CIO has a certain meaning for most companies, but it is not the same as the one multi-billion dollar media agency Horizon Media is using. In fact, the company likes its own meaning for CIO so much it is attaching a Valentine to it.
We are all familiar with the position of Chief Information Officer. But what is the implication of that title? Not much – it suggests the accumulation and storage of data, and does not implicitly suggest any action to go with it.
At Horizon, CIO stands for Chief Invention Officer. The CIO’s mission: “…to further enhance, institutionalize and place invention at the heart of the agency.”
The person charged with this mission is Taylor Valentine, who has logged eight years with Horizon’s digital team.
“We are operating in a world where we have a white canvas and anything is possible,” said President/CEO Bill Koenigsberg. “Today’s landscape has provided more opportunity to invent than ever before. Invention needs to live in every corner of Horizon and become a way of life and a culture driver for all those working here.”
RBR-TVBR observation: The idea is brilliant. Change in this new millennium is not only a constant, it is rapid. Putting a person in charge of not only managing it but getting ahead of it – an executive charged with creating new possibilities for the company – is an exceptional move.
Not all companies are large enough to devote an entire management-level staff position to a Chief Invention Officer, but the mindset of this CIO can be incorporated into the DNA of everybody in the executive suite and throughout an organization. New ideas should be generated constantly – and adopted regularly. Rapid-fire trial, error and more trial should be a regular part of every corporate modus operandi.
Food for thought.
