The CIO Questionnaire: David Chan

Where were you born?      Hong Kong

What was your first personal computer?   Amstrad

What was your first job in IT?   Systems Analyst

Who have been the most influential people in your career? My ex-boss, Peter Fryer – Main Board Director, Provident Financial Plc

What is your best tip for learning about the business? You must experience where the business is contact with the customer. No Point in staying in the ivory tower. I use to insist that all IT staff had to do a day working in the ‘Business’ every year.

Do you have an MBA? Yes

What company and role do you believe you learnt most from? IT Consultant, Coopers and Lybrand

What tools or tactics have given you most success in communicating? Thinking as a member of the business management team and not a functional representative for IT

Which word or phrase do you most use/overuse? Keep it simple Stupid!

What has been your biggest mistake? Not moving to the US in the 80’s to work in the nascent software industry and starting a business.

And your greatest success? Delivery of a project deemed impossible where we spent £0.9M in 1 year to yield recurring benefits worth £2.2m

What profession would you most like to attempt? Astronaut

What profession would you least like to attempt? Surgeon

Which business books have been influential in your career? The Practice of Management – Peter Drucker. In my opinion, the worst management book ever, was “Re-Engineering the Corporation” by Hammer and Champey which led us to the sorry state we are in now in management.

Do you have a team or sport that you follow? Yes, Football – Leeds Utd

If you were given Gardening Leave for a year, what would you do with it? Write

iPad, book, newspaper or magazine for a long journey or commute? iPad

How do you keep up to date with the march of technology? Read the industry journals