In an exclusive interview with Systems Catalyst, Dr Christopher Chia, Chairman of NUS-ISS and former CEO of National Library Board (NLB) and Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), reveals the key attribute of a successful CIO in today’s complex and competitive world.
In a recent survey by CIO.com, it was found that 9 out of 10 CIOs felt that their roles were getting more challenging even as they were, at the same time, becoming more important.
Only a low 9% were perceived by their peers as effective business game changers for the organisations. Depending on the level of involvement, the CIO function was often seen as a business peer or an IT partner, and at times, as a service provider or even a cost centre.
Today’s business leaders are swamped by advanced technology, such as mobile platforms, super high speed bandwidth, 3D printing, nanotechnology, printed electronics, and robotics, and the endless possibility of creating new markets and business opportunities through the complex business ecosystems.
In order to establish a foothold, a business leader has to at least gain an appreciation of the promises and constraints of the technology, and how to use it to develop sustainable competitive advantage for the business.
This is often where the CIO comes in – to navigate the technology landscape for the organisation and to advise the management team on the potential and application of technology, with the chief objective of contributing to the organisation’s performance and growth.
To shed some light on how CIOs can evolve their roles with the organisational needs, we have invited Dr Christopher Chia (in the photo), Chairman of the ISS Management Board and former CEO of the National Library Board (NLB) and the Media Development Authority of Singapore, to share his experience and insights with practising and aspiring CIOs.
SysCat: IT leadership roles seem to be getting tougher, and from the way it looks, it will continue that way for a long while more. What kind of attributes and skillsets does a CIO or IT leader need nowadays to be successful?
The CIO role, and I would also say the entire IT function, is perhaps the most evolved corporate role in the recent decade. Every expectation is imparted on the IT department to capitalise on technology, but often without fully comprehending the appropriateness or impact of the technology in augmenting the business processes and the customers’ experience.
Positive traits such as innovativeness, enterprise, leadership, empathy, honest reflection and unassailable drive are all still important attributes of a good CIO. And knowledge and skillsets like agile development, enterprise architecture, project management, cybersecurity, system thinking, quality assurance and business intelligence, as well as a strong dose of business sensitivity are equally relevant expertise. A CIO can pick these up easily from training and personal development courses at any good IT training institution.
However, beyond the basic competencies, the CIO needs to find a way to cope with both the internal and external pressures of disruptive technology while incorporating the right ones that will lead the organisation to higher performance.
Nowadays, you can expect the Next Big Thing to be lurking just around the corner. Classical business models that are prescriptive and assumed stable, long-term environments can hardly be applied to the dynamic and unpredictable IT sector. CIOs have to think and look at things differently.
In this respect, I often find the one factor that consistently sets a great CIO apart from a good IT leader is in the “approach” taken towards IT management. This is the way the CIO addresses a corporate issue or a technological challenge, which embodies his thinking, discipline, risk appetite, business savviness and outlook, amongst other things.
SysCat: About this “approach”, is it a framework or a model that a CIO can refer to?
There’s no cookie-cutter approach really. It’s a quality mindset. What’s important is the attitude to excel and the commitment to see things through. As a member of the corporate leadership, a CIO must have the gumption to own the issues and problems, and bear the risk of failure.
In a sense, a CIO should think like a CEO, but from the perspective of IT and technology. I know of a good number of CEOs who are looking to pick up more IT knowledge so as to be familiar with the potential of technology in their businesses. For some of them, a close alternative would be to have a good CIO on the team to advise them.
In my stints as the CEO of several organisations, I have adopted a simple approach which I call the 3P’s and 3C’s. The 3P’s are Purpose, People and Process, and the 3C’s are Compute, Content and Conduit. It has served me well in guiding decisions and overcoming challenges.
SysCat: How is the Approach applied in IT management?
Start with the Purpose of an organisation or project. Try to put your ego, judgment and experience aside to look at the issue objectively. There is no legacy too sacred to abolish nor ideas too farfetched to be considered.
I remember when I was appointed the founding CEO of NLB in 1995, I also inherited the Library 2000 Masterplan. This document was the consummate effort of 200-over participants from all walks of life. The management team and I reviewed it and agreed to adopt it because the plan had charted a good, though tough, direction for the library. Once we’d agreed on the common Purpose, we were able to spend all our energy and attention to realise the plan together.
A clear Purpose not only has the power to inspire, and rally support and ideas, it is also edifying. It became obvious to us that we could no longer work in the same way if we wanted to achieve effective transformation.
Take for instance a simple goal like increasing readership without causing long queues (up to hour long queues during peak periods) to become even longer. To do that under the modus operandi, we would need to increase the number of counter staff three to four times to handle the increased traffic and to reduce the waiting time during peak periods. There wouldn’t be enough standing space behind the counter for the army of library staff!
We used such scenarios to develop a compelling case for innovation and to invest in the technology that would eventually allow us to create an entirely new library system suited to Singapore’s literary needs.
This is incidentally the Compute part of the 3C’s. We stepped into the shoes of the library users to find out the types of Content that were in demand, which at that time included tapes and CDs and the Conduit through which the Content could be delivered to them.
It was at this juncture that we realised that the industry serving the libraries at that time did not have the technology required to meet our purpose. We had to change the business model and rise above our spheres of influence to co-opt other experts, industry players and technology providers.
After several experiments and prototypes, we managed to solve the queuing problem by making borrowing into a self-service process without any increase in the library’s manpower. In fact, it was an unmanned process. The public found to their delight that they could return the borrowed library materials anytime around the clock. We achieved a threefold increase in borrowing without any queues, and managed to register a patent for the world’s first Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) self-check system in the process.
SysCat: That seems like the kind of situation a CIO often finds himself in, having to find the means to meet organisational demands. What kind of assistance or resources can a CIO access?
Help is all around if you know how to look for it. I have worked with excellent organisations throughout my career. When I was in the NLB, I looked up my contacts and found mentors in many of them. You may be pleasantly surprised to find many people who are willing to share their knowledge and ideas freely.
This is also the second P, People. Learn from people who are more experienced or more knowledgeable about a certain topic than you. Network with like-minded people through a professional body like the Singapore Computer Society, an alumni or association. Internally, establish clear outcomes and performance targets towards achieving the Purpose. Convert your worst cynics into your best critics. Rally catalytic resources to generate and manage the right Content. In NLB’s case, this also happened to be our main asset, the literature and multimedia.
In terms of motivation, I think there are two types of people – those who want to do it now and those who think there’s always tomorrow. Both have their own merits, but in NLB’s case, we needed people with a certain sense of urgency. We needed speed, enthusiasm and drive. A lot of our effort went into harnessing people’s energy into synergy by promoting a practical, hands-on culture. Because our Purpose was clear and aspirational, it wasn’t long before we managed to onboard everyone, even our worst cynics.
SysCat: How does technology figure in the Approach?
Once we have a clear Purpose and engaged People who are aligned to it, we are ready to look at establishing Processes that will effect the change and transform the organisation. IT is typically applied to achieve greater efficiency during the re-engineering of the business processes.
Incidentally, this is the stage where the CIO would feel the most vulnerable because every success and failure of the innovation and technology application is quickly observed and judged.
To mitigate the project risk, the CIO can consider applying the 3P’s here. Cooperate with the business units to re-design outdated and ineffective Processes. Use the agile methodology for rapid prototyping and experimentation with different groups of trial users to validate the concept, benefits and constraints of the technology in the Processes. And remember to use economic, and not technical, terms to explain the costs and benefits of the projects.
The library used to have to process more than 30 million books manually each year. The old manual method was unable to keep up due to manpower and operating hour constraints. The right innovations came along after we had systematically chipped away at the problem to arrive at entirely different solutions from when we first started. It’s clear on hindsight today, but back in the 90’s, no one would have thought of putting a physical bookdrop, conveyor belt, an RFID tag and an integrated IT system together to create an effective, self-service library.
We took the same approach to convert another problem into a winning solution. Back then, the library would receive more than 200 million pieces of 5-cent coins in fines each year. NLB was the first public agency to implement a 100% cashless payment facility with NETS. In 2002, it was a big thing to stop taking in cash and instead focus on cashless means that, in a sense, made it possible for library users to get used to electronic means to enjoy their content. Later on, this facilitated library users' move towards the consumption of digital content.
Remember to obtain regular feedback from the key stakeholders to check and guide your efforts. The library used to receive a compliment for every 4 complaints. After we began to show the positive results of transformation, the tables were turned when we received a complaint for every 20 compliments. I used to joke that perhaps there were no counter staff around for us to complain to anymore!
Syscat: If there is a pitfall that CIO should always watch out for, what would that be?
That would have to be design, or rather, the lack of it. Any effort spent in design should be done early in a project and it will invariably pay off in more ways than one. Design ought to take into consideration the inputs of the customers, the service providers and the operations staff. During the design process, encourage everyone to relook at existing processes critically to reduce or remove steps that have become redundant or obsolete after automation has kicked in. Communicate your Purpose and progress of your initiatives regularly so that everyone is engaged and on board.
|
Congratulations to our Chairman on becoming Singapore Computer Society's Hall of Fame 2015 honoree!
For his significant contribution to IT excellence, Dr Chia was recently inducted into the prestigious Singapore Computer Society’s Hall of Fame on 6 Mar 2015. He has also received the International Management Action Award by SPRING Singapore in 2001, and recognised as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology in 2003 and a Friend of IT by the Singapore Computer Society in 2000.
|
Dr Christopher Chia is a Professor of Transformation Practice at the NUS Business School. He advises both private and public sector organisations on transformation management, ICT applications and strategic relations. He teaches business undergraduates, MBAs and senior executives on organisational transformation, innovation and business-driven technology.
Dr Chia has also held prominent roles as the Executive Chairman of NTUC Media and Senior Advisor of NTUC, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), CEO of the Media Development Authority and Chief Executive of the National Library Board. He spent 11 years at the former National Computer Board in various positions, including IT R&D management, postgraduate training, quality assurance, IT manpower development and IT literacy promotion.
It was at the NLB that Dr Chia introduced cutting-edge innovation and business process reengineering to transform the library into an enjoyable lifestyle destination in Singapore. His experience was documented by Harvard Business School in a case study on business transformation, IT application and service excellence.
For his significant contribution to IT excellence, Dr Chia was recently inducted into the prestigious Singapore Computer Society’s Hall of Fame on 6 Mar 2015. He has also received the International Management Action Award by SPRING Singapore in 2001, and recognised as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology in 2003 and a Friend of IT by the Singapore Computer Society in 2000.
Contact Dr Chia to learn more about business transformation through IT at bizctkc@nus.edu.sg