MJD Management Group

Archive for January, 2010

Here is a vast collection of quotes to use for speeches or presentations about work or the workplace that I have found useful.  Check out 1001 Best Things Ever Said About Work or the Workplace. Much thanks to Ernie J. Zelinski, Author of Real Success Without a Job, who chose and arrange these quotes and provided the permission to post and share electronically.

I have always found the Gartner Hype Trend as the benchmark for gauging and understanding when potentially emerging technologies may become main stream relevant. Click on image to see full screen.

On a continuing theme about technology and making (keeping) it relevant and even becoming a thought leader in the organization. The focus has to be on the business and bridging the chasm (silo) between IT and the business functions within the organization. This includes dropping the IT slang of bit, bytes, and acronyms and speaking in a language that the non IT folks understand and speak or a regular basis.

The iT leadership perspective obviously includes the usual suspects understanding trends, technology risks, etc…, but also has to live and breathe the business side of the equation and ask the questions that the business leaders think and incorporate the answers into the technology business case and solution.

To this point, here is a thoughtful article published by ZDNet Australia where Gary Price, CIO at online bank Egg, shares his viewpoint on this topic.

ZDNet Australia has a good CIO video series.  One of the more compelling strategic interviews was with Cesare Tizi, ZDNet Australia’s CIO of the Year 2007, who has been CIO of both AGL Energy and Transurban.   He simply states that business strategists are not interested in IT. The secret to fixing this is to “try to embed IT components into [the] business strategy.”

The point made by Tizi in the video is a point that I have championed for years to technology leaders as the key to transforming both the viewpoint and the perceived value or utility of IT in the organization into an asset from an expense. Embedding IT components into the business strategy also mutes the predicative IT drive which often leads to tactical implementation of the latest and greatest technology for technology sake rather than focusing on business value generated by IT spend based upon embedding IT components at a business strategy level.

Enjoy the video clip with Cesare Tizi who was named CIO of the year in 2007 by ZDNet Australia.