Why do I talk about BT and not IT?

Early in my career, I saw myself as an IT professional, loving the technology and what I could do with it. That led to the bias that too many IT professionals have - a technology solution looking for a problem to fix. It's a fun place to be which is why so many leaders stay there. It was only by taking on roles that start with the business problem, that I could truly understand a better way.

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Business Technology (BT) is Better

By starting with the business problem, you are focused on what is important and you can then ensure you have the right solution for the problem. Is it timely? Does it make sense financially? Is it really solving the problem? Am I solving a symptom or the problem? Is it over or under engineered? Is it a people solution (structure, training, communication, etc.), a process solution and/or a technology solution?

These are all important questions to ask. All too often, I've seen a technology solution implemented to solve what was just a training or an experience issue. Instead of simply making the existing solution more intuitive or less glitchy, the organization does a complete system replacement. In the end, little has improved as the real issue wasn't addressed - the new solution is newer technically and better for management needs, but did little to address the end user experience - in fact it has potentially made it worse. The organization is left with a solution that management thinks is good, but it doesn't hit the mark for the the users. They don't use it or don't use it effectively and benefits are never fully realized.

That unnecessary low value project that was targeted to solve a symptom and not a root cause, cost the organization millions, tied up key parts of the organization, and cost reputation across the stakeholder, customer and employee base. What is blamed? Usually project execution (appropriate), however a large part of it should be owned by the sponsor, who is still unaware of their part in it. The failure all too often begun before the project started, by not looking at the business and the root cause first. This is one area where the role of an executive is critical. If you want to realize benefits, it's important to have executive that understand their role in enabling success.

The same kind of things happen in strategy as in execution. It starts with outcomes and as you move into identifying options through which you can execute to achieve those outcomes, you need Business Technology acumen to quickly understand feasibility and value. You also need it to understand your Strengths and Weaknesses at a core business level.

I was fortunate enough to have a great leader that gave me leadership opportunities that changed my mindset, by seeing how an IT led approach or a Business led approach or a BT led approach will have different outcomes. The result is better when it starts from the BT perspective. It isn't easy, but if it was everyone would do it consistently.

Growing the business acumen let me lead IT departments as a business. In my latter roles, I learned how to lead a business area with IT acumen. Business comes first and thus Business Technology is the term, with Information simply being an assumed part of both.

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As an Executive, what should I do?

First off, adopting the mindset puts you in a narrow group of people that can lead BT, when we are in a digital age where all executives need to adopt it. It makes you extremely valuable.

You need to go beyond creating a partnership between IT and Business, where Business Technology is simply integrated and synergistic. It needs to become embedded in the way you think, not just the way you work.

First and foremost, embrace the concept of ensuring that you and others are leveraging both business and technology acumen in your decisions, whether they are strategic or tactical. Be aware of where you may have enough information to be dangerous and test your thinking with those that have experience that is different than your own (diversity of experience and thinking). Quite simply, avoid the echo chamber!

While you do this, keep in mind that just like business is very broad, so is technology. Even the most seasoned and gifted business execs and technologists haven't experienced everything in a rapidly evolving world.

Next, start to build out your knowledge and ability. Breadth is critical as long as its partnered with self-awareness. With breadth you can recognize opportunity and know when its best to engage others with subject expertise. If you are wondering what acumen you need:

• The CIO must have a strong understanding of the business in order to start from the business perspective, not the technology perspective.

• The CSO (strategy) must be very strong at both the business and the technology for the same reason the CIO is. In addition, they need to drive the conversations on what is possible and differentiating by connecting both areas. They need to help connect those dots for the C suite, so that true innovation can begin via jumping off of each others ideas.

• The CxO (all other C suite) must have at least a moderate understanding of data and technology to be able to envision the opportunities that come with digital transformation.

There are many ways to grow business, data and technology acumen. Where you focus will also differ based upon your business. If you'd like to explore more, contact me for a free one hour executive consultation.