Therapy for a CIO

0:00Welcome to Digital Stratosphere, the podcast that helps organizations throughout the world with their digital transformation journeys. Here, you will find independent and technology agnostic advice, with no software vendor sales being, to help you make the best decisions for your organization. Whether you are in the process of selecting technology, in the midst of your transformation, or trying to get your initiative back on track, Digital Stratosphere provides expertise and best practices to help. So how are things? Okay, just a little stressful. What's troubling you? There's just a lot going on at the office. There are a lot of compete priorities, internal politics, difficult vendors, all kinds of stuff. Tell me more about that. Well, we're in the middle of a big ERP project and it's really difficult. A lot more difficult than I thought it would be. In what ways that? Oh, well, where to start? First, it's a lot of pressure from the other leaders on the team.

1:01We as a team don't seem to fully understand that this isn't just a technical lift and shift. What do you think that is? I just don't think we all understand that there's so much more to it. There's strategy, people process, etc. Just all kinds of stuff that we need to be focused on and they don't seem to all recognize that. Have you tried conveying that message? Yes, but sometimes the message doesn't quite land with the others. The company hired me to leave this initiative, but some on the team aren't listening to or understanding the most important aspects of the change. I see. So what are some examples of the types of things that they're not understanding? Not just the fact that there's process change, there's organizational changes. AI isn't as easy and good as it sounds. Project governance is our responsibility, not the vendors. The system integrators are trying to take control of the project, the vendors are insisting that their best practices are best for us. Just all kinds of moving parts that they're not really privy to and not seeing day to day in the project.

2:06And why do you think they're having trouble understanding it? Well, most of them have been through one of these sorts of projects recently. In addition, you've got the vendors and consultants that are difficult to work with at times. The timelines and the budget are very compressed. A lot of the work from the vendors are being uploaded to us and we didn't really understand that going into the project. And then you add to the fact that the software vendor seems to think that clean core is the answer to everything and that their best practices are going to solve all of our problems. The reality, the software can't do everything we needed to. And then when we push back and say it doesn't do what we needed to do, they tell us that we're resistant to change. So there's just a lot of different dynamics here at play that make it very difficult. I can see why that would be frustrating for you. It is. And then those same vendors blame our own team when things start to go wrong. And then the executives hear that from the vendors and they trust the vendors. And they start to wonder what in the world we're doing wrong.

3:07Wow, it's a lot of pressure. It is a lot of pressure. And then you've got internal politics too, which I haven't even talked about. Our own team can't seem to agree on what they want their processes to be. The rest of the executive team can't seem to agree on strategic priorities. So it feels like everyone's not quite on the same page. And how are you dealing with this dress? It's hard when the rest of the executive steering committee is looking at me being the only one that can fix things. The problem goes a lot deeper than the software. I see. And are the software vendor and the systems integrator able to help you? Sort of, but not really. They just tell me all the things that they need our team to do. They've got 50 people on this project, but they still can't seem to get their work done on time. And they just seem to want to focus on the technology all the time and not the more operational and organizational stuff that we've got to deal with. What do you mean by that? They just don't seem to understand how our business works today and how we need it and want it to work in the future. That's strange.

4:07Why do you think that is? I don't know. I suppose it's all they know. Whenever we point out things that don't work with the software, they just tell us to be fit to standard and use best practices. But their best practices really aren't always improvements. Some of them are better than we operate today, but some of them are actually taking steps back and making us worse off than we were before. Yet they still insist that we need to change our processes to conform to the software. So it's just very confusing. So they're blaming you for the deficiencies in their software. That sounds like an offense mechanism designed to protect their wounded ego. Sounds about right. Now, what about your own team? Are they able to help you at all? To some degree, but they still have their day jobs and they're overwhelmed with work. They're just bombarded with meetings and demands from the vendors. They don't really have time or knowledge to push back on the vendor in the way they should. I'm sensing that you're feeling a bit out of control. Is that accurate? Very accurate. That's a really good way to put it.

5:07I feel like the vendor is hell-bent on moving as fast as possible regardless of whether or not we're ready. We don't have time to stop and think and make sure we're doing things the right way. Have you tried telling them to slow down and move at your own pace? Yes, but they rush our decisions and they're pushing us very hard to go live as quickly as possible. And it's making me really nervous. Hmm. Why do you think they would do that? I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought about that. Do you think that maybe it's because they make more money, the faster the project goes, even if it's not successful? I think you could be right. They'll start making more money on the added subscriptions and they'll make their services money faster if we go live sooner. So it makes sense what you're saying. If you are trying to achieve digital transformation success, turn to third stage consulting group. Third stage's independent and technology agnostic consulting team helps clients define their digital strategies.

6:07Select the right software and manage their implementations. With offices in the US, Europe and Australia, our team helps the world's most forward thinking organizations through their transformation pitfalls and risks. Whether you are embarking on an ERP, HCM, CRM, Supply Chain Management, or any other digital transformation. Contact third stage consulting to see how we can help you reach the third stage of transformation success. So what is their incentive? Getting it right. I want to minimize operational disruption. We want to get business value. We just want to improve the business to where it's better off after the fact that it was before. And what's your incentive? It creates more risk. And how do these conflicting priorities affect you? Operational risk. Not shipping products.

7:07Financial risk. Lack of visibility into data. Frustrated employees. Wasted time and money. I mean, I can go on and on. You know, I think this is a good opportunity for you to build the confidence to push back and say what you want from your vendors and team. Even if it's uncomfortable for them to hear it. You have to do what's right for the company. It sounds so simple. It makes sense. But the vendors are pushing us really hard. I get that. But this is your project, your company, your job that's on the line. Not theirs. Well, you're right. Sometimes I wish I could just go back and start over with the knowledge I've learned over the last few months. Interesting. What would you do differently? Well, I suppose I would start off by choosing the right partners. We chose our vendor and systems integrator mainly based on brand name. Our management team felt more comfortable because they knew the names from golf tournaments and airport billboards, but they haven't been the best partner for us.

8:08Well, you do realize that you can make a change if you need to, right? Yes. I thought about that. But the implementer keeps convincing the board that they can change. They'll do better. But they don't seem to be willing to change when it comes down to it. It's it's all lip service. And I see it sounds like their actions speak louder than their words. What else would you do differently? Well, I would have also spent a lot more time planning and getting ready for the change before bringing the vendors and the system integrators. Once they showed up, we weren't ready for them and they just took over the whole project. So sort of a phase zero approach early on. Yeah, exactly. Now, how about your employees, the project team members? Are they able to help you? Yeah, yeah, they can and they try to, but they don't really know what they want out of the new technology. And other times they just change their minds day to day. So it's a bit of a moving target. I can see why that would be frustrating. Yes, we tried putting in a change management strategy, which is helping.

9:08But we really should have started that a lot sooner. Your vendors didn't tell you? Well, they said they would handle it. But it turns out that they think the change management is just doing some basic systems training and sending a few emails to all employees. That's not necessarily enough, especially when you look at the training materials. It's just boilerplate generic training that doesn't reflect our business. So what little change management they said they would do just really hasn't been effective so far. I see. What about your PMO, your program management office? Are they able to help with governance and controls to get things back on track? Well, the vendor said they would handle that too, but they just tell us everything is fine. And the status reports are all green until they're not and all of a sudden they're read and we're behind schedule. And there's a bunch of risks that show up out of nowhere. A PMO managing their own work. It's a lot like the fox guarding the end house. Yeah. And they actually make more money. The longer they take to do stuff and to clean up their own mess. Have you thought about engaging someone who can help solve some of these problems?

10:10Someone whose incentives are more aligned with yours? I don't know. Do companies like that exist? They do. That's a good idea. We can add that to the list of things I would do differently if we could go back in time. Well, you don't need to go back in time to enact this sort of change now. What do you mean? We're already in the middle of the project. This is a great opportunity for your team to learn, to grow and pivot your strategy. The good news is that you have a lot of lessons learned and you can use them to make things go more smoothly going forward. Makes a lot of sense. I need to stop reacting and take ownership, I suppose. That would actually help a lot with the stress we're all feeling too. None of these projects are pretty, but they don't have to be overly difficult either. You and your team sound smart enough to get things back on track. Thank you, doctor. Learn more about us and download independent reports, videos, and other best practices at thirdstage-consulting.com