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Facilitating information sharing is the next CIO challenge

Inherently, nobody is afraid of information as long as it does not harm the person. The problem is when you fear that the information might get into other hands, and how it will be used then. Whether it is the big boss, the CEO, or the departmental chief, like a CFO, or it is the sales rep right at the bottom of the pyramid.  Obviously, the higher the rank the higher is the stake, and, therefore, higher is the level of apprehension. This fear from information is not limited to people from the corporate world. It is much more in places like Government departments, NGOs, and so on.

Unless that information suites you-bottom line targets have been achieved, sales is picking up-very few people want adverse information to get to others. Information could be in the form of data and statistics or a power point presentation on details of a distribution strategy.

Moreover, it is not only because of fear from the external world that people are uncomfortable with sharing information. It is more from internal factors-peers, subordinates, superiors-that unfavorable information is not wanted. A piece of information that does not put me in good light will harm me-ridicule from peers and subordinates, and flak from the bosses.

The net result is that this non-sharing of information creates more mistrust among people, departments, and groups within the same organization. People withhold information within the same team. Does this then mean that beyond a point information and information technology can be self-destructive?

A very interesting exercise on information trust within a group, done as a part of an HR training program, recently threw up very interesting results. The exercise proved that because of mistrust in sharing information, sub-groups of a large group that could have worked together and gained market share, actually ended up badly pulling each other down-to the extent that they heavily lost market share. It is at this point that the role of the CIO and those who are working on enterprise IT solutions becomes very critical.

Till now the CIO was taking pride in the job of information management for the organization. He is primarily looking after the infotech architecture-how should information be collected, collated, and then communicated and presented. But going forward, the CIO will be faced with a situation where he will have to ensure that people in the organization are not afraid of the information. Which means the CIO will have to get beyond the technology mode, and get into a bit of a philosophy mode. He will have to convince the internal users that just access to information is not enough. It is very important that you share information with others, even if they are your internal competitors in any manner. That is when the full value of information can be derived.

Obviously, for this the support that the CIO will require from his boss, the CEO, will be far more than what was needed in the past. In many cases, it might need to be a top down approach. The solution will focus not just on sharing information, but also on what the best methods would be, and practices for sharing that information. For instance, a report on dipping sales of a particular scooter model should not come to just the sales
head, but maybe to the finance head as well as the inventory head.

Finally, to achieve the above what will be needed is trust. Various individuals, groups and teams in an organization will have to begin trusting each other more. They will have to get convinced that trust will be of mutual help.  Then we will see more information sharing happening. And we will also see more information sharing leading to more mutual trust.

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