No Chief Web Officer Required

It’s a widely-held belief among various Web practitioners (from content strategists and information architects to Web infrastructure tool builders and application developers) that senior executives don’t understand the real power and capability of the Internet. And, that this lack of understanding has left Web Teams executing in a vacuum, with inappropriate funding and inadequate headcount. More importantly, it has left organizations exposed, as new Internet-enabled businesses sneak up and shut down the slower-to-react belle-weathers. The house is on fire and the C-Suite has got a garden hose.

To address this strategic deficit, there’s been a lot of discussion about the placement of a senior Web-savvy person in the C-Suite to drive the creation of a sensible Web content and information strategy. I’ve thought about this potential new role in the C-suite a lot and think that it’s not required.

My philosophy background always makes me apply Occam’s Razor to any solution, and thus I don’t see that real long-term value can be added by increasing the number of bodies at the executive level. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe there is a lack of Internet smarts in the C-Suite—my experience shows that the C-Suite in most organizations is not “Web-enabled” and frequently to the detriment of the business.

So, I’d like to illustrate how I see the problem and offer a suggestion about how the situation can be improved without creating a new role. 

There are three players acting in this dynamic: The C-Suite, Middle Management, and Web Experts. Here’s how I see the existing interaction:

And here’s my explanation of the dynamics behind this scenario:

The C-Suite’s Lack of Web Understanding

Down-side: At the executive level there is an element of conservatism, resistance to change, or just general ennui about the Web, depending on the individuals involved. Organizations, led by executives that grew their careers prior to the advent of the business Web, have frequently segregated their organization’s Web efforts because these pre-Web executives view both the strategy behind the use of the Internet and the business process of building the Web presence as tactical. Their personal experience of business success did not include the World Wide Web. So, despite the Web’s growing operational primacy and the ever-growing opportunity for creating business, the Web, strategy and execution, is frequently off in a corner, an after-thought in business-process.

Therefore, middle management and the Web Team are forced to manage a sophisticated Web presence with inappropriate human and fiscal assets (often riding piggy-back on Marketing Communications or IT budgets) and with little or no organizational strategic guidance.  

Up-side: These executives are super smart and the most strategic thinkers in your business. They steer the ship and step up to the plate daily to make the big and difficult decisions that impact thousands.They just don’t “get” the Web.

Middle Management Pulled in Two Directions

Down-side: Organizational middle managers are not taking any risks.They are doing what their superiors tell them. From time to time, if there is a Web Expert below them who is able to make a cogent business case for resources or change, they may shop that idea up to the C-suite. But, the middle manager is not swayed by the lure of a cool technology, as a Web Expert might be. They’re looking for business value and alignment with business strategy and objectives. And, what is core to the failure in this area is that they frequently lack the specialized expertise and understanding of the strategic and technical capabilities of the Web required to translate the “give me more” arguments of the Web Expert into a serious business case. So, a lot of business opportunity dies on the vine at this level.

Up-side: If you give them something to manage, they’ll manage it well. They know how to build consensus and get the resources to make things happen. In the rare case, when this manager is also a Web Expert, the positive impact on the quality of Web Execution, and therefore the quality of the Web presence, can be staggering.

Frustrated Web Experts

Down-side: Those who work on the Web day-to-day, from the most junior individual practitioners to the most senior gurus, are frequently weak in the area of business strategy and management. Often they lack the skill and authority to effect real change in the enterprise, but, due to the disconnect with the top of the organization, are frequently put in the position to make strategic decisions about the use of the Web channel which impact the bottom line.

Saddled with the task of operating without strategic business guidance and appropriate support from middle management, Web Experts frequently thrash about, executing on project after project, in quest of the magic bullet that will solve the Web problem. Consequently, resources are wasted or misdirected. 

Up-side: Real Web execution maturity is coming into play 15 years after the advent of the commercial Web. In almost every organization we’ve worked with, the amount of real Web talent related to the strategic and tactical development of content, data and applications for the Web is staggering. The fact that, without guidance and resources, these people create and maintain what is probably the first (and sometime only) point of contact for a business, is admirable and deserves more recognition than it receives.

Web-enabling the C-Suite 

So, what can be done about this?

I think the solution is simple—or certainly a lot simpler than creating a new role at the executive level. The answer lies in the education of the C-Suite. There are a few ways this could get done. For instance, an organization could use outside coaching by an Internet Strategist or, more drastically, replace some personnel in your executive suite. But I think that, for most organizations, change can be most effectively and less disruptively achieved through active collaboration by Web experts and middle managers.

Within an organization, there are usually a few Web experts with some strategic DNA and a few middle managers who understand the missed business opportunities that have occurred as a result of lack of integration of the Web function at the executive level. If middle managers and Web experts join forces, they can combine managerial courage and skill and Web expertise and vision to build a sound business case for strategic use of the Web. Be prepared for push back and have your facts and figures straight. This cannot be an emotional or “because it’s the right way to do it” appeal. It has to make business sense, not Web sense.

Business Value = "Instant On" 

My experience has been that when shown business opportunity supported by quantitatively expressed value that benefits the mission or bottom-line of the business, most executives sit up and listen AND learn, AND integrate the larger lesson instantly when the actuality meets the projection. Showing how use of the Web will make the organization more effective or profitable should act as an "instant on" button for the C-Suite. If it doesn't, then the organization truly is in trouble from the top down. And no Chief Content Officer, or Chief Web Officer is going to fix that. You simply need a better CEO.

Yes, if you are a Web expert when you help make this translation, it might mean for an instant you might be doing part of the job of the C-Suite, but that doesn’t mean you belong in the C-Suite. At least not at this juncture for most. The function of the C-Suite is beyond the capabilities of even the most senior Web practitioners we have worked with—and we’ve worked with some genius-level Web folks. It’s just a different skill set.

For those Web experts that do have the constitutional make-up and the desire to reach the C-Suite, they need to educate themselves about the business, holistically, and make the natural progression to the executive roles--carrying with them their Web intelligence. It doesn’t make good business sense to promote a relatively junior resource to the executive level because of a temporary knowledge deficit at the top.

With a Web-enabled C-suite, all players should be more comfortable and effective in their roles:

All of that said, I’ll allow that some businesses might need a chief Content Officer or Chief Web Officer at the C-level because of their particular business model. If that’s the case, then so be it. But I don’t think there is a need for a new standard role in line with the CEO, CFO and CIO. You just need web-enabled versions of CEOs, CFOs and CIOs.  Those in this role in a legacy capacity need to be educated. In a few years, I think much of this will be a moot point as the digital immigrant and digital native populations naturally progress to the executive level bringing with them all their Web savvy.

Maybe one of them will be you!