Kundra: Dead Man Walking?

How should Vivek Kundra, the newly appointed federal chief information officer, approach his job? How can he bring about the change he talks about?

Niel Nickolaisen, CIO and head of strategic planning at Headwaters Inc., an energy and building products company, has some thoughts. In an article on CIO.com, he said his first thought when he heard Kundra was appointed federal CIO was "dead man walking." But then Nickolaisen, who a frequent writer on CIO topics, said he "started to think about all the good that Mr. Kundra can do in this role. Then, I started to think about what I would do if I were in Vivek's position."

Boiled down, here are three approaches Nickolaisen would take if he were federal CIO:

--In order to get the agencies and employees to adopt and embrace "better" processes and systems, I need to make the better both comfortable and familiar. How do I do this? With small and rapid pilots. This means that I need to resist my natural attraction for big, put-the-organization-at-risk initiatives. With so much change to make, I need to ease into the better.

--The CEO's (or President's) perception of IT will ultimately be based on the organization's perception of IT. And who determines the organization's perception of IT? The functional leaders. So, if I were the CIO of the federal government, I would develop very specific plans for how I would form relationships of credibility, integrity, and trust with the cabinet and agency heads. I would spend a significant portion of my time with them, understanding their goals, wants, and needs.

--Were I the new CIO of the federal government, I would find and filter an informal group of advisors that I could rely on in those situations when I just did not know what to do.