VIDEO | National Science Foundation CIO: Having Diversity of Thought is Critical

(US and Canada) Dorothy Aronson, CIO of the National Science Foundation (NSF), speaks with Denise Verdicchio, SHI International SVP and President of Public Sector Sales, about identifying different types of people in the workforce for effective transformation and bringing cross-functional teams together to collaborate.

Aronson states that the workforce has people who want to adopt change and others who want to stay where they are. She mentions that the NSF has identified different kinds of people in the workforce that impact effective transformation:

• Explorers who lead without knowing the consequences
• Pioneers
• Early adopters
• General population
• Laggards

Aronson’s job is to identify and bring the explorers together to ensure that, if the idea succeeds, they will have someone else try it. She indicates that explorers benefit from coming together with her team and passing on their knowledge. It boils down to those who are catalysts to encourage natural transformation, she adds.

Next, Aronson reveals that the organization conducts meetings where people share their innovative products and get reviewed. She shares that their system, called Hopper, is a place to portray innovations that can be reviewed later by pioneers and early adopters.

Speaking about teams, Aronson emphasizes that having a diversity of thought at the table is critical. The leadership requires people with business knowledge, early adopters, and people who know data. They look for who picks it up, moves it forward, and can keep people together.

Aronson asserts that the IT world needs a networking and a hardware person since the nature of teams has changed. Finally, she advocates the importance of putting the right person in the position without preconceived notions.