How Pioneering CIOs Think

Allies in Innovation

It’s no longer possible to develop innovative solutions in a silo. Why work in a silo when you can work with friends interested in similar outcomes.  Business and technologies executives are realizing that 100% of $0.00 is still 0, and 50% of something is still something.  Focus is turning to channel margins with concentration on selling price and cost plus margin opportunities.  Leveraging intermediaries in the software development channel does in fact increase profit, not decrease it.  Communication to customers goes down and so does that associated cost.

 

Partnerships don’t have to be 50/50.  More and more they are focused on profit sharing. This is how innovative executives are expanding and growing their businesses – minimizing risk and maximizing exposure.

 

The How: Lead by establishing unassuming partnerships. Challenge the norm, to exceed normal margins.

 

The Role of the CIO is Fracturing

We have heard this before and this concept is not new. What is the value of your company’s social network? Do you know there are banks now that only lend based on the strength of your social network? That’s right someone with a minimal social presence and someone with a huge network of 10,000 will not get the same rates for their business loans.  At what point does a credit check not even matter and it’s solely the strength of your social influence (the network effect) that will drive how close to a prime rate your business will get.

 

CIOs must be social. This doesn’t mean only doing speaking events, which we all do. It means having a following, sharing things you might not otherwise be shared and being at part of the crowd you seek to lead. Developing a strong visible social presence and being a social engager is the definition of the new CIO.

 

The How: Be social, share, communicate and be involved swirling ideas.

 

Trends Over the Next 3 Years

The past leads to the future, from 1870 invention of the bulb-shaped glass-encasement for Thomas Edison’s new incandescent lamp to the 1912 glass signal lanterns for America’s railroads to 1947 TV picture tubes to 1970 with the development of the first optical fiber capable of maintaining the strength of laser light signals over significant distances to Gorilla® Glass in 2007. Corning re-defines innovation again.  How has Corning been so successful? A lone inventor alone in the lab? Youth innovators, ‘special people in special places?’ Large corporate funding, fueling innovation? No.  They partner. They share.  They grow bigger together…with help. 

 

The How: Take your biggest competitor and explore what opportunities you have together: to partner to share to grow bigger together.

 

Consolidation Opens Unassuming Partnerships

Consolidation remains an effective strategic tool. Consolidation has long been used to achieve and sustain power in the marketplace. From Jay Gould’s railroad industry revolutionize post 1870, to Standard Oil achieving monopoly power through regional consolidation and vertical integration in the mid 1800’s to the U.S. Steel industry with aggressive consolidation and operational alignment.  New consolidation opens competitive advantage in diverse industries. Throughout history consolidations leads to faster consumer adoption. Why? Because the alternatives erode.  However, with mainstream consolidation unassuming opportunities crack the framework, enabling niche opportunities to expand where they before were restrained. Design-for-Value approaches and new market opportunities will unlock as consolidation constrains the mainstream.

 

The How: Find the edge of value and then find a partner to share the growth.

 

 

 

References

Enterprisers Project. (2015). FCC CIO tackles IT challenges by cultivating change agents (online image). Retrieved July 26, 2015, from https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2015/4/fcc-cio-tackles-it-challenges-cultivating-change-agents

 

 

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Peter is a technology executive with over 20 years of experience, dedicated to driving innovation, digital transformation, leadership, and data in business. He helps organizations connect strategy to execution to maximize company performance. He has been recognized for Digital Innovation by CIO 100, MIT Sloan, Computerworld, and the Project Management Institute. As Managing Director at OROCA Innovations, Peter leads the CXO advisory services practice, driving digital strategies. Peter was honored as an MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award Finalist in 2015 and is a regular contributor to CIO.com on innovation. Peter has led businesses through complex changes, including the adoption of data-first approaches for portfolio management, lean six sigma for operational excellence, departmental transformations, process improvements, maximizing team performance, designing new IT operating models, digitizing platforms, leading large-scale mission-critical technology deployments, product management, agile methodologies, and building high-performance teams. As Chief Information Officer, Peter was responsible for Connecticut’s Health Insurance Exchange’s (HIX) industry-leading digital platform transforming consumerism and retail-oriented services for the health insurance industry. Peter championed the Connecticut marketplace digital implementation with a transformational cloud-based SaaS platform and mobile application recognized as a 2014 PMI Project of the Year Award finalist, CIO 100, and awards for best digital services, API, and platform. He also received a lifetime achievement award for leadership and digital transformation, honored as a 2016 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader. Peter is the author of Learning Intelligence: Expand Thinking. Absorb Alternative. Unlock Possibilities (2017), which Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller Triggers, calls "a must-read for any leader wanting to compete in the innovation-powered landscape of today." Peter also authored The Power of Blockchain for Healthcare: How Blockchain Will Ignite The Future of Healthcare (2017), the first book to explore the vast opportunities for blockchain to transform the patient experience. Peter has a B.S. in C.I.S from Bentley University and an MBA from Quinnipiac University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He earned his PMP® in 2001 and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Masters in Business Relationship Management (MBRM) and Certified Scrum Master. As a Commercial Rated Aviation Pilot and Master Scuba Diver, Peter understands first hand, how to anticipate change and lead boldly.