3. Colonel Nathan Jessup
For those not familiar with the Jack Nicholson character in the courtroom drama, A Few Good Men, Jessup is the gruff, old school army counterpoint to Tom Cruise’s Ivy League military college lawyer.
And he clearly made an impression on Brett McDowall, the CTO of Object Consulting.
“Jessup could tell the business the real truth about how they live their candy-assed lives under the protection of IT while they buy the most stupid solutions after golfing with a vendor. When he’s done, they’d drag him away and throw him in jail!”
4. Agent Smith
Sticking with the threat of physical violence theme is Mark Cohen, the CIO of Dealsdirect.com.au. He’d choose a version of Agent Smith from The Matrix -- minus his desire to destroy humanity.
Smith you may recall is designed to keep order in the system by terminating troublesome programs and human avatars which would otherwise cause instability. He can take control over any human wired into the Matrix.
Smith also possesses the ability to bend the rules of the Matrix -- such as gravity and the limitations of the human body -- giving him speed and strength beyond human capability. He can dodge bullets, punch through concrete with his bare hands, and jump impossible distances.
“Imagine being able to include the human personification of our business systems in strategy sessions,” says Cohen. “Now that would be handy.”
5. Richie Rich
For Simarjit Chhabra, it’s all about having enough resources.
The CIO of fire detection and security specialists Xtralis reminds us that we all live our lives as characters in a reality TV show.
Tormented by management, loathed by users and hounded by vendors, it’s the daily lot of the CIO to front up each day on set, in character, ready to play your role as the bountiful provider of all things IT.
“Over the years, I’ve thought about why we stay in IT when our budgets are slashed, our resources taken away, our project deadlines trampled and still we are meant to smile as part of our commitment to customer service,” says Chhabra. “Why do we do it?
“Because we mask the reality and do what the producers want us to do. We hide our feelings and present a professional, friendly face.
“So, I would choose Richie Rich for my team because he has no dearth of resources. He’s the richest kid in the world. With Richie on board, we could experiment and take some risks with projects based on newer technologies that will ultimately make the business a lot more fun.”
If you like this story, be sure to check out the other articles in CIO's "Numbers. . . " series, like
The 7 Quickest Ways for a CIO to Become Boardroom Roadkill
7 Favourite Pieces of Personal Technology for CIOs
6 Things That Should Be in the CFO's Budget -- Not Mine!
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