CIO reDefined: Chief Interpretation Officer

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine personally, and are not necessarily representative of Texas Health Resources or its subsidiaries.

The roles of a CIO are as varied as the companies and sectors they serve. Even within these roles are multiple combinations and permutations that are expressed according to circumstance. The moniker "CIO" itself is not limited to "Chief Information Officer." No, to be effective in our calling we must stretch the traditional definition beyond this commonly accepted interpretation. This post continues a series on how the "CIO 2.0" will push the boundaries of conventional thinking surrounding the role. We continue with the "Chief Interpretation Officer."

2:45 p.m. Hong Kong, the place of "sweet streams." After two days of acclimating, covert training sessions and pretending to be tourists in Kau-lung (known to westerners as Kowloon), we take the bus to Lo Wu, the border city into Shenzhen, China. It's our honeymoon. We split up, taking different routes into customs in case one of us gets caught; we have vowed to not put each other in jeopardy, for we are both carrying contraband.

Traveling undercover, I move with the flow of tourists and natives past uniformed guards carrying machine guns. Since we were just married, my wife's passport still has her maiden name. Therefore, if they stop me, my detention should not bring attention to her. I still worry about her.

My bags are inspected, and the officials are blinded to the contraband. But now I can't find my bride. On the China side of this bustling customs center, I sit on a bench, praying, and devising a one-man rescue operation. Then I realize I cannot read any of the character-painted signs to guide me to where she might be.

A pokerfaced customs officer walks quickly toward me, gesturing for me to follow. I do, sweating, dreading. He introduces me to another young American also traveling alone. Little did he know the beautiful young woman was my wife! We play along until the official is satisfied, and then we head to the taxi stand. The Chinese phrases I learned in training mingle on my tongue with German (my native language), and I cannot communicate with the Chinese driver. "Canton," I repeat several times. The driver shakes his head and shrugs. My wife sweetly says "Guangzhou," the Chinese translation for Canton, and thus begins our four-hour journey to the city where we will smuggle 130 Bibles to the underground church.

We get to the hotel and prepare the bags for the drop off. The expected message arrives: a name of a street. As instructed, we go downtown and walk the street. Toting our rolling luggage full of goods, we pretend to be tourists, as practiced in Kau-lung. Before long, two elderly Chinese women come alongside of us and put their hands over ours. Hearts racing, we release the handles, move to the side, and hope these are the right people and not interceptors. No words were spoken for obvious reasons. We turn away, overcome with a sense of relief, as the women disappear into the night. Despite language and cultural barriers, we have completed our mission. Next time, however, I'm hiring an interpreter.

The late Peter Drucker, father of modern business, described hospitals, academic specifically, as the most complex organizations in the world. It can feel as if health care is a multiplicity of cultures speaking different languages and trying to complete a common mission. That's because it essentially is. It's a melting pot of clinical, business, academic and technical languages uniting in the service of patient care. The technologist might feel like he is facing a squad of armed soldiers when he's trying to present his case to the administrators. The businessperson may shake her head and shrug while trying to see value in the clinician's argument. Opportunities are lost.

With the emergence of CIO 2.0, a dramatic shift has been taking place. No longer a technophile, the new CIO can speak and understand multiple languages, interpreting and synthesizing messages among related complex cultures. This CIO often comes with a varied background of clinical, business and technology skills overlaid with the requisite leadership talents. With clinicians, the CIO speaks clinically; with businesspersons, she speaks business; and with technologists, he can communicate equally well. In each case, the CIO must interpret what he/she hears in the language of the speaker and translate that message to all the stakeholders. Conversely, if the CIO cannot communicate technical innovations or challenges to the clinician or businessperson, outcomes will be substandard.

There are multiple ways for a CIO to learn and sharpen these skills. I have found the following helpful.

• Mentors -- Purposefully include administrators and clinicians as formal mentors. When meeting with CEOs, COOs, CFOs and CMOs, ask questions, listen and then apply the constructive lessons that will enhance your success. Be a doer, not just a hearer.
• Rounding -- Round routinely with physicians and nurses. They have much to teach those who have eyes to see. Every time you round, you will deepen your customer understanding.
• Reading -- Read journals for administrators and clinicians, and stay current in technology. Learn their languages and cultures and apply them when possible.
• Hire it -- Surround yourself with and imbed in your department individuals who have business and clinical backgrounds. By introducing their languages and cultures, you'll collapse relational walls, create a common language and generate an environment where interpretation is no longer needed.
• Listen -- When visiting with administrators and clinicians, practice deep listening. Once you gain insight into their challenges and opportunities, you can then respond with technology-enabled solutions in a language they can understand.
• Conferences -- At conferences, try to attend sessions outside of the technical domain. Acquaint yourself with the top issues facing administrators and clinicians, and see if there are answers that can leverage technology.

In an institution of mixed cultures and languages, everyone speaks but few understand. It is, thus, imperative for us to be multi-lingual and honoring of the multi-cultural surroundings in which we work. Begin by gaining understanding, for these are skills that can be learned and mastered. You probably won't be on the other side of the globe interpreting languages and signals to complete a mission, but you might feel at times like you are. Mastering languages and bridging the cultural divide is no longer optional. It is required to be a successful Chief Interpretation Officer.