Idea to retire: The “rock star” chief information officer

[Commentary] While undeniably, a government rock star chief information officer (CIO) can be successful, success is far more likely if the CIO is a career government employee rather than a rock star. There are several reasons for this. First, in government, the CIO is surrounded by career employees who have deep knowledge and great respect for the process of government IT. Secondly, government employees, realizing that the incoming rock star CIO is unlikely to stay for long, are aware that they can simply wait out the new CIO. Thirdly, agency directors (or mayors or legislators) are generally unwilling to risk implementing a major initiative simply based on the star power of the rock star, even if they were responsible for bringing in the rock star.

[Dr. Gregory S. Dawson is a senior faculty associate at the Center for Organization Research and Design (CORD) within the School of Public Programs at Arizona State University]