Urgent requests and unreasonable timelines are normal. Accepting those requests does not need to be the norm. Five responses will help protect your team to stay focused and your technology vision to be fulfilled.

You can’t do it all, at least not in the timeframe others want you to do it in. There is a better answer than citing backlog - one that educates as well as protects you and your team.

Intelligence Firms like Gartner have their place, but they alone may not best serve your purpose or be the first place to look. What must have first place in your leadership is a community of peers who get behind your purpose and bring practical answers to your pressing needs.

The answer to talent gaps, backlogs and shadow IT is Citizen Development. It’s not a fad, it’s a movement, and one you must lead and shape to resolve challenges you still face and will face more of in years ahead.

We need more women in technology leadership roles because of the strength that comes from how they have been shaped and what they have overcome.

For years now, we have debated to whom the CIO should report. The options are few, but it doesn’t matter. The question was wrong. Fix the question, and the answer is obvious.