Do CIOs ever purposefully hinder innovation in order to prevent risk of failure and protect their own career should things go awry?
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To me growth and innovation go hand in hand. An individual chairing as a CIO ingrains innovatation into their DNA. Risk of failure for innovation depends on the company culture to penalize or take a stand in the global competition. I believe risk of failure for innovation makes us live consciously.
I'm sure some might, but I can't ever imagine taking this tact. I'd really innovate and fail then remain status quo and never move the needle.
It is certainly a risk, but being afraid of failure shouldn't be a stopper.
The board always want to get something in return for every dollar spent and puts pressure on the point.
In my experience, the best way to approach this dilemma is by convincing the board that innovation is like a cow that maybe we won't be able to milk but at the end we will be more experienced.
Also focus in spend less and fail fast.
Need for speed
A long time ago in a very large global Pharma company, the CIO created situations that ensured that the major ERP project did not go live. This continued for 5+ years in which period competitors successfully implemented the same solution.
Why did he create such a situation ? His insecurity stemmed from the fact that the legacy system was undocumented in a way that made him a critical resource towards its continuity. If the ERP had gone live, his perceived importance in the company would have diminished. For him the risk was not of failure but to protect his own career and continuity.
He was eventually fired but caused a lot of damage to the IT organization credibility which remained an anchor around the neck of newer CIOs for a long time.