I just deleted my strategy!

I had a particularly quiet morning today, no pressing deadlines or major problems. Those days are few and far in between, aren’t they? So being the organized neat-freak that I am, I decided to clean out my inbox and archive the inbox folders I was no longer using. I love doing that. I really can do more fun things with my personal time, but that’s for another blog.

 

So there I was, archiving and removing folders, when I suddenly became aware of a pattern that troubled me. I started writing down the names of the folders I was removing just to make sure I wasn’t being overly pessimistic (a genetic trait). When I was done, I was left mostly with folders for internal departments or external vendors. I realized that most of what I removed were folders for projects that “never went anywhere”. I have a folder on the department’s shared drive called the same thing, I am just waiting for my boss to find that one…

 

Here’s a sample of what I removed:

 

• Business Process Improvement
• Computerized Maintenance Management System
• Customer Relationship Management
• Voyager 2.0 (ideas for major usability enhancements for our ERP until its replacement) 
• Document Imaging
• Preventing Duplicate Member Records
• Process Improvement Ideas
• IT Steering Committee
• Mentoring
• Online Program Registration & Membership Sales
• Regional Training Program
• Strategic Planning

 

At first glance, these just look like a list of projects, right? But when I compare them to my new inbox structure, one thing stands out. We have moved from projects that benefit the entire org, to department-based work. That’s not to say that Finance or Marketing don’t have valid technology needs, not at all. But this segregation of projects is troubling. Sure, we’re still doing “work”. But based simply on this folder structure I would argue that our technology investments are not addressing our larger, longer term needs. Do we not need to manage our members’ information anymore? Can we no longer benefit from a centralized document imaging system? The mentoring folder was easy to delete, it only had one email in it, nothing more ever came of that. But what about the regional training program… or Strategic Planning?! Do we not need to be part of that anymore?

 

I don’t need to think too much about how we got here. To me, it’s obvious. Without a CIO sitting at the senior management table, IT’s role is once again to keep the wheels running. Keep the electricity on, keep email going, fix daily problems. Sure, that’s part of our role. But without being fully engaged (or even present) at the decision making level, the ongoing struggle to align IT with the rest of the org is becoming increasingly obvious. At least to my inbox.

 

How much longer can we afford to be back in service-only mode before we can switch to value-added mode again? Is a new CIO the answer? I think not. Most people could not take on so much change management on their own (excluding maybe Gandhi and Mother Theresa). It takes the whole village, as they say. But I do believe that change can start at the top. We are currently looking for a new CEO, and I am anxious to see what new leadership will bring. I want to see how they will listen, think, and act… what changes will be in store for us, and how staff and volunteers will be able to participate in the shaping of the next generation of leaders.

 

I want my strategic planning folder back. And full.

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