Mark Schwartz - War and Peace and IT: Business Leadership, Technology, and Success in the Digital Age

Praise for War and Peace and IT

War and Peace and IT offers a bold, insightful roadmap for building a companys digital capacity. With the pace of change in IT accelerating at such an unprecedented rate, I consider this essential reading for my entire leadership team.

Franois Locoh-Donou , President & CEO, F5 Networks

Having worked with hundreds of executives from large enterprises in my roles at AWS, it is clear to me that every CEO and CIO should read this book... together. As todays leader transform their organizations for the digital era, they invariably struggle with issues of cultural change, organizational change, and rigid legacy ways of working. If only they had had this book! It is the book they need to bring together IT and the rest of their businesses in the way that can overcome those hurdles. Marks book is clearly informed by his executive leadership experienceboth doing it himself and working with other enterprise leaders.

Stephen Orban , General Manager at Amazon Web Services and author of Ahead in the Cloud

In War and Peace and IT , Mark Schwartz effectively highlights how the days of silod functions and delivering requirements like a War and Peace novel to IT are over. If you and your teams arent out on the frontlines with IT fostering a new way of working together, your ability to succeed in the next era is likely over. If you want to learn how to embrace technology, respond effectively to ambiguity, and transform your business into an agile organization, then bring all your CXOs together and read this book with the CIO.

Chris Richardson , Chief Operating Officer, Tru Realty

This is the book I would want with me on a walk through the woods in a Russian winter. Marks three books help to define how an organization should function as a whole, each approaching the question from a different angle and each as helpful in changing the organization. I am buying several copies of this book for my colleagues across all of our business operations... not business and IT.

Josh Seckel , Head of Agile Practice at Sevatec, Inc

War and Peace and IT makes a convincing case for change: its real-life examples and the evidence it presents are concrete and compelling.

Rodrigo Lobo , Partner at PIPA Global Investments

In an environment of chaos and uncertainty, theres opportunity, but only if you can recognize it and react quickly. This third book in the trilogy raises the most important issuedecisions need to be made and executed in real time. Outline a set of objectives, get out of the way, and allow the creativity to flow. Mark brings the reader through this journey, and having gone through it with him at the Department of Homeland Security, I can tell you it was one of most impactful initiatives we ever undertook.

Luke McCormack , former CIO of the Department of Homeland Security

Napoleon couldnt centrally manage his battles in real time, but todays leaders have no excuse. Independent cell-based teams using rapid hypothesis testing will win the battles against competitors who remain old-school. After explaining to IT leaders how to get A Seat at the Table , Mark Schwartz has advice for everyone else at the table.

Adrian Cockcroft , VP Cloud Architecture Strategy at AWS

25 NW 23rd Pl, Suite 6314

Portland, OR 97210

Copyright 2019 by Mark Schwartz

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, IT Revolution Press, LLC, 25 NW 23rd Pl, Suite 6314, Portland, OR 97210

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

24 23 22 21 20 191 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cover and book design by Devon Smith

Author Photograph by Gary Landsman

Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data

Names: Schwartz, Mark (IT manager), author.

Title: War and peace and IT : business leadership, technology, and success in

the digital age / by Mark Schwartz.

Description: Portland, OR : IT Revolution Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018047857| ISBN 9781942788713 (trade pbk.) |

ISBN 9781942788720 (ePub) | ISBN 9781942788737 (kindle) |

ISBN 9781942788751 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Information technologyManagement. |

Technological innovationsManagement. | Leadership.

Classification: LCC HD30.2 .S3878 2019 | DDC 004.068dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047857

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases or for information on booking authors for an event, please visit our website at ITRevolution.com.

War and Peace and IT

To the leaders of finance, marketing, sales, operations I have worked with, who have taught me much:

You! Lecteur! mon semblable; mon client!

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

FOREWORD

Most Humble Readers:

I, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, First Consul of France, MBA, do require and suggest that you read this book.

It is wrong in places, bien sr , but what do you expect in the brouillard de guerre this we forgive from an auteur who with insight describes how I, Napoleon, visionary and leader, brought transformation to France. Was it not I who persuaded all of France to use the metric system? I who created the Code Napoleonic? I who dissolved the Holy Roman Empire and unified Germany? I and no other who legalized divorce, ended the Inquisition, and began the fashion for the felt bicorn hat, one of whichplease note this, business readerswas sold for $400,000 this year of 2018? And was not it I who gave my name to a kind of pastry both frosted and filled?

Do you think all of this cultural change was easy? Non , impediments faced on every front: the British, the Austrians, the Italians, the Russians... that is, I mean the weather horrible in Russiaif you can overcome it, you will be more successful in your transformation, I tell you this.

I commend the auteur , M. Schwartz, who corrects the confused mutterings of that espce de vache snile , that tte dodelinante , Comte Leo Tolstoy and his mille-feuilles of War and Peace filled with nonsense and frosted only with ignorance. If only I had had this book of M. Schwartzand vast quantities of steak frites and well-made bootsI would surely have triumphed in Russia, despite the weather horrible .

This book teaches the successful tactics innovated by me, Napoleon. How par example I brought the technological agilit to my forces by making mobile the artillery, so can you learn to be masterful of technology. When the auteur says that speed is most important eh bien , M. Mack surely observed this when I took Ulm from him by moving my troops from the English Channel to the Rhine even before he finished his caf au lait . And in regards to the motivating of troops, as M. Schwartz observes, I engaged my finance department to invest in my troops coins rather than worthless paper money.

M. Schwartz further praises focus and risk-taking. I recall to mind when I defeated the Austrians at Austerlitz by deliberately weakening my flank, which provoked them to attack it, at which moment I focused all of my forces on the very center of their position. This lesson may be useful to you.