December 2011
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On the Line
Issue #155
The Quest for Creativity Continues
by Henry Dortmans
There are some amazing options in the industry today…finally. Some suppliers are starting to prove which of the ‘new’ stuff really saves buyers time, money or effort. Or creates significant value. Some consultants and analysts are outlining what’s really important to decision-makers…without the acronyms. And some buyers are starting to look at making significant changes to the ways in which their systems and people work more effectively.
However, the key decisions are still not easy. Who should make them and why? How do you select the right options? Then, how do you implement them? Or, more importantly, how do you develop the plan to do it right?
Over the past few months, I’ve heard the new acronyms, read the charts on suppliers, technologies and money, seen the impact of change, participated in meetings and discussions about what people need to know and do to make things better…in a wide variety of situations. The best outcomes have always been the right combination of logic and creativity. For most, logic is the easy part, creativity the not-so-easy part.
Here’s a revised take on this Quest for Creativity as you contemplate things like: tactical, strategic or commodity; private or public clouds; money for innovation vs. maintenance; single- or multi-vendor; hosted or in-house services and resources; return on investment or total cost of ownership; day-to-day or multi-year planning horizon; and so on. See below.
My CIO client looked his director in the eye and said, “You’ve got to cut expenses. Find me some savings because we need to trim your budget by 7% next year.”
The director replied, “You don’t understand what we face. We’re running all the time, we’re putting out fires, and we can’t abandon our customers. And the systems we have take more & more support.”
Well, I guess you get the drift. It went on like that for a couple of hours. Deadlock.
And that deadlock is found in many organizations.
As we were walking down the hallway afterward, the director said it all reminded him of the old movie Jerry Maguire, famous for the line, “SHOW ME THE MONEY.”
Not so well remembered is another line: “Help me help you.” If you haven’t seen it, the upshot is that a sports agent circulates a plea within the firm for better service, fewer clients, and less emphasis on the bottom line. And this gets him fired and then...well, get the DVD and see it for yourself.
But can we get the “better” part without getting fired?
The "But It Works" Cliché
We’re under enormous pressure, all the time, to do more—better, faster, cheaper. Partly because of this pressure, we get imprisoned by the fast pace of the work: rushing through basic routines, coping with emergencies—no time to plan for change. And rarely taking the time to see the big picture.
The end result is service degradation: “less for less.” Just look at the latest surveys on customer service ratings.
What about the “more for more” option—the right investment, well targeted, that could produce big improvements? It would mean going beyond the routine.
Here is where the “help me help you” part comes in. Creative changes in providing better options—for staff, customers, partners, executives, shareholders—need input from the communities we relate to.
Getting their wisdom involves some well-prepared and innovative meetings, workshops, conference calls.
In Search of Creativity
But these kinds of discussions provide information, not solutions. So in the end, it all comes back to us, to our capacity for being creative. And that means escaping the daily grind enough to sit back, contemplate, and come up with something entirely new.
There may be no logical answer, at least, not in the old framework.
We need help wherever we can get it. Sometimes it may come from suppliers. They come armed with an arsenal of new ways of doing things. Over the past few years, we’ve seen and heard all about the latest—systems, applications, architectures, devices, services. How many are willing to turn off the sales pitch and spend the time it takes to really learn about the real situation? It’s worth it to challenge them.
Another option: look at what organizations in other industries are doing. Far too often, people look at their competitors for ideas. And they just end up copying the changes those organizations made instead of inventing entirely new solutions. Or they ask about the technology and not how it specifically made a difference.
If you want to see more of the world, why focus on the planes, trains and cars?
Negotiating
Of course, when CXOs tell you to cut costs or not invest in new stuff because “the stuff we have is working”, they hope you will say “okay”. But in fact, you never do that. Instead, you negotiate, looking for a way to give some of what they want while going after at least some of your own goals. And this kind of negotiation, if done well, can also open doors.
So you need to know the rules of effective negotiation. One is measuring and agreeing on the importance of the outcome versus the importance of the relationship, a concept many don’t know about or forget.
A negotiating partnership leads to a search for new solutions—in short, to creativity.
Be a Leader
Another key element in implementing successful change is knowing how everyone involved relates to change. Where do the key decision-makers think the organization sits on the technology adoption curve? How open are they to investing in new applications or processes?
How does their direct personal experience affect their judgment? Do they all have the same perspectives? How wide is the spread?
If some stand closer to your views than others, you need to know this. In other words, creativity involves leadership skills.
If you are a true leader, you will inspire others; you will define the culture. And you will have a good chance of getting out of the “but it works” prison, and of finding creative ways to make great improvements without breaking the CIO’s heart.
What do you think? I'm listening. Henry.
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By The Water Cooler: FYIs
Dr. Edward de Bono - Lateral Thinking
If you google "creative thinking" you'll get over 7 million results. Here's an interesting four-minute YouTube video on Edward de Bono. He is considered the leading authority on creative thinking, the originator of lateral thinking, the author of over 60 books on the subject.
Who Owns The Fish? - Logical Thinking
According to legend, Albert Einstein came up with this riddle and said only about 2% of the population would come up with the right answer. According to Jeremy Stangroom (Einstein's Riddle, Elwin Street Productions, 2009), "it just requires the cool application of logic to solve. And a lot of patience."
There are five houses painted five different colours. A person with a different nationality lives in each house. The five house owners each drink a different kind of beverage, play a certain sport, and keep a certain pet. No owners have the same pet, play the same sport, or drink the same beverage.
Q. Who owns the fish?
The Facts
1. The Briton lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house on the left of the white house.
5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who plays football rears birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house plays baseball.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who plays volleyball lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps the horse lives next to the man who plays baseball.
12. The owner who plays tennis drinks beer.
13. The German plays hockey.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who plays volleyball has a neighbour who drinks water.
Have fun.
Quote to Remember
He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he who loses his courage loses all. - Miguel De Cervantes
Bring Your Own Device - BYOD
For those of you who like your desktop phone, here are a couple of choices for your iPhone:
 Regular iPhone
 Cordless iPhone
Thank you and here's to 2012!
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