Clarify ‘the Why?’

Organizations need to be clear on the ‘why’ behind their transformation initiatives. That wisdom emerged from the panel discussions. Unfortunately, however, this doesn’t always happen in practice.

When it comes to any IT investment, tech leaders need to ask:  Why are we doing this?  That means being clear on the problem that you are trying to fix. That is the commercial, as well as the technical, opportunity or challenge being faced.

The Commercial ‘Why?’

Leaders must beware of ‘the tail wagging the dog’ in terms of ensuring that business needs drive technology decisions, rather than the other way around. The message being: There must be a clear business or commercial ‘why’, as well as a technical ‘why’.

Increasingly, CIOs and CTOs are no longer content for IT to be seen as a mere support function. They want their projects and initiatives to be seen as strategic – as contributing to business success. 

For this to happen, the business rationale behind investments in IT must be framed against the challenges that Building Societies face in the present market environment – how to differentiate, how to grow, pressure on margins, etc.

Alignment between IT and strategy is key. Any investment in technology is ultimately about enabling your building society to be relevant as it navigates an increasingly complex and fast changing market environment governed by changing customer needs, regulations, demographics and so on.

Pause for a moment to reflect:

Q: How clear and compelling is the commercial ‘why’ for your transformation initiative?

If you ask this question of your key project stakeholders, will the answers be consistent? Why not find out.

The Technical ‘Why’

The technical ‘why” isn’t necessarily as clear as you might expect.  For example, with a transformation program, if you ask CIOs and others why they are replacing their core banking system, they may say ‘because the technology doesn’t work’. But is that really a clear why?   

When the ‘why’ question is asked, we can end up with a rich and meaningful understanding of the technical need, including:

• To be able to use data better
• To be able to offer new products more speedily
• For systems to be able to communicate with each other
• To improve customer service
• To boost resilience or security
• To be able to log in more smoothly
• To provide better reporting, etc.

Of course, a list such as that above is just the start of the process – there may be a ‘why’ to be uncovered behind each of these needs. 

When you complete this exercise, you end up with an operational definition of the need, as well as greater clarity regarding the benefits to various users and stakeholders. This can also provide the means of calculating business impact either in the form of savings and efficiencies, improved services, etc. Pause for a moment to consider:

Q: How clear and compelling is the technological why for your initiative?

Getting to the ‘Why?’

If the ‘why’ is not clear, we can spend all the time and money we want on the ‘how’ and still come up short. Without a clear ‘why’ we likely struggle to get our projects approved, access sufficient resources, secure effective cross-functional collaboration, and so on.

Don’t worry if the ‘why’ isn’t clear today. Ensuring clarity regarding your project or initiative is probably one of the most powerful things that you can do to connect your work to the strategy of the organization, to engage stakeholders and to energize your team.

You may be thinking that the ‘why’ was clearly set out during the scoping phase of the project. Take care, however, stakeholder needs and priorities are continually changing. Don’t assume that the ‘why’ is the same today as it was yesterday.

Q: How will you ensure that the ‘why’ of your initiative reflects changing business and stakeholder needs?

Keep in mind that as IT leaders, it is not necessarily our job to tell people the ‘why’.  Our primary role is to ask: ‘Why?’ This is a powerful means of engaging stakeholders and getting their buy-in. In short, let them tell you why they need it.