During a talk titled An insider's perspective on technology's
subtle and not-so-subtle omnipresence across the management spectrum by Eric
M. Beaulieu, the message was clear. Never before has technology been so
essential to the manager than today. Indeed.
Managers should convince themselves that by understanding technology it truly opens up new possibilities for them. By understanding technology, managers are better prepared to create new business opportunities, to set clearer expectations and to foresee limitations ahead of time all which taken together can make a difference in separating successful management efforts from disastrous ones. Solid examples of how understanding technology helps create new business models include companies like Netflix, FreshDirect and Zara where their competitive advantage has been clearly defined with the help of technology.
One of the most interesting points made during the talk is that the lack of technology expertise can hinder a manager's ability to interpret information and weigh risks but, at the same time, specialization or excessive in-depth knowledge of technical details hinders the ability for managers to understand and to communicate or raise concerns to a non-technical board. This means that while managers should be aware of the benefits of technology and the role of technology in enabling innovation and productivity, they should not plunge themselves into unnecessary or excessive in-depth technical details. Instead, leave this in the hands of the technology experts you've specifically hired for this.
It is therefore necessary for managers to truly embrace technology. My definition of embracing: two independent units become one not only by understanding each other, but by leveraging this understanding to find ways they can complement each other. Managers and technology are not to act as two separate units with managers solely focused on the business side while IT people solely focused on the technology side. Rather, managers should find a balance and go hand-in-hand with technology, effectively embracing it and becoming one stand-alone yet complete unit.
A final key idea is that by embracing technology and IT, managers are better prepared to focus on their company's needs, goals and priorities by, for example, leveraging technology into a new business model or a more competitive business strategy. As a result, managers can concentrate on creating more value and innovation all the while of course, driven by today's great—and sometimes even "magical" technology.
About Eric:
Eric M. Beaulieu is the Vice President of Content Solutions of Transcontinental Interactive. More about Eric and Transcontinental Interactive at http://www.transcontinental-interactive.com/
