Kinko's Chief Technology Officer Allen Dickason calls it being a translator and readily admits that it is a critical part of his job and, equally important, an essential skill if the relationship between him and the CEO is to be productive and respectful. "I have to be able to explain in plain English the details of the technology strategy that the CEO is alluding to," he says. "If I can't translate the excitement and the innovation in plain words - not techno-babble - that anyone can understand, whether they're a business unit head or an investor at a road show, then I'm failing in the communication aspect of my job."

Process Management

Process is the most difficult part of the CEO-CIO relationship to navigate. Even with the best intentions, it can take a long time to truly integrate the CIO into the core activities of the company's business units. CEOs need to demand that when their CIO heads an initiative, he or she is responsible not only for developing and installing the new system, but also for managing (or co-managing with the business unit chief) the value that the system brings to the company.

Once he or she has the CEO's imprimatur, the CIO has to foster the process relationship with business units by providing demand-management strategies that help scope, model, and prioritize technology expenditures. This way the business unit head has a good idea at the beginning of the budget year what the expected technology costs will be and can decide, with the CIO, how to spread the limited money available.

A Brighter Future

The CEO whose public commitment to his CIO drew a round of laughter at that seminar ran a company in which every strategic initiative had a technology component. In the face of difficult conditions in the CEO's industry, the transformation of his company through technology is one of the few positive operational achievements keeping manufacturing and sales operations from collapsing.

Similarly, the CIO who steps up to the challenges of building and maintaining a strong relationship with the rest of the management team will soon realize the competitive advantage of information technology. Tactical attempts to bridge the distance in this relationship by improving organization, communication, and process are just the beginning. But they're essential first steps toward the increased revenue, efficiencies, cost cutting, and innovation that can potentially result from a healthy partnership.

And who knows? Maybe then, no one will laugh.