The Departing CIO Is Not the Risk. The Unassigned Decisions Are.
A leadership transition is often declared successful because projects remain on schedule, systems stay available and the organization experiences no immediate disruption. Those are necessary signals of operational continuity. They are not proof that strategic accountability has survived the departure. An experienced CIO may have been doing work that never appeared clearly in the organization chart: challenging investments, negotiating acceptable risk, deciding when not to modernize and confronting assumptions that had become comfortable. When that executive leaves, the systems can remain. The decision rights may not. A handover can transfer information without transferring judgment Transition plans normally identify contracts, active projects, budgets and operational responsibilities. The more difficult inventory is made of recurring executive decisions: which investments deserve priority, what exceptions are defensible, when a supplier recommendation should be rejected an...