True Story

I once worked for a CTO who did not talk to a main business stakeholder. In fact, this stakeholder was one of two customer-facing groups served by IT.

I tried to bridge the two.

It was a strange predicament for me.

The stakeholder appreciated my involvement as I tried to align my group with his group’s needs.

The CTO was unhappy with my involvement. I never could understand why.

He liked to control the situation. He was important.

So, the stakeholder spun up their own shadow IT group. Over time, they needed fewer and fewer of the CTO’s services, making his role and organization less important.

This is a true story.