In the dynamic world of modern business, this parable is more relevant than ever. Consider your enterprise as the elephant, and the various functional teams — IT, software engineering, security, and business units — as the blindfolded individuals. Each department is focused on its specific role and develops a limited understanding of the organization’s complex environment.
IT teams may prioritize operational resilience only by looking at logs and infrastructure metrics for root cause analysis (RCA). Software engineering could be more focused on innovation and development looking at application traces (APM) and profiling. Security teams are often preoccupied with threat landscapes, looking at security events and alerts, whereas business units focus on market performance and customer engagement KPIs.
This compartmentalization, while useful for specialized tasks, often leads to a fragmented view of the organization’s challenges and opportunities, much like the blindfolded individuals’ fragmented understanding of the elephant.
For CIOs and IT executives across industries, the elephant parable serves as a reminder of the need for a comprehensive view. By understanding and integrating the various parts of the business “elephant,” leaders can develop more effective strategies that align with overall business objectives and accelerate business outcomes.
Leave a Reply