Today’s OxyMoron is Charley Barth, Global Director of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) from Cummins, Inc. Charley has a rich background in the public sector, which is where I first got to know him. In 2014, he was approached with a daunting challenge -- to introduce ECM technologies at a massive global company with very little prior ECM experience. It reminded me of one of my favorite Thornton May quotes -- “In our contentious times, the one thing that everyone can agree on is that every organization, every executive, every individual, every object is on a digital journey. And sadly, most have no map, no guide, and bad shoes.”
It was this navigation challenge -- requiring a rich set of OxyMoron skills in strategy and execution -- that led me to ask Charley to be on the program. And FYI, my focus is mostly on the “no map, no guide” part of Thornton’s equation. Charley’s shoes are perfectly fine as far as I know.
Little Known Facts About Charley
Favorite COVID TV binge watch - I was a little late to the whole streaming, but we're now all in and I've enjoyed Yellowstone and The Crown. Most recently, my wife and I are watching Outlander.
Most surprising item on your playlist - - I'm a big Snoop Dogg fan, and so Gin and Juice is probably the one that most people are surprised by. [Next time you see Charley, ask him if he is laid back with his mind on his money and his money on his mind. That was the safest lyric I could think of using.]
Best book in the last 12 months - This is the toughest question, you're going to ask me throughout this entire session, because I'm not a big reader. I enjoy online content and online research. I gave up the Washington Post years ago, and so I just find myself doing more and more online learning. And that said, my favorite book over the past 12 months had to be the Bible, because that is the one book I do crack open from time to time still.
Special Bonus Charley Fact: Charley used to own a winery in Virginia! - I bought 180 acres in Central Virginia and planted seven acres of wine grapes. One of my first harvests went to the Dave Matthews winery. I did that for five years and then sold the business.
1 - As you started on the journey of introducing ECM to Cummins, what were the best sources of ideas and inspiration?
I have learned so much from the solution vendors and the consultants in this space, especially utilizing those that have worked with Fortune 500 companies, because the depth of their skill set is so much more diverse than my limited background. Believe it or not, I find those 20-30 emails per day that you get from solution providers useful! Sometimes there are some really great nuggets of wisdom in there. They’ve been helpful in starting conversations and generating ideas. But my most important source of inspiration is that I try to look at everything with an employee experience lens and from an employee experience perspective. Often, some idea makes sense in information management terms, but I have learned so much by taking a step back and looking at an idea from an employee perspective. If the employees rebel, you must go back to the drawing board.
2 - As you built your ECM program, how did you validate what you were doing?
There are three things that I used on the validation path. First, we've got a robust internal IT development lab, where we have the ability kick the tires in safe sandbox to really validate how something is going to work. And IF it's going to work. Second, I utilized vendor test labs. They want you to bring your ideas and requirements into their lab environment and test them with their experts. Third, we have an employee experience team that really looks at the engagement, interface, and usability implications of any solution. Early in the content industry, there were dozens of major vendors in ECM space, and they all had great tools that did as advertised. But the solutions weren’t built from the ground up with the idea, “How are the users going to react to this?” The missing element was employee engagement and user-centered design and many implementations failed because of that.
3 - What drove you crazy as you launched your strategy?
Our IT processes can sometimes take a long amount of time. Don’t get me wrong, architecture and cybersecurity reviews are absolutely needed. But it gets frustrating, because there are so many Ts to cross and so many Is to dot. And some efforts were stopped in their tracks in those places where we didn’t do our due diligence on the front end in terms of employee concerns. I just wish there was a magic bullet to make things go more quickly.
4 - How do you deal with failure?
I worry about failing a lot. I think about it every single day. Failure drives my actions, my communications, my strategies. It's one of my biggest fears as a professional. I'm a born people pleaser with a servant's heart and failing is just not an option for me. But that said, I've also realized throughout my career that failure creates growth. And without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. I never want to fail. Never. But I also understand it's a part of life and it's certainly a part of this business that we're in. And the quicker you can learn from those failures and move on, the stronger professional you're going to be.
5 - What would people say is your secret sauce?
I hope they would say I have secret sauces, plural. First, I try to bring a passion to work every single day. I always tell people, “Even if you feel you're not in your dream job, show up every day with a passion.” That makes a massive difference. Second, I try to focus on my soft skills, specifically the ability to not only talk, but the ability to listen. The ability to listen without interruption is something I've personally had to work on. But I’ve found it's so appreciated. Because so many times we all want to just move on to the conclusion, or we think we have the answer in our head and we've heard enough, and we just want to move on to the next thing. Those soft skills are so critical at those points. Third, I've made a career out of seeking forgiveness rather than asking permission. It has served me well. Let me caveat that I'm not promoting breaking rules and policies and regulations, that I think people should be just free to do whatever they want. But I've found that when my heart is in the right place -- when I’m focused on what’s good for our company and for our employees -- I've been able to accomplish some good things. Sometimes we just get paralyzed by the need for perfection and paralyzed by internal processes and little to nothing gets done. That’s the time when seeking forgiveness rather than permission works well for me. Fourth, I try to have fun. I try to play as hard as I work. I work very hard, but I also like to play hard and that includes time with my team and time with my stakeholders. It includes networking in an environment outside of work and really getting to know each other as human beings. That fun connection has served me well and is certainly a secret sauce that I'd recommend.
Past Episodes in the Series: