As you can see, the CEO starts off with quite a low opinion of and cynicism towards both Bob as well as IT. Bob’s clearly struggling to be taken seriously. Jim (the CEO) cooks up a plan to engage a leading (made up of course) Consulting firm to help him devise a new digital strategy. Bob is left frustrated by his exclusion, so decides to spy on his CEO to see what he is up to. You will see that he begins to get quite paranoid, even to the extent of using listening devices in the boardroom. His challenge is to try to influence the CEO (and the wider Exec Board) on the merits of greater IT investment in digital, but his brand is weak and he is seen as a Tech guy who wants to do things his way. On the way, he goes through some pretty tricky situations and experiences some “self-actualisation”. He learns that there is more to IT is than coming up with interesting solutions to fix tactical problems. His biggest challenge is changing the perception of IT from a service function to a strategic partner. Does he succeed? Read on to find out…
All characters are 100% fictional and are designed to be a “tongue and cheek” insight into Bob’s challenges. And, while we are having lots of fun creating the sketches, we are also trying to drive home a serious point here, which is that this is a difficult job. We recognise that you need much more than tech brilliance to succeed. You need great stakeholder influencing, world class communications skills, and the ability to lead in an ambiguous environment. On top of that, great people leadership. Perhaps more than anything, you need courage, resilience and a determination to succeed. We hope you enjoy this short series.
