It’s been nearly 20 years since I published my first blog post about application logging. When it launched, the blog had a very basic design, and I last upgraded the site about ten years ago, calling it Social, Agile, and Transformation and migrating it to the StarCIO domain. 

A new brand, design, information architecture, and platform were long overdue. I planned on doing this as part of releasing Digital Trailblazer, but marketing and launching a book were more than enough to manage. 

So here I am now, nearly 700 posts published and ready to unveil the next evolution. 

Introducing the new blog: Drive

Drive is the key behavioral trait of StarCIO Digital Trailblazers and critical for leading transformation initiatives. Without drive, leaders can easily slow down or stumble after every setback. 

I selected three focus areas to describe what StarCIO Digital Trailblazers must drive.

• Agility is the ability to accelerate, pivot, and grow while minimizing friction from people (i.e. detractors), rigid legacy processes, and technical debt. Agile planning, DevOps, and data-driven practices are all agility enablers. They require continuous improvement and a cultural balance between self-organization and developing standard practices.  
• Innovation requires finding new ways to improve customer experiences and evolve the future of work. Driving innovation is critical in delivering competitive capabilities and managing disruptive technologies that are becoming mainstream every few years. Product management, design thinking, experimentation, questioning the status quo, and marketing are all innovation drivers. 
• Transformation competencies include leading change management, accelerating adoption, driving collaborative and diverse teams, creating inquisitive cultures, and simplifying business and technical architectures. 

The first letters of Agility, Innovation, and Transformation also spell out “AI in IT,” one of the key digital transformation priorities for all companies in 2024 and the next several years.

I will continue to Drive by expanding to new leadership, practice, and technology areas. I am thrilled that you are interested in joining this next leg of the journey. 

There’s more to come!