The CIO Paradox - A Must Read

The CIO Paradox by Martha Heller

One day, I hope to write a book and share my best ideas, secrets, and wisdom with fellow CIOs and CTOs. Martha Heller, CIO Magazine columnist, just published her new book The CIO Paradox and has delivered a must-read, must-have reference for IT executives. It is also a great read for CEOs and CFOs who will learn a great deal about the CIO job and its complexities. So when my day comes, Martha will be a tough act to follow.

Martha presents the complexities of the CIO job as a series of paradoxes. Should the CIO focus on cost management, or innovation? How can a global CIO streamline processes yet still support regional and local solutions? How can CIOs be more successful when they are accountable for project success but need business leaders to own the project? How can a CIO communicate IT success when its failures are so visible and impactful to the business?

Great questions and Martha presents CIO stories and general advice throughout the book. I've met several CIOs interviewed in the book at the CIO Global Forum, and they are an exceptional bunch with a lot to learn from. Geir Ramleth, Bechtel Group's CIO, uses a simple formula, Speed = Innovation * Simplicity to remind IT to keep solutions simple in order to target 80% of the payback. Tom Conophy, CIO of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, provides advice to CIOs who need to take on cultural challenges and transform IT's mission to drive innovation. Then there is Ramon Baez, former CIO of Kimberly Clark and now with HP shares some of his secrets about communicating and engaging a global IT workforce.

Part 3 of the book shares some secrets on recruiting IT talent, establishing successors, and hot topics like CIO Board seats and CIO career paths. While some of these are advanced topics, these chapters should help the CIO think expansively about their role and career.

The CIO Paradox is packed with a wealth of advice, and I highly recommend it to CIOs and CXOs.

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About Isaac Sacolick

Isaac Sacolick is President of StarCIO, a technology leadership company that guides organizations on building digital transformation core competencies. He is the author of Digital Trailblazer and the Amazon bestseller Driving Digital and speaks about agile planning, devops, data science, product management, and other digital transformation best practices. Sacolick is a recognized top social CIO, a digital transformation influencer, and has over 900 articles published at InfoWorld, CIO.com, his blog Social, Agile, and Transformation, and other sites. You can find him sharing new insights @NYIke on Twitter, his Driving Digital Standup YouTube channel, or during the Coffee with Digital Trailblazers.