Cloud leadership: the director
I believe two apparently contradictory things about Cloud transformation (and other ambitious change programmes). First, I believe that the best way to get things done is through small teams of smart experts with as much autonomy as possible. Second, I also believe that the best way to get things done is with clear leadership and direction, and the exercise of programme management disciplines, many of which might seem old-fashioned.
How do we reconcile autonomy and empowerment with clear leadership and disciplined programme management? Is there a role for classic programme management skills in a world of agile practices? Answering these questions is the job of one of the seven key leadership roles for Cloud transformation: the Director. The Director is the person who leads and organises, who sets priorities, goals and metrics, who creates structure and discipline.
Ambitious strategies such as Cloud transformation require change in multiple dimensions at the same time: skills, ways of working, organisation, processes and business models - as well as technology. They require work from many teams across your enterprise - some of whom are not used to working with each other. And, if your strategy is truly ambitious, then, almost by definition, these teams don’t know how to achieve it at the outset - they have a lot of learning to do.
Given these challenges, it is easy for someone playing the role of the Director to fall into one of two traps - or sometimes both within the same programme.
The first trap is to over direct. Most enterprises starting on a journey of Cloud transformation have a lot of experience in traditional programme management. This experience may lead them to do as much upfront design as possible, to attempt to detect and map all dependencies, to create tight and complex governance structures. Unfortunately, when attempting new things, it is almost impossible to do comprehensive upfront design, dependency mapping and planning (if it is ever truly possible to achieve these things): it is also necessary to acquire experience, and to learn by doing. Furthermore, the over directive approach diminishes the value of teams and the people who belong to them: it denies them freedom and accountability, and places an undue burden on the Director and their central team. If you are in the centre and feel that everyone is looking to you before they can make decisions or take action, you may be over directing.
The second trap is to under direct. Many enterprises starting on a journey of Cloud transformation have a vision of creating autonomous, empowered teams - and may combine their Cloud transformation initiative with their Agile, Devops and innovation initiatives. This experience may also lead them to avoid design, planning and governance in order to give their teams as much freedom as possible. Unfortunately, when attempting new things, it is common to find that teams face the same problems and try to solve them independently over and over again, that common capabilities which everybody needs don’t get built, and that unexpected and complex dependencies emerge. If you are in the centre and feel that teams are struggling, that everyone is waiting for everyone else, but that no-one is coming to you for help, you may be under directing.
I have had the privilege of working with (and learning from) several people who have been successful in the role of Director, in Cloud transformation programmes and other large change programmes. I have seen them resolve this paradox by recognising that the job of a leader in this role is to create enough structure to have clarity, purpose and direction, while creating enough freedom and autonomy to allow teams to make the most of their skills and talents. I have also seen them recognise that this balance is never entirely stable: they must continuously adjust the levels of autonomy and control.
There is no magic formula for finding the right balance, but acknowledging that the balance needs to be found is the first step. Similarly, there is no single place to look for someone who can fulfil the role of Director. I have seen people with a very traditional programme management background be successful in this role, but I have also seen people with an engineering and product management background be successful. Like all of the seven key leadership roles for Cloud transformation role specific skills and experience are important - but leadership attributes are more important.
