Around 2001, I had the privilege to be part of a great company and leadership team. From this team, we created a 'charter of principles', or foundational commitments that remained constant to our success - while methodologies and technologies continuously changed. Since that time, I've shaped these Principles into my personal compass, allowing me to navigate and successfully lead teams through the ever turbulent and exciting technology waters that sustain innovation.

1. Building Highly Effective
IT (HEIT) Organizations
Craig W. Ethridge
Practice President | CIO | Group Vice President
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigethridge

2. where I’ve worked & what I’ve done
DEVELOPER
ANALYST
CONSULTANT
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES MANAGER
ACQUISITION LEAD
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
VICE PRESIDENT ECOMMERCE
ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT
DIRECTOR ECOMMERCE
BUSINESS MANAGER
PRACTICE PRESIDENT GROUP VICE PRESIDENT
IT OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
VICE PRESIDENT APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
inCompass

3. IT team’s organized and equipped
from an understanding of their
Business Partners’ Goals and
Objectives.
Time-aware delivery, with focused team
members, regularly interacting with their
Business and Mission Partners, providing
faster delivery of effective technology
solutions.
Continuously embracing
change to support our
Business and Mission peers
as they respond to market
opportunities.
Quality is critical in providing solutions
that can be trusted and relied upon.
Adhering to each of these principles will
provide higher value at lower costs.
Each individual brings
unique strengths that are
key to the success of the
team - and each individual
is ultimately responsible
for the team’s success.
my HEIT principles

4. Business Aligned Development Teams and Business aware IT
Op’s
Effectiveness over Productivity
Visible and Valued
Work
Time bound work streams
Build leaders and more engaged teams through continuous,
informal, and unique learning experiences
Flat and fast
organizations
creating HEIT

5. Fragmented in attempt to organize by
diverse technologies.
Ineffective processes, poorly
managed. No sense of urgency. No
roadmaps of next things needing to
be accomplished.
Everyone’s accountable and responsible,
meaning no one’s accountable or
responsible.
No vision to motivate team members.
Entrenched lack of
processes. Individual
knowledge vs tribal
knowledge.
IT perceived as too expensive. No sense of TCO
and Value - make technology investments difficult
to evaluate.
No strategy, few processes to
insure consistent results. Little
accountability for externally
provided solutions.
Initial Assessment
measuring HEIT

6. IMPROVED. Five teams created, aligned, and
supporting Membership, , Finance, HR,
eCommerce, Masterfile/DG, Phy. Engmnt, and
Corp. Web.
Corp. Web Biz Leader loosley defined. Publishing
area provided limited IT alignment/support.
Business Intelligence/DW not staffed.
CIO Office services not invested.
IMPROVED. Agile influenced processes showing
results in eCom, SSO, and Phy. Engmnt.
Roadmaps have been initiated in several areas,
but Product Owner accountability lacking and
Road-mapping still an immature process.
IMPROVED. Leadership changes
showing good results. New Hires and
Interns raising energy level. Roles and
Responsibilities need more work.
UNCHANGED. Entrenched lack of
processes. Individual knowledge vs
tribal knowledge.
UNCHANGED. IT continues to be perceived as too
expensive. Focus on reducing people expense may
be increasing TCO and creating poor technology
investments.
IMPROVED. Moderate improvements
resulting from production stability focus. Still
no strategy, and few processes to insure
consistent results. Little accountability for
externally provided solutions.
Six Month Assessment
measuring HEIT improvement

7. Questions:
1) The IT organization meets expectations regarding the functionality of delivered projects.
2) The IT organization understands the business objectives associated with projects.
3) Business units and IT assume joint accountability for defining solutions that best meet our needs.
4) Business units and IT meet expectations regarding time to market for projects.
5) The IT organization meets expectations for the quality of delivered projects.
6) The IT organization communicates relevant issues in an appropriate and timely manner.
7) The IT organization is proactive in providing ideas to improve current business processes and/or technology Solution
8) The IT organization demonstrates a can do attitude, flexibility and responsiveness whenever necessary for urgent projects.
9) The IT organization builds trust and credibility to strengthen the partnership with Business units.
10) We look forward to working with the IT organization on future projects.
know your business partner’s perspectives

8. look for and create triggering events
Application Health Assessment

9. create opportunities, not titles
Team Member Insights

10. 2 Use Qualitative and
Quantitative measures
1 Create a set of
principles that remain
constant and contribute
to your organization’s
success
3 Look for and create
Triggering Events that
highlight and accelerate
the need for change
5 Tell your story
4 Create fewer Leadership
titles and more
opportunities
takeaways