The higher you climb in IT, the more human the job becomes

The higher you climb in IT, the more human the job becomes.

That's one of the concepts I've been reflecting on since beginning the CGCIO program.

Early in an IT career, we tend to measure ourselves by technical ability.

Can I fix it? Can I build it? Can I secure it? Can I keep it running?

Those skills don't become less important as you move into leadership. But the problems get bigger, and technology becomes only one part of the answer.

Now the questions look different.

Can I build trust?

Can I explain technical risk in terms that make sense to someone who doesn't work in IT?

Can I bring together people with competing priorities and help them find common ground?

Can I understand the mission well enough to know when technology is the solution, and when it isn't?

One of the things CGCIO is reinforcing for me is that the progression from technologist to technology leader isn't about leaving the technical side behind. It's about adding new layers of responsibility.

You still need reliable systems. You still need cybersecurity. You still need infrastructure that works.

But eventually you're also responsible for connecting all of that technology to people, processes, organizational priorities, and ultimately the mission.

After more than two decades in IT, I find that interesting.

The deeper I've gone into technology, the more I've realized that some of the hardest problems I've had to solve weren't really technology problems at all.

They were people problems with technology somewhere in the middle.

And those often require a very different set of tools.