|
Is Bill Tara always speaking a language Bill Sanger can understand?
Bill Tara: Uhhh, yes. Yes and no. Bill [Sanger] has probably a stronger appreciation for technology than most CEOs that I've worked with. But you always end up striking a balance in the level of detail you want to communicate. That's for two reasons. In order to communicate the risk of technology, you have to be able to have a detailed discussion--and yet that detailed discussion is difficult to have with most CEOs. Then again, when you speak [at a high level], sometimes wacky decisions get made. That's why a lot of technology projects fail. The second is the complexity of deployment -- which is just another proxy for cost. The challenge is: How do you have a conversation about risk and cost at the appropriate level of detail?
Sanger: I would say that the majority of the time he's talking a language I can understand. My level of confidence is quite high with Bill, and we try to keep it at a level that is appropriate relative to allocation of resources -- or some capital. To the extent that I require more information -- and you know, acronyms do get thrown around -- then we spend time discussing it. Bill has a high degree of patience when it comes to educating leadership.
How did the MIP project come about?
Sanger: Actually, MIP is an outgrowth of our strategic plan. We get together annually to review the progress we've made against the strategic plan, which is a very detailed process. One of the glaring irregularities we found was the use of data for decision making at the field level. We're dealing with 25,000 employees and 250 sites. The ability to have real-time information was, I would say, non-existent. The business decisions that were made were based on retrospective information or data that could be as much as five or six weeks old. That's how MIP came about.
Tara: Yes. IT, finance, planning -- the whole team sits at a table. That enables us to exchange ideas, and to really look at how technology supports the ideas. Too many organizations I've been at, the technology comes from ideas -- and tries to fit into a business solution. It should be the other way around.
|
 |
|
|
