You might expect that first meeting to revolve around a bold strategic vision for innovation, transformation, and building a world-class IT organization. Instead, the opening conversation is often far more tactical. The topics usually sound something like this:

• The network is slow
• Wi-Fi keeps dropping
• Skype or Teams meetings never work
• The VPN disconnects every hour
• The service desk is unresponsive

Not exactly the strategic dialogue most CIOs imagine as they walk into the role.

The truth is, for any incoming CIO, the first priority should be understanding the current relationship between IT and the business. More often than not, that relationship needs repair. You cannot drive strategic change until the organization trusts IT to execute on the fundamentals.

In many cases, the quickest way to build trust is by addressing the chronic issues that frustrate employees every day: poor network performance, unreliable conferencing tools, recurring outages, inconsistent service desk support, and unstable change management practices. These problems often seem small, but they have a disproportionate impact on productivity and perception.

Before presenting any visionary PowerPoint about the future state, the CIO’s first meeting should be spent listening. A pen, a notepad, and a willingness to ask thoughtful questions are far more valuable than a polished deck. Your business leaders will likely be surprised, and they will appreciate the shift from presentation to partnership.

Once you understand the real challenges people face, you can begin addressing the immediate pain points. Only then can you move the organization toward the strategic and innovative initiatives that truly transform the business.

You can read the full article here:
https://www.searchcio.techtarget.com/opinion/The-strategic-CIOs-first-day-In-search-of-IT-operational-excellence

The post The CIO’s First Day – Strategic or Operational? appeared first on Joshua Bellendir.

Over the years, I’ve read dozens of strategy books. Many are theoretical. Some are inspirational. Very few are operational.

This one is different.

It turns strategy into a set of clear, deliberate choices that leaders can actually apply.

Drawing on their experience leading Procter & Gamble, Martin and Lafley strip away the jargon and reframe strategy in simple terms:

Strategy is about winning. And winning requires making choices.

Not vague ambition. Not “best practices.” Not incremental improvement everywhere.

Clear choices about:

• where to play
• how to win
• what capabilities to build
• what not to do

That last one is often the hardest.

Why it resonated with me

What I appreciate most about the Playing to Win framework is that it forces focus.

In leadership roles, especially in technology and transformation, there is always more demand than capacity. Every team wants priority. Every initiative feels important.

Without a strategy, you end up spreading resources thin and delivering average outcomes across the board.

This framework reinforces something I’ve seen repeatedly in practice:

You cannot win everywhere. You have to choose where you will win.

That mindset has influenced how I approach:

• portfolio prioritization
• technology roadmaps
• organizational design
• vendor selection
• and investment decisions

In short, it pushes you to align effort with impact.

Learn directly from the source

If you want a quick introduction before reading the book, Martin also shares many of these concepts in a webinar with Harvard Business Review, walking through real-world examples and how the framework applies across industries.

It’s a helpful preview of the thinking behind the model.

Final thought

If you lead teams, allocate budgets, or make trade-offs, you’re already doing strategy, whether you label it that way or not.

This book simply gives you a clearer language and structure to do it better.

Few business books earn a permanent spot on my shelf. This is one of them.

The post Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works appeared first on Joshua Bellendir.