Team Effort
Pavitt talks of his team constantly and not only those who followed him to TfL's Victoria Street HQ from the private sector. He is just as enthusiastic about the talent pool he inherited. "I rely on the people around me," he says.
Talking with Pavitt, you sense he relishes not just a challenge, but challenging people. Orthodox views are few and far between and no one is spared the challenge. Vendors have had their "green IT" marketing messages and enterprise pricing models questioned. CIOs as a group of people are certainly not placed on a dais, nor is typical management speak of sporting analogies sprayed about like winners' champagne. "I find them insulting, and I'm football mad," he says in his rapid-fire conversation.
The role of a CIO to Pavitt is not about being a leading striker, it is about people and leadership. "There was decision constipation here," he says of his arrival and how his methods are about empowering people to make decisions based on what the customer needs and a clear strategy. He says he brings "ego and passion to the role", and then finds advocates for what he believes in and people who will support his theme -- the customer.
It is easy to see how he builds loyal and successful teams up. At first his abrasive focused attitude takes you back, but as conversation unfolds you realize that he knows his own mind and much of what he stresses makes sense. He is also old and wise enough to have tried and tested what he says. There is also considerable self-belief, something he says he got from his first job as a BT debt collector in London. "You've got to believe in yourself to do that," he says. Over the years the self-belief has grown, based on the successes he has had. "You ask an organization like this if they really want you and they say yes. It gives you a good feeling." Unlike many leaders, he is insistent that this self-belief must leave a positive legacy. He has no truck with CIOs who build a team or project that, as soon as they leave, falters. He believes in sustainability, "Otherwise, what a waste of time."
TfL is Pavitt's first move into the public sector, after a semi-retirement when he finished with utilities company Centrica. He says the switch into the public sector appears a larger change than it is, and he talks passionately about the role. It wasn't Pavitt who was concerned about him taking the role; it was those offering it, TfL. "Through the conversations with TfL and the government, people kept saying we are worried that you will become frustrated." Their fear was tied to the widely held belief in the public sector that you don't ever fix anything, you just make it a little better.
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