Business Intelligence as catalyst for Innovation
We recently had the pleasure of attending the CIOSynergy event at the iconic Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in downtown Chicago. The Panelists offered insights as to how they spurred innovation at their individual companies. Key points ranged from “Have an expectation of something different every day,” to “Put the right people in the right jobs,” and “Just do something.” Then Howard Putnam (former CEO of Southwest Airlines and Braniff International Airways) provided color to the conversation with illustrative and inspiring stories of Southwest Airlines rise to the top. His leadership through Braniff’s Bankruptcy has been noted by Harvard in a case study rightly called “The Ethics in Bankruptcy.” The key take away for me revolved around starting with the “Why” you are doing something, then figure out the “How” and finally, the “What” because Purpose will create a cause and inspire. The hope here is to inspire Innovation.
Our natural inclination is to arrange the key concepts outlined by our panelists and headlining speaker into categories effecting Business Intelligence. It seems as though these evidentiary pieces of advice may be categorized by Howard’s Why, How and What. The Why is “Innovation.” One may argue Business Intelligence is the How. Aligning the How (or Business Intelligence), with Why (or Innovation), is paramount to success.
We have found People and Process to be the main crux of what differentiates successful Business Intelligence implementations from catastrophic cost centers. Greg Galuska (CIO of DSC Logistics) mentioned honing in on the right organizational and IT skills, while Sajed Khan (CTO of A. Eicoff & Company, division of Ogilvy) talked about boosting IT to a helpful status with the business, making end users happy and ultimately fostering their faith in IT. Kevin Larson (CIO of AAR Corporation) pointed out his airline status as a direct result of really listening to the business and seeing the requirements first-hand.
How are your Business Intelligence initiatives fostering innovation at your company?
For more information on this event: http://www.amiando.com/chicago.html;jsessionid=AF703807A1884C2C2B630885B4137B55.web03?page=477097
