Preface

In almost three decades of technical and strategic consulting, I have found only one constant: change. Technology changes. Work culture changes. Economic models and theories of management change. And business drivers change to, as they race to keep up with all the other changes.

In my career, I’ve seen information technology’s first tentative steps into the business world, followed by its never-ending evolution into the engine that powers the modern information and consumer economies. As more and more business functions came to rely on IT, a new executive role emerged to tame this unstoppable hydra: the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

The role of Chief Information Officer began its rise to prominence in the early 1980s, but it’s arguably in the past 20 years that the CIO has become an indispensable part of modern, post-startup organizations with responsibilities well beyond the purchase and integration of key pieces of technology. Today, with information technology touching almost every aspect of business, the CIO is often a full partner in a company’s executive committee and a driving force in shaping a company’s organizational strategy.

As the scope of the CIO’s responsibility continues to expand and evolve, changes in the marketplace and the workforce have created a paradigm shift. This shift requires a new management model to harness the power of the new paradigm, so that today’s CIO can power business innovation rather than attempt to hold back the tide. That model is agility.

The values and principles of agility were formalized in 2001, in a document colloquially known as the Agile Manifesto. Originally rooted in the domain of software development, the manifesto has gained increasing relevance to the practice of IT management and strategic leadership, and that trend is likely to accelerate in years to come.

Because the manifesto originated with software development, it’s very easy to find books, blogs, training seminars, and other resources focused on how to apply agile principles to programming or web development. There are also books on agile principles as applied to manufacturing, project management, and (to a lesser extent) product or program management. There are even a few books on agile business strategy, especially using the Lean methodology. However, there is almost nothing in the marketplace focused on the pivotal role the modern CIO plays in an agile context.

Having spent more and more time in recent years helping senior executives transform their organization to take advantage of this new paradigm, I realized that there was a deep need to educate the denizens of “Mahogany Row” on how to incorporate agility into their day-to-day roles within the organization, and to show the modern CIO the bright future that lies ahead by transforming from a traditional or modern CIO into an agile CIO.

The CIO is a critical strategic leader for many organizations, and is woefully underserved by the amount of information that specifically targets the CIO role. That is the problem I set out to solve, and this book is my answer.

Within these pages, you will find a condensed version of the advice I have been providing to CIOs and other senior executives across the country and around the world. For the cost of a book, you can discover knowledge that other companies have paid millions of dollars in business process re-engineering and organizational transformation to learn.

It’s my hope that this book helps you become the agile CIO your company needs you to be today. Furthermore, I hope it enables you to forge the future of IT for yourself and others.

As every journey requires a first step, I hope this book will serve as yours. I wish you every success!

Todd A. Jacobs
Baltimore, MD - Spring 2017