Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
“Human behavior is driven by three primary sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” This insight from Plato resonates deeply, especially when considering the challenges faced by modern CIOs. In today’s corporate environments, we excel at expressing our desire for digital transformation (“We will revolutionize our industry!”) and the emotion behind it (“I’m passionate about this change!”). However, we often fall short in knowledge (“Why does IT need my team’s involvement? Isn’t this purely a technical issue?”). This article addresses a frequently neglected yet crucial aspect for businesses today: enhancing technological comprehension among executive teams. At my previous role at a leading fast-food chain, we termed this initiative “raising the IT IQ,” believing that well-informed executives translate to supportive leaders.
Extensive research over the past two decades emphasizes that communication, education, and change management are vital components of successful initiatives. Reports from organizations like the Standish Group and the Project Management Institute consistently highlight that a significant number of technology-driven projects fail to meet their basic goals of timeliness and budget adherence, often resulting in unfulfilled benefits that were promised initially. Alarmingly, some of these initiatives even threaten the existence of companies.
Among the insights shared in these analyses, project size is often cited as a key determinant of successful outcomes. This reinforces the importance of adopting continuous delivery models and architectural patterns like microservices. However, the responsibility to address this issue lies with us, especially when we consider the consistent factors that derail technology initiatives. Chief among these is the lack of adequate executive sponsorship.
A prevailing myth in leadership training is the concept of a leader as an all-powerful figure perched atop the organizational hierarchy. Although many executives have a robust grasp of traditional business functions—like marketing, operations, and finance—their understanding of technology is generally acquired in a haphazard way, if at all. A quick glance at MBA course outlines can confirm this.
Today, technology transcends any single department within a company. It’s unacceptable for senior leaders to utter phrases like “I don’t understand this tech stuff.” We have a responsibility to proactively educate our peers and boards about technology. Many have encountered a wide range of technological understanding—from vague buzzwords like “We need ” to a complete disengagement from technology decisions, only to later question why certain initiatives have failed.
Let’s embrace good leadership principles and acknowledge that as the designated technology leaders, we often contribute to the problem. We tend to deprioritize communication, opting for what we label as “real work.” Alternatively, the communications we do employ may be described as dull, lengthy, irregular, incomprehensible, or overwhelming.
As technology leaders, our roles are twofold: we are both the functional heads of our teams and change agents who leverage technology to enhance, grow, and transform our organizations. Digital transformation is not solely about technology; it encompasses an organization’s culture and its approach to customer engagement. Achieving this transformation requires everyone to have a solid grasp of technology and its role in the customer journey. A CIO once remarked, “The technology itself is only mildly interesting; what truly matters is the business change we can facilitate.”
If you are a CIO, CTO, or CDO, take a moment to assess the educational and awareness needs of your executive team. Focus on creating content that is engaging, jargon-free, and exciting! Here are some suggestions based on successful IT IQ programs I’ve implemented:
- Internal Executive Briefings: Collaborate with reputable consulting and technology firms to demystify topics like AI, ML, or IoT. This is also a chance to inform executives about your team’s initiatives in these areas and the support you need.
- Regular Educational Webinars: Hosting monthly webinars on technology topics often draws a diverse audience, surprising us with participation levels.
- Boot Camps: These are excellent for igniting passion and pride within your technology department while providing executives with hands-on demonstrations of your innovations.
- Hackathons: Similar to boot camps, hackathons create excitement across functions and tackle real-world challenges, enhancing the perception of the technology team.
- Competitor Visits (Mystery Shops): Take executives to see how competitors leverage technology, helping them understand the possibilities and contextualize their existing technology strengths.
- Reverse Mentoring: Pair emerging talent with executives for a fresh perspective on technology trends and expectations.
- Regular Newsletters: While mindful of email overload, concise and relevant updates on key events and initiatives keep a broad audience informed. I used to send out a one-page update to over 50% non-technical recipients, which consistently raised our overall IT IQ.
- Technology Onboarding Program: Collaborate with HR to develop a program for new executives, forging early connections with potential advocates.
I intentionally did not mention the term “cloud” in this discussion. Communication challenges extend beyond any single technology but have become more pronounced as technological demands outpace knowledge and as complexity increases. Investing in enhancing executives’ understanding of technology will yield valuable benefits, fostering more active participation in governance, boosting morale within tech teams, and ultimately improving the success rates of technology-driven business initiatives.
If you’re a different type of CXO, engage your CIO or CTO in a conversation about their efforts to elevate your organization’s IT IQ. Digital transformation is not merely about technology; it fundamentally relates to your core business and competitive positioning. Are you truly comfortable leaving this to others?
For additional insights, you might find this blog post about networking events valuable: 5 Worthwhile Networking Event Types. Furthermore, to stay updated on talent acquisition trends, check out 4 Talent Acquisition Trends with Staying Power Beyond the Pandemic, a leading authority on this subject. Lastly, for more tips on onboarding at Amazon, consider visiting Landing a Job at Amazon: Onboarding, which provides excellent resources.