The CIO Code

The CIO Code:

• I will develop a repeatable process for making decisions and stick to it.
• I will not embark on a technology initiative unless I have a clear sense of how it will accomplish the objectives of an organization.
• I will establish clear and testable goals for initiatives.
• I will test the outcomes of initiatives against their goals.
• I will involve people who will be touched by the technology in the decision-making process.
• I will listen to instinct and “gut feelings” regarding decisions, but I will include those as data in the decision-making process.

This Code is drawn from some of the following principles:

Service: Information technology serves people. Technology has no value in and of itself. Its reason for being is to help people achieve their goals. At its best, information technology is a medium in which an organization operates.

Governance: Information technology governance, or the discipline of making decisions, is the central factor in achieving technological success. Good decision-making principles set the stage for success and lower the possibilities of failure.

Assessment: Success and failure must be evaluated. In order to initiate a project, it must have objectives based on measurable criteria. We can’t rule out serendipity as a possible outcome of a project, but we need to know what criteria will constitute success before we embark on an IT initiative.

Good criteria: Good decisions rely on good data and good criteria. We need to know the questions and the answers before feeling confident. We need to know the assumptions we are using to formulate questions, and we need to go to the source of the data. This means reaching out to a variety of participants, including those who will use the technology and, those who will build it.

Transparency: Human intuition, preference, and habit all participate in the decision-making process but they are no substitute for criteria-based decisions. Rather than subordinating qualitative factors in the decision-making process, we need to acknowledge them and factor them into otherwise quantitative assessment strategies.