“The Uncomfortable CEOs are interested in what is right, rather than who is right; they have a general dissatisfaction with the status quo, and always looking for ways to explore new boundaries.” (José Ignacio Sordo) “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.” (Albert Einstein) “Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” (Theodore Levit) “The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones put.” (Dee Ward Hock)

The Uncomfortable CEO:

Making Information Technology Overcome Business Uncertainty

Uncomfortable CEOs are dissatisfied with this status quo. They have the vision to understand that viewing IT as a mere commodity service provider falls far short of realizing its full potential. Importantly, they translate vision into action and prepare to respond to key challenges. These include:

More than 50% of all capital expenses incurred by businesses worldwide go to IT. However, most business leaders remain skeptical as to whether their IT investments bring business relevance to their corporations.
IT organizations need to demonstrate the core capabilities of deep business understanding and resilient leadership.
Corporations must develop and select IT leaders who can deliver positive business results in a rapidly changing, highly volatile and unpredictable business environment.

Therein lies an opportunity! Uncomfortable CEOs have the capacity to change before the case for the change becomes obvious. They have learned how to strategically leverage IT by linking it to planning, operations, finance, and innovation development. IT is an essential component to achieving an organization’s vision. IT is capable of providing invaluable insights that can have the greatest impact on both productivity and profitability for the entire organization.

The Uncomfortable CEO: Making Information Technology Overcome Business Uncertainty is a handbook for CEOs and other senior executives that lays out the argument for leveraging IT’s key role in the business world of the 21st century and provides guidance for doing so successfully. The author explores thought-provoking ideas and challenges your executive thinking to reveal the business relevance of IT. Thirty leadership actions provide a clear step-by-step guide for CEOs to lead their IT organizations towards the highest-leveraged function.

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I have concluded that it is too late to have an IT strategy. Now, companies must have a strategy that includes IT. This is your chance to get an inside view of how one very sensitive and global IT leader thinks and writes. Be prepared for something different from a typical business book. This book makes the case for listening to your IT folks and the book gives you a preview of what they will say.

~Bob Johansen, Distinguished Fellow

Author of Leaders Make the Future

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…as the CEO, you may have an unprecedented number of options to consider, unique business challenges to face and tough choices to make to stay ahead of competition. This is your everyday life! In this book, you will learn how information technology executives will help you deliver better business results.

~Mariano Martin Mampaso

Vice Chairman of the Board, DIA

Former Global President of Sales, The Procter & Gamble Company

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Critique from Gregory L. Laird

Vice President, Consulting at Corporation

Nov 30 2013

José Ignacio has hit a homerun with “The Uncomfortable CEO”. This book is a must read for CEOs and other senior executives that leverage IT to create a competitive advantage in their business. Easy to read, I was able to read the book from cover to cover in one sitting!

“The Uncomfortable CEO” will challenge your thinking with its provocative ideas. I loved the concept of being uncomfortable, particularly the quote, “It is not the job of the CEO to be comfortable! Comfort breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure.” This struck a chord with me that resonated with me throughout the reading of the book.

While there are many books that discuss the role of the CIO in an organization from the CIOs view, José Ignacio presents his thoughts through the unique perspective of the CEO’s view. Tie this in with the concept of being uncomfortable, and you have a great book.

Here are a few of my takeaways from the book beginning with the tagline, “Making Information Technology Overcome Business Uncertainty”. This provocative tagline is the foundation for addressing the key issues of why business should approach the discipline of information technology.

Change is inevitable. This theme is carried throughout the book. The proactive will prevail, the adaptive will survive, and the reactive will disappear. Innovation in information technology has been a given. Yet when married to a deep understanding of the business, information technology is the requisite for successful market execution. The theme of value is a common theme throughout the book.

At the least this book will challenge your assumptions regarding information technology. At the most, this book will provide you with a guide to leverage information technology to drive business value.

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The Uncomfortable CEO:

Critique from Gregory L. Laird

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