Nicholas Carr’s, IT Doesn’t Matter, in Harvard Business Review (May 2003) sent IT executives everywhere whirling around in their mesh swivel chairs. It caused academics to do some hard thinking and computer vendors to rally in front of their computers. Because of that article and Carr’s follow-on book, Does IT Matter?, I started asking the CIOs, academics, and management consultants that I interviewed for www.enterpriseleadership.org if the CIO role could be a rotational one. I anticipated the much mixed results I received.
Ben Salzmann, the CEO of Acuity, a property and casualty insurer, said that he wouldn’t like having a CIO de jour. As his company’s former CIO, Salzmann speaks from first-hand experience. He said that this type of model is an extreme belittlement of the technology deployed in his organization. On the other hand, he said he wouldn’t mind if his competitors went this route.
Jerry McElhatton, who retired as CIO from MasterCard several years ago, said that some companies might be better off if they went in that direction. Meanwhile, Mark Lutchen, who runs PricewaterhouseCooper’s IT Effectiveness Practice, said that it’s a good idea, but has some shortcomings. “It might be difficult to round out the finance or human resources skills of CIOs who have grown up in IT. In many cases, a CIO might have a CFO of IT. A CIO might want to rotate to other areas, such as running a business unit, in order to gain skills and build relationships.” BTW, Lutchen was a global CIO for PWC and wrote the book, Managing IT as a Business – A Survival Guide for CEOs.
Eventually I rephrased the question to ask, “Tell me how a rotational assignment helped you become an effective CIO.” That’s when I started to hear much compelling stuff about what has made some CIOs successful on the job. For example, Paul Heller, Vanguard Group’s CIO, had many different rotational assignments at this investment firm before he became CIO in 2007. Two of his rotational assignments included running the retail side of the house and applications. He says, “We believe in rotating people throughout our business, including IT. If you have a broad general understanding, then you’re likely to have success in what you do.”
Meanwhile, McElhatton said that his rotational assignment running the process change team at MasterCard helped him to grow closer to the business units.
At companies like Toyota Motors Sales USA, job rotation throughout functional areas is quite common. In fact, Zackery Hicks, former corporate manager for the Office of the CIO at Toyota, started out in Toyota’s corporate services group. Because of his IT experience in a previous position, he was able to move into IT. Hicks said that people have to demonstrate the talent to move to another functional area, as well as to have the desire to do so.
I could go on about executives who have had successful job rotation assignments. Ed Kamins, who retired in February 2009 from a compelling career with Avnet, the $14 billion electronics distributor, tops my list. I interviewed Kamins in 2005 when he was CIO. He had previously been Avnet’s senior vice president of business development. When Steve Phillips became CIO in 2007, Kamins moved up as senior vice president and chief of operational excellence. Kamins’ team focused on lowering costs, cutting cycle times, improving customer service, and refining operational efficiencies. Did I also mention that Phillips reported to Kamins!
Now I’d like to ask you a few questions:
“Tell me about some rotational assignments that have helped you prepare to become a CIO?
What types of rotational assignments or rotational programs are available for IT professionals at your organization?”
By - Elizabeth M. Ferrarini -- enterpriseleadership@yahoo.com
