What are Main Characteristics of Agile EA

Agility is not just the ability to change. It is a cultivated capability that enables an organization to respond in a timely, effective, and sustainable way when changing circumstances require it. The aim of an EA must be to define, implement and refine the overall architecture on a continuous basis. However, most of today’s EA is static and theoretic. The biggest problem with EA is not the tools, nor the frameworks (although they certainly...

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CIO’s Leadership Development Journey: from Good to Great

An effective CIO needs to be an independent thinker, unbiased communicator, flexible doer, and global leader. The CIO role continues to evolve various changes due to the changing nature of IT, from industry studies, the majority of CIOs has skill gap leaping from techie to strategist, or from good to great.  Rome was not built in a day and neither should a CIO. What’s being needed to develop a great CIO? Training, empowerment...

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The Ultimate Purpose of Leadership in One Word & Sentence

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -- Gandhi, Mahatma 1. Vision: The purpose of leadership is to envision the future of business & society; empower the talent people, and enable the change & transformation.  2. Value-driven: Be sincere and follow / lead your vision with character, humility & conviction. 3. Influence: Lead and be led by empowering and influencing the people around you. Provide a sense of hope!...

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Three Ways to Pursue Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ― Leonardo da VinciEither from architectural design, engineering discipline or management perspectives, simplicity means or is related to too many things such as manageability, availability, scalability, flexibility, reliability, robustness, sensitivity, comprehensiveness, speed, responsiveness, etc. And like many things, there is good simplicity and bad simplicity; good complexity and bad complexity;...

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Is IT skills Gap Fact or Fiction?

Whether the IT skills gap is fact or fiction, visionary CIOs will have an influence on both talent management and the STEM education system. There’s always a debate regarding IT talent supply and demand, does the IT skills gap really exist? Or is it due to any management issues such as misunderstanding or miscommunication in the talent value chain? What is the root cause and how to solve the problem?  1. Where is the “IT Skills” Gap?  The...

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Is There such Thing as 'Completeness' in Enterprise Architecture?

It is complete when you have identified and vetted solutions to all of the most significant challenges that the enterprise faces and that business processes or systems can help to solve. Enterprise Architecture typically represents ' why you do or what you know', how do you ensure you are also aware of 'What you don't know' in the process of drafting an EA blueprint. An EA can only be complete for an instant. The next instant the world...

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Is Corporate Culture a Type of Competency?

Culture is differentiator!People seem to have different ideas about what culture means in (and for) an organization. A company's culture helps define what a company is like. What it means to be part of the company, how to act in the company, what others in the company believe and strive for even how others see the company. Culture can be defined as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of...

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400th Blog Contemplation: Is True Leadership like Diamond with Five “C’s?

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.  -ConfuciusLeadership is like diamond. If you take a diamond and looked closely at it through its various facets, you would see different qualities each time you turned the diamond. The five Cs of diamonds are the carat, clarity, color, cut, and confidence, so is true leadership like diamond,  both nature and nurtured?  Is raw leadership like the diamond in the Rough...it takes...

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The Biggest IT Blind Spots

The business fails IT, just like IT fails business. Many IT organizations still survive in the dark back office, no wonder, there are both strategic and operational blind spots result in decreasing business productivity and lowering organizational maturity. What are those fatal blind spots and how to avoid them?  1.  Leadership Blind Spot  If IT never gets the opportunity to have peer to peer communication with business...

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