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Dealing with IBM executives in the late 1980s and early 1990s was often amazing. By and large, IBM executives were individually impressive, but stick two of them in a room together and something happened that diminished them. Turn two into three, and they all shrank in stature even more. By the time you got 10 in a room, the group was so dysfunctional that they became caricatures, unable to reach a decision of any kind. Executives were focusing too little on their customers and too much on each other, vying for better position in the internal politicking that was everyone’s favorite sport at the company. They saw the problem, yet they were unable to change their own behavior. Few changed individually until the company ran up billions of dollars in losses, kicked out the chief executive, cut more than 100,000 jobs, and had its fate hanging in the balance. I think of the crisis that let IBM change because we are all now in the midst of a crisis, caused by the war in Afghanistan and the recession. We can, I believe, all effect the kind of change that has helped IBM prosper these past eight years, because people who might have resisted change in the past are now much more willing to believe that even they need to rethink what they’re doing. The question is: What to change? In “Untangling I/T,” Chris Curran lays out four ways that companies ought to redesign their information-technology operations, to both save money and gather better information. In “Measure for Measure,” Peter Weill and Mike Connolly describe a way for companies to make sure that their I/T investments synch up with overall corporate strategy. Companies are increasingly competing based on their ability to use technology to operate efficiently and intelligently, so taking this opportunity to redesign I/T operations could position companies well when the economic recovery comes. “Getting All the Credit” on Capital One, shows what can happen when a company uses I/T especially well. Joanne Kelley writes that the credit-card company is basically a data factory, testing and testing and testing to see precisely which people are its best customers and exactly which offers are most likely to earn their business. In one year alone, Capital One tested 45,000 different offerings. Based on all the information it gathers, Capital One has become a leader in the huge, competitive credit-card business just a decade after it was started. “The Context 100s” provides myriad examples of companies that have used technology well. For instance, Fred Wiersema and John Sviokla feature Anadarko Petroleum, which uses a highly sophisticated, data-intensive approach to manage the portfolio of properties where it might drill for oil and gas. The interview, with Sun Microsystems Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott McNealy, provides some tough, timeless advice on how to lead people in difficult times. His first observation is that leaders must have strength of character. In a typical McNealy barb, he then adds that “this is not like being president of the U.S. Character matters.” McNealy also lays out a provocative vision of the future of work, in which offices would be far more flexible. He even has an idea for car designers: the “sport utility office.” As always with McNealy, the interview is a smart, fun read. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Paul B. Carroll |
