Be the Business : CIOs in the New Era of IT

In her trademark journalistic, witty style, Martha Heller creates a profile of what successful CIOs are doing to lead IT in a climate where technology belongs to everyone. Most importantly, she defines the top ten skills and behaviors that CIOs need to develop if they are going to be successful in an ever changing landscape. Remember the'70s? Way back then, IT was a mainframe that sat in some room and only a few people had a key. Flash forward a decade, and IT was a limited set of systems irrelevant to the vast majority of employees and customers. But today, all of the sudden, technology belongs to everyone. Because of the suddenness of this revolution in technology adoption, most IT organizations have not had enough time to evolve into a'comfortable integration'with the rest of the company. This lack of comfortable integration has led to confusion over who is truly accountable for the return on technology investments, how much influence IT leaders should have over a company's business strategy, and whether CEOs need to hire Chief Digital Officers onto their senior leadership teams. Through interviews with dozens of CIOs, Heller has created a snapshot of what CIOs are doing to lead IT in a climate where technology belongs to everyone. She addresses how CIOs are changing their operating models, their approaches to talent development, and their assessment of the new IT provider marketplace. Most importantly, Heller defines the top ten skills and behaviors that CIOs will need to develop if they are going to be successful in an ever changing landscape. As a master storyteller, Heller incorporates philosophy, humor, and pragmatic advice into a book that both informs and entertains. > Remember the 70s? Way back then, IT was a mainframe that sat in some room and only a few people had a key. Flash forward a decade, and IT was a limited set of systems irrelevant to the vast majority of employees and customers. But today, all of the sudden, technology belongs to everyone. Because of the suddenness of this revolution in technology adoption, most IT organizations have not had enough time to evolve into a comfortable integration with the rest of the company. This lack of comfortable integration has led to confusion over who is truly accountable for the return on technology investments, how much influence IT leaders should have over a company's business strategy and whether CEOs need to hire Chief Digital Officers onto their senior leadership teams. Through interviews with dozens of CIOs, Heller has created a snapshot of what CIOs are doing to lead IT in a climate where technology belongs to everyone. She addresses how CIOs are changing their operating models, their approaches to talent development and their assessment of the new IT provider marketplace. Most importantly, Heller defines the top 10 skills and behaviors that CIOs will need to develop if they are going to be successful in an ever changing landscape. As a mater storyteller, Heller incorporates philosophy, humor, and pragmatic advice into a book that both informs and entertains. Through interviews iwth more than sixty CIOs, Heller has created a snapshot of what CIOs are doing to lead IT in a climate where technology belongs to everyone. She addresses how CIOs are changing their operating models, their approaches to talent development, and their assessment to the new IT provider maketplace. Heller, also, defines the top ten skills and behaviors that CIOs will need to develop if they are going to be successful in an ever-changing landscape Title Page 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Contents 10 Introduction 12 1 Step into the Digital Leadership Void 22 2 Manage the White Space 36 3 Dismantle the Iceberg 50 4 Turn IT Consumers into Coinvestors 64 5 Lead 78 6 Tell a Good Story 94 7 Grow Blended Executives 110 8 Be the Business 126 9 Think Product 140 10 Go Faster 152 Conclusion: A New CIO for a New Era 166 Acknowledgments 176 Notes 178 Index 182 About the Author 192