390- Don't Be a Tech Nerd w/John Doherty

You've Been Heard · Jan 22, 2026 · 44m · transcript

John Doherty is CIO at Columbia Forest Products, but he started in marketing. That accidental path gave him something most IT leaders don't have - he speaks business first, technology second.

The problem he keeps running into isn't technical. It's structural. IT gets called in after the business has already decided what they need. Someone shows up and says "we need SAP" and by then it's too late. The solution's chosen. IT's job is to execute, not influence.

We get into his mill ambassador program (people looked at him like he had three heads), why steering committees come before PMO, and the…