The Day You Became A Better CIO

This post is going to be among my favourite writing of all time. I worked at Sony Music as a CIO, my favourite company of all time. The role transformed me and my life forever.

I looked forward to going to work every day because of the kind of work that I had. Every day was filled with many opportunities to build, implement, troubleshoot and manage IT infrastructure globally.

I got featured on the cover page of MIS Asia, PC Quest, Data Quest, and other leading magazines. I also had the opportunity to write more than 40 articles and case studies on business and technology. I won awards for best IT implementation of the year award. I was invited as a speaker or panellist at most of the popular technology events in India and worldwide.

Now, let’s return to what I learned about becoming a better CIO while wearing the shoes myself and interviewing dozens of other CIOs.

1. Strong Technology Knowledge

As a Chief Information Officer (CIO), you are a senior executive responsible for the overall technology strategy and execution of a company. And a better CIO should have a combination of technical expertise, business acumen, and leadership skills.

A strong understanding of technology, especially how you can use it to solve business problems.

Technology is eating the world. Even though you may not need to code, you must know specific technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and programming languages.

Specific knowledge of how different technologies can be integrated and used to support business requirements and challenges will always add value to your journey of becoming a better CIO.

1. A CIO should have a strong understanding of programming languages and be able to communicate effectively with developers. This might include knowledge of languages used in your organization.
2. Understanding networking and infrastructure, including how to design, implement, and manage a network that supports the needs of the business.
3. Cybersecurity is among the greatest threats businesses are facing in the connected world. You must have an understanding of cybersecurity threats and the ability to develop and implement strategies to protect the company’s data and systems from cyber threats.
4. Businesses are creating data at all times. Strong data management skills, including designing and implementing systems for storing, accessing, and analyzing data.
5. There is no business untouched by cloud computing. A better understanding of cloud computing, evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of different cloud platforms and selecting the best fit for the company is skills you must have.
6. Emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science will go a long way to carve a niche for you as a better CIO.

Here are some mental models I have used to develop my technology skills and expertise, and they will be highly useful to you as well:

1. The Expertise Development Framework, developed by Anders Ericsson, suggests that to have the expertise, you must deliberate practice through setting specific goals, receiving feedback, and focusing on improvement.
2. The 70–20–10 Model suggests spending 70% of your time on practical experience, 20% on learning from others, and 10% on formal education or training.
3. The Feynman Technique by physicist Richard Feynman involves teaching a topic to someone else as a way to clarify and deepen one’s own understanding.
4. P.K. Mohanty’s Four-Step Process involves acquiring knowledge, applying it to a specific problem or task, reflecting on the experience, and seeking feedback.
5. The Deliberate Practice Plan focuses on developing a structured plan for practising and improving your skills in a specific area.

The “10,000 hour rule” is a concept popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. According to the rule, it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in a particular field or activity.

Here are a few books I read and recommend to understand the technology:

“Clean Code” by Robert C. Martin offers best practices and guidelines for writing clean, maintainable, and efficient code.

“Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software” by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides introduces common design patterns used in software development and how they can be applied to solve common design problems.

“Introduction to the Theory of Computation” by Michael Sipser provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory of computation, including formal languages, automata, and computability.

“Introduction to Algorithms” by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein is a comprehensive introduction to algorithms and data structures, including topics such as sorting, searching, and graph algorithms.

“The Mythical Man-Month” by Frederick P. Brooks Jr discusses the challenges of software development and project management and offers insights and strategies for successful software development.

“The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin discusses the importance of mental toughness and how to cultivate it in order to achieve mastery in any pursuit.

“Peak” by Anders Ericsson advocates the concept of deliberate practice and how it can be used to develop expertise in a variety of fields.

2. Business acumen

A great CIO should have a strong understanding of the business and how technology can be used to drive growth and success. This includes using technology to improve sales and streamline operations.

A better CIO must have the strong business acumen to align technology initiatives with the overall business strategy effectively. In the early days of my career, I used to work with various departments to understand what they do, how they work and the challenges they face while getting things done. This helped me gain a significant understanding of how business works. Here are some specific areas of business acumen that a CIO should have:

A CIO should have a strong understanding of creating and managing budgets, allocating resources and making financial decisions that benefit the business.

A strong understanding of marketing and sales includes identifying target markets, developing marketing campaigns, and tracking marketing efforts’ effectiveness.

A CIO should be strong in understanding operations management, including how to design and improve processes, manage supply chains, and optimize the use of resources.

A CIO should have strong strategic planning skills, including the ability to develop and execute long-term plans that support the overall business strategy.

A CIO should have strong leadership skills, including the ability to motivate and manage teams, delegate tasks, and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Several tools and models can help CIO become better at developing their business acumen and their ability to make sound business decisions, including:

1. The SWOT Analysis: This tool helps individuals analyze a business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which can provide valuable insights into the business’s current situation and potential future direction.
2. The Balanced Scorecard: This Model helps businesses track and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) across four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth.
3. The PESTLE Analysis: This tool helps individuals assess the external factors that may impact a business, including political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors.
4. The Porter Five Forces: Developed by Michael Porter, this Model helps individuals analyze the competitive forces in an industry and understand the potential impact on a business.
5. The Value Chain Analysis: This tool helps individuals understand the various activities and processes that go into creating value for a business and how they can be optimized.

In addition to these tools and models, there are also many resources available for developing business acumen, including books, courses, and workshops. It may be helpful to seek out a combination of these resources to find what works best for you. Here are some books I found highly useful for CIOs:

“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries you can read to understand the importance of iterative, data-driven decision-making and offers a framework for launching and growing a successful business.

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey outlines seven habits that effective leaders should strive to develop, including being proactive, setting goals, and seeking to understand others.

“Good to Great” by Jim Collins” explores the characteristics of companies that have made the transition from being good to great and offers insights into how businesses can achieve sustained success.

“The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber discusses the importance of having a clear vision and understanding of one’s business and offers strategies for building a successful enterprise.

“The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen explores the challenges that companies face when trying to innovate and offers insights into how businesses can successfully navigate these challenges.

3. Leadership skills

A better CIO should be a strong leader and be able to effectively manage and motivate a team of business analysts, project managers, and programmers. You should know how to delegate tasks, provide clear direction, and communicate effectively with team members and stakeholders.

Communicating effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences. More clearly you explain complex technical concepts easy your team will understand and translate them to solid business results.

A better CIO should be able to delegate tasks effectively, assigning responsibilities to team members based on their strengths and skills.

To be successful as a CIO, you should be able to provide clear direction to team members, setting specific goals and objectives and establishing timelines for achieving them.

Building and leading high-performing teams and creating a positive and collaborative work environment will position you in the league of successful CIOs.

Your ability to be able to make difficult decisions, weigh the pros and cons of different options and make the best decision for the business will work like magic.

Here are some tools and models you can learn and use to develop leadership skills:

1. The Situational Leadership Model suggests that the most effective leadership style is one that is tailored to the needs of the team or individual being led.
2. The Leadership Compass helps leaders identify their own leadership style and understand how it may impact others.
3. The GROW Model is a structured coaching approach that helps leaders guide team members through the process of goal setting and problem-solving.
4. The Johari Window provides leaders understand and improve their self-awareness and self-disclosure, which are important aspects of effective leadership.

Here are my recommendation of books you can read to develop leadership skills:

1. “The Leader in Me” by Stephen Covey helps understand the importance of developing leadership skills and offers a framework for helping them become responsible, confident, and successful leaders.
2. “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek explains the importance of having a clear purpose or “why” in leadership and offers strategies for inspiring and motivating others.
3. “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni navigates the common challenges that teams face and offers a framework for overcoming them and building a cohesive, high-performing team.
4. “Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown describes the importance of vulnerability in leadership and offers strategies for building trust, courage, and connection with others.

4. Strategic thinking

I have seen that most successful CIOs spend considerable time thinking strategically and anticipating future technology trends and needs. It helps them devise a long-term technology roadmap that supports the overall business strategy.

Stay up to date on industry trends and emerging technologies by reading industry publications, blogs and newsletters, attending conferences and events, and networking with peers.

Gathering and analyzing data on industry best practices can help you make informed decisions about future technology needs. Use data from a variety of sources, including market research, customer feedback, and financial analysis, to help guide your decision-making.

Collaborating with marketing, sales, operations, and other cross-functional teams will help you understand the broader business context and identify potential opportunities for technology to support the business.

Scenario planning involves considering multiple potential futures and how they might impact the business. Practice scenario planning to help develop your strategic thinking skills.

I have found these strategic tools and models helpful whenever tasked with strategic thinking.

1. SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis is a tool that helps identify an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use it to identify areas of the business with the most potential for growth and areas that may need improvement.
2. PEST analysis helps identify the external factors that may impact an organization, including political, economic, social, and technological trends.
3. Strategic planning is a process that includes setting specific objectives, identifying strategies and tactics to achieve those objectives, and establishing metrics to measure progress.
4. Scenario planning involves considering multiple potential solutions and approaches to derive the best one that will have the maximum impact on the business. This can help organizations prepare for a range of possible outcomes and make decisions that are more resilient to change.
5. Decision tree analysis will equip you with the ability to visualize the potential outcomes and costs of different decisions for making complex decisions and weighing the pros and cons of different options.
6. A Balanced Scorecard is a popular tool that helps organizations align their strategies with their long-term goals by measuring progress in four key areas: financial performance, customer satisfaction, internal processes, and learning and growth.
7. The McKinsey 7S Framework is used by top consultants and strategic thinkers to help organizations assess their current state and identify areas for improvement, focusing on seven key elements of strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills.
8. The Ansoff Matrix guides your path to identifying potential growth opportunities by considering the combination of existing products and services and new markets.
9. Blue Ocean Strategy is a framework for creating an uncontested new market and making the competition irrelevant. It involves identifying and focusing on untapped market opportunities and creating value for customers.

The books listed below have helped me immensely learn how to analyze a situation and develop a plan to achieve a long-term goal. Here are a few recommendations:

1. “The Art of Strategic Thinking” by Gerard Seijts taught me the importance of strategic thinking and offered a framework for developing this skill.
2. “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman covers how the human brain processes information and offers strategies for making better decisions.
3. “The Thinking Strategically” by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff explains the importance of understanding the strategic context in which decisions are made and offers a framework for analyzing strategic situations.
4. “The Strategy Paradox” by Michael Raynor lists organizations’ challenges when trying to develop and implement effective strategies and offers insights into how to overcome them.
5. “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne clarifies the importance of creating uncontested new markets and offers a framework for developing strategies that allow organizations to stand out in crowded markets.

5. Communication skills:

Once upon a time, I was told a joke “Techies mouth open only twice: once when they eat peanuts and second when they negotiate higher salary.” It helped me realize the importance of effective communication skills to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences. Here are a few tips for developing communication skills as a CIO:

Practice active listening paying attention to what others are saying, asking questions to clarify understanding, and providing feedback. This can help you better understand the needs and concerns of others and improve your communication skills.

Use clear and concise language when presenting technical concepts to non-technical audiences. It’s important to use clear and concise language that is easy to understand. Avoid using technical jargon and try to explain complex ideas in simple terms.

Visual aids, such as charts, diagrams, and slides, can be helpful for communicating complex ideas and data. Use visual aids to help illustrate your points and make your presentations more engaging.

Get feedback on your communication skills to identify areas for improvement. Ask colleagues or a mentor for feedback on your communication style and how you can improve.

The more you practice communicating, the more comfortable and effective you will become. Consider joining a public speaking group or taking a communication course to help improve your skills.

Here are a few tools and exercises that I found helpful for developing effective communication skills:

1. Role-playing is a useful way to practice different communication scenarios and develop your skills. Consider practising different types of conversations, such as giving feedback or making a presentation, with a colleague or mentor.
2. Attend Public speaking courses, which can help you develop your presentation skills and build confidence when speaking in front of an audience.
3. Try attending communication workshops to train yourself for active listening, body language, and conflict resolution.
4. Play communication games, such as improv games or communication exercises, to practice and improve your communication skills.
5. Seek feedback from colleagues or a mentor can help you identify areas for improvement and develop your communication skills over time.

These books can help individuals develop their communication skills:

1. “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High” by Kerry Patterson showcased the importance of having effective communication in high-stakes situations and offers strategies for handling difficult conversations.
2. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie is a classic book that will teach you the importance of building strong relationships and offers tips for effective communication and persuasion.
3. “The Power of Communication” by Helio Fred Garcia advises how you can master effective communication as a leader by building trust, credibility, and influence.
4. “Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life” by Marshall B. Rosenberg emphasizes empathy and understanding in communication and offers a framework for resolving conflicts and building healthy relationships.

I hope this helps you guide your path of acquiring and mastering technical expertise, business acumen, leadership skills, strategic thinking, and strong communication skills on your journey to becoming a better CIO.

Let me know what you think and what insights you found useful to shaping your career as a better CIO and technology leader.