"10 secrets of bad CIOs"

John Halamka is CIO of the CareGroup Healthcare System, a practicing emergency room physician, and proprietor of the Geekdoctor blog; the dude knows his stuff. I therefore read The 10 secrets of bad CIOs, his ComputerWorld opinion piece, with real interest.

Here are John's ten secrets of bad CIOs:

1. Start each meeting with a chip on your shoulder. If a CIO presupposes that every request will be unreasonable and every interaction unpleasant, then every meeting will be unproductive.
2. Set priorities yourself. Good intentions won't prevent mismatches between customer expectations and IT resource allocation.
3. Protect your staff at the expense of the organization. I work hard to prevent my lean and mean staff from becoming bony and angry. But I can't just say no to customers, so I work with them to balance resources, scope and timing.
4. Put yourself first. Being a CIO is a lifestyle, not a job.
5. Indulge in tantrums. Walking into the CEO's office and saying that you will quit unless your budget is increased does not win the war.
6. Hide your mistakes. Transparency may be challenging in the short term, but it always improves the situation in the long term.
7. Burn bridges. It's a small world, and it's best to be cordial and professional in every encounter.
8. Don't give your stakeholders a voice. A CIO can earn a lot of respect just by listening.
9. Cling to obsolete technologies. The CIO should never be the roadblock to adopting new technologies and ideas.
10. Think inside the box. Although exploring new ideas will not always result in a breakthrough, it's the only way to innovate.

The list is non-technical -- it's all about human relations, management, and communication. That's the most important lesson of all.

Yo' John, I live in Brookline, about 10 minutes from your office. Let's get together - I want to hear more.