{"id":1842,"date":"2020-08-10T17:31:18","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T17:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/10\/what-ceos-better-know-about-technology-or-else\/"},"modified":"2020-08-10T17:31:18","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T17:31:18","slug":"what-ceos-better-know-about-technology-or-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/10\/what-ceos-better-know-about-technology-or-else\/","title":{"rendered":"What CEOs Better Know About Technology \u2014 Or Else"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?rct=j&#038;sa=t&#038;url=https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/steveandriole\/2020\/08\/10\/what-ceos-better-know-about-technology---or-else\/&#038;ct=ga&#038;cd=CAIyHGQzYWQwNmI0YTFiYjA3MmU6Y28udWs6ZW46R0I&#038;usg=AFQjCNG-qwHA4gZcrJxHqiQkaB3IIb4KkQ\">What CEOs Better Know About Technology \u2014 Or Else<\/a><\/p>\n<p><p><em>Since every company on the planet relies upon technology to some significant extent, the leaders of these companies should understand the digital&nbsp;technology that powers them.&nbsp;&nbsp;The counter-premise is that many&nbsp;companies don\u2019t rely upon digital technology all that much and it\u2019s therefore&nbsp;unnecessary for executives to understand the technology that enables their products and services.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2020 \u2014 and forever \u2014 the counter-premise is absurd.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed-base image-embed embed-0 alignright\" role=\"presentation\">\n<div>\n  <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/5f301a56855feb84d4b08f84\/960x0.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Businessman on video call from home during lockdown\" data-height=\"3840\" data-width=\"5760\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\">\n <\/div><figcaption>\n<p class=\"color-body light-text\"><small>getty<\/small><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A CEO once suggested that email be turned off to save money. I once had a General Partner of a private equity venture capital fund (focused on investing in Internet companies) whisper to me,&nbsp;<em>\u201cSteve, what\u2019s the Internet \u2026 what does it do \u2026 how does it work?\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em>I knew a public company CFO who believed the Internet was <em>\u201ca fad that would be gone in a couple of years.\u201d<\/em> Another one told me, <em>\u201cno one likes shopping online \u2026 people love stores.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, these&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0LPIc5JIFwk\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0LPIc5JIFwk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0LPIc5JIFwk\" aria-label=\"Bizarro World\">Bizarro World<\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>experiences occurred some years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;But what about today?&nbsp;&nbsp;If you asked CEOs to explain why multi-cloud management is a critical business process could they do it?&nbsp;&nbsp;What about automated supply chains and their impact on scalability?&nbsp;&nbsp;Or how machine learning enables robotic process automation?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>25 years ago<\/em>, Martin, Batchelder, Newcomb, Rockart and Yetter published an article in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/1995\/09\/the-end-of-delegation-information-technology-and-the-ceo\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"color-link\" title=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/1995\/09\/the-end-of-delegation-information-technology-and-the-ceo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/hbr.org\/1995\/09\/the-end-of-delegation-information-technology-and-the-ceo\" aria-label=\"Harvard Business Review\"><em data-ga-track=\"ExternalLink:https:\/\/hbr.org\/1995\/09\/the-end-of-delegation-information-technology-and-the-ceo\">Harvard Business Review<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;entitled <em>\u201cThe End of Delegation?&nbsp;&nbsp;Information Technology and the CEO.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>25 years ago<\/em>, they wrote:<\/p>\n<p><fbs-ad position=\"inread\" progressive ad-id=\"article-0-inread\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><\/fbs-ad> <\/p>\n<div class=\"recirc-unit recirc-unit-open\">\n<div class=\"recirc-title\"><span>Recommended For You<\/span><button class=\"recirc-toggle recirc-open\" aria-label=\"Recommended For You\"><svg class=\"fs-icon fs-icon--chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 19.8 19.8\"><path transform=\"rotate(-134.999 7.586 10.187)\" d=\"M2.8 9h9.5v2.4H2.8z\" \/><path transform=\"rotate(-45.001 12.615 10.187)\" d=\"M7.9 9h9.5v2.4H7.9z\" \/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>\u201cToday IT plays a role in most aspects of a company\u2019s business, from the development of new products to the support of sales and service, from providing market intelligence to supplying tools for decision analysis.&nbsp;&nbsp;Many observers believe that this fact, along with the increased opportunities for using IT to achieve strategic advantage, requires that CEOs reexamine what they need to know about this resource to manage it effectively \u2026 the CEO can no longer afford to delegate these decisions to information systems managers alone \u2026 technology has become integrated with almost every aspect of the business \u2026 today technology plays a role in almost everything we do &#8230;\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So here\u2019s the premise:&nbsp;&nbsp;since every company on the planet relies upon technology to some significant extent, the leaders of these companies should understand the digital technology that powers them.&nbsp;&nbsp;The counter-premise is that many companies don\u2019t rely upon digital technology and it\u2019s therefore unnecessary for executives to understand the technology that enables their business processes and products.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020 \u2014 and forever \u2014 the counter-premise is absurd.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed-base image-embed embed-1 alignleft\" role=\"presentation\">\n<div>\n  <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/5f301b50a2a1402d3acb68d0\/960x0.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Modern robot dressed in a business suit\" data-height=\"4500\" data-width=\"5000\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\">\n <\/div><figcaption readability=\"1\">\n  <fbs-accordion readability=\"2\"> <\/p>\n<p class=\"color-body light-text\">Robot dressed in a business suit<\/p>\n<p>  <\/fbs-accordion><br \/>\n  <small>getty<\/small><br \/>\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So what do CEOs need to understand?&nbsp;&nbsp;Here\u2019s a list of 7 areas we should consider the price of admission to the C-Suite:<\/p>\n<p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs need to understand the&nbsp;<em>technology that enables their internal processes<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 their ERP systems and the basics of the infrastructure on which they ride.&nbsp;&nbsp;By \u201cunderstand\u201d I mean they should know what business functions ERPs provide, what they cost, the technical debt they create, their life cycles, how they\u2019re hosted and the major vendors that sell and maintain them.&nbsp;&nbsp;They should also know who in their company is accountable and responsible for this technology. Why? Because many companies spend tens of millions of dollars on their ERP environments over really long periods of time. And since many of these environments fail, it\u2019s in every CEO\u2019s interest to know all about ERP success and failure.<\/p>\n<p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs should also&nbsp;<em>understand data and the basics of analytics<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;They should understand how data powers their internal and external processes, as well as innovation and competitive analysis.&nbsp;&nbsp;They need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of structured and unstructured data.&nbsp;&nbsp;(Just explain the former as their revenue numbers and the latter as what people think about their products and services.)&nbsp;&nbsp;They also need to understand the premise of analytics \u2013 what it seeks to do and how it works.&nbsp;&nbsp;Is understanding multiple regression too much to ask?&nbsp;&nbsp;Not at all.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They should understand the&nbsp;<em>technology that powers the products and services they sell<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;All CEOs should be able to speak coherently, enthusiastically and persuasively about the technology that makes them money \u2013 no exceptions.&nbsp;&nbsp;The worst case?&nbsp;&nbsp;When a CEO embarrasses himself or herself by botching an answer to a technology question that\u2019s perceived as a softball, like \u201cwhich technologies do you think will get you to the next level?\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must be able to describe how their products and services actually work, the data they use, how they interact with their customers and the technologies that enable them.&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs of technology companies are usually pretty good at this, though not all of them are. It should always be a core skill.<\/p>\n<p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must understand the&nbsp;<em>emerging technologies that enable innovation<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must not only understand the emerging technologies that enable innovation but they must understand precisely how innovation occurs in their company, the success (or failure) of innovation to date, and how innovation processes can be improved.&nbsp;&nbsp;They should be able to tick off the emerging technologies in which they\u2019re investing and the impact they expect the technologies to have on cost management and revenue growth.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is especially true for public technology company CEOs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Today, the short list of emerging technologies includes machine learning, natural language processing, the internet of things, advanced analytics, quantum computing, 5G, cybersecurity, (hardware and software) robotics, and augmented and virtual reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;While no one expects CEOs to talk code, architecture or APIs, CEOs must be able to articulate how, for example, augmented and virtual reality can improve their products and services and how they plan to vet emerging technologies.<\/p>\n<p>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They must understand the&nbsp;<em>technology of their competitors<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;One of the best ways to understand technology leverage is to track the technology investments of competitors.&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs need to be absolutely fluent about the technologies their competitors are using to defeat them in the market.&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>\u201cSo what do you think of your competitor\u2019s acquisition?&nbsp;&nbsp;Do you think they\u2019re trying to corner the AR market?,\u201d<\/em> are the kinds of questions every CEO should be prepared \u2013&nbsp;<em>and eager<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 to answer.<\/p>\n<p>6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must&nbsp;<em>understand the real cost\/benefit of technology<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Technology is expensive.&nbsp;&nbsp;Large internal technology deals \u2013 like for ERP and CRM applications \u2013 cost a small fortune.&nbsp;&nbsp;They also lock companies into proprietary platforms.&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs should understand the inflexibility of large technology investments and how to mitigate it.&nbsp;&nbsp;The same is true of sourcing.&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must understand the costs and benefits of each (internal\/external\/hybrid) sourcing option.&nbsp;&nbsp;Risk analyses should be part of all technology calculations.&nbsp;&nbsp;But most importantly CEOs should understand the ROI punch that technology investments can have \u2014 as well as the disasters the wrong investments can create. <\/p>\n<p>7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs must&nbsp;<em>embrace technology cache<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s hard to find a company that\u2019s not already a technology company.&nbsp;&nbsp;Some more than others, of course, but every company relies upon internal and external technology to make (and save) money.&nbsp;&nbsp;The companies that sell hardware and software products and services are total technology companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;These companies should embrace the cache that comes from declaring oneself a member of the technology company elite, even if they don\u2019t have the sales to prove it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Why?&nbsp;&nbsp;First and foremost, \u201ctechnology companies\u201d command much higher valuations than non-technology ones. In 2020, \u201ctechnology\u201d owns image, brand, excitement \u2013 cache.&nbsp;&nbsp;(Skeptical?&nbsp;&nbsp;Think Tesla, Amazon,&nbsp;&nbsp;Walmart [yes, Walmart], Uber and Zoom for starters.)&nbsp;&nbsp;CEOs \u2013&nbsp;<em>all CEOs<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 must embrace the technology that enables their missions.&nbsp;&nbsp;They must be way beyond literate, they must be enthusiasts, always anxious to talk about the technology that enables and differentiates their products and services.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed-base image-embed embed-3 alignright\" role=\"presentation\">\n<div>\n  <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/5f3094f254cb370eaf82d814\/960x0.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Executive Education\" data-height=\"4480\" data-width=\"6720\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\">\n <\/div><figcaption readability=\"1\">\n  <fbs-accordion readability=\"2\"> <\/p>\n<p class=\"color-body light-text\">Businesswoman manager coach mentor giving whiteboard presentation at business meeting training.<\/p>\n<p>  <\/fbs-accordion><br \/>\n  <small>getty<\/small><br \/>\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If the above 7 areas were turned into an exam, how many CEOs would pass?&nbsp;&nbsp;How many CEOs actually believe they need to understand technology?&nbsp;&nbsp;Don\u2019t they have \u201cpeople\u201d who \u201cdo\u201d technology?&nbsp;&nbsp;There\u2019s no question that solid CIOs and CTOs can add enormous value, but CEOs must understand what they\u2019re talking about when they want to prototype an idea that might lead to a new revenue stream \u2013 or a significantly lower cost of doing business.&nbsp;&nbsp;But how?&nbsp;&nbsp;A Technology School for C-Suiters would be perfect, right?&nbsp;&nbsp;Unlikely:&nbsp;&nbsp;most CEOs would be unwilling to go to any kind of \u201cschool.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;Maybe discreet technology coaching?&nbsp;&nbsp;Self-education and regular private briefings from their technology professionals might work.&nbsp;&nbsp;Regardless of the mechanism, CEOs who cannot comfortably maneuver through the 7 areas discussed here should seek some help.&nbsp;&nbsp;As argued 25 years ago, technology is just too important to leave to others.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Published at Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:52:30 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What CEOs Better Know About Technology \u2014 Or Else Since every company on the planet&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-augmented-virtual-reality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/960x0.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3orZX-tI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}