Clay Johnson曾供职于多家知名企业，诸如FedEx、波音公司和通用电气。一年前，他加盟了沃尔玛旗下公司，担任沃尔玛CIO，专攻技术领域。
▲沃尔玛首席信息官 Clay Johnson
据他介绍，仅仅在美国，沃尔玛就有230万员工和5000家门店。因此，在入职初期，Johnson把精力重点放在了尽可能多地接触公司员工、熟悉公司业务和了解公司手头项目上。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
此外，基于四条工作原则，他还开始着手改变IT部们的工作氛围，即保证工作透明、支持公开辩论、人人都能表达想法、善于从失败中汲取经验。
Johnson认为，IT部门当前的工作重点是借助人工智能为IT建立产品模型，完善不同产品领域的端到端服务，并提升一部分产品的过程自动化功能。
为此，福布斯专栏作者、IT咨询公司Metis Strategy总裁Peter High对Johnson进行了进一步访谈，与他深入探讨了这些话题：数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Peter High：是否可以介绍一下您作为沃尔玛CIO和全球企业咨询服务部（GBS）副总裁的工作内容？
Clay Johnson:入职之后，我整合了内部技术和共享服务团队。我们的工作涉及内部运行的所有技术，包括服务器安全、企业系统、机器学习（ML）、分析方法，以及人工智能（AI）。电子商务和客户接洽人员转由首席技术官Jeremy King接管。而我主要管理公司内部的其他事务，大多面向供应商，而非客户。
共享服务部门承担着公司所有的事务性工作。目前，我们在全球共有八处不同的共享服务点，分别位于墨西哥、哥斯达黎加、巴西、英国和美国（不止一处）。目的在于集众人之力共同开发出更高效的机器。
我们相信，这两个团队结合后的能力是不可估量的，它使我们能够借助技术驱动端到端的服务。我认为会有越来越多的公司开始这么做。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High：那么，在这个过程中如何更好地利用数字技术？
Johnson:关键是要持续关注客户，而我的客户其实就是公司内部员工。沃尔玛员工多达200多万名。基于这样的人数基础，抓住提升生产力的时机，或通过不同工具和服务改进沟通，都将在很大程度上提升效率。
十年前，商业技术（businesstechnology）要优于客户技术（customertechnology）。不过现在恰恰相反。生活中员工接触到的许多技术都比工作中来得智能。他们开始期望工作中的用到的技术也能像社交媒体和智能手机用起来一样顺手，希望移动办公和触屏技术能够更加普及。所以，我们的内部技术和共享服务团队也在试图随时随地为员工提供他们所需要的工具和数据。
High：在这种情况下，您的团队需要在哪些方面做出改变从而提升自己的综合技能呢？您又是如何平衡新员工招聘、老员工培训以及与外部的企业合作的？
Johnson:员工是我们最重要的财富。没有人才,公司将止步不前。因此，领导必须要做的一件事就是提拔比你聪明的员工，虽然这对很多人来说不容易，但我一直在尝试这么做。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
我们始终把致力于技术革新作为用人原则，并不断引进技术型人才从而为公司带来创新。近几十年来，技术对企业的影响越来越大，技术的发展也在不断推动企业变革。一旦决策错误，企业将难以发展。
其中，移动应用、大数据分析和人工智能彻底颠覆了企业的管理思路、运营方式以及与客户交互的模式。所以，知人善用非常重要。这方面，我的具体做法包括合理任免、提升员工技能、吸纳外部人才。
沃尔玛非常幸运，能拥有这么多人才。我们的创新项目覆盖了全国，同时我们也非常重视人才，这将帮助我们不断进步。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High：您谈到，您的客户是全公司的200多万员工，那么，您是如何满足这么多人的需求的呢？
Johnson:其实很难办到。因此我在入职时，重点关注这三个方面：接触公司员工，熟悉公司业务，了解公司项目。
熟悉业务能够帮助我们优化工作。最初六个月，我拜访了很多团队，了解他们的日常工作。这使得我们进一步了解了大家的工作方式和使用的各种工具。此外，我还考察了很多线下门店，了解它们和配送中心的运营情况。每次和这些团队坐在一起，我都能学到新东西。
我一直认为，IT部门必须比业务部门自身更了解业务。只有对事物运作和客户有了深入了解，才能作出改变、产生影响。这是所有领导都应该重视，却常常被忽略的。
High：您描述的很多内容都体现了文化观念革新，至少在您领导的团队内部是这样的。文化观念革新改变的是人们的为人处事方式，因此最为困难。那么您具体是怎么做的呢？数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Johnson：我认为，文化是公司的基本要素，它常常与公司的价值观融合在一起。以沃尔玛为例，价值观由创始人和他们所做的工作决定。另一方面，文化必须不断发展，员工和潜在的文化价值是决定公司成败的两个重要因素。
在我看来，企业文化中有四个关键要素。第一是透明度。你必须对团队成员完全透明，它将使得团队成员能够了解你的构想，并适应公司的发展方向。
第二，开展公开辩论。为员工营造可以相互辩论和挑战的环境至关重要。同时，还要保证他们回到工作岗位后，还需要继续共事，共同合作。如果能够讨论、辩论，能够互相挑战，总能得到正确答案。这种辩论能力是文化的重要组成部分，但许多公司不具备这种能力。
第三，确保员工能够自由地表达想法。这又与透明度和公开辩论有所关联。人们是否觉得自己可以提出想法和问题呢？他们能否自信地表达想法？这点能促使员工提出更多有意义的想法和建议，并主动通过切实的方式解决问题。
第四，是我在GE学到的——快速试错。前三点我已经在之前工作过的几个公司实践过，但这一点是最新的。它将使员工坦然面对失败，这是非常重要的。很多人并不习惯这个模式，包括我自己。但是你必须得坦然接受：不是所有事都会一帆风顺。你必须做到失败后不断改变，确保公司满意。我们应该庆祝失败而非因此受到惩罚，如果没有失败，就不会进步。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
以上就是我所认为的文化四要素，但我要重申，透明是一切的基础。
High：您的职责包括提高IT效率和改进业务流程。您也提到，作为CIO需要比业务本身更了解业务，包括指导业务的流程。能介绍一下您在提高IT效率、改进业务流程方面做了哪些努力，以及是如何和团队一起实现这些目标的吗？数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Johnson：我们正在做两方面的努力。首先，我们正在把工作重心转向产品模型和端到端的服务。通过创建一个单线程所有权模型（single-threadedownershipmodel），每个人都能知道所有与之相关的组成部分的信息。在大部分企业的传统IT架构中，存在很多的信息化孤岛，会产生诸多碎片化问题。当然，也没有必要将所有信息都集中在一个人手中。这将导致很难改进流程、关闭或升级系统，也难以提高效率。
过去的六个月里，我们一直在研究这个产品模型，并且已经开始在公司小范围内实施。今年二月初，我们将会全面地推出这一模式，并将基于此开发其他相关产品。我们计划从财务部门入手，将财务中的每个流程都对应到一个负责人身上，而IT部门在其中的角色是提供所有的支持和服务。
一旦我们能够全面提供端到端的服务，提高流程效率就成了关键问题。为此，我们开始使用人工智能来提升过程自动化，从而解决这个问题。今年，我们在系统内部署了大约500个不同的自动程序。内部技术和共享服务团队的整合赋予了我们大规模部署人工智能（AI）解决方案的能力。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High：您的团队在全球共有10000名的员工。您如何管理？比如，之前您谈论过转向新的产品模式会对他们产生影响，你是如何设置优先权的呢？您又如何保证这10000人每天都投入工作且有所产出呢？
Johnson:关键在于优先次序，而优先次序的关键在于了解顾客和业务。首先要了解一些有助于转变业务的重要杠杆。比如，和高级主管交流，可以更好地理解公司大方向，从而提高效率、增加利润以及提高生产。比如，我们的当务之急是应用AI和机器学习完善业务进程。
五到十年前，技术还被看作是辅助，而现在，技术已经成为工作必不可少的手段。因此，可以看到大家都已经越来越重视技术。这也正是我们将共享服务与内部技术团队结合的原因。这使我们发现了许多业务和客户层面的价值。
High：您在纽约和硅谷等地也有很多的研发团队。这些团队如何协作？您是如何决定他们的研究领域呢？
Johnson:你必须知道在哪里能得到最优秀的人才。在本顿维，我们拥有大量人才，能够了解业务和所有相关流程。我们的目标是：与具有创新力的企业或机构形成互补。比如在达拉斯，我们和一些学术机构合作，向已经涉足该领域的大公司学习经验；在奥斯汀，我们寻求与很多初创企业合作；在本顿维总部，我们齐心协力创造高效机器，力求利用机器学习和人工智能研发最新最尖端的技术。我们开始利用物联网和传感器改善仓库能源使用，尤其是冷藏管理部分。
在通用电气，我就一只非常关注物联网。因此，一到沃尔玛，我就希望将物联网应用于此。单单在美国，沃尔玛就有5000多家门店，物联网、人工智能和其他类似技术，能够让我们做很多有趣的事情。不仅能够提升消费者的体验，也能提升沃尔玛的核心运作效率。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High：在之前一些公司的任职经历带给您哪些收获呢？
Johnson:上大学时不知道我想要做什么。我曾在海岸警卫队干过五年。这段时间我学到了团队协作的重要性。成为团队中的一分子的这一理念，奠定了我事业的根基。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
大学毕业后，我去了FedEx。在那里，让我认识到“IT人员必须与业务部门更了解业务”的道理。我曾经参与过一个项目，但却惨败。原因在于我们中没有一个人肯花时间去学习业务。我们只是对商业运作做出假设，但实际情况却大相径庭。此外，我在那里学到的第二点是，从失败中汲取经验。
波音是一家国际公司，业务遍布世界各地。我学到的不仅是如何在全球化背景下工作，也更好地理解了团队协作、商业和制造业运营等等。
而如之前所说，在通用电气的经历我学会了如何快速试错。这是我事业的转折点，因为之前我绝对不会把失败当作是机遇。而在通用电气的数字化转型过程中，我学会了从失败中吸取经验。
像波音和通用电气这样的公司可以不断得到发展，原因是他们能彻底改造和颠覆自我，并接受失败。而大多数公司都不会一而再再而三地去尝试和实践。
现在沃尔玛也是如此。我们从失败中汲取经验、彻底颠覆自我以求在电子商务中占据一席之地。我们现在做的事情，在五年或者十年之前是绝对想不到的。
当然，在沃尔玛数字化转型的过程中，也可以看到很多试错的模型被付诸实践。因为事物总是在改变，所以失败在所难免。如果无法积极面对失败，则需另谋出路。许多公司无法接受失败，也就无法完成数字化转型。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
翻译：
Clay Johnson has worked for several well-known companies such as FedEx, Boeing and General Electric. He joined the company a year ago as Wal-Mart’s CIO, specializing in technology.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
In the United States alone, Wal-Mart has 2.3 million employees and 5,000 stores, he said. So in his early days, Johnson focused on meeting as many employees as possible, familiarizing himself with the business and learning about the projects at hand.
He also set out to change the environment of his IT department based on four principles: transparency, open debate, the ability to express ideas, and the ability to learn from failure.
According to Johnson, the current focus of the IT department is to use artificial intelligence to model products for IT, improve end-to-end services in different product areas, and improve the process automation capabilities of some products.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Forbes columnist Peter High, president of IT consulting firm Metis Strategy, sat down with Johnson to dig deeper into these topics:
Peter High: Can you tell us a little bit about your role as CIO and Vice President of Global Corporate Advisory Services at Walmart?
Clay Johnson: Since coming on board, I have integrated the internal technology and shared services teams. Our work touches on all the technologies that run internally, including server security, enterprise systems, machine learning (ML), analytical methods, and artificial intelligence (AI). Jeremy King, chief Technology Officer, will take over the e-commerce and customer engagement staff. I manage the rest of the company internally, mostly to suppliers, not customers.
The shared services department undertakes all the transactional work of the company. We currently have eight different shared service locations around the world, in Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, the UK and the US (more than one location). The goal is to work together to develop more efficient machines.
We believe the combined capabilities of these two teams are immeasurable, enabling us to drive end-to-end services with technology. I think more and more companies will start to do that.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High: So, how do you make better use of digital technology in this process?
Johnson: The key is to keep paying attention to the customers, and my customers are actually internal employees. Wal-mart employs more than 2 million people. With this number of people, seizing productivity opportunities or improving communication through different tools and services can go a long way towards improving efficiency.
Ten years ago, Businesstology was superior to customertechnology. But now it’s just the opposite. Many of the technologies employees are exposed to in their lives are smarter than at work. They are starting to expect the technology they use at work to be as easy to use as social media and smartphones, and for mobile working and touch screens to become more pervasive. So our internal technology and shared services teams are also trying to provide employees with the tools and data they need, wherever they are.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High: What does your team need to change in order to improve their overall skills in this situation? How do you balance hiring new employees, training old employees, and working with outside companies?
Johnson: Our employees are our most important asset. Without talent, the company will not move forward. So one of the things that leaders have to do is promote people who are smarter than you, and it’s not easy for a lot of people, but I try to do it all the time.
We have always been committed to technological innovation as the principle of employment, and continue to introduce technical talents to bring innovation to the company. In recent decades, technology has had more and more influence on enterprises, and the development of technology has been pushing enterprises to change. Once the decision is wrong, the business will be difficult to grow.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Among them, mobile apps, big data analytics and artificial intelligence have revolutionized the way companies think about management, operate and interact with customers. Therefore, it is very important to know how to use people. In this regard, my specific measures include reasonable appointment and removal, upgrading staff skills, and attracting external talents.
Walmart is very lucky to have so much talent. Our innovation programs cover the whole country, and we also have a strong focus on talent, which will help us continue to improve.
High: You mentioned that your customers are more than 2 million employees throughout the company. How do you meet the needs of so many people?数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Johnson: It’s really hard to do. Therefore, I focused on the following three aspects when I joined the company: contact with employees, get familiar with the company’s business and understand the company’s projects.
Being familiar with the business helps us optimize our work. For the first six months, I visited many of the teams to learn about their daily work. This gives us a better understanding of how people work and the various tools they use. I also visited a lot of offline stores to see how they and distribution centers operate. Every time I sit down with these teams, I learn something new.
I have always believed that IT must know more about the business than the business itself. Only with a deep understanding of how things work and their customers can you make changes and make an impact. This is something that all leaders should focus on, but are often overlooked.
High: A lot of what you describe reflects cultural change, at least within the team you lead. Cultural change is the most difficult because it changes the way people behave. So how exactly do you do it?
Johnson: In my opinion, culture is a fundamental element of a company. It is often integrated with the values of the company. In the case of Walmart, values are determined by the founders and the work they do. On the other hand, culture must evolve constantly. Employees and the underlying cultural value are two important factors that determine the success or failure of a company.
In my opinion, there are four key elements of corporate culture.
The first is transparency. You need to be completely transparent with your team, which will allow them to understand your vision and adapt to where the company is going.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Second, open debate. Creating an environment where employees can debate and challenge each other is crucial. At the same time, make sure that when they return to work, they will continue to work together. If you can discuss, debate and challenge each other, you will always get the right answer. That ability to argue is an important part of the culture, but many companies don’t have it.
Third, make sure employees are free to express their ideas. This, in turn, is about transparency and open debate. Do people feel they can come up with ideas and questions? Can they express ideas with confidence? This encourages employees to contribute more meaningful ideas and suggestions, and to take the initiative to solve problems in practical ways.
Fourth, I learned at GE — fast trial and error. I’ve practiced the first three at several companies I’ve worked for before, but this one is the latest. It will make people comfortable with failure, which is very important. Many people are not used to this model, including myself. But you have to accept that not everything will be smooth sailing. You have to be able to change after failure to make sure the company is happy. We should celebrate failure rather than be punished for it. Without failure, there would be no progress.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
So those are my four elements of culture, but again, transparency is the foundation of everything.
High: Your responsibilities include increasing IT efficiency and improving business processes. You also mentioned that being a CIO requires knowing more about the business than the business itself, including the processes that guide the business.
Tell me about your efforts to improve IT efficiency and business processes, and how you worked with your team to achieve these goals.
Johnson: We’re doing two things. First, we are shifting our focus to product models and end-to-end services. By creating a single-threadedownershipmodel, everyone can know all the information about the components involved. In the traditional IT architecture of most enterprises, there are many information islands, which will cause many fragmentation problems. Of course, there’s no need to have all the information in one person’s hands. This makes it difficult to improve processes, shut down or upgrade systems, and improve efficiency.
We have been working on this product model for the past six months and have started implementing it on a small scale within the company. In early February, we will launch this model in full and we will develop other products based on it. We plan to start with the finance department, where each process in finance corresponds to a person in charge, and where the role of the IT department is to provide all the support and services.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Once we were able to provide end-to-end services across the board, improving process efficiency became a key issue. To this end, we are starting to use artificial intelligence to improve process automation to solve this problem. This year, we’ve deployed about 500 different automated programs within the system. The integration of internal technology and shared services teams gives us the ability to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) solutions at scale.
High: Your team has 10,000 employees worldwide. How do you manage it? For example, you talked earlier about how moving to a new product model would affect them. How do you set priorities? How do you make sure that 10,000 people are engaged and productive every day?
Johnson: It’s all about prioritizing, and the key to prioritizing is understanding the customer and the business. Start by understanding some important levers that can help transform your business. For example, interacting with senior executives can lead to a better understanding of the company’s overall direction, which can lead to increased efficiency, increased profits, and increased production. For example, our priority is to apply AI and machine learning to improve business processes.
Five or ten years ago, technology was seen as an aid. Now, technology is essential to work. As a result, we can see that there is a growing emphasis on technology. That’s why we’ve combined shared services with our in-house technical team. This has led us to discover a lot of value at the business and customer level.
High: You also have a lot of R&D teams in places like New York and Silicon Valley. How do these teams work together? How did you decide on their field of study?数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Johnson: You have to know where to get the best people. At Bentonville, we have a lot of talented people who understand the business and all the processes involved. Our goal is to complement innovative enterprises or institutions. In Dallas, for example, we work with academic institutions to learn from big companies that are already in the field. In Austin, we seek to work with a lot of start-ups; At Bentonview Headquarters, we work together to create efficient machines, and strive to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop the latest and most cutting-edge technologies. We are starting to use the Internet of Things and sensors to improve warehouse energy use, especially in the cold storage management part.
At GE, I’m very focused on the Internet of Things. So once I got to Walmart, I wanted to apply the Internet of Things to that. Walmart has over 5,000 stores in the United States alone, and the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and other technologies like that, allow us to do a lot of interesting things. Not only will it improve the customer experience, but it will also improve Walmart’s core operational efficiency.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
High: What have you learned from your experience in previous companies?
Johnson: I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I went to college. I was in the Coast Guard for five years. I learned the importance of teamwork during this period. The idea of being part of a team has been the foundation of my career.
After college, I went to FedEx. There, let me realize the truth that “IT personnel must understand the business better with the business department”. I once worked on a project that failed miserably. The reason is that none of us take the time to learn the business. We make assumptions about how business works, but the reality is quite different. Besides, the second thing I learned there is to learn from failure.
Boeing is an international company with operations all over the world. I learned not only how to work in a global context, but also a better understanding of teamwork, business and manufacturing operations, and so on.
And as I said before, at GE I learned how to do trial and error quickly. 数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
It was a turning point in my career, because I would never have seen failure as an opportunity. During GE’s digital transformation, I learned to learn from my failures.
Companies like Boeing and GE continue to thrive because they reinvent and disrupt themselves and accept failure. Most companies don’t try and do it over and over again.
Now Walmart is doing the same. We learned from our failures and turned ourselves upside down to make a difference in e-commerce. We are doing things that we would never have thought of five or ten years ago.
Of course, in the process of Walmart’s digital transformation, you can also see a lot of trial and error models put into practice. Because things are always changing, failure is inevitable. If you can’t face failure positively, you need to find another way. Many companies can’t accept failure, so they can’t make the digital transition.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
本文由数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）转载而成，来源：Forbes；作者：Peter High；编辑/翻译：数字化转型网宁檬树。
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