Exceptional IT Just Works. Everything Else Is Just Work
CIO, Monday, April 6th, 2026
Forget the "hacks" - top IT teams win by ditching the customer/provider act and acting like true partners who prioritize good design over endless troubleshooting.
This article is unusual. There is no 'one simple trick,' nothing Steve Jobs said, no savior message to make you feel important. It will only challenge you to accept what we already know.
To avoid confusion:
- What is IT? For this article, IT is strictly an internal organizational function, not a service provider or consultant. The business of IT has little in common with the function of IT.
- What is success? Success is when the IT function is recognized objectively (utility) and subjectively (value) as a value-center, a competitive advantage to be leveraged, an investment to be maximized.
- How? Create capability, eliminate effort. everything else is overhead. Without this principle, our work may be useful and valuable, but we can't create utility or value.
A Caution: Do not confuse personal success with IT success. IT is a resilient 'black box,' and in the absence of peer comparison, organizations often assume any status quo is normal. The visible effects of failure can be hidden long enough for personal advancement, and someone will always take advantage of that.