As technology continues to play an increasingly critical role in driving business strategy, it’s essential to prioritize discussions around technology and its impact on the organization. To drive more tech-forward conversations, it’s essential to explore key areas such as strategy, innovation, and risk management. By doing so, organizations can ensure that technology is integrated into their overall business strategy, driving sustainable growth and competitiveness in a rapidly evolving business landscape. This requires a deep understanding of the organization’s technology landscape, as well as the ability to ask insightful questions that encourage technology leaders to share their perspectives. Understanding the key technology obstacles to executing the business strategy is critical. What are the systemic issues, cultural, organizational, process, or leadership challenges that may hinder achieving business strategy goals? Identifying and addressing these obstacles can help technology leaders and management navigate through key challenges.
The run/grow ratio of technology investments is another essential consideration. What is the ratio of spend on running business activities to growing those activities? Discussing this ratio and the overall trend for the past few years can provide valuable insights into the technology environment’s complexity. By analyzing this data, organizations can understand how technology investments are aligned with their overall business strategy, and identify potential areas for improvement. Exploring potential technological blind spots that could disrupt the organization’s business model is also crucial. What technologies and scientific disruptions have the potential to disrupt the business? What capabilities are needed to preempt disruption, and what is the organization’s current maturity for addressing it? This requires a forward-thinking approach, considering the potential impact of emerging technologies on the organization’s business model.
To gain a deeper understanding of the organization’s technology strategy, it’s helpful to consider questions such as “How can our organization mitigate potential technological blind spots?” or “What future revenue channels do we want to pursue?” These discussions can identify potential areas for growth and innovation, and ensure that the organization is aligned with its overall business strategy. Comparing the organization’s technology approach to that of its peers can also provide valuable insights. What are other companies doing, and how does our organization compare? What is our technology talent bench strength? These discussions can help identify potential areas for improvement in terms of technology talent and leadership.
Identifying incremental, technology “easy wins” that can drive business value is also important. If resources were unconstrained, what opportunities would be pursued? What are the potential benefits and challenges of these initiatives? By exploring these questions, organizations can identify potential areas for growth and innovation, and ensure that they are aligned with their overall business strategy. Ultimately, understanding the technology leader’s perspective is crucial. What keeps them up at night? What are their biggest concerns, and what opportunities do they see on the horizon? What’s a good moonshot to aim for? These discussions can provide valuable insights into the organization’s technology strategy.
By engaging in these discussions and exploring these critical areas, organizations can foster a deeper understanding of the role of technology in driving business success. This, in turn, can lead to more informed decision-making, improved strategic planning, and ultimately, sustainable growth and competitiveness.
