Many thanks to all of you who have responded to this thread. You have
provided exactly the kind of valuable insights I was expecting! If
anyone is interested in hearing what the final question ends up being,
please contact me directly.
FYI, I have already assembled an "Ad Hoc RIM Task Force", which has been
sponsoring activities (e.g., quarterly seminars) to raise general
awareness regarding records and information management issues. Our goal
is to make basic information about records management available to
anyone in the company who is interested. (This has the added benefit of
us being able to identify people who care about this issue, so when the
time comes to raise this effort up a notch, we know who to contact!) My
intention is to have this Task Force submit the question ahead of time.
The CEO can choose to address it live or put it on the back burner. It
will definitely not be sprung on him at the meeting. The Task Force
includes representatives from Legal, Compliance, and IT. I expect the
Task Force members to vet the question with the higher ups in their
departments. It's nice to see that this approach validated. (Thanks,
Patrick!)
Cheers
suz
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Patrick Cunningham
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 11:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Looking for one good question to ask the CEO
I think Bill's question is great, although I think it might need to be
framed differently. What I would fear is either the "We're doing all of
things that that we're required to do under the law." sort of answer or
one where the guy looks at you and blinks because he has absolutely no
idea of what you're talking about (if you're not a lawyer, I suspect
that the Civil Procedures are off the radar screen). To my thinking,
getting real specific with something that 1) you know lots about and 2)
it's likely the CEO doesn't know much about -- are recipes for disaster
because you've put the CEO in a position of looking like he doesn't
have command of the business. I guess I'm of a mind that says you're in
a better position to address what you know are the business' hot
buttons. If you can solve a problem that you know they are worried
about, ask how you can help.
And maybe another approach is to work your way up the chain of command
in your own organization first before tossing a grenade at the CEO. If
you're the only one who "gets" RM, does your boss know what you're
doing? Does he or she "get" it? Does that person's boss know what
you're doing? And so on... If you can get to the level of a direct
report to the CEO, is there a way that you can prime the pump? In other
words, can you talk to that level of management and get their insight
on how to broach the subject in this forum? If the pump is primed --
which means the CEO kinda expects the question and is prepared to
answer -- you're in a good place to ask Bill's question -- and then get
an answer like, "You, know, we were just talking about that the other
day and I'm glad you asked. We think we're in good shape, but I bet we
could do better. I've asked (someone in your chain of command) to put
together a team to address this and I suspect that you're going to be
interested in participating..." Now your culture may be different and
your CEO may love the hard, detailed questions and hitting him with
something more direct may be the way to get things done. Only you can
know that approach. But, it's been my experience that folks above you
in the chain of command hate surprises -- and people between you and
the CEO hate to be asked by the CEO, "Why didn't anyone tell me about
this issue that Suzanne brought up?" So making sure that folks in the
chain of command are aware of what you'd like to see addressed seems
like a very good idea. Again, know your company's culture in that
regard.
Patrick Cunningham, CRM
Patrick Cunningham, CRM
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"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
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