Monday's Musings: Who Gets To Be A Chief Digital Officer?

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He…...

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The Chief Digital Officer Navigates Digital Disruption…

Chief Digital Officers serve as a leader who is wholly responsible and ultimately accountable for driving digital business transformation.  As identified by Constellation in its’ recent report on the “Case For the Chief Digital Officer”, Constellation expects this executive to report directly to the CEO and bridge the gap between marketing and IT at a corporate level, rather than report into either existing function. Why? The CDO needs to maintain focus above the legacy responsibilities of marketing communications and enterprise technology architecture. Current C-suite residents may argue that a CDO would be assisted by the guidance and patronage of a more established department; however, the organization needs an unencumbered leader to drive a digital-first mindset into business units and all the way to the front lines of retail and customer service. A properly chartered CDO should have responsibility for:

• Formulating digital business strategy. The Chief Digital Officer needs to determine how to incorporate digital approaches into the company’s business model, which may vary based on industry. But all CDOs must have subject matter expertise and also need to draw upon a background in general management and competitive strategy. In order to lead transformation, a CDO must determine how to evolve long-standing analog business elements into digital assets and capabilities, ultimately creating customer value.
• Activating operational initiatives. Effective CDOs are not mere evangelists or thought leaders; they earn their keep by translating strategy into actionable programs. A CDO will introduce new ideas into existing work methods, which requires a holistic point of view, attention to detail, and an integration mindset. A company’s current value chain will require reexamination for new value creating opportunities. The CDO’s role is to leverage operations and development expertise to identify areas of potential change and turn them into value capturing solutions.
• Managing the organization’s transformation. To be effective, a CDO needs to directly lead a team with diverse skill sets that can serve as a digital catalyst in varied situations. For example, assignments might include helping a business unit take advantage of a new market opportunity, working with external partners to drive the offering of innovation, or helping establish an internal workforce collaboration platform to accelerate knowledge sharing and increased digital awareness across regions. A CDO must understand how to work within the parameters of organizational governance, establish rights management processes, and be sensitive to a culture in transition by building relationships and evolving mindsets across different levels of digital proficiency.

Chief Digital Officer Resources

How to Make the Case for the Digital CXO webinar - August 13, 2014

Research Report: The Case for the Chief Digital Officer

…Yet The Evolving Lineage Of The Chief Digital Officer Depends On Industry

Lately, one may notice the proliferation of appointments to the chief digital officer role.  A question often arises as to what lineage do these roles come from.  Is it a CMO going digital or is it a CIO taking a business model digital, or is it a CTO becoming digital?  Boards seeking to appoint a Chief Digital Officer remain confused as to who or what role should be elevated.  Which skill sets should be valued or emphasized.

A closer examination by Constellation Research, reveals some patterns by industry.  Keep in mind job descriptions do vary greatly by industry which is why in most cases role based research often fails to produce the cohorts that folks hope to achieve.  For Chief Digital Officers, several splits have emerged, despite some non statistically significant surveys over the past few months that indicate more CDO’s are from X function versus Y function.  In over 200 discussion about Chief Digital Officers, here are four common scenarios and how the Chief Digital Officer may be selected:

1. The Chief Marketing Officer is selected to become the CDO Role.  In consumer facing and brand driven enterprises, a tech savvy marketing chief often makes many of the enabling and supporting technology decisions.  The focus on creating digital business models and new experiences is often a driver for selection of CMOs.  Constellation sees this in consumer package goods, hospitality and gaming, home building,  luxury and fashion rands, media, retail, and telecommunications.
2. The Chief Technology Officer elevates into the CDO role.  In many organizations where a chief technology officer has existed and an acceptance that the enterprise must move to a digital business model, the CTO will assume many of the requirements of a CDO.  In addition, many organizations creating a CDO role often include the CTO components with a focus on business model transformation. This is often seen in academia, creative agencies, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, public sector, and professional service organizations.
3. The Chief Operating Officer takes on the digital business challenge.  In the transformation of traditional businesses, COOs can take on the CDO position.  Experience in business operations, business transformation, and general management position the COO to design, implement, and execute digital business models.  Traditional enterprise facing organizations such as Architecture, engineering, and construction; aerospace and defense, discrete manufacturing, industrial supply, oil and gas, and wholesale distribution often show COO’s taking the key role.
4. The Chief Information Officer is chosen as a CDO.  Organizations seeking a progressive and tech savvy CDO, often choose very innovative CIOs. Commonly known as the Chief Innovation Officer persona of the CIO, these individuals help organizations navigate the world of start-ups and their innovation while making sure innovations meet enterprise class requirements. These organizations have built strong business and IT partnerships.  Industries include financial services, high tech, insurance, media and entertainment, mining and exploration, pharma, and transportation and warehousing.

The Bottom Line: Digitally Enabled CXO’s Needed

While the existing patterns of CDO appointments may run by industry, Constellation sees three broader trends emerging:

1. The Chief Digital Officer role will continue to proliferate. Constellation expects that half of the Fortune 500 will appoint a CDO by 2016.  The roles and responsibilities may vary slightly but the emphasis on new business model creation and support will remain a key and common denominator.
2. Digitally enabled CXOs will emerge over time.  While the CDO will spearhead and rally the troops towards digital business transformation, all leaders inside the organization must gain a digital orientation.  More than technology, this shift involves both business and technology savvy required for CFOs, CEOs, CIOs, CMOs, COOs, Chief People Officers, and others.  Digital infusion is a requirement for the modern leader.
3. The Digital moniker will disappear before 2020.  As with cyber, social, e-business, etc, these monikers will go away as digital becomes mainstream.  However between nos and 2020, boards will see the largest change in requirements for their executive management team. Technology savvy and business acumen will no longer be isolated and separate requirements of future leaders.

?Ready to execute your digital strategy? Register for the Making the Case for the Digital CXO webinar or download the report, The Case for the Chief Digital Officer.

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Join us October 29th to 31st for Constellation’s Connected Enterprise: The Executive Innovation Conference For Digital CXO’s and Leaders. These leaders convene to discover, share, and inspire each other on how digital business can realize brand promises, transform business models, increase revenues, reduce costs, and improve compliance.

The 3-day executive retreat will include mind expanding keynotes from visionaries and futurists, interactive best practices panels, deep 1:1 20 minute interviews with market makers, rapid fire high-energy new technology demos, The Constellation SuperNova Awards event, a golf outing, and an immersive networking event.

Your POV.
Ready to begin your digital transformation? Still looking for a CDO? Let us know how you are getting there and what first steps have worked.  Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

The post Monday’s Musings: Who Gets To Be A Chief Digital Officer? appeared first on A Software Insider's Point of View.

Data to Decisions Future of Work Marketing Transformation New C-Suite Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth SoftwareInsider Digital Transformation AI ML Machine Learning Generative AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience business Marketing SaaS PaaS Growth Cloud eCommerce Enterprise Software CRM ERP Leadership Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration LLMs Agentic AI HR HCM IaaS Supply Chain Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain finance M&A Enterprise Service Robotics Quantum Computing CCaaS UCaaS developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Chief Digital Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Experience Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Information Security Officer

New Research: The Customer View on Oracle Sales Cloud

Constellation recommends Oracle Sales Cloud for select customers and partners. Find out why in the latest research report by R "Ray" Wang.

The Customer View on Oracle Sales Cloud
by R "Ray" Wang

After fielding many requests from potential Oracle Sales Cloud customers and partners expressing the desire to evaluate the accuracy of the claims Oracle makes about Sales Cloud, Constellation conducted extensive research of the product. The result of this research which included interviews with customers, systems integrators, and others with firsthand experience of the product, is a recommendation of Oracle Sales Cloud for inclusion on customer short lists.  

This research report includes three customer case studies and revals the direction of the sales and marketing cloud market via analysis of Oracle Sales Cloud's functionality.  

Find out if Oracle Sales Cloud is right for your organization. Download a snapshot of this report today.

Future of Work Marketing Transformation Next-Generation Customer Experience Tech Optimization Data to Decisions Innovation & Product-led Growth New C-Suite Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Oracle Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer

Easiest Way to Stand Out as a Leader

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Some things in life are counterintuitive. One of water’s lesser-known properties is that hot water freezes faster than cold water. It is not fully understood why, but the phenomenon, known as the Mpemba Effect, was originally discovered by Aristotle over 3,000 years ago.

Think about it, hot water freezes faster than cold water, who would have thought? This example of Aristotle’s discovery is the epitome of how many leaders stand out.

You can too, and it is called counter intuition …

I have been studying counter intuition for about five years, and I find it to be the single most effective way to stand out as a leader. A lot has been written about how counter-intuitive truths can open people’s minds to change. Neuroscience describes this as ‘cognitive dissonance’; stopping our mind from processing automatically and setting us up to restructure our thinking.

Mahatma Gandhi for example chose to meet violence with non-violence, breaking the cycle of escalation and opening a different dialogue for change.

Below are examples of applying counter intuition from other successful business individuals and world-recognized leaders that can help you stand out.

1. Build your strengths and forget your weaknesses …

Having leaders focus their development on their weaknesses is a traditional approach, widely accepted, but not very effective. This is because great leaders are differentiated by the existence of profound strengths, not the absence of weaknesses. Counter intuitive for sure. Focusing on fixing weaknesses may elevate a poor leader up to average, but it never made any leader exceptional.

Great leaders distinguish themselves by possessing and exhibiting significant strengths in areas that are important to their jobs. They don’t stand out because they’re perfect and have no weaknesses.

The paragraphs above are the courtesy of Bob Sherwin found here.

2. Hire those who have failed …

In the episode of Hacking the Future below, John Nosta and I discuss failure in depth, and cover the value of hiring those with “failure experience”. Counter intuitive? Yes!

In the past, the only companies keen on hiring a failed entrepreneur would be in the consulting, public relations, marketing and advertising space. However, now startups in various sectors are looking for former or failed entrepreneurs.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, president of staffing firm Randstad India.

3. Don’t think too big …

4. Publicly flog your biases …

When you hold a certain belief or unconsciously decide on something, you’ll have a tendency to focus on and favor information that supports your belief or decision, discarding anything that contradicts it. You do it without even realizing it. Psychologists call this confirmation bias.

While this is a fundamentally human foible to which neither the brilliant nor the principled are impervious, unchecked in a leader or decision-maker it could lead to damaging – even catastrophic consequences.

“Confirmation bias is one of the most difficult biases to overcome,” says Professor Iris Bohnet, Academic Dean at Harvard Kennedy School and faculty chair of the executive program, Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century for the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

Warren Buffet [for example] counts on his vice-chairman, Berkshire Hathaway ’s Charlie Munger, to point out flaws in his own reasoning. “If I talk it through [with him], it’s because deep down I know I might be doing something dumb, and he’ll tell me,” Buffet shared recently on CNBC. [He flogs his biases publicly, counter intuitive? You bet!]

The paragraphs above are the courtesy of Maseena Ziegler found here.

5. Always seek the negative feedback …

6. Change your mind a lot …

7. Be embarrassed by your first version …

8. Go with your gut …

So how counter intuitive are you, or are you a part of the herd?

I write as a labor of love, in exchange I ask that you share this writing if you think others may find value,

-Richie

New C-Suite Future of Work Chief Executive Officer

How the Power of Cloud Will Reinvent Small Business

Sholto Macpherson

SME Tech Commentator
Digital First

Sholto Macpherson is a business technology journalist and expert on cloud software and services for SMEs. Since June 2011 he has published http://DigitalFirst.com, which explores how SMEs can use the latest cloud technologies and the impact of digital disruption on the accounting industry.Sholto has 14 years’ experience contributing to magazines and websites, radio and TV segments, webinars and conferences on enterprise and SMB technology and the cloud-led productivity revolution. His stories have appeared in national and regional Australian newspapers and industry websites such as CRN.com.au and iTnews.com.au.Sholto won a national IT Journalism award for Best Columnist in 2012 for his Cloud Channel column in CRN Australia magazine on the transition from server software to cloud software…...

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Why Enterprise Cloud is Just the Warm-Up

For years, headlines about cloud computing have focused on infrastructure for the enterprise. Stories typically focus on the vendors – Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google App Engine, OpenStack, etc. – or on the benefits such as scalability, reliability, cost efficiency and of course that enterprise buzzword, “agility”.

But there’s an equally large, if not larger revolution occurring in small business where the catalyst is cloud software more than infrastructure-as-a-service. The greatest improvement over desktop or server software is this – the cloud promises easy access to the latest business technology.

What does this mean? In practical terms, a business owner armed with just a credit card and an internet connection can use nearly any cloud program in the world. Often for free on a 30-day trial. The implication of this commonly accepted fact is so enormous that many fail to see the significance.

Think about the hurdles an SME faced in the past if it wanted to trial a customer database or inventory program. A test server had to be ordered and installed by a consultant paid on an hourly rate. The software itself needed to be requested separately and loaded onto the machine, with data exported from the existing application and imported into the new one.

Even a program on a desktop PC still required downloading, installing and configuring before a SME could put it through its paces. Money and time are always in short supply in small business, so why risk both testing out new technology?

The truth was that it was easier to stick with older software, patching its shortcomings with manual processes and workarounds, than to bother looking for a better fit.

The cloud changes all that. A real estate agent in Sydney can test a CRM recommended by a peer in Chicago just by setting up a username and password one evening.

On a global scale, we should see SMEs make an enormous jump in their productivity and efficiency as they move off outdated software and onto the latest cloud programs, matched by a concomitant improvement in business processes.

Take that real estate agency. Imagine if it wanted to boost the number of bidders at auction. It could use an SMS broadcast service to contact all interested parties on auction day to remind them of the starting time and the address. A simple solution to a common problem, solved quickly with a cloud application.

The Rise to Enterprise

The kicker with cloud is that it gives SMEs access to the same tools used by multinational conglomerates. There are no barriers to using Salesforce.com, NetSuite, SugarCRM, Office 365, Google Apps, etc. in your three-person startup.

Enterprise concepts and practices go hand in hand with these technology platforms. As SMEs  automate their marketing and sales processes, or hire and manage staff in remote offices, or map strategies to KPIs – this digital revolution will create a global army of highly capable businesses operating at a far faster frequency.

I don’t doubt they will be more agile too.

Future of Work Matrix Commerce New C-Suite Next-Generation Customer Experience Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth SaaS PaaS IaaS Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief People Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer

Roundup Of Cloud Computing Online Courses

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Amazon Web Services, Coursera, Google, MIT Courseware and Microsoft are accelerating the depth and variety of cloud computing courses, courseware and learning materials they are freely making available online.

Over the last six months since the last Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses, Amazon Web Services has added an additional series of free instructional videos, self-paced labs and selected free courses in the seven areas their AWS Training programs focus on. Microsoft’s Virtual Academy has grown to include more courses, training material and entire section of free downloadable books from Microsoft Press.  Google’s continual additions to the Developer Academy include online courses to learn more about Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google Cloud SQL.

Coursera and the University of Maryland, University of New Mexico and Vanderbilt University are all offering free courses on Android, mobile and web application development.  MIT Courseware continues to add useful courses across the broad spectrum of subjects they cover. The dominant theme of all courses is a new focus on creating and launching a new cloud computing application during the course.

Update on Cloud Computing Online Courses – Full Index Available For Download

One of the best indicators of how serious a software company is about their developer evangelism strategy is how much they invest in free training, easily accessible knowledge, and work to break down learning barriers.  Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are each accelerating these areas quickly.  Each are choosing to freely provide valuable training videos, books and content in the hope of attracting and educating more developers.

In addition to these extensive evangelism efforts, there are several excellent courses and educational programs available entirely online at various price points.  You can find entire roundup of cloud computing online courses and programs here (in PDF) and also in Microsoft Word.

The following table compares the free cloud computing online courses.  Please click on the graphic to expand for easier reading.

Key Take-Aways:

• Coursera & the University of New Mexico are partner to offer the free course Web Application Architectures starting next month. By the end of this course, students will be able to design, develop and deploy a modern web application. You can find more information about the course here.

• DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media is offering a Cloud Computing Technologies Program where students will build their own cloud applications.  Using Amazon Web Services, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce cloud platforms, students will learn how to create and manage cloud-based applications.  The eleven-week in-depth program in the principles, methods, and technologies of Cloud Computing. The program provides a broad understanding of the different leading Cloud Computing technologies.

• Stanford University is offering CS309A – Cloud Computing one of the most sought-after online courses in this field, from September 23^rd to December 16^th, 2014.  This class includes discussions with cloud computing industry leaders and CEOs who share their vision of the future of software-powered businesses.  Previous guest speakers include Hamish Brewer, CEO, JDA Software, Godfrey Sulliva, CEO, Splunk, Human Shah, CEO, RMS, Rob Bearden, CEO, Hortonworks, Bill Ruh, VP & Corporate Officer, GE Global Software and Aaron Levie, CEO, Box.   The course is taught by Timothy Chou, a widely recognized pioneer in cloud computing.  He has been teaching introductory computer architecture at Stanford for 15 years.  He has an extensive background in cloud computing and is a high energy, engaging speaker.   You can find his LinkedIn profile here.

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What Do You Like and Dislike About Mobile Computing

Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

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Love it or hate it, mobile computing is (has) dramatically changed the way we work. In my opinion, working mobile means more than just using phones and tablets, it's any time you're doing your job away from your standard office environment. Being mobile could mean using your laptop in your backyard or at a coffee shop. It could be virtual desktops shared from one machine to another, or via a kiosk. It could mean a screen in your car or in an airplane. It could be wearable technology like glasses, watches, or clothing. Dream big!

So I have two questions for you:

1) What are the 3 biggest advantages mobile access provides in helping you get your job done?

2) What are the 3 biggest challenges you have getting your job done while working mobile?

Your answers could be technical, cultural, financial, or anything else.

Sign in and leave a response, or tweet your answer to @alanlepo. 

Thank you for your replies.

New C-Suite Future of Work Next-Generation Customer Experience Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer

Customer loyalty goes beyond a plastic card in your clients’ wallets.

pending

Guy Courtin was formerly Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research covering Matrix Commerce and how the Internet of Things drives the evolution of commerce.  Guy has over 15 years experience in the technology space and specifically in the supply chain space. Most recently he was the Vice President of Research at SCM World. Where he focused on the service providers that empowered supply chains. Prior to SCM World, Guy held numerous senior positions. He was responsible for product marketing at RSi, a retail supply chain solution provider. There managed RSi’s go to market strategy around their leading cloud based supply chain solutions. He also spear headed Progress Software’s supply chain group. Where he was responsible for driving revenue and market share as well…...

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Customer loyalty is the holy grail for retailers, consumer product companies (CPG), airlines, credit cards, media, and so on and so on. Companies across the majority of industries are striving to understand why their consumers are willing to hand over their hard earned income for goods and services. Why or will these consumers continue to purchase from the same source? And how can these companies keep these customers coming back and hopefully spending more and more.

Companies have created and leveraged many creative means to gather and nurture information from their customers – whether it be loyalty cards you have at CVS or Shaws

grocery store or Vineyard Vines or Barnes & Nobles or Starbucks. These vendors know that for the most part they need to give you something for you to give over some information – usually they give you discounts, early views of new product lines, reward points etc. Airlines, of course, were one of the first movers to give you what was a highly sought after reward for your business – miles and status. Hotel chains were quick to follow. Anyone who spends time on the road, knows how vital is it to have “status” on an airline. While it still doesn’t beat flying private…so I have been told…having that status can usually make the drag of travel a little more tolerable.

All this information has added fuel to these supply chains – an insight into the most profitable client and demand. A view into a data source that can potentially drive the most profitable and desirable side of the supply chain. But are our supply chains getting a less than complete picture of what is really happening?

Looking at our consumers’ buying patterns for just our products is far from a complete picture. Grocery chains and drug stores are very aware of this. They work with vendors like IRI, Neilson, Orchestro or RSi to get a more complete view of the consumer basket. These software vendors will aggregate data across a category or across an entire store or region. This allows a more complete view of what is truly happening. But is that enough? No. Not if our supply chains want to be even more finely tuned when it comes to servicing our clients.

The reality is that our supply chains are no linear and they do not exist in a vacuum. They are all intertwined. The way to make sure our customers stays loyal to our supply chains is to understand how the interact with all the supply chains that are connected. This type of visibility cannot occur if we are only looking at that data that comes in from the loyalty program specific to my business. I need to understand how that customer interacts with tangential goods, potential substitute goods, services and even items that might not appear to be in the same cohort.

Companies need to step away from the loyalty card table…okay they still need to take in and leverage that information. But the data that needs to be added to the supply chain is information of how consumers behave when they are not giving you their information – meaning when they are doing other things with their time and money. Credit card companies have a leg up on this, they already have all that data. Smart supply chains will find ways to get access to that information. Just think about how much wiser your supply chain could be with true demand.

Matrix Commerce Next-Generation Customer Experience Marketing Transformation Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Data to Decisions B2B B2C CX Customer Experience EX Employee Experience business Marketing eCommerce Supply Chain Growth Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP Leadership finance Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration M&A Enterprise Service AI Analytics Automation Machine Learning Generative AI Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Growth Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Product Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer

People, Places and Things

Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

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Everything old is new again...

In response to my Tweet

I find it amazing how many of the 2014 business goals for #socbiz are the exact same as the 1995 goals of the early Lotus Notes days.

- Alan Lepofsky (@alanlepo) July 31, 2014

Joel Demay pointed out to me that Facebook's Graph Search helps you search for people, places and things...



Which was the main focus of Lotus's ~1999-2002 Knowledge Management efforts. "People, Places & Things as the three essential ingredients of an effective Knowledge Management infrastructure"
I especially like how together they support relationships and community, all within the context of what you're working on.

Sound familiar?




 

New C-Suite Marketing Transformation Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth Next-Generation Customer Experience Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity X meta Marketing B2B B2C CX Customer Experience EX Employee Experience AI ML Generative AI Analytics Automation Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Growth eCommerce Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration Chief Customer Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer

Tiempo Speeds Pay and Motivation

Terri Griffith

Professor/Author/Speaker
Simon Fraser University

Terri Griffith holds the Keith Beedie Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. She spent two decades in the Silicon Valley and, in 2012 was honored as a Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Terri helps her students and their organizations accelerate performance and prepare for the futures of work. Through her speaking, writing, teaching, and research, she brings evidence-based leadership and innovation to high-tech, education, and global agribusiness organizations. She inspires and coaches groups on negotiating change and uniquely mixing existing and new capabilities. Her most recent work uses a “bottom-up” approach to automation, including artificial intelligence. Her award-winning book, The Plugged-In Manager:…...

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Update: Aug, 12, 2014: After writing this post, I was invited to invest in Tiempo. I've accepted the opportunity and any future posts will include the disclaimer that I have a stake in the business.

The data entry portion of time-tracking generally isn’t value-added time in our work. In my #SummerOfWorkDesign, I’m interested in finding tools and tricks that help people focus on their work, and not the transaction costs of that work. Y Combinator participant, Tiempo, and other new approaches to time-tracking help speed up pay processes, accounting, and even personal monitoring.

Tiempo co-founder and CEO, Tad Milbourn, is an entrepreneur and intrapreneur I’ve been following for a while. (His Intuit Brainstorm project is the focus of the last chapter of my book, ThePlugged-InManager:GetinTunewithYourPeople,Technology,andOrganizationtoThrive" target="_self" title="">The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Tune with Your People, Technology, and Organization to Thrive.) With Tiempo, Tad and his co-founders (all Intuit alumni), Kyle Kilat and Peter Terrill, take Intuit’s focus on helping people manage their finances and run small businesses and extends it to the time-tracking process -- and integrates it with the Intuit suite -- with more integrations to follow.

Tad recently described Tiempo’s approach to me:

We're trying to create a world where service businesses can get paid instantly for the work they do. No more waiting to track time, waiting to create invoices, and waiting to get paid. Our first invoices that we processed were paid in an hour!

Motivation

This isn’t just about cash flow. It’s also about motivation and engagement. Yes, I hope we all work at something we have a passion for -- feedback from the work itself is a great motivator (and one of the levers of work design I mentioned in an earlier post). However, motivation comes from a combination of outcomes and the tighter all the outcomes, including pay, are tied to the work, the better the motivation. Economists and management faculty alike will agree on that one.

In Tiempo, pay is the focus, but there is also a “Kudos” button you can click on as you are approving the time someone entered. Tiempo user, Joseph Graves of Workshed says, "Even though my coworker and I work so closely together (literally sitting next to each other), it's a good reminder for me to give praise for a job well done."

Tiempo has competition, which signals to me that other people see the need to take the friction out of this piece of our work design. No more watching my friends scramble as they realize they are about to miss their timecard deadline -- and no more having to listen to them grumble about what a waste of time it is.

Do you have a suggestion for my #SummerOfWorkDesign? A tool or trick that helps you or your organization do better at designing work that is valuable, provides feedback from the tasks themselves, and helps you get the collaboration you need?

New C-Suite Future of Work Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer Chief Digital Officer

Your employees shouldn’t be your users

Brian Katz

fill

Brian Katz is a director at pharmaceutical company Sanofi, where he manages mobile initiatives, including mobilizing the salesforce, building best practices for developing apps, handling BYOD initiatives, enabling new devices and form factors for success, and looking at ways to innovate in the mobile space for Sanofi. He started his career working with a multi-national New York financial company as an email architect, designing and maintaining their email and communications systems, which also involved supporting their mobile computing platforms. ...

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Whenever people talk about creating apps the conversation turns to delighting the customer. Companies build apps that will delight people. They will have a great user interface (UI) and an even better user experience (UX). They will enable people to do what they want/need to do. We learn from day one when you walk into a company it’s all about pleasing the customer. That’s why we build consumer apps the way that we do. Then when we have time, we build apps for our employees. You know, the ones we call users. We give them mobile devices or expect them to use their own. We take apps that exist on the desktop and port them to mobile devices. If we have time we may even try and make the apps look good. Yet businesses have no idea why their employees aren’t using those apps.

It’s really very simple. We think of our employees as an afterthought. We want to “do the things we’ve always done.” (I can’t count the number of times I have heard that excuse used!) We spend lots of time building backends that we hardcode (why use a FQDN etc. when our servers would never change?) into monolithic applications for the PC. The business would come up with a set of requirements, the scope would creep, and before you knew it, you had a crapplication that would never disappear. It guaranteed your developers a job because no one else could figure out how it was put together in the first place.

The problem is, your employees don’t want to use these crapplications on their mobile devices. They‘ve been conditioned by Apple and Google that apps should be simple and easy to use. They use consumer apps on their own mobile devices all the time. They don’t understand why work apps have to suck.

Quite simply, it’s time for companies to stop thinking of their workers as just employees and to start thinking of them as customers. They’re going to use apps to consume information and get stuff done, just like your external customers. Why treat them differently. The goal of any company is to enable their employees to get work done when and where they need to. The employees are going to take data, turn it into information and then knowledge. They then act on that knowledge. It may be as simple as taking a customer’s order in a retail store to the more complicated making a change on an assembly line. There’s no reason we have to make it so difficult with a crapplication.

Yet companies don’t like to think of their employees as customers. They forget that their brand starts with their employees. It’s hard to get other people to love your products if your own people don’t. When you treat your employees like customers, they communicate that brand love out. That’s what enablement is all about. Giving people the tools they need and getting out of their way so they can do a great job. When they love their job and their brand, everyone will know it.

This means that you have to follow the FUN principle. Focus on your users’ needs. Build apps that are designed for the devices that they have. Give them the ability to use their device and the apps to become the tools they need to get their job done. When done correctly, it’s no longer about the app or the device; it just becomes an experience for them.

This means throwing away the way you used to do things. You build your apps to meet your customers’ needs. You take their feedback and roll out updates. It’s no longer building an application and then walking away to the next project. An app never dies until you are ready to retire it. You use APIs to create standard connections to your backends to make sure that it’s easy to upgrade apps in the future and to extend functionality when you need it. The time to design and build an app is measured in weeks to a few months, not months to a few years. OS upgrades are easy to handle because you didn’t disband the app team, you knew you had to iterate. You no longer have external and internal facing app developers. You just have developers.

When the employee becomes your customer and you focus on enablement, you’ve truly taken your company mobile.

New C-Suite Chief Customer Officer