I've come up with a few key points to keeping a CIO job. I'd be interested in hearing some of your hints, too.

By Herbert W. Lovelace

keep reading articles that say a CIO's life span in a job is measured in months, not years. This is a painful concept to accept, especially to those of us who have worked diligently to make sure we are always able to spend at our marginal level of income. Personally, it is not so much that I have become accustomed to satisfying my urge for all sorts of gadgets as that I have a deep-seated desire to help the economy grow.

In any case, I find that since I have been in the same jo b for a number of years, my associates have begun to ask me the secret of my success in avoiding the pleasure of reviewing my career options, unfettered by the distractions of a daily job. In my spare time -- such as it is -- I have started to catalog the key points and have decided to share them with you.

Most people have a top 10 list of something or other. While this is all well and good, I could only think of four, which in itself may make you question my future staying power in my job, but here goes anyway:

1. Never ask a question that is longer than its answer will be.
A lot of us get invited to meetings because businesspeople read that if they're modern and forward-thinking, they're supposed to get our input. Most of them, no doubt, have no idea what we could possibly contribute.

Significantly, we frequently reinforce this point of view by the way we act in meetings. So, if you should find yourself asking convoluted questions with all sorts of qualifiers and maybe an occasional technical term thrown in for good measure, and then get one- or two-word answers-or worse, one- or two-syllable -- you'd better watch out. You are heading into dangerous territory from which there is no graceful escape.

2. Accept that no decision exists until it is documented, if even then.
Do not practice going back to businesspeople, telling them that they are inconsistent or not following through on what they said. The situation may have changed, and you could -- despite your best intentions -- just be annoying them. Instead, commiserate with their having to deal with an unstable world. If you try to show them they were wrong, you will learn that people tend to forgive anything except your being right.

3. The squeaky slug gets the slime.
Just because someone is a repulsive human being with the ethics of a cockroach (is that being insectist?) is no reason for them not to be promoted to executive VP and make your life miserable -- or worse, get authorization for the project of your nightmares.

4. We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions.
It's amazing how often we get into battles that could be avoided. We wind up thinking that other people have all sorts of devious plans and turf-grabbing objectives, when all they really want is to do a good job.

At the same time, we are appalled by the idea that they could possibly misunderstand our altruistic attempts to make things right for the company. We know their misinterpretations are proof positive of their ill intentions, while ours are accidental.

Feedback Welcomed
I'd be interested in any of your own little hints. Send them to me and I'll publish some of them on my InformationWeek Online page. Who knows? Maybe our spur-of-the-moment mutual-aid society will help lower the overall income of the headhunters hired to replace us frequently, and shift the burden of unemployment to them for a change.

Each year, I present the LVRA (Lovela ce Verbiage Ratio Award) to the product or concept from the past year with the highest ratio of press coverage to actual corporate use. I am soliciting everyone's input for this nonprestigious -- yet vitally important -- prize. Send your personal pick and reasons for it to me at secret@cmp.com before Jan. 1, 1998. "Winners" will be highlighted in a future column.

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