There's a thought-provoking article in the Jan. 11 Wall St. Journal entitled "Your BlackBerry or Your Wife." The story focuses on the problems that are inherent with device addiction - when people have trouble separating themselves from their iPods, BlackBerries, laptops, etc.

The article points to real-life examples of families that are connected electronically - and yet disconnected from one another. To help break some families' digital dependence, some parents have imposed week-long bans on all electronic gadgets with the exception of work and homework. No TV, no DVDs, no email, no texting, no videogames, etc. You get the idea.

IT management models have come and gone as IT's role in the enterprise has moved from mostly support to being a critical partner with business in increasing productivity and innovation. Three McKinsey & Company thinkers-Roger Roberts, Hugo Sarrazin and Johnson Sikes-have laid out their view of a new management model for IT that requires broader leadership, governance and organizational changes, as well as different management skills. This model incorporates two facets the authors call Factory IT and Enabling IT.

 

As they describe it, Factory IT "encompasses the bulk of an organization's IT activities, applying lessons from the production floor-scale, standardization, and simplification-to drive efficiency, optimize delivery, and lower unit costs." Likewise, Enabling IT is "focused on helping organizations respond more effectively to changing business needs and gain a competitive advantage by spurring innovation and growth."

The Unwritten Rules: The Six Skills You'll Need to Get Promoted to the Next Level by John Beeson (October 2010, Wiley)

 

These days when we talk about effective leadership it's fashionable to emphasize themes of happiness. How often do we hear that happy employees are more productive, or that harmonious teams perform better. These ideas aren't wrong, but without clarification they risk oversimplification. "Happy" doesn't mean cheerful and content, and high-performing teams are "harmonious" in only the broadest sense of the word.

 

Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe: "Nothing happens until it gets sold."

The latest Technology Quarterly in the December 12 issue of The Economist profiles the career of Bob Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Ambitious IT executives would do well to take a thoughtful read, because here is a larger-than-life example of someone who, though not an IT chief, embodies that magical combination of qualities that makes a CIO in demand. A brilliant technologist who invented the Ethernet at the tender age of 27, Metcalfe was enterprising (he founded 3Com Corp.) and adroit in communication. Indeed, he understood that communication was what turned great technology into money. For Metcalfe that money was his personal fortune, but the same concept applies to technology and business profitability.  "Nothing happens until it gets sold," he tells The Economist. Even a technology as compelling as the Ethernet didn't make Metcalfe a zillionaire until he got the likes of Digital Equipment, Intel, Xerox, Sun, and even Microsoft behind it. (Incidentally, before settling on "Ethernet," names batted around for the networking technology included "Bulletin Board," "Parliamentary Procedure," and "Lazy Susan.")

McKinsey on "the new normal" for CIOs

McKinsey & Co. held its annual online IT survey from October 13 to October 26, 2009, with responses from 444 executives representing all industries, regions, and company sizes.