Martha Heller

I write this review a full decade after this book was published. Further, I am a software developer in a large organization and, though quite happy, will likely never become a CIO at that company. Therefore, I don’t reside in the intended audience in this book. However, I notice many of these paradoxes in my work. I have to master the technical aspects of my job yet be adept enough to communicate to end-users. I have to manage the past while planning for the future. I focus my weeks on technical excellence yet am held accountable for business results. These paradoxes, specifically identified in this book, have become part-and-parcel of my development work.

In my experience, IT leadership today doesn’t always take place at the C-level in businesses. It’s starting to take place at each level. This book is generally focused on helping people master the CIO role. In 2013 (when it was published), it might have hit that role well. However, multiple talents can be used at any level in the organization, and multiple skillsets can contribute to success at those levels, too. All that limits it is one’s imagination and the imagination of one’s company.

Martha Heller is not a CIO with a personal philosophy to apply. Instead, she is a journalist focused on CIOs and has interviewed dozens of CIOs. Those real-world case studies are all over this book, oftentimes quoted directly. The writing is clear and engaging. Sometimes the nuggets of advice contradict itself, but I guess that’s the point of a “paradox.” By mastering both sides of the challenges, she hopes to help people gain mastery of their job – and perhaps move onto the next level.

Because these paradoxes have filtered into the wider IT world, I didn’t find much particularly new and helpful in this book as it relates to my work. Perhaps it’s a victim of its own success. It did talk about the right things, but it just didn’t spark many new thoughts. I remain curious about the topic: How can one lead at any level in IT? How can one cross-train in other disciplines? How does one resolve a business’s inherent paradoxes? These challenging questions remain a decade later. Heller may have addressed these issues in her 2016 book Be the Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT. Perhaps she will enlighten us with another book in 2023.… (mehr)