Book Review: ‘Fit For Uncertainty’ by Marianne Bachynski

Fit For Uncertainty, a recently released book by long-time CIO Marianne Bachynski, teachers readers how to develop and sharpen skills necessary to lead in today’s environment of constant change.

In her book, Bachynski, who has served in technology leadership roles at AIG, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and other financial institutions, discusses her personal experiences and lessons that she learned during her career – a career that has spanned several decades of transformational change. She organizes her guidance into six primary areas of focus – areas upon which those wishing to succeed at leading today’s (and tomorrow’s) organizations should focus.

Unlike many self-help books whose pie-in-the-sky advice is theoretical, the model that Bachynski offers readers in Fit for Uncertainty is practical – people wishing to build the skills needed to lead in today’s world can begin to apply her teachings immediately. In fact, when she presents her six principal areas of focus – strategic leadership, an adaptive mindset, humility and empowerment, accountability and focus, effective communication, and cultural transformation – she does so with plenty of real-world insights. She also explains the critical relationship and interaction between the six, as, of course, skills do not live in silos.

I am not going to go into detail about each of the areas – you can read the book if you want to learn about them – but, I will say that Fit for Uncertainty does deliver on its promise to guide would-be-leaders on the path to building empowered teams, making important decisions with confidence, and driving meaningful change even in an era of uncertainty in which all paths ahead are unclear. The book does not seek to advise people on ways to avoid or minimize change – avoiding change is a recipe for professional failure much as failing to adapt can lead to a species’ extinction – rather, the book shows how to embrace change as a leader in a manner that leads to maximum success.

Of course, many elements of leadership are timeless. But, Brazinsky argues, today’s era of change at unprecedented speed and scale requires augmenting classic skills with additional ones. “Uncertainty is a defining characteristic of the times we live in, driven by the accelerated pace of change that has become the new normal,” she writes. “This level of uncertainty — and the stakes of rapid change — demands a new kind of leadership.”

Fit For Change is available at Amazon and other bookstores.

Joseph Steinberg( Cybersecurity Expert Witness and Board Member )

Joseph Steinberg is a cybersecurity expert witness and advisor, and a Lecturer on Cybersecurity at Columbia University in NYC. He has led businesses in the information-security industry for over two decades, and has written books ranging from the best-selling Cybersecurity for Dummies to the official study guide for a CISO certification exam. He is one of only a few dozen people worldwide to hold the suite of advanced information security certifications, CISSP, ISSAP, ISSMP, and CSSLP, indicating that he possesses a rare, robust knowledge of information security that is both broad and deep; his information-security-related inventions are cited in well over 500 US patent filings.

josephsteinberg.com