File under “foot in mouth”

Last fall I was involved on a project to help a large international organization speed up their globalization process using centers of excellence. As part of the data gathering, I spent some time in South America talking to IT leadership about their efforts to transform the technology group from order takers to a world class IT service organization. In an interview with their VP of strategy, the conversation turned to organizational structure–their Global CIO reported in to the SVP of Corporate Services, putting him three ticks below the CEO, something that always makes me probe further.