Does SSME hold the key to a long-discussed need for IT’s alignment with the business?
Service businesses pose a unique set of challenges, not only from a management and technology perspective, but also from an innovation perspective. Being innovative in service requires that the people and the organizations align with the business and that the technology support both. The novelty, insight and innovation can come from any of these angles, but the whole system — people, technology, business — has to move together. That is what SSME is all about: making this kind of system thinking second nature. And We Aren’t Talking About Eliot Ness, Either If you think Steve Carell’s character on the NBC show The Office is no more than a figment of some comedy writer’s imagination, many of us would like to get a job in your office. According to a recent online poll by corporate training firm VitalSmarts, 93% of the 963 respondents say they work with an “untouchable” like Carell’s Michael Scott — someone who manages to remain employed despite behavioral traits like dishonesty, abrasivene
