Wolf in Cio's Clothing

Tina Nunno

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781629560878
• eBook ISBN: 9781351860420
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Careers
• Index: Business

Machiavellians are few in number in IT. The massive pressure on CIOs continues to increase as the opportunities to use technology in business become more prevalent and more competitive. As CIOs often find themselves at the center of business conflict, they must not only familiarize themselves with Machiavellian tactics as a defensive weapon, but also learn to use them as an offensive weapon in extreme situations so that they can increase IT's contribution to their enterprises.

As Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli implied, you're either predator or prey, and the animal you most resemble determines your position on the food chain. In The Wolf in CIO's Clothing Gartner analyst and author Tina Nunno expands on Machiavelli's metaphor, examining seven animal types and the leadership attributes of each. Nunno posits the wolf -- a social animal with strong predatory instincts -- as the ideal example of how a leader can adapt and thrive.

Technology may be black and white, but successful leadership demands an ability to exist in the grey. Drawing on her experience with hundreds of CIOs, Nunno charts a viable way to master the Machiavellian principles of power, manipulation, love, and war. Through compelling case studies, her approach demonstrates how CIOs and IT leaders can adjust their leadership styles in extreme situations for their own success and that of their teams.

Section II:
Manipulation

Faithful servants are always servants, and honest men are always poor;

Nor do any ever escape from servitude but the bold and faithless, or from poverty, but the rapacious and fraudulent.

Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot defend themselves must be worried.

Machiavelli, The History of Florence

9:
Employ Manipulation or Risk Being Manipulated

A prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by so doing it would be against his interest, and when the reasons which made him bind himself no longer exist.

If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them.

Machiavelli, The Discourses

Honesty is not the best policy in every situation

Our relationship with the truth and feelings about manipulation are rooted in our beliefs about human nature. If we believe that human beings are basically good, then honesty is the best policy. If we believe they are not, then we might feel differently about honesty. Machiavelli was wrongly imprisoned by the duke he had faithfully served. He was tortured during his three-year imprisonment. This affected his view of the world. He had faith in the duke, and the duke broke his faith with him. Thus Machiavelli learned that assuming that others are basically good can leave you defenseless against them when they are not.

As a CIO, have you ever felt wrongly imprisoned and tortured in IT? Have you ever felt let down by a colleague or perhaps discovered that you had been deliberately misled? Have you ever felt stabbed in the back and surprised that the colleague who did it was someone you thought was your friend? If any of these statements ring true for you, then you may need to become more manipulative. At a minimum, CIOs must learn to recognize manipulation when it is happening to them, and take appropriate countermeasures. Preferably, CIOs must take preventative measures to ensure it does not happen to them, and master the art of using manipulation against others.

Manipulation is the dark side of influence

How far would you go to convince someone to do something you felt was best for the enterprise? What would you say to protect your team or an individual you care about from harm? Would you lie, charm, cajole, keep a secret or distract someone from the truth if it was for the greater good? Society sends us mixed messages regarding honesty. Consider how you would answer the question, Honey, does this outfit make me look fat? Do you tell the truth, or do you tell the lie? Society sends us mixed messages. Yes dear, it is much too snug and you’re getting a bit wide around the middle. Let’s go to lunch. You can have a salad. This may be the well-intentioned truth, but both society and our partners will punish us for telling it and consider us both thoughtless and lacking in empathy for the feelings of others.

Manipulation takes us deeply into the dark side of human behavior. At its core, manipulation is defined as to handle with skill. Interestingly, the noun management has the same root word and core definition. We tend to be quite comfortable handling objects such as a ball or a tool with skill. We are much less comfortable, as we should be, dealing with the issue of handling people with skill. When we skillfully handle others using light-side techniques, it is often referred to as influence. When we apply dark-side techniques, we are in manipulation territory.

CIOs must overcome practices that make them more likely to be manipulated

When CIOs follow traditional IT management advice and best practices, they often become more vulnerable to the manipulation of others, rather than less vulnerable. Traditional computer science, engineering and management training advises CIOs to be transparent, logical, consistent and goal-driven. Unfortunately, these behaviors can make CIOs predictable to potential manipulators. Manipulators can often countermand CIOs easily because they know exactly what behaviors to expect from them in a given situation and exactly what process they are likely to follow. This predictability can put CIOs at a significant disadvantage when faced with a manipulative adversary.

Machiavelli believed that honesty and transparency are acceptable when one is dealing with a friend. But he warned that when times get tough, or when self-interests override the greater good, then friends can go to the dark side and turn into enemies, and you are left vulnerable. He advised that once someone has broken faith with you by being hostile or deceitful, then it is not only appropriate that you stop being honest with them, but foolhardy to do otherwise. IT leaders, with the best of intentions, often take a one-size-fits-all approach and democratically treat all colleagues the same way, usually as friends. Machiavelli advised that when you treat your friends the same as you do enemies or potential enemies, you place yourself and the enterprise at great risk.

There are three primary situations where manipulation is more appropriate than influence and honesty, and more effective than power: when your colleagues are deceitful, irrational or more powerful than you are. Deceitful colleagues have broken faith in the past and are therefore likely to do so in the future. Irrational stakeholders are impervious to data or traditional reason. And stakeholders who are more powerful than you are will be impervious to your strength level and require alternative tactics. How many of your colleagues display one or more of these characteristics?

Extreme Animal Ecosystem: Binary Manipulation Animals

Wolves are intelligent and manipulative creatures. Wolf packs have been known to howl at multiple pitches to fool others into thinking that there are many more wolves in the pack than they appear. They avoid fighting with larger predators, but if one intrudes upon their territory they will rush the intruder and break off at the last moment in hopes of bluffing them into leaving. CIOs must master going to manipulative extremes to strengthen the Wolf in the center. The Dove and the Snake best exemplify the extreme binary manipulation behaviors which are most useful to CIOs.

Dove extremes provide fairness and structure to those who want it

CIOs with Dove behaviors are driven by a strong sense of values and beliefs. They have a set of principles around right and wrong which guides all of their actions. They believe that it is important to win the hearts and minds of others in order to expect their cooperation with any initiative. They are often selfless in the extreme and motivated to create a work environment that demonstrates and institutionalizes fairness to everyone in the community. They display the following characteristics:

• Can clearly articulate their values and principles of right and wrong
• Others follow them because they find them inspiring and agree with their values
• Impervious to status and hierarchy, they prefer systems with fairness and equality
• May seem unrealistic, uncompromising or out of touch with others

CIOs with Dove qualities are often very selective about where they work and will strongly scrutinize the leadership of an enterprise and its mission before agreeing to work there. Doves are most likely to gain power when the enterprise is emerging from a period of extreme strife in which corporate ethics may have come into question. A dark-side enterprise would avoid hiring CIOs with these qualities as they actually make others feel badly about themselves. The dark-side executives may worry about a CIO with a strong sense of fairness thinking, They will take my IT resources and give them to others, and they just won’t understand how things really work around here. No, we can’t have that because I just figured out how to manipulate the system we have now and it is working fine for me.

Snake extremes provide adaptability and subterfuge to those who need it

CIOs with Snake behaviors are driven by pragmatism and are willing to be highly adaptable to achieve the greater good. They have a strong sense of goals and objectives, but will make calculated ethical trade-offs to achieve them. They carefully study situations to determine if the methods for achieving their goals require adaptation, or if the goal itself needs changing. They are highly observant, and look for patterns of behaviors in others so that they can predict their movements and find the optimal time to strike. They are highly secretive and willing to use subterfuge, only revealing information or their true motives for doing something if it advances the agenda. They display these characteristics:

• Makes decisions based on the individual situation rather than a rigid set of rules
• Others follow them because they get things done, although it is unclear to observers exactly how they are doing it
• Uses empathy, observation and patience to strategize the best approach way of getting others to cooperate
• May seem untrustworthy to others since their beliefs may appear malleable
• These CIOs excel in dark-side organizations that are immature, highly complex or dysfunctional, and lack clear processes and procedures. They can effectively maneuver in situations where there is a lack of structure and still get things done.

Snake CIOs do less well in light-side enterprises, where their extreme adaptability may make their actions appear contradictory or enigmatic, and therefore render them untrustworthy to others. While staff may enjoy working with these CIOs due to their high degree of empathy, they may find it difficult to follow their lead or replicate their successes since their actions will often be complex, unclear or unsystematic. As a result, Snake CIOs are often less-than-ideal mentors.

The Wolf strives to use manipulation altruistically, rather than for personal gain

CIOs with Wolf qualities will go to both ends of the manipulation spectrum, blending both Dove and Snake tactics at the same time to get the job done. They display a strong sense of values, but are not so inflexible in adhering to them that they cannot get the job done. They strive to be honest and trustworthy, but refuse to be an easy target for other manipulators. Overall, they focus first and foremost on what is best for the enterprise, rather than using their powers of manipulation for personal gain. The line between the two is seldom clear, but that is what the Wolf will strive for each day. In the next few sections we’ll explore the specific situations when a CIO is most likely to need to manipulate and the tactics that are most effective for success.

Wolf Packet

There is as much risk in manipulating as there is in telling the truth. CIOs must “pick their poison” and determine which approach is best for them both professionally and ethically. Doves fly high above the earth, but it is an awfully long way to fall. Snakes are firmly on the ground, but must determine how much mud they are willing to slither through to accomplish the goals.

Remember:

• Honesty is not the best policy in every situation
• Manipulation is the dark side of influence
• CIOs must overcome practices that make them more likely to be manipulated
• Dove extremes provide fairness and structure to those who want it
• Snake extremes provide adaptability and subterfuge to those who need it
• The Wolf strives to use manipulation altruistically, rather than for personal gain

10:
Treat Colleagues as Friends, but Assume They Are Enemies

The worst that a prince may expect of a people who are unfriendly to him is that they will desert him;

But the hostile nobles he has to fear, not only lest they abandon him, but also because they will turn against him.

For they, being more farsighted and astute, always save themselves in advance, and seek to secure the favor of him whom they hope may be successful.

Machiavelli, The Prince

The more they have to lose, the higher the likelihood they will turn on you

How a CIO deals with a new stakeholder is often a key indicator of his manipulation approach. Should a CIO trust all new stakeholders until they give her reason not to, or should she dare to take a wait-and-see approach to ensure she is dealing with a friend rather than a potential enemy? Machiavelli warned that trusting new people below you in the hierarchy usually poses a minimal risk. Unless they are aligned with someone above you, the worst they can do is leave, and there is usually someone to replace them. Executive colleagues are much more dangerous since they have a great deal to lose and are likely to turn and attack someone else to save themselves.

Consider Lori’s situation. She has been a CIO in the banking industry for over 20 years and has seen many colleagues come and go. Recently, a new CFO requested a replacement ERP system. Lori implemented the existing system for the previous CFO only two years prior, and while it is not perfect, she believed it was sufficient for the task and that she could modify it to address the new CFO’s needs and save the replacement cost. The new CFO, however, was adamant about having the same system he used at his prior company.

Lori has a Dove leadership style, so she gave the new CFO the benefit of the doubt that there really was something different about this new financial system. She assumed the CFO knew what he wanted and really needed this system. She told the CFO that he would struggle to complete the other work he had planned for the next 12 months, but the CFO asked her to trust that he would stand up for him with the other stakeholders. Lori made the mistake of deciding to trust him — classic Dove behavior. When she ran behind schedule and the total IT budget ran significantly over forecast, the CFO skewered her to the Board of Directors. Having trusted the CFO over her own judgment, she had no defense and her reputation was irreparably damaged.

Snakes take nothing for granted and do their research

Paul, a CIO for a pension fund is in a similar circumstance with a new business-unit president. The new president has requested a specific software package with a specific vendor. Th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Section I: Power
• Section II: Manipulation
• Section III: Warfare
• Today
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author