The CIO article, ‘Solving IT’s Identity Crisis‘, reveals a striking disconnect between how IT stakeholders perceive the CIO and IT department and how they believe they are portraying themselves.
The article suggests that CIOs need to apply three critical components to address this issue – “Thinking, Talking and Doing”.
Talking
The description of “talking” struck a chord as it suggests that “Storytelling is how we represent ourselves to ourselves, present ourselves to others, and represent others around us.” It further highlights that a key aspect of storytelling is ensuring we are aware of corporate politics – “Are we managing the stories we tell about ourselves? Are we aware of the stories that key stakeholders tell about us?”.
Thinking
Preceding any storytelling necessitates writing the “IT Story”. Here it is important to ensure that the “CIO/IT identity is relatability. By this I mean, does the CIO/IT directly and positively impact a stakeholder’s day-to-day existence?” The key message here is that the CIO/IT story must be relatable and relevant to the stakeholders, it must bring the message to life.
Doing
As for doing, the author states “I always defer to actual CIOs who have impeccable records of delivering on-time, on-budget, and at expectations.” Perhaps this is the mot straightforward part of the problem to resolve!
Relevance to Enterprise Architecture and EAs
Although the article is aimed at CIOs, it is also very relevant for EAs who can also experience a disconnect in how they see themselves and how they are seen by their stakeholders across the organisation.
We have written two blogs that are directly related to his, Using Storytelling to engage your Organisation with Enterprise Architecture and Do Enterprise Architects need to engage with Corporate Politics?
In the Storytelling blog, we underline the importance of relevant, relatable stories when creating a business case for EA tooling – “Supporting the business case with a story, based on recent shared experience that plays to the executives’ fear or greed, would be ideal.”
You can read further details, including some example stories, in the blogs, but a summary of other key points for EAs to consider are:
- Enterprise architects must engage with corporate politics: While they should not “engage in” politics, enterprise architects need to understand and navigate the power dynamics and political context of their organizations to implement successful business changes.
- Early political awareness can mitigate resistance: By identifying potential political resistance early and presenting strategic changes clearly, enterprise architects can prevent conflicts and gain stakeholder buy-in, as demonstrated in the case study involving a European insurance company.
- Emotional appeal is key to selling EA: Logical arguments alone often fail to convince senior executives of the need for enterprise architecture (EA). Storytelling, which appeals to emotions and makes the case relatable, is more effective in selling the benefits of EA.
- Use relevant, authentic stories: Success stories or cautionary tales, especially those based on shared experiences or industry parallels, can powerfully illustrate the risks of ignoring EA and the benefits of investing in it, making the business case more compelling.
Useful Links
Using Storytelling to engage your Organisation with Enterprise Architecture
Do Enterprise Architects need to engage with Corporate Politics?
Storytelling that Drives Bold Change – Frances Frei, Anne Moriss, HBR, December 2023
Storytelling Can Make or Break Your Leadership – Jeff Gothelf , HBR, October 2020
The Power Of Storytelling For Your Business: Unleashing Your Inner Storyteller – Candice Georgiadis, Forbes, June 2023
Use Gartner’s Storytelling Framework to Attract Attention From Line-of-Business Buyers – Garrett Astler, Manav Jain, Molly Beams 25 May 2023
How to Sell EA in you Organisation
Effective Enterprise Architecture depends on powerful Governance