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| Friday’s Phrase: "C-level" |
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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 | |
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16
July, 2004: Stand by for more observations from the front-line of
buzzword banality. This week we set our jargon-busting altimeters to a
new magnetic zero: "C-level"…
'C-level' is one of those examples of insider language which is self-explanatory in one sense and laden with inferred elitism in another: its value lies in the moment's pause before one realises what the speaker is talking about, although in reality it's pretty obvious. As with an entire subset of jargon and TLAs, the importance is not in the term itself, but in what it purports to say about the person using it in relation to the audience. For that reason alone, the user often smirks while slipping it into their discourse. In keeping with most jargon, 'C-level' already has a refined 2G version, especially common in the US: 'CxO'. Taking a buzzword and improvising it or adapting it makes it more self-important still. Turning it into an acronym is the ultimate in newspeak 'street cred'. CEO, CTO, CFO, CIO – that's 'C-level', and the tide is coming in as far as their importance is concerned. 'CxO' enshrines it. The relationship between buyers and sellers of information and communication technologies has tended to evolve in a clunky fashion over recent years. Since the dawning of time, technology had been sold by technologists to technologists, by engineers to engineers. This was all well and good: indeed, it spawned a subsidiary lexicon of whiteboards, circuit diagrams, spec sheets and so on – a subset of jargon designed to perplex ordinary humans beings. Those 'ordinary' people were happy to ignore it. The eggheads had inherited the earth. Although the extent to which this has changed has only become apparent since the implosion of the technology market post-2001, the most significant change in this area has its origins in the dramatic upturn of the boom. During that period, technology expenditure increased within most organisations. E-level employees – engineers – found their way into the boardroom. CTOs and CIOs led the way to the hitherto unknown realms of C-level decision-makers and smashed through the dust-encrusted ceiling down in the basement before gaining the keys to the executive washroom. The boys (yes, they were almost always 'boys') with oily fingers found their way onto the board. Indeed, it was simply 'uncool' to put anyone over 30 in charge of online strategy, for instance. Having made that breakthrough, their personal stock has fallen steadily since the purchasing plans and technology sales strategies for which they were responsible turned from a meteoric rise into a catastrophic collapse. This led to a quick return to executive apartheid: 'blame the engineer, even those with a 'C-' in front of their job titles. The balance of power has now shifted back to CEOs and CFOs, who may not know the difference between a transistor and a capacitor (apart from being boys, they are also of a certain age) but who can be persuaded on the cost saving implications of new technology investment (that typically means cutting jobs). Where CTOs and CIOs remain in place, they are now more often than not drawn from the ranks of board-level wannabees rather than the hands-on denizens of the netherworld inhabited by technologists. Having briefly enjoyed their time in the seventh house of corporate cosmology, the best E-level coalface-workers can hope for is a position as 'recommenders', rather than decision-makers. The 'suits' are back in control – and may just be about to embark on a string of decisions to make us all weep. Like most self-respecting pendulums, this one has swung back and forth. First, engineers were in charge. Then, as things changed, the C-level was in charge. Then, as things changed more quickly, engineers were co-opted up to the C-level. Now, the engineers are disappearing back to where they came – back to below C-level. All of which leaves maybe one question: what exists above C-level? Simple answer: God (in his many forms) and Bill Gates. Jim Chalmers |
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