CRM SUCCESS: PART 2

Focus

In the context of IT leadership, the choice of how to focus is more critical than ever.

In the book Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence, Drs. Higgins and Halvorson report that people tend to orient themselves based on promotion or prevention paradigms.  These orientations impact everything we do. Those who are promotion-focused concern themselves with maximizing success.  On the other hand, prevention focus is characterized by minimizing losses and other protectionist behaviors.

In the context of IT leadership, the choice of how to focus is more critical than ever. 

Promotion focus behaviors lead towards ingenuity and innovation while prevention focus becomes paralyzing with hand-wringing about optics, including whether the consulting firm is viewed as an order taker or strategic partner, and a disproportionate focus on touting achievements and people pleasing.

The Bimodal Model of Operations

A parallel can be drawn between promotion and prevention orientations and organizations’ increasing interest in becoming bimodal.  Bimodal, a concept introduced by Gartner, Inc., is the practice of separating IT functions into two modes.  Mode 1 is prevention-focused, concerned with safety and stability. Mode 2 is promotion-focused, characterized by its interest in exploration, speed, and agility.  

A challenge of bimodal adoption is the perception that Mode 1 is less glamorous and concerns itself more with legacy application stability, whereas Mode 2, characterized by rapid development of emerging technologies is perceived as the more “senior” of the two groups. Gartner underscores extolling the importance of both groups in positive terms.  Both are critical for the organization’s long-term success. Mode 1 folks are samurais; Mode 2 are ninjas

As it pertains to Salesforce, it may be ninjas who are developing the latest enhancements, but, since we know Salesforce is often integrated into legacy applications, it is the team’s samurais who ensure that a cohesive application ecosystem remains robust.

Implementing bimodal operations may bring two categories of benefits.  A survey of CIOs bimodal structures yielded a “balance of outward-looking benefits (business-IT engagement, innovation and time to market) and inward-looking benefits such as improved perception of IT and change in IT culture. Top-performing organizations tilt heavily to the outward-looking benefits.”

Continue to Part 3…

CRM Success - Pinkus Partners

Subscribe to the quarterly newsletter!