blogs.starcio.comSocial, Agile, and Transformation

For current and aspiring digital transformation leaders, including CIO, CTO, CDO, innovation leaders, product managers, DevOps engineers, SREs, and data governance specialists. Topics: digital transformation, leadership, agile planning, scrum, DevOps, SRE, ITSM, AIOps, innovation, product management, data science, AI, ML, data governance, low-code, no-code, startups, digital marketing, social networking, SaaS, future of work, IoT, and culture change. Join our community of Digital Trailblazers! Labels agile planning AI big data cio citizen development DevOps digital transformation innovation organizational change 5 Decisive Questions to Ask Your Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) I’m a digital transformation, product, technology, and data/AI leader, but I don’t count information security as a top area of expertise. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about putting the sec into DevSecOps, how security platforms use AI to improve incident management, and why educating employees is the frontline of defending the business. But when it comes to prioritizing security risks, developing a roadmap, and overseeing security operations, I call in experts who can advise on strategy and lead implementations. continue reading "5 Decisive Questions to Ask Your Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, May 13, 2024 0 comments Labels: about me , cio , security Why Digital Trailblazers Must Be Paranoid In These Four Important Areas My friends and colleagues know I can be paranoid sometimes, but it’s part of my survival instincts. When you’re driving transformation and responsible for operations, as I was for most of my career, you develop anxieties over what can go wrong, how it will impact your objectives, and whether you’re missing opportunities to address a material risk. continue reading "Why Digital Trailblazers Must Be Paranoid In These Four Important Areas" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, May 06, 2024 0 comments Labels: about me , agile planning , cio , DevOps , digital transformation , innovation , leadership , organizational change , product management Top Leadership Attributes of Really Successful Digital Trailblazers At a recent Coffee with Digital Trailblazers , we discussed who are the right people to lead digital transformation initiatives in their organizations – leaders that I call Digital Trailblazers. I chose this topic as an extension to Chapter 8 of Digital Trailblazer , where I ponder the advice from boards of directors and CEOs on finding the right leaders to oversee the organization’s digital transformation initiatives. From the discussion, we captured fifty attributes of Digital Trailblazers that I grouped into five competencies: continue reading "Top Leadership Attributes of Really Successful Digital Trailblazers" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, April 29, 2024 0 comments Labels: about me , agile planning , cio , cmo , customer experience , digital transformation , future of work , innovation , leadership , product management 5 Keys to Develop Meaningful Relationships with Board Directors Even if you’re not a C-level company executive, you might find opportunities to speak with board directors and develop a meaningful and valuable relationship with them. You may get lucky and have an opportunistic encounter, like running into a board director in your building’s elevator, at a charity event, or during a conference. Are you prepared and confident to turn a chance encounter into a career-changing opportunity? continue reading "5 Keys to Develop Meaningful Relationships with Board Directors" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, April 22, 2024 0 comments Labels: business plans , cio , digital transformation , leadership , organizational change 3 Ways Helpful CIOs and CHROs Can Drive Experimental Cultures Ten years ago, it was less likely for CIOs and Digitial Trailblazers to form a partnership with their CHRO and human resources departments. At that time, IT was largely focused on run and grow initiatives with little focus on transformation – and the term digital transformation was in its infancy. Meanwhile, many employees perceived HR as untrustworthy and only sought their services to complete performance reviews, gain support for promotions, request approvals for new hires, and handle difficult employee situations. continue reading "3 Ways Helpful CIOs and CHROs Can Drive Experimental Cultures" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, April 15, 2024 0 comments Labels: agile planning , cio , digital transformation , enterprise 2.0 , future of work , innovation , leadership , organizational change Should product managers and innovative agile teams measure business value? How to measure business value is a question many agile teams ask me, given how much rigor I ask them to put into estimating and capturing story points . Should product managers and product owners have an equivalent responsibility to define a business value metric, use the metric for prioritization, and be held accountable for actual business value delivered versus estimated? continue reading "Should product managers and innovative agile teams measure business value?" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, April 08, 2024 0 comments Labels: agile planning , DevOps , digital transformation , innovation , it management , organizational change , product management 10 Easy Ways for Introverted Digital Trailblazers to Manage Up Managing up is a career development method that involves working with your boss to create value for both of you.” This is how Google’s AI explains managing up, a set of career management practices for developing relationships with your manager and other higher-level executives. I confess – I sucked at managing up during my days as CTO and CIO. From my naïve lens, I equated managing up to ass kissing, allowing my introversion to mask and underinvest in this critical career management practice. I believed that demonstrating strong communication, delivering continuous results, and fostering a culture of innovation and transformation were all I needed to promote my career aspirations. continue reading "10 Easy Ways for Introverted Digital Trailblazers to Manage Up" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, April 01, 2024 0 comments Labels: about me , digital transformation , future of work , innovation , leadership GenAI Will Drive These 3 Emerging Leadership Trends The pace of technology change is increasing, and you must reevaluate your digital strategy and priorities. Frequently. You will always be transforming, and your organization must establish transformational practices as essential core competencies.” It’s been just over two years since I finalized the Digital Trailblazer manuscript, my book of stories and 50 lessons for people leading digital transformation initiatives. These were my remarks in the book’s preface, and I wrote it well before genAI took the world by storm. continue reading "GenAI Will Drive These 3 Emerging Leadership Trends" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, March 25, 2024 0 comments Labels: AI , cio , digital transformation , enterprise 2.0 , future of work , innovation , leadership , offshore development , organizational change 5 Practical Technologies Every Ambitious SMB in Industrials Should POC Manufacturing, construction, and other industrial businesses can leapfrog from technology-lagging organizations to ones driving competitive advantages. A chief challenge is escaping legacy mindsets, especially in small and medium businesses where technology is a commodity component that’s bought once and used well past its depreciation date. continue reading "5 Practical Technologies Every Ambitious SMB in Industrials Should POC" Read more » Posted by Isaac Sacolick at Monday, March 18, 2024 0 comments Labels: cio , citizen development , data management , digital transformation , enterprise 2.0 , innovation , IOT ,...