ways to have these two populations value each other. Today you need to manage the present and create the future at the same time. It is not good to have the same group of people doing both tasks. You cannot send operational leaders away to plan your future. They will probably kill your future because they either become overwhelmed with the present or have no vested interested in the future.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.

With annual revenue of about $5.6 billion (will change with new earnings), Owens Corning reigns as the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass and related products. In fact, the company's Fiberglas brand products have found their way into everything from boat hulls to automobile roofs and electronic windmill blades. The woes of the downturn in the economy pale in comparison to the difficulties Owens Corning experienced in 2000. At that time, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection caused by a massive liability from the settlement of asbestos-related lawsuits.

The Owens Corning bankruptcy, however, kept senior executives, such as David Johns, the company's CIO, focused on steering a steady course for the business. Johns carried out a steady campaign to take cost out of the business, while increasing productivity and improving the governance process to make better technology investment decisions. He says, "Taking cost out of business has helped us to drive the low-cost manufacturer. The economic downturn just magnified that situation and helped promote  us to focus more on our customers. We want to do as much as we need to do for them."

Enteprriseleadership.org recently sat down with Johns to talk about he has navigated his company's technology course beyond bankruptcy. Here is what he had to say:

EL. Can you describe your technology organization?

DJ. We have one global IT organization staffed with about 400 internal IT professionals. They focus on applications development, business value and business consulting. I am also accountable for our global shared-services organization. A service manager handles much of our outsourced IT infrastructure. We got into outsourcing early. Third-party outsourcers handle our entire commodity IT services. We have development teams in Europe, Asia and U.S., which covers our North American/Canadian and South American interests.
 
EL. Because your company went through some tough times in the early 2000s, how have you built IT to drive the company forward?
 
DJ. From 2001 to about 2006, we were in Chapter 11. We have always had tight ties to the business, especially for driving global standards and common solutions across the enterprise. We always have strived to customize and localize services where we required them. 
 
EL. How have you created business impact of IT throughout your tenure at Owens Corning?
 
DJ. During our Chapter 11 years, we focused on reorganizing the company and taking cost out. Being in Chapter 11 gives you a chance to rethink and do over much of the things that you have done in the past. We focused on taking cost out of both IT and the businesses. I also operated our supply chain organization for seven years. Here we focused on logistics and supply chain planning.
 
EL. Where specifically did you take cost out of IT or the business?

DJ. We took much cost out of our backoffice transaction systems and put it into our logistics organization. Owens Corning focuses heavily on logistics. After all, how we get our products to market depends on our logistics capabilities. We concentrated on more effective logistics processes and sourcing processes.

When it comes to the backoffice, we look for more efficient and effective ways to work with and connect to our customers. We also look for ways to leverage processes across our three major business franchises, as well as the different regions of the world.

As a function, IT enables us to drive leverage. We have a purview across the enterprise that perhaps other folks in the organization do not have. We also have a focused global shared services strategy to standardize the backoffice processes that do not touch our customers. We have made these processes more visible and transparent, as well as effective. We have outsourced the processes that provide no value to our customers.
 
EL. What processes are IT focused on and why?
 
DJ. Today, we look at financial processes, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash applications, payroll and HR administration functions. We also concentrate on general accounting processes, such as fixed assets.

We have moved quickly into the HR administrative processes and backoffice administrative processes for our customers. We do not plan to focus on a one-size-fits-all strategy. If something will not help us get closer to our closers, then we will not do it.

Sourcing is another area for us. We look for common areas across our supply chain processes. Long-term forecasting, however, has been tough during these economic times. To this end, we look at short-term forecasting.
 
EL. What types of investments have you made to get closer to your customers and to drive that revenue?
 
DJ. Our diversified, expansive customer base ranges from a local building contractor all the way to a Home Depot or a Lowe's. Our businesses have done a great job of trying to understand our customers better and determine how to serve their needs. We have a customer discovery process where we go out and talk to our various customers across the various businesses. We listen to their needs and respond with how we can provide value to them. For example, customers often respond to us with in-depth interviews and feedback about what services they value from us. We then take that input and adjust it to provide our customers with the appropriate services, such as online access to EDI transmission of documents or different call-center technologies to vendor-managed inventory. 
 
EL. Can you tell me about specific investments you have made?
 
DJ. We have invested heavily in SAP and in some Web technology that we use today. We also have invested heavily in our call-center technology. We have call centers across the world.
 
EL. Where is your business impact of technology coming from?
 
DJ. Our focus is productivity, taking cost out and enabling ease of business to our customers. We want to provide an environment for our businesses and our innovation folks to engage in open innovation. This concept will enable us not only to drive product innovation internally, but externally as well.
 
EL. Can you give me an example of how you are making it easy for your customers to do business with you?
 
DJ. We allow our customers to go online and see their status of orders. That is a very simple one. Our composite business is more business-to-business oriented. As a result, we provide electronic communication to our composite customers. It allows us to interface more efficiently with them and makes it easier to do business with us.

EL. Have you linked your supply chain with your customers' supply chains?

DJ. In some ways, we have. It has been easier to connect our supply chain with those of our smaller customers than with our larger customers. Sharing forecasting and vendor-managed inventory, and gaining more visibility into their supply chains has helped us to work closer with our distributors and to service our end customers better. 
 
EL. Do you know how much cost you have driven out of the business?
 
DJ. It depends on what time frame you mention. From an IT perspective over the years, we have driven out well over $100 million. From a business perspective, we have focused some technology initiatives every year in the supply chain area. We also have manufacturing technology groups which look for ways to build a more stable, less variable, more quality manufacturing technology platform. We have targets in the $25-$35-million-a-year range, just on those programs alone.
 
EL. Are those technology groups part of your organization?
 
DJ. Yes! We also have a business integration group. It works with our businesses and our business leaders to understand what goes on, what issues we have, and what opportunities come our way. We then translate these things into ways technology can help us take advantage of new opportunities. That group works with the individual businesses.

We have our manufacturing technology group which works with our manufacturing group. We also have what I would call functional groups that work with finance, sourcing, HR and legal. They go through the same kind of process about looking to apply technology to our opportunities.

We bring all of the information back and then go through a rigorous priority process -- both from a top-down and a bottom-up standpoint. As we continue to evolve more things, we begin to drive from the top down rather than the bottom up. We have a good line of sight into some things that focus on making some good progress for the business.
 
EL. What is your formal governance process?
 
DJ. We have spent much time with other senior executives of our company to understand what the big issues are, understanding what the big strategic direction is, and then figuring out how to apply technology the best way to drive business value.

Our governance process has gone through various phases. An acquisition we made in 2007 threw our entire portfolio process on its ear. We spent much time focusing on integrating this major acquisition. Today, we have begun to re-establish our process where we will meet regularly monthly. Sometimes we will also meet quarterly. It all depends on the cycle and our priorities. 
 
EL. How do you look at your portfolio? Do you have different types of investment categories?
 
DJ. Yes! We have investment categories for productivity, cost out, customers, regulatory and compliance.
 
EL. How do you measure the results of these investments?
 
DJ. It depends on what the investment is. Part of the investment decision rests on the quality of the business case. We have a rigorous process for business case submission. It ensures that not only do we deploy a technology that provides value, but that we actually track the value and make sure it is sustainable. One of the biggest mistakes many technology organizations make is to assume that something can sustain itself. We rarely see this happen. You have to put the processes in place to ensure that you can sustain the project. For most of technology investments, we will track the savings or track the benefits for about a year.
 
EL. What methodology do you use to track these investments?
 
DJ. For a deployment or an investment, we use the Stage-Gate process absolutely. We make sure that we deliver the benefits we said we would. We have a very well defined Stage-Gate process that we all go through for all technology investments. We also use financial metrics, such as return on investment and economic value add. Sometimes, we use pure cost take out and time value return. We partner with our finance organization to track those benefits that way.
 
EL. Do you use the balanced scorecard at all?
 
DJ. We have used the balanced scorecard in the past. Right now, we do not want to use it. Everything has a purpose depending on your cycle. 
 
EL. Are you getting into more analytics?
 
DJ. Absolutely! Our biggest initiative today looks at providing better visibility and analytics into our technology investment cycle. Our weakest performance over the years has been on investment patterns and acquisitions. For example, we have lacked standards within the business because of our inability to provide good analytics. We have greatly improved the quality of our analytics to the business.
 
EL. You said your company made an acquisition a couple of years ago. Have you improved the speed of the integration time?
 
DJ. It was the biggest acquisition that our company has made in quite some time. It made us a true global company. We have been successful in driving synergies, but we concentrated on building the ship while we sailed along. We have looked how to build the right approach or platform for us to speed up the integration of an acquisition. 
 
EL. How has the economic downturn affected Owens Corning?
 
DJ. It has tough economically for many companies. We are happy with where we are. We performed very well given that the economy affects how we operate. Taking cost out of business has helped us to drive the low-cost manufacturer. The economic downturn just magnifies that situation and helps us to focus more on our customers. We want do as much as we need to do for them. 
 
EL. Are you currently hiring IT professionals?

DJ. We are always looking for good talent who can make the company successful.

Elizabeth M. Ferrarini is a technology writer from Boston, MA. Reach her at elizabethferrarini@yahoo.com.