Wolf in Cio's Clothing


Book Description

Machiavellians are few in number in IT. The massive pressure on CIOs continues to increase as the opportunities to use technology in business become more prevalent and more competitive. As CIOs often find themselves at the center of business conflict, they must not only familiarize themselves with Machiavellian tactics as a defensive weapon, but also learn to use them as an offensive weapon in extreme situations so that they can increase IT's contribution to their enterprises. As Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli implied, you're either predator or prey, and the animal you most resemble determines your position on the food chain. In The Wolf in CIO's Clothing Gartner analyst and author Tina Nunno expands on Machiavelli's metaphor, examining seven animal types and the leadership attributes of each. Nunno posits the wolf -- a social animal with strong predatory instincts -- as the ideal example of how a leader can adapt and thrive. Technology may be black and white, but successful leadership demands an ability to exist in the grey. Drawing on her experience with hundreds of CIOs, Nunno charts a viable way to master the Machiavellian principles of power, manipulation, love, and war. Through compelling case studies, her approach demonstrates how CIOs and IT leaders can adjust their leadership styles in extreme situations for their own success and that of their teams.




The Wolf in CIOs Clothing


Book Description

As a CIO under fire, is it better to be liked or respected? How do you distinguish between risk and recklessness? When should you defend your position, and when should you give ground? The answers may surprise you. Business is a hotbed for conflict, and CIOs often find themselves at the center. As Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli implied, you're either predator or prey, and the animal you most resemble determines your position on the food chain. In The Wolf in CIO's Clothing, Gartner analyst and author Tina Nunno expands on Machiavelli's metaphor, examining seven animal types and the leadership attributes of each. She posits the wolf ? a social animal with strong predatory instincts ? as the ideal example of how a leader can adapt and thrive. Technology may be black and white, but successful leadership demands an ability to exist in the grey. Drawing on her experience with hundreds of CIOs, Nunno charts a viable way to master the Machiavellian principles of power, manipulation, love and war. Through compelling case studies, her approach demonstrates how CIOs and IT leaders can adjust their leadership styles in extreme situations for their own success and that of their teams.




Real Business of IT


Book Description

If you're a general manager or CFO, do you feel you're spending too much on IT or wishing you could get better returns from your IT investments? If so, it's time to examine what's behind this IT-as-cost mind-set. In The Real Business of IT, Richard Hunter and George Westerman reveal that the cost mind-set stems from IT leaders' inability to communicate about the business value they create-so CIOs get stuck discussing budgets rather than their contributions to the organization. The authors explain how IT leaders can combat this mind-set by first using information technology to generate three forms of value important to leaders throughout the organization: -Value for money when your IT department operates efficiently and effectively -An investment in business performance evidenced when IT helps divisions, units, and departments boost profitability -Personal value of CIOs as leaders whose contributions to their enterprise go well beyond their area of specialization The authors show how to communicate about these forms of value with non-IT leaders-so they understand how your firm is benefiting and see IT as the strategic powerhouse it truly is.




Selling Free Enterprise


Book Description

The post-World War II years in the United States were marked by the business community's efforts to discredit New Deal liberalism and undermine the power and legitimacy of organized labor. In Selling Free Enterprise, Elizabeth Fones-Wolf describes how conservative business leaders strove to reorient workers away from their loyalties to organized labor and government, teaching that prosperity could be achieved through reliance on individual initiative, increased productivity, and the protection of personal liberty. Based on research in a wide variety of business and labor sources, this detailed account shows how business permeated every aspect of American life, including factories, schools, churches, and community institutions.




Microservices


Book Description

The Most Complete, Practical, and Actionable Guide to Microservices Going beyond mere theory and marketing hype, Eberhard Wolff presents all the knowledge you need to capture the full benefits of this emerging paradigm. He illuminates microservice concepts, architectures, and scenarios from a technology-neutral standpoint, and demonstrates how to implement them with today’s leading technologies such as Docker, Java, Spring Boot, the Netflix stack, and Spring Cloud. The author fully explains the benefits and tradeoffs associated with microservices, and guides you through the entire project lifecycle: development, testing, deployment, operations, and more. You’ll find best practices for architecting microservice-based systems, individual microservices, and nanoservices, each illuminated with pragmatic examples. The author supplements opinions based on his experience with concise essays from other experts, enriching your understanding and illuminating areas where experts disagree. Readers are challenged to experiment on their own the concepts explained in the book to gain hands-on experience. Discover what microservices are, and how they differ from other forms of modularization Modernize legacy applications and efficiently build new systems Drive more value from continuous delivery with microservices Learn how microservices differ from SOA Optimize the microservices project lifecycle Plan, visualize, manage, and evolve architecture Integrate and communicate among microservices Apply advanced architectural techniques, including CQRS and Event Sourcing Maximize resilience and stability Operate and monitor microservices in production Build a full implementation with Docker, Java, Spring Boot, the Netflix stack, and Spring Cloud Explore nanoservices with Amazon Lambda, OSGi, Java EE, Vert.x, Erlang, and Seneca Understand microservices’ impact on teams, technical leaders, product owners, and stakeholders Managers will discover better ways to support microservices, and learn how adopting the method affects the entire organization. Developers will master the technical skills and concepts they need to be effective. Architects will gain a deep understanding of key issues in creating or migrating toward microservices, and exactly what it will take to transform their plans into reality.




The CIO Edge


Book Description

Great CIOs consistently exceed key stakeholders' expectations and maximize the business value delivered through their company's technology. What's their secret? Sure, IT professionals need technological smarts, plus an understanding of their company's goals and the competitive landscape. But the best of them possess a far more potent ability: they forge good working relationships with everyone involved in an IT-enabled project, whether it's introducing new hardware or implementing a major business transformation. In The CIO Edge, the authors draw on Korn/Ferry International's extensive empirical data on leadership competencies as well as Gartner's research on IT trends and the CIO role. They prove that, for IT leaders, mastering seven essential skills yields big results. This new book lays out the people-to-people leadership competencies that the highest-performing CIOs have in common—including the ability to inspire others, connect with a diverse array of stakeholders, value others' ideas, and manifest caring in their relationships. The authors then explain how to cultivate each defining competency. Learn these skills, and you'll get more work done through others' enabling you to successfully execute more IT projects, generate better results for your company, and concentrate your efforts where they'll exert the most impact. The payoff? As the authors show, you'll work smarter, not harder—and get promoted far faster than your peers.




The World According to Garp


Book Description

T.S. Garp, a man with high ambitions for an artistic career and with obsessive devotion to his wife and children, and Jenny Fields, his famous feminist mother, find their lives surrounded by an assortment of people including teachers, whores, and radicals




The CIO's Left-led Unions


Book Description

The American labor movement seemed poised on the threshold of unparalleled success at the beginning of the post-World War II era. Fourteen million strong in 1946, unions represented 35 percent of non-agricultural workers, and federal power insured collective bargaining rights. The contrast with the pre-war years was strongest for those workers who retained vivid memories of the 1920s and early 1930s. Then, the labor movement lacked government legitimacy, and, at the worst point of the Great Depression, the union movement barely enrolled 5 percent of the non-farm workforce; one out of every four workers lacked a job. Now, the future seemed to hold unlimited possibilities.




The New Machiavelli


Book Description

The New Machiavelli is a gripping account of life inside 'the bunker' of Number 10. In his twenty-first century reworking of Niccolo Machiavelli's influential masterpiece, The Prince, Jonathan Powell - Tony Blair's Chief of Staff from 1994 - 2007 - recounts the inside story of that period, drawing on his own unpublished diaries. Taking the lessons of Machiavelli derived from his experience as an official in fifteenth-century Florence, Powell shows how these lessons can still apply today. Illustrating each of Machiavelli's maxims with a description of events that occurred during Tony Blair's time as Prime Minister, The New Machiavelli is designed to be The Prince for modern times.




Digital to the Core


Book Description

There is no simple strategic method for dealing with the multidimensional nature of digital change. Even the sharpest leaders can become disoriented as change builds on change, leaving almost nothing certain. Yet to stand still is to fail. Enterprises and leaders must re-master themselves to succeed. Leaders must identify the key macro forces, then lead their organizations at three distinct levels: industry, enterprise, and self. By doing this they cannot only survive but clean up. Digital to the Core makes the case that all business leaders must understand the impact the digital revolution will continue to play in their industries, companies, and leadership style and practices. Drawing on interviews with over 30 top C-level executives in some of the world's most powerful companies and government organizations, including GE, Ford, Tory Burch, Babolat, McDonalds, Publicis and UK Government Digital Service, this book delivers practical insights from those on the front lines of major digital upheaval. The authors incorporate Gartner's annual CIO and CEO global survey research and also apply the deep knowledge and qualitative insights they have acquired as practitioners, management researchers, and advisors over decades in the business. Above all else, Raskino and Waller want companies and their top leaders to understand the full impact of digital change and integrate it at the core of their businesses.