Technology in context - November 2020

There’s little or no point having the best technology without having the ability to implement it effectively. There’s also a need to underpin the technology (plus products and value-added activities) with processes that are light enough to flex with change, but robust enough to keep things on the rails.

There a range of challenges in the 'new normal'. In England we are currently in a second national Covid-lockdown. Across the world other socieities and economies face dire and pressing loss of life and economic impact. Not many people or orgnanisations appreciate the speed by which we would move to a distrubuted, digital economy post-March 2020. There are also many glimmers of silver in the grey skies as milions of people try to adjust positively to technology as an enabler. Were it not for the internet, connected data and productivity applications many organisations would have fallen this year. New opportunities arise as the use of tecnology changes and as user behaviours and demands flex.

One thing to bear in mind as we come to terms with Teams and Zoom as new windows on to the world, is how organisations and people get aligned to one another (colleagues and collaborators) or to a common mission or outcome.

A good question to ask in terms of challenging older ways of working and even challenging the transiet new, is ‘why’ are you doing it that way, and ‘why’ are you using that tooling. The range of answers is varied but, again, there are some common replies that relate to ‘it’s how we always do it’ through to ‘it’s on a renewal and we just renewed it’. Is lethargy killing the bottom line and impacting growth? Now is the time to challenge everything in terms of 'why' and 'how do I'.

Technology change is an ongoing thing but the pace and breadth of change to a mass-audience this year has been massive. Enduring change needs leadership and vision. Four elements to consider for any manager, not least the CEO are:

1) Set a vision and ensure that everyone is aligned to that vision and goal.

2) Establish an organisational structure that is clear, and that is published, and in which everyone knows their place.

3) Accommodate change and be agile enough to respond and react to planned and unplanned changes.

4) Demonstrate constructive behaviours – model the personal behaviours that reflect your corporate vision and values, and which bring 1-3 (above) to life.

If your people and suppliers are not leaning in, to help innovate and move the top line up and the bottom line down, then take stock and think about how you can clarify your vision and bring it to life.

Simon,

London UK.