Truth from the Trenches: A Practical Guide to the Art of It Management

by Mark Settle

The IT management profession is not for the faint of heart. Anyone who has worked in this field is familiar with the unique (and borderline impossible) challenges of keeping pace with technological innovation while maintaining legacy systems, reskilling existing staff members and operating on shrinking budgets. Truth from the Trenches passes on the hard-won leadership lessons that six-time CIO Mark Settle gained over years of working in IT management. Settle describes the key constituencies that an IT leader needs to influence, seduce, leverage, and manage to be successful. His practical recommendations will allow readers to improve their organizational impact and accelerate their career advancement. In a sector where competency stems not from formal certification but on-the-job learning, Truth from the Trenches is a valuable and unique resource that is based on Settle’s deep experience working in a wide variety of industries. By applying Settle’s strategies, IT leaders will be able to avoid common pitfalls, save themselves from wasting time and on hopeless initiatives, and successfully do battle with the people issues, financial challenges, customer problems and technology opportunities they confront on a daily basis.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Technology

208 pages, Hardcover

Published December 12, 2016

Reviews

[Ashik Uzzaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yesterday I finished listening to Truth from the Trenches: A Practical Guide to the Art of IT Management by Mark Settle. I didn't find the book much useful although there are few places here and there stuck with me and I plan to use those occasionally. The book builds on the need for IT Leaders to drive relevance with the rest of the business leadership. Settle points out that many business leaders see IT as more of a hindrance and a roadblock to innovation than an enabler.

Source: http://www.dragon-bishop.com/2020/08/...

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Settle's book being titled 'Truth from the Trenches' is very appropriate since a large part of the book builds on the need for IT Leaders to drive relevance with the rest of the business leadership. Settle points out that many business leaders see IT as more of a hindrance and a roadblock to innovation than an enabler. Settle builds the case for a highly engaged IT workforce embedded in the different support organizations through highly skilled Business Analysts building strategic relationships and IT Leaders driving organizational awareness via that input. A great read for the IT Leader fighting the good fight daily trying to drive beyond keep the lights on initiatives to truly driving business innovation and collaboration for their companies.

[Dieter Verlaeckt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that much new for seasoned IT managers, but still solid and practical advice. I gained an insight or two which made it worth reading.

Audiobook warning: the audiobook is narrated terribly, like a newscaster reading of a teleprompter without understanding a single word of what is being said. Very distracting, but you get used to it after a while.

[Brett Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very applicable to the current state of IT in the enterprise. Many great ideas proposed based on lessons learned, I wished more examples of solutions were presented as well.