Tag: IT Transformation

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center turns 50 next year and so do I.

CIOs struggle with vision and dealing with short-sightedness. Aging CIOs struggle with that plus presbyopia. My dear friend, Papa, gave me a book to read – Roger Rosenblatt’s Rules for Aging. It was a fun, quick read and I found so many principles applicable to my challenges as an aging CIO.

Rule # 24: Just because the person who criticizes you is an idiot, doesn’t make him wrong.

IT Governance establishes a process and a forum for informed decision making. IT investments are made because of (a) mission alignment; (b) return on investment; and (c) ability to reduce risks. CIOs may know more about IT than someone in the mission area or the CFO, but it takes more than knowledge of IT to make the right decisions about IT on behalf of the organization.

Rule # 16: Don’t go to your left.

This rule talks about playing to your strength side instead of playing to your weak side. I must say, for the record, I am left-handed. But, us lefties are used to reversing things. In the case of IT Transformation, the traditional “strength” of the CIO is in the role of service delivery. This side, also called the “supply side” needs have a critical mass of strength. If email is not working right, it’s hard to trust the CIO for something bigger.

Rule # 53: Never do it for the money.

Sometimes, you just can’t afford cheap, or free. Low cost isn’t always high value. I have a few cheapskate friends, who always end up paying more money for something, because they tried to get away with cheap. The CIO needs to balance the need for efficiency, to reduce costs, and the requirement for mission effectiveness … which is the whole point for IT … to support the mission. You can’t afford to be overly effective nor can you afford to be overly efficient.

Rule # 55: If you’re strange enough, they will come.

I’ve said it many times, this CIO leadership thing is a tough gig. Certainly there are tougher ones – and a CIO shouldn’t fool herself or feel sorry for herself. But leadership, and certainly strong leadership is pretty lonely. Game-changing strategies will set you apart from the crowd.

Rule # 45: Fast and steady win the race.

You just keep doing what you do. It’s got to be fast enough to create momentum; it’s got to be slow enough to produce the needed results. Establish governance; develop credible relationships; shake-off setbacks — oh, and learn from them; deliver results and deliver benefits.

Rule # 38: Push the wheel forward.

The author talks about young pilots who are tempted to pull the wheel back to avoid a nosedive, but create the thing they want to avoid. The courage to push the wheel forward is the right thing to do. This IT Transformation stuff is not for the feint of heart. But then it’s not for fools either.

Rule # 58: Apologize, reconcile, and give help.

All this requires a bit of tough love. Tough, because it’s not easy. Love, because you need to do the right thing for the mission that you love. Don’t ever forget that. If you make a mistake, admit it and apologize. And make it right. That is what love is all about.

This last rule is extremely important. A CIO needs to love her mission. And use her knowledge of IT to its success. Clearly, a half-century of living doesn’t boil down to a few witty rules, but it does give us an opportunity to pause and look at the reflection of what we hope is the fine patina of our leadership.

Linda Cureton, CIO, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The New CIO Leadership Team: The Right Stuff

I just came back this afternoon from a very intense retreat with my leadership team. I think I’ve had 8 hours of sleep since Monday … and that counts the nap I took today during Judge Judy. It is both clear and scary that I can’t get anywhere without a strong and competent leadership team. And it’s up to me to nurture and develop that capability which will have the tall order of supporting the mission of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. So, what does it take to do that? This is what I told them – it takes the Right Stuff.

The Right Future

A 21st century IT organization is needed to support a 21st century space agency. It is a tall order to support the high calling of advancing scientific knowledge. It takes a secure and reliable infrastructure. It takes a creative, thinking, leading workforce and a CIO that is not only a utility service provider, but is also a strategist and leader.

The Right Leader

The right leader is self-aware, self-motivating, and self-managing. She knows her strengths and weaknesses; she is trustworthy, innovative, and brave; and she is optimistic, committed, and drives for excellence.

The Right Leadership Team

The right leadership team has knowledge, experience, skills, functional and operational expertise; they understand the mission and their role in meeting the mission; and they have integrity and put mission needs above their own.

The Right Stuff

We started our retreat with the backdrop of the movie The Right Stuff. The tagline of this movie was as follows:

They were ordinary men and women who shared a common ambition and what they achieved together captured the imagination of the world

The ordinary men and women took risks to pioneer the early efforts of our space program. They were made of the right stuff.

The skills and competencies to do this need to be developed, nurtured, and demonstrated. Supporting an IT program that provides diverse capabilities to pioneers is a great challenge and may, in fact, require supernatural efforts.

I saw the right stuff this week. I saw supernatural stuff this week. We had the wisdom of Curt; the vision of Josh; the capability of Pam; and the compassion of Dennis. I began the week falling at the steps of building 8 in Greenbelt — I ended the week falling to my knees giving thanks for the outcomes of the week and for the blessing of being able to see the right stuff in my leadership team. Thanks team, thanks for a great week.

Linda Y. Cureton, CIO, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

IT Transformation at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 7/4 Time

After an intense week, I had a rare opportunity yesterday to sit down at the piano and play for a few hours. I was sight reading some holiday music and ran into God Rest You Merry Gentlemen. It was a jazzed up version in 7/4 time. For the musically challenged, that’s seven beats to each measure, or one hard foot tap followed by 6 others. So, being a pretty decent sight reader I got through it, but it sure sounded stupid.

Later that evening, we had a family gathering to celebrate my grandfather’s birthday. My brother David was there. Of Harriette’s three children who went to Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, this little boy was the only one who turned his passion and love for music into a way to feed himself and his family. As an aside, it’s worth noting that this former annoying baby brother has turned out to be a fine husband, father, and son. I told him about this goofy song. I said that ONE-two-three-four-ONE-two-three just didn’t work for this song. He said, “Wow, cool. You’ve got it all wrong! It’s ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa-ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa.”. Then he went on to scat it to the melody. After that, he started to sing it. I still didn’t get it, but it sure sounded good. And I listened.

As I laid in bed this morning, I reflected on my week and some of my challenges leading IT change and strengthening the role of the CIO. The CIOs at NASA are often accused of being disconnected from the mission. The supply-side of the CIO (deliver service) and the demand-side (partner with mission stakeholders) are two sides of the same CIO coin. The service delivery role of the CIO is clearly understood and often problematic. “Go away CIO, if, and only if you deliver service sufficiently, we will talk to you about partnership”. So as CIOs struggle to focus exclusively on going from 99.9% to 99.99% availability, we drift further and further away from partnering with and understanding those we serve, our mission. The only way to get through this is to focus on both – delivering service to the delight of customers AND listening to them to nurture the beginning of that critical demand-side partnership.

Well, enough thinking about work, after all, this was a Sunday morning where I had a chance to relax a bit and sleep in. Then I started hearing in my head … ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa-ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa. Then I got it. I was being a supply-side musician. I read very well, and each triplet, quarter note, crescendo were all executed accurately; but the song still sounded stupid. I was not using the right syncopation. I was out of sync with how the song was supposed to be played. Then I got it. Emphasis on the first, third, and sixth beat, not the first and fifth! I missed the whole point of the music and didn’t understand the intent.

Humm, this sounded a lot like what NASA CIOs struggle with. We not only need to understand and execute the tempo and rhythm of mission requirements; but we also have to use the syncopation that puts the right emphasis on mission risks; and we also have to produce the mellifluous melody of mission outcomes. This will take a whole lot of listening, and playing back, but I think I might have it. ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa-ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa -ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa-ONE-two-UM-pa-pa-UM-pa.

Linda Y. Cureton, CIO NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center