Leading the Epic Revolution

HUNTER MULLER is the President and CEO of HMG Strategy, LLC, an established provider of networking events and professional services to CIOs and senior executives across the IT industry. He has more than twenty years of experience in business strategy consulting with a strong focus on IT organization development, strategy, and business alignment.

• Foreword xiAcknowledgments xviiIntroduction xixChapter 1 The Innovation Challenge 1The Psychology of Innovation 6An Expanding Range of Influence 7Speed and Failure Are Essential in Continuous Innovation Strategies 8Fail Fast and Fail Smart 10The New Speed of Change 12Focus on the Business Challenge, Not on the Technology 14In the Modern Enterprise, True Innovation Takes Many Shapes and Forms 18Chapter 2 Governance Trumps Process 23Being a Leader of Innovation at an Innovative Enterprise 27Great Companies Avoid the “Me Too” Syndrome When Innovating 29Cycles of Innovation and Adoption 32Good CIOs Are Leaders at All Stages of Innovation 34From Enabler to Innovator: The Evolving Image of the CIO 36Replacing Up and Down with Left to Right 38Creating a Culture of Innovation 40Converting Ideas into Successful New Products and Services 41Chapter 3 Leveraging Multiple Skill Sets 45Networking and Connecting 48Overcoming Obstacles to Innovation 49Two Types of Thinking 50Overcoming Habits 51Breaking Through and Moving Forward 53Professor of Innovation 55Leveraging the Cloud and Thriving on Innovation 57Chapter 4 Accelerating Innovation 61In the Modern Enterprise, IT is the Backbone of Innovation 69Underlying Principles of Innovation 72A Practical Taxonomy of Innovation 73The Mouse in the Maze 74Managing Innovation Across the Enterprise 77Eight Action Steps for Driving Innovation 79Chapter 5 Innovation Begins with Business Strategy 85The New Face of IT Executive Leadership 88Improvisational Skills Can Elevate Innovation Leadership Capabilities 90Blending Innovation and Operations 95Innovating in the Battle Against Cancer 97Focusing on Value Creation, Improved Margins, and Staying Ahead of the Trend Curve 99Escaping the Pull of the Past 101Chapter 6 Evolving Relationships Across the C-Suite 105From Captain to Coach, from Controlling to Enabling 109Connecting the Dots Between Innovation and Analytics 111Digging Deeper into Big Data 115Innovation in the Age of the Industrial Internet 118Moving Toward the Customer 120Lining Up the Innovation Roadmaps 122Designing Practical Innovation Strategies 126Managing Between Extremes 129Three Complementary Pairs of Roles 130Chapter 7 Why Credible Leadership Matters 131Do Not Hesitate to Be a Leader 134Sometimes Getting Out of the Way is the First Step to Achieving Innovation 137Innovation Conundrum 139Accelerating Innovation Through Partnerships 141A Shifting Mindset 145Leading Innovation and Driving Transformation 148Managing the Merger of Culture and Technology 149Two Tiers of IT Innovation in the Modern Global Enterprise 151A Role Model for Innovation and Leadership 153The Next Big Wave: IT Value Creation 156Where Innovation Begins: Understanding the Goals and Objectives of the Business 157The Four Dimensions of Continuous Innovation and IT Transformation 160Building a Hybrid Platform for Continuous Innovation 162Making the Case for Top-Down Innovation in the Enterprise 164Avoiding “the Emperor Has No Clothes” Syndrome 165Chapter 8 Leveraging Social Collaboration to Drive Innovation 169Tangible Results Through Social Media 172Embracing the Social Workforce 175Putting Innovation in the Hands of Users 177Innovation and Social Collaboration 180Chapter 9 Living with Uncertainty 183Keep Your Eyes on the B2B Internet 188Trust, Freedom, and Responsibility: Keys to Transformational Leadership and Continuous Innovation 190Key Traits of Innovative IT Leaders 192Security is Integral to IT Strategy 195Maintaining Credibility: You Have to Know When to Get Down in the Weeds 196Think Multiregional Before Committing to Global Markets 199Walking the Talk 201For Many Reasons, Now is the Perfect Time to Be the CIO 203Revisiting the Relationship Between Innovation and Entrepreneurship 205The Emerging Ecosystem of Continuous Innovation and Transformation 210A Historic Moment 212Recommended Reading 215Meet Our Sources 217About the Author 297About HMG Strategy, LLC 299Index 301