Firstly, I don't have one hard and fast opinion about this, as my view changes as you adjust the parameters around the question: what size organisation is it; what is your pivotal customer base (internal, external); is the CSO position empowered, or symbolic (yes, I've seen this); etc. That said, here's my generalised summary.
By the time one reaches the CxO level, it's more important to know how to find technical answers rather than necessarily memorising them - that's the objective of having non-CxO staff. You're not dropped into a CxO level to perform the same fundamentally technical task you had been, you're expected to enable business - whether that be through avenues such as reducing operational costs (such as in an internal IT shop), facilitating partner collaboration (not just communication) or responsibly advancing customer offerings.
Whilst some of these responsibilities arguably lie moreso with the CIO, if as a CSO you're saying "no" more often than "yes" (even if it's "yes with caveats"), then you've missed the point of being at the CxO level. It's for your technical staff to argue "no" or "yes with caveats" based on the technical risk; it's for you to understand (emphasis on understand) that risk and to know whether that's enough to offset whatever business component it's being weighed against. If that component represents something as significant as an IT strategy, for example, then you need the ability to not just look at the here and now, but also comprehend what placing road blocks in place could mean longer term.
As an important addition to understanding these concepts, it's even more important to be able to fluently communicate these factors and decisions to those around you - be they upper management or operational staff. This is actually where technical ability is still quite important: you need to be able to communicate with everyone on their level *effectively*.
I was half tempted to stray into the other peripheral areas of knowledge you ought to have, such as financials, legal/auditory compliance, etc, but I think I've said enough to at least convey the idea that I believe it's more important at the CxO level to be in the possession of a firm grasp of business concepts than infinately in-depth technical.
That said, please don't misconstrue what I've written for arguing that any Business graduate should make an ideal candiate for CIO or CSO responsibility. Oh my word, what a disaster that frequently is...
Thoughts?
Cheers,
Lain
