Building culture in IT teams during this period of Digital Transformation. As presented by Paul Cooper at CIO Mining Australia Summit (Perth, 2017)

1. Vision | Traction | Results

2. “Dinosaurs to DevOps”
The Secret Sauce!
“Building Culture in IT Teams in a New World”
CIO Mining Australia Summit
Paul Cooper
May 2017
Vision | Traction | Results

3. Topics
• Introduction / Overview
• Front-Line Themes
• How Are We Treating People?
• Challenges
• Open Discussion
• Learnings / Guidance

4. About estrat
We're a niche IT consulting practice providing strategic advisory and expert
services relating to IT applications, infrastructure, and cloud.
We provide "change" and "transformation“ services as we help our clients tackle
their big decisions, standing with them each step of the way to achieve their end
goals.
Our clients include; AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold, Citic Pacific Mining, Horizon
Power, Impala Platinum, Ok Tedi Mining, News Limited, Northern Star Resources,
RCR Tomlinson, Seven West Media, Rio Tinto and the West Australian
Government.
We are based in Perth, Western Australia and also have staff in South Africa and
the United Kingdom.
We have a LOT of experience in Australia, Africa and the Americas (Sydney to
Sierra Leone, Johannesburg to Joondalup).

5. Our Projects

6. Observations
Common Themes from the Front Line

7. All figuring out what
“digital” really means
Multi-speed cloud
adoption
We're all saying pretty
similar things about
starting small and failing
fast
Rise of data analytics and
data scientists
OPEX focus – capital
avoidance
C-Level ‘language’
changing (Finance to IT)
Executive rank instability
Shrinking decision times
with imperfect
information
People / staff
disenfranchised
“Buzz” for those who are
on board
Increasing activity
generally
Tectonic shifts and
palpable disruption
Lots of people standing,
and lots of sticky notes!
Infrastructure as code
IOT’s patchy momentum
The “network” is
everything
What We Are Seeing – Cross-Industry

8. How to Make Gravy
Creating Opportunities for Our People in this Period of Change

9. Common Reactions and Feelings to Escalating Change
• Uncertainty / fear of change and getting left behind
• Resistance
• Denial
• Jealousy / Anger
• Relief
• Excitement / elation (“buzz”)
• Pride
• Comradery / belonging, and…

10. Contributing Factors
• Pace and stage of industry sector disruption
• Amount of change
• Legacy
• Leadership and organisational culture
• Organisational care factor and support
• Time (in industry / organisation)
• and …

11. Some of Our Challenges
• Having the right skills at the right time
• Staff retention
• Remuneration / reward
• Motivation
• Building a ‘start up’ culture in a
traditional business
• Maintaining enthusiasm, innovation,
and creativity …

12. How Are We Treating Each Other?
• Inclusion
• Accountability
• Control
• Mentorship
• Training
• Motivation / Reward, and …

13. Questions
• Are we creating a legacy?
• Is it any more pronounced than previous waves?
• What are the asteroids heading our way?
• Which roles will exist?
• Which won’t?
• ______________________
• ______________________
• Do our KPIs include the ability to adapt to change?
• How do we skill up our teams (and what do we skill
them up in)?

14. Foundations for Building Culture
• Darwin “It is not the strongest of the species that survives.
It is the one that is most adaptable to change"
(paraphrased by Scott Farquhar at AWS Summit) – how do
we teach this?
• Recognising culture is critical, and investing in it
• Creating interest and excitement
• Involvement and ownership
• Leadership
• ____________________
• ____________________
• Training, and …

15. Thank You!