CIOs who possess good leadership skills and a high degree of discipline are typically quite good at running the technology department. But good CIOs know it’s critically important that their technology capabilities stay synchronized with changes in the business too. The pace of change seems to perpetually accelerate, and it can leave the technology department flat-footed and unable to adapt as quickly as the business requires at times. A passion for simplicity can help. Yves Morieux does a very good job in his TED presentation describing how organizations can create complexity disasters using obsolete control and structure techniques, and he offers good ideas on getting back to basics and simplifying the work so that employees are engaged and helpful to each other. This is a simple reminder to CIOs that “simple” is a friend of “fast”. And “fast” is what companies need.
