What books inspired leading CIOs and technology executives this year? We asked our Enterprisers for some of the titles they enjoyed most in 2014, and why they would recommend them to other IT leaders. Check out their responses below.
2014 CIO Must Reads
The High-Velocity Edge by Dr. Steven Spear Recommended by Gene Kim, CTO, Research, Author " As part of his doctoral thesis, Dr. Steven Spear started putting together the fundamental elements of the Toyota Production System. I read this book many years ago, but I reread the book after taking his two-day course at MIT, and ended up dog-earring every other page. Any technology manager who wants to see how organizations have implemented systems of work that simultaneously enable fast flow and world-class reliability needs to read this book. The book uses examples from manufacturing, healthcare delivery, and aircraft engine R&D processes. The link to DevOps is startling." |
The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee Recommended by Jim Whitehurst, president and CEO, Red Hat "This isn’t directly related to enterprise IT, but is important context on how technology is impacting our world." |
The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni Recommended by Sven Gerjets, CTO, Pearson "I reread this book in 2014. While it’s not much of a tech book, it’s very applicable for what I am currently working through. It focuses on the critical factors for having a healthy and highly effective team, and it is not his typical bubble-gum leadership parable." |
The Real Business of IT by Richard Hunter and George Westerman Recommended by Lisa Davis, CIO, Georgetown University "It's an invaluable resource in developing metrics and linking IT to business outcomes!" |
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries Recommended by John Marcante, CIO, Vanguard "Why? Because IT is about innovation. Creative, innovative people exist in every company, and our mission is to capture that innovation and make our businesses better and faster, enabling them to produce move value per investment dollar. These principles apply to everyone at organizations of all sizes — large or small." |
Everything Is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger Recommended by Lee Congdon, CIO, Red Hat " The ways we think about and structure information are changing dramatically as we move into the information age. This book challenges readers to consider different ways to identify and solve business problems — and everything else in your life." |
The Responsive City by Stephen Goldsmith and Susan Crawford Recommended by Bryan Sastokas, CIO, City of Oakland "Since I speak a lot on reinventing government, this book provided insight through case studies and other approaches on the transformation of government through the use of technology, data and analytics. It left me with an optimistic view on government's ability to improve its services through innovation." |
