CEOs! You can Create an Agile Organization"

Seminar on

CEOs! You can Create an Agile Organization

By Prem Kamble

About the Seminar

It is a proven fact that Companies which succeed today are companies that have the agility to change.

Here are two simple questions: First, what is the greatest driver of change today? No prizes for guessing, it is Information Technology.

Second, what is the biggest hindrance to change? No prizes for guessing again - it's people, more significantly, people's attitude.

You want to be tech-savvy, but do not know where to start. There is good news! As a top executive, you need not know complex technology, but something very simple.

It is a no-brainer therefore to conclude that agility depends on people and their attitude to change. CEOs, therefore, need to make special efforts to change people's attitude towards IT and IT-Driven Change if you want to create a successful agile organization.

So far your emphasis on training has been very lop-sided - while you know the need for honing the technical skills of the IT people, have you ever thought of building your own skills to handle IT driven change and its impact on people? Have you ever thought that your leadership team too (which is the other strong partner in the IT game) too needs to enhance its skills to be able to imbibe and handle the change brought about by IT?

While IT drives the change, people naturally and strongly resist change. Change is unsettling. The problem is compounded by peoples's fear of technology. Most managers are not comfortable with IT. "I just don't understand this technology" is a very common phrase heard in offices.

If people's fear of IT and their attitude towards IT is the deterrent for agility and change, there is every reason to focus on efforts to overcome this fear of IT, reduce the stress of people by comforting them and addressing the attitude issue.

The CEO is most suited to drive change in an organization and create an agile organization. Driving any change needs authority, and a CEO is the person who wields that authority on each and every person in the organization. Paradoxically, IT department, who are the drivers of change, have no authority over any of those who have to imbibe the change if IT has to be successful.

In such a situation, the IT department looks upon the CEOs to assist in bringing about a change and wielding the authority which can make their lives simpler. But the CEOs have been avoiding it and at best delegating IT to more junior officers because of lack of comfort feeling with IT.

The CEO has a role cut out in this path towards driving change and agility. But the CEOs have been avoiding it because of want of the right skills, and to some extent their own fear of technology. There is good news. There is no need to know technology to be a good CEO. But at the same time there are some other very simple things to know, which unfortunately are not taught in any schools nor are being talked about in any forums.

Why this Seminar?

Benefits for You

There is a very subtle difference in the way we should look at computers. When we realize this distinction, there will be a marked difference in our comprehension of computers.

This seminar steers clear of any heavy technology. It covers some very simple ideas which every CEO must know in order to be a good IT-Change Manager, and thus open the doors to a more agile business model. There are some simple things about this technology that you need to learn and a lot of it that you need to unlearn. You need to understand how people behave under IT Driven change and what are their common misconceptions. It is more of a mindset issue which needs to be corrected. But it cannot be taken lightly because mindset issues are the most difficult to change.

Prem Kamble, through his close observations and analysis has discovered that we managers still operate with an industrial age mindset and need to change to a information age perspective. The seminar uses a unique method called the "Time Swing Analysis" Method to analyse industrial age psychology and identify the mindset change required to be a successful manager of the information age.

The seminar helps CEOs to stop perceiving their lack of IT specific knowledge as being a barrier to the effective use of technology in their organizations.

What will Change for You

Computerization has been a pain in the neck for most CEOs. A lot of it has to do with their ignorance - "I just don't understand anything of this. I don't know what to do when there is a problem, so I just leave it to my managers."

Imagine you are the CEO overseeing say a Financial System implementation in your company. The system implementation is in shambles. The IT Head thinks Finance department is not doing its job and Finance department thinks IT is not doing its job. Things just aren't working out. You know that as a CEO you must take it head on and call for a meeting, but sub-consciously, you keep postponing this meeting because you just do not know what to do after you call for a meeting. After all this technology stuff doesn't make sense to you. Finally, you call them for a meeting and listen to both, but all this sounds so complicated. You sense the strange pain in the belly because you just don't know what to do. You don't at all feel that you are in control since it is all so confusing. Finally, you say, "You are both senior managers, I leave it to you to sort out the problem, but I don't want it escalated to me. You do whatever you want, but I don't want to see any conflict there." You feel the pain and frustration because you are not in control.

You might as well have come on heavily on one or both of them. Either way, your inaction or your over reaction can cause havoc. It may be a good approach sometimes to delegate and let the managers sort out the issue. But not so in this case.

Do you want to change this? Do you want to be in control? Do you want to know what is causing the problem? Do you want to know what should be your action in such a situation? Do you want to be clear as to what actions on your part can make or mar the situation? Do you want to clearly see the possible causes of the confusion so that you can more confidently address the issue and not feel frustrated about your helplessness? Or do you just want to leave it saying, "I just don't understand this IT stuff. It is too technical"?.

You will learn in this seminar that after all it is not so technical, and all within your purview.

What will change for you is the following:

You have been consciously or subconsciously avoiding to address the problem head on. After the seminar you will feel confident to address it head-on.

There will be a marked change in the way you see the problem, leave alone address this problem

You will be more clear in your mind and will have no hesitation, or goose bumps in your belly.

You will not avoid but make positive contribution - just the right one - not too less to let it drift nor too much to interfere and de-motivate the team

You will be able to direct the project with a purpose.

You will be able to intelligently look at your team and make the right choices of people with the right frame of mind to make the project a success.

You will know what to monitor, what actually causes problems (as against what appears to cause problems) and how to address these problems. In short, you will know what are the right strings to pull.

What Do You Gain as a Participant

You will know

How people behave under the impact of changes taking place in your organization due to automation

The characteristics of information technology itself, some inherent flaws and pitfalls which makes it so painful to implement it

How to safeguard against these pitfalls

Major misconceptions which are the root cause of employee stress, friction between peers and frustration in companies.

Benefits for your Company

This seminar will help improve Organizational Readiness to IT-Diven Change.

Corporates are incurring heavy losses on account of failed implementations - leave alone the opportunity cost and the impact of friction and frustration among senior managers.

Statistics place implementation failures to anything between 60% and 80%. The cost of ERP implementation is not the software cost alone, it includes hardware cost, training cost, cost of senior people's time and most important the consultant fees, which are very high.

The cost of average ERP implementation for a medium to large enterprise with 100 to 250 users is about Rs. 25 million and the total cost of ownership around Rs. 45 million (Source: Aberdeen Group, August 2006). With cost of services having shot up, the cost will be higher.

With average 70% failure rate, you know what to expect. Would you like to only blame it on the IT folks for this failure and wash your hands off or contribute actively and effectively to make it a success? After all computerization success would impact your success more than it would affect the IT folks. After all success in your field depends on how you can effectively use cutting edge technology to your advantage.

Who Should Participate?

This seminar is exclusively for CEOs of any business who want to make a difference by succefully bringing about rapid and smooth changes to meet the business requirements.

Why Us

Prem Kamble is a Computer Professional with MBA from IIM Calcutta and B.Tech. from IIT Bombay. He has passed Advanced Management course called "Energo Cybernetic Strategy" with flying colors from Germany. He has also attended self-development programs like Est, Forum, Advanced Course, SELP (Self Expression & Leadership Program), etc. organized by Landmark Education Foundation, USA (earlier Centers Network) which have helped him to develop a broader outlook and a different way of thinking.

He has successfully overseen technology transitions for over 25 years. During his career, he has been a keen student of IT Management, Change Management, particularly the people and psychological issues of IT transformation. Here he shares his rich experience and learning with Top Professionals like you.

He has very closely interacted with people and lived with them during the struggle of technological changes. He, therefore, knows their fears, discomforts, anxieties and frustrations as they go through the implementations. He also knows what exactly they think they need to know of this technology, and what they should actually know.

He has worked both as Software Delivery head in SEI Level 5 companies and as Head of Technology in manufacturing companies. As Software Delivery Head in SEI Level 5 company, he created records of

Delivering all projects on time

Highest Repeat Orders

Highest Resource Utilization

As Head of IT in companies like Essar, Sutherland, Pidilite, Modi Rubber, etc. he has been extremely successful in conceptualizing and implementing computerized systems in the toughest of situations. He has expertise right from high-level IT Strategies and Management of IT-Driven-Change to down-to-earth software delivery.

He started his career as an analyst/ programmer and in less than five years was heading the IT function for a group of companies. He has major contribution in introducing computers for business applications in reputed companies. His areas of interest are business orientation and human orientation in Information Technology, study of the psychology of evolution from industrial era to information age, etc.

With a right mix of People, Process and Technology (PPT) expertise, he specializes in Business Process Automation focused on business objectives and people. Having managed IT on behalf of both IT user companies and SEI CMM Level 5 software manufacturing companies, he has expertise right from high level IT Strategies, Change Management, Strategies for IT implementations, upto down to earth system architecture and software delivery. With his close study of the businesses and people, he brings the insight to develop business solutions that work for businesses and people.

He has published articles on InfoTech management in the country's leading magazines. Most of the articles display an 'out-of-the-box' thinking and a knack to see what is not so obvious. He has also written on an objective analysis of God and Religion. Though these two areas of IT Management and Religion may seem to be poles apart, Prem believes that they are actually very closely related - both are a study into the human psychology of change.

Credentials

Success Stories/ Real Life Case Studies

On Business Orientation in IT

Prem Kamble's IT Strategy to get maximum Business Benefit was published in Times of India. This is an excellent real life case study of ways to maximize your business benefits in IT. Click here to Read.

On People Orientation in IT

Prem Kamble created a record in a SEI Level 5 company by delivering all projects on time and to specs, to the utmost delight of his overseas customers. He penned down the success factors in an article. Click here to Read.

On Successful IT Implementation Strategy

His Implementation Strategy and People orientation which led to the success was published as a cover article in Computers Today. This makes a good case study in key success factors of IT Implementations in companies. Click here to Read.