Digital, agile, transformed — a short philosophy of business-IT alignment
Imagine the following situation: At a conference coffee break, after a brilliant keynote, you stand together with a few participants — some flattering words about the conference and the speaker. “Sure, the keynote speaker is right, the digital transformation is a must,” states the one at the table. “Especially for SMEs that want to stay innovative and competitive,” the next. “But you need the right skills and strategy!” Like this, one word follows the other. Finally, both experts agree that “IT plays a crucial role,” and that foremost, “organizational agility is the key.” Are you familiar with such conversations? And are they occasionally the reason why you are one of these people that don’t like business talks? Then we are at least two of them. Although, as empty as such sentences may seem, as accurate they are! However, we need to know where they originate. Let’s think about this.
Ubiquitous IT but not management
In the last decades or centuries, we experienced many technological changes and related innovations. The discovery of the semiconductors’ physical characteristics in integrated circuits may be one of the most outbreaking developments; it made so many things possible! Look at your device. It is your enabler, your companion, for many of us, a good friend, probably even a part of us! Quite often, we provide it with a name or at least a personal pronoun. Well, a smartphone is an “it,” but computers and laptops are a “he.” Many of the sometimes quite weird incidents or error messages we comment with a “What is he doing again?” Right? Are we aware of having faith in those technologies, or even depending on them? If so, how does it come that we take the work of IT departments, teams, or solution providers for granted? They are experts for digitalization and agile transformations, but we don’t ask them what it provides for the business’ forthcoming. They should offer IT services, and that’s it! Let’s think about this.
The traditional IT culture
My thesis is that this is a question of culture and alignment. Well, IT professionals are not holy. We all probably know stories about inflexible, stubborn guys. Yes, they are mostly male, and regularly tell us that this and that is not possible and that we need a ticket and if not, they really can’t help us. In such a culture, it’s hard to believe that IT is doing good. However, they haven’t learned it otherwise; in companies with a corresponding culture, the ‘nerds’ should sit in their cellar and provide the needed infrastructure.
New perspectives for IT management
Naturally, utterly different from the perspective of an extended family. Do you know the feeling of exciting projects when people stick together, going through ups and downs, and communicate and collaborate actively? Let’s name it a “clan;” if IT is part of such a clan, we will discuss challenges with them on a different level. Probably the found solutions were lasting longer, and the relationships between IT and business get much better — the same with innovations. The company perhaps has a vision, what they could benefit from new technologies. As a specialist in the field, with an entrepreneurial spirit as well as a risk-taking and rapidly experimenting mindset, IT could help — if the business let them create new solutions. Lastly, in the marketplace, IT can support the company in its competitive potential; it works if IT and the business share a result-, profit-, and productivity-oriented culture. And at the end, although the hierarchy culture has a bit of a bad image, a best-in-class service quality with a reasonable eye on costs and efficiency is also highly welcomed. Such a hierarchy culture can go hand-in-hand with the business and IT perfectly aligned in a collaborative clan culture, creative adhocracy culture, and competitive market culture.
Well, at the end of the day, what would you reply to at the above conference break? I let you decide whether you would discuss culture and strategic alignment, or if you prefer enjoying your coffee with a smile.
If you are interested in contributing to an independent study about organizational culture and business-IT alignment, please participate in my survey: www.itculture.org.
Marcel Sieber
