Carl,
@HTCPCP-TEA wrote:
I'm happy in the knowledge that at least such things can be discussed honestly here.
We are in agreement that this forum is a place for open, professional debate. One of those debates that we are having now is on the efficacy of earning a degree in preparing for different career paths. You have raised several points of fact about preparing for careers in the C-Suite level (CISO/CTO/CIO) that I disagree with because of both how they were presented, and because of the (lack of) support you used presenting them. Further, I propose that your statements were dangerous to those that may take your statements as truth simply because they were appealing (as opposed to being supported with research and logical reasoning).
@HTCPCP-TEA wrote:
I would actually advocate doing things in whatever way suits you personally, and of course proffessionally.
This appears to be a error in logical argument known as Avoiding the Issue or Non-Sequitur. We were discussing the value of academic degrees in pursuing a C-Suite position not, "going where life takes you."
@HTCPCP-TEA wrote:
If someone wants to earn a degree there is no issue, and this is why I say it shoudl still hold some extended value. I simply wanted to rebuff the impression that one MUST have a formally recognised "higher education" to succeed, as this is simply not the case.. I am NOT devaluing such qualifcations, simply offering an alternative way of thinking.
As you know from military leadership courses, recognizing faulty logic and reasoning is an essential skill in important decision making. Rather than asking, "What are the merits of pursuing a degree in preparation for a C-Suite position," you made a statement of proposed fact that academic degrees are overrated or unnecessary in pursuit of career in the C-Suite. Unfortunately, your continued argument here looks like you're Having Your Cake. You simultaneously claim that you are not devaluing higher education, but at the same time you are devaluing it lower than is existing value, to a value you think it should hold. There's the mathematical equation version of this discussion, and then there's the practical application version. It appears you're trying to be "technically correct" by putting out bad information.
Mathematically, you are correct in that not every single instance of successfully obtaining a C-Suite position requires attaining a degree. Even one person reaching this level without a degree falsifies the mathematical equation. So, if you wanted to be mathematically correct, then congratulations - but it's still bad career advice.
The practical application version however shows that these scenarios are so infrequent and come with so many caveats (they started their own company, they were hired by friends or family into ceremonious positions, they obtained the required knowledge in a military staff position, etc.) that the chance those same factors line up for the majority of people is insignificantly small. These are exceptions. They should be recognized as exceptions for others that read this thread looking for career advice.
@HTCPCP-TEA wrote:
In a world that is slowly seeing younger generations priced out of such an education, it is reasonable to look for alternative routes to get to a level above what one may be percieved as being held at, is it not?. Would it not be irresponsible to allow such generations to believe they can not get there, because they don't hold a degree?
This paragraph appears to have a problem with logical reasoning called an Appeal to Emotion. Just because we may want to reach the C-Suite without a college education, does not mean that the path is available or reasonable to take. It would be reasonable to look for alternative routes while pursuing the primary route. It would be unreasonable to abandon the primary route until an alternative route has been positively identified and secured if the short term goal is the make continuous improvements toward the long term goal.
I do not think it's irresponsible to tell people that they are very unlikely to reach a career goal that generally requires certain education and experience, without obtaining that education and experience first. I'll both refute your statement and repeat that I believe it is irresponsible to tell people that they don't need a certain level of education and experience to reach a career goal when it is likely that they won't qualify for those opportunities without them. If the goal is achieving a C-Suite position, then the first alternative route being considered should be in finding an alternative way to fund the college education. That single act of finding a revenue stream to fund a need is likely to be much more valuable on a resume or C.V. to a C-Suite position than earning your way up by being the best IT engineer or technician.
@HTCPCP-TEA wrote:
I would suggest the term "irresponsible" is a little subjective perhaps? As my whole thesis is based around experience and opinion, it serves to reason that the content of my previous post be, at least partly, a tonic to those who may not have the option of attaining educational standards such as degrees.
Respectfully, I contend that your statements were dangerous because they were based on faulty logic and because they were misleading by suggesting that the path to the C-Suite is commonly achievable without pursuing professional academic education. Using a career advice thread to proport yourself as an expert in senior career qualifications and provide this dangerous information out of ignorance is irresponsible. If your statements were intentionally misleading in order to sabotage the greater population looking for career advice then your statements were not merely irresponsible, they were fraudulent. In either case I propose that your statements are toxic, not tonic, career advice.
The role of the CISO/CTO/CIO in business is formal and requires knowledge of formal business concepts. Some concepts may be learned through on-the-job training, and through certification programs such as the CISSP, but the roles that these C-Suite positions take on is even wider than the CISSP CBK (Fitzgerald, 2007; Gordon, 2015). The CISO/CTO/CIO positions in organizations is extraordinarily young, and over the last 20 years have matured from, “being the most knowledgeable technology person” to being an integrator of business processes with technology (Fitzgerald, 2007). While some organizations have the CIO and lower positions operate with an IT focus instead of a business focus, this is less and less the case over 10 years ago and likely even less so today (Fitzgerald, 2007). This becomes even more critical as law and regulations impact both the technology and the business processes that the technology supports. Relying upon prowess with technology and your tenure at the company isn’t going to cut it anymore.
Unless you are in a corporation that you owned, started, or have friends and family that make up the board, then you are going to have to earn your keep in C-Suite positions. These positions have to speak the language of business, which means accounting and finance, law and regulation, and ethics (Karanja & Rosso, 2017; Fitzgerald, 2007). Based on actual research studies using data collected about several C-suite positions, CISOs and up generally have a Bachelor level degree in IT and a graduate degree in business such as an MBA (Karanja & Rosso, 2017). Not only do they have to communicate down to their IT folks, but they have to communicate across the C-suite to for example, Chief Financial Officers, and up to both the CEO and the Board of Directors (Karanja & Rosso, 2017). If you’re not in a ceremonious position, then you’ll quickly find yourself on the employment chopping block.
I am currently in an Associate of Science Accounting degree program. From that experience I can faithfully posit that if you’re just winging it as a CISO/CTO/CIO on the business side, then you are either unbelievably lucky or you’re probably doing something unethical, and may be violating a law or regulation. So your suggestion that you just wing it into these positions is also asking folks to place themselves in an extraordinarily vulnerable and risky position on faith, coupled with a much decreased opportunity for success given the qualifications of their employment competition.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t follow your dreams and do what feels good for a happy life. But that is advice for a psychology self-help column, not sound business career advice.
References
Fitzgerald, T. (2007, Oct). Clarifying the Roles of Information Security: 13 questions the CEO, CIO, and CISO must ask each other. Information Systems Security, 16(5), pp. 257-263. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://search-proquest-com.cobalt.champlain.edu/docview/229605944
Gordon, A. (2015). Official (ISC)^2 Guide to the CISSP CBK (4th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group LLC.
Karanja, E., & Rosso, M. A. (2017, Dec 29). The Chief Information Security Officer: An exploratory study. Journal of International Technology and Information Management, 26(2), 23-47. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://search-proquest-com.cobalt.champlain.edu/docview/1981610373
