Building a Better CIO

That is an example, Amin says, of “leveraging technology to grow the business,” which ought to be the goal of any CIO or, for that matter, any company that relies on technology—from ERP systems to bar-code scanners—for its operations. The point is that the student not only needed the technical and business know-how to figure out the best alternative, but then had to be able to communicate its superiority clearly and persuasively to executives with a far lower level of technical expertise.

Hence the emphasis in these university programs on communication skills. “Presentations about IT tend to be boring and hard to follow,” says Metro State’s Bouchard. He uses the term “technology translators” to describe people who can “talk to the business side and the technical side of the house,” and make sure that everyone understands the issues on the table.

So how do you allow non-experts to visualize IT processes in a clear and absorbing way? How do you lay out the steps in an inventory process or a company’s supply chain and explain how a certain system change will make the process more effective? Well, it helps if you understand the inventory process from a business perspective, you understand the real impact of the system change, and you are good at explaining such things.

If you can do that, these program directors suggest, you actually might be a master of managing technology. And you could find fewer of those change-resistant donkeys blocking your path.