Dave Jones has over 30 years of experience in multiple IT and Technology leadership roles, working across sectors including Construction, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Facilities and Service Management. Instrumental in delivering digital transformation across multinational organisations, working throughout Europe, USA, South America, Middle East, Asia, and Australia and implementing solutions across multiple language groups and business cultures. Dave holds an MA in Leading Innovation and Change awarded from York St John University. Dave has been recognised as a leading UK CIO and named in the CIO 100 in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Dave is Chairperson of the UK IT Leaders Community. Digital Ways of Working has the purpose of helping organisations of all sizes realise the benefits achievable through having a winning Digital Strategy. The company differentiates itself by helping clients define and understand the opportunities that will maximise Return on Investment, differentiate from competitors, or disrupt the sector it operates.
Here is his story
In June 2018 I made a life-changing decision. The group I was working for at the time a Plc had been acquired the year before. My role changed overnight from what I considered to be a strategic, transformational CIO role, to a transactional CIO, business as usual, keep the lights on, reduce my budget year-on-year type of role.
I realised quite quickly I would not enjoy the new role. I evaluated my options, and they looked like this.
- Stay in the role for 2 or 3 more years. Take the handsome CIO package and accept that I was being paid well, but job satisfaction and a sense of achievement would be gone.
- Hang around until I found a new CIO role that would give me the opportunity to make a significant difference in a new organisation.
- I’d started to hear about the rise of Fractional CIOs. I’d been to a few events and listened to individuals who’d made the switch, and how it had worked out for them (I’ve since learned that there are at least as many people who try it and it doesn’t work out for).
You may have guessed I chose the gamble of option 3 and set about setting myself up as a Fractional CIO.
So, what is a Fractional CxO?
When I think about what a Fractional CxO is and how to explain it to others I think about the regular Armed forces across the world and then their reserve armies.
The regular army is a full-time resource, many are young, may not have been on missions before, or experienced conflict and are learning their trade.
The reserve armies consist of two types of resources, trained resources ready to be mobilised, to make the numbers up for the regular army. They too may lack experience but be suited to certain roles. I think in the IT world, examples may be a Business Analyst or Project Manager.
Then there are highly experienced individuals, who have completed many missions, with the battle scars, experience, and lessons learned to show for it. They may have gained deep expertise in a particular sector or have a broad range of experience from many sectors. They may also have become subject matter experts and have skills that when called upon may give the regular army a competitive edge to achieve their objectives. These are what I would classify as Fractional CxOs.
When the regular army may call upon the reserves is very similar to when an organisation may need to call up a Fractional CxO.
Here are 3 scenarios where an organisation may seek Fractional support, in a similar way the regular army may seek assistance from experienced reservists.
- An organisation has concerns that their IT / Tech Landscape is holding them back, they are losing market share. They don’t know how to address this and need to turn to an experienced CxO to help guide them onto the right path. A Fractional CxO would come in and review the current situation and make recommendations to the organisation on how to address the concerns.
- There’s a special mission that needs specialist skills. The organisation does not have the appropriate skills in-house. They need to bring people who are subject matter experts, to help them succeed and meet the objectives otherwise the mission is likely to fail.
- There is a Head of IT / IT Manager in place. They are doing a fantastic job running the IT Department and providing a good service to the organisation. However, they are not strategic, forward thinkers, and the IT / Tech strategy is not contributing to the wider business objectives. A Fractional CxO can provide that service and be a coach or mentor to the existing resource at the same time.
In summary, Fractional resources can address current issues, support or lead special missions, and set the strategic direction for future success.
What does it take to succeed as a Fractional CxO?
Transitioning from being a career permanent CxO to becoming a Fractional CxO, needs careful consideration. It is a very different career path, which demands different skills and personal traits.
Here are my thoughts on the 3 things potential clients are looking for a Fractional CxO to be able to provide.
- A good Fractional CxO will be able to demonstrate vast experience. They will have as many examples of what has failed throughout their careers as what has succeeded. The failures present learning opportunities and this is where a Fractional CxO can help stop organisations making similar mistakes.
- Specialist skill or a subject matter expert. Most organisations will not be able to employ all the specialist skills they need on a full-time basis, nor will they need to do so. Specialist expertise in a certain area is sought after. This could be sector-specific, technology-specific or functional-specific.
- Personal attributes. A Fractional CxO needs to be able to manage serving several clients at any one time. They need to be able to quickly adapt to different challenges and organisational cultures. The objectives and goals for a Fractional CxO are usually expected to be delivered within an agreed timescale and budget.
In summary, a successful Fractional CxO needs to be able to demonstrate a level of experience that an organisation may not have internally, or a highly specialised or niche skill and the personal attributes to be able to adapt to Fractional ways of working.
What determines a successful outcome for the Organisation and the Fractional CxO?
Utilising Fractional CxO resources can provide organisations with access to industry-leading skills and experience quickly and affordably.
Here are 3 points to consider with regard to what would provide a positive outcome for all parties.
- A clear problem statement or objective that the organisation needs support in resolving and why they need to engage in Fractional experience.
- What a successful outcome looks like and ensuring the appropriate resource is assigned to achieve the outcome.
- Clear alignment on the plan to achieve the outcome.
In summary for a successful outcome be very clear on the problem statement and why Fractional support is needed, what the outcome needs to look like, and ensure there is a clear and achievable plan to achieve it.