I stopped blaming IT underperformance on short-term thinking, spreadsheet-addicted, digitally unsavvy Luddites when I heard a teacher-turned-politician share their insight that if 90% of the students fail a test, the fault lies not with the students.
It is dysfunctional to proceed thinking that there is something wrong with users of technology, that they are not clever enough to understand the digital gifts we are bestowing upon them. CIOs need to assist employees to embrace their capabilities as empowered technology value creators.
We need to fix how IT value is measured
Most organizations are pretty good at measuring how much is being spent on IT — aka, the inputs. What needs to improve is accounting for the benefits said inputs generate. Vince Kellen, Ph.D., CIO at University of California San Diego, advocates crafting heroic narratives based on unimpeachable measurement of authentic value, for example, “honest time savings, productivity advances, market share gains. … Quarterly statements are not sufficient.”
