Nowhere in any organization is there more potential disruption than in IT. This organizational stress can be overwhelming. In the search to create order in this chaotic environment, there are three key considerations you must keep at the forefront as you navigate these stormy waters:
- Disruption is BAU
- We Are Now All Technology Companies
- Rethink Everything You Know About Human Capital
- Disruption and Disruptive Technologies - The New Normal:
Our world, at every level, WILL BE disrupted. The McKinsey Global Institute defines disruptive technologies as new emerging technologies that unexpectedly displace an established one and shake up the industry. Some disruptors will be easy to spot, and others will come from the most unexpected places. IT organizations are at the heart of this disruption. IT organizations must consciously and continually focus on the outside horizon to anticipate disruption and deal with it as quickly as possible.
- Living with Disruption as the Norm. BAU and the Steady State are a Thing of the Past: Change has become the norm, and business as usual (BAU), formally the goal, will become a subset of Change, Transformation, and Transition Management. IT must be prepared to accept that disruption will shake things up again as soon as the steady state (BAU) is achieved.
- Welcome to the VUCA World (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity): This disruptive state will require new skills that have not been part of mainstream learning and development. Within IT, at every level of the organization, these skills will require significant amounts of investment capital to ‘upskill’ current employees to function effectively in the VUCA world. In IT, we are facing an epic workforce talent crisis, and the VUCA skills in IT are leading the talent deficit.
- Technology - What is its Role in the Organization? We are all technology companies. The IT function continues to live in two worlds – the technical and the strategic. This presents incredible operating challenges and dilemmas to technology organizations that need to have technically competent people who are strategic and outwardly focused. This technology paradox is a new circumstance that requires a new IT operating context at all levels. According to the Fortune Global Forum, technology will be a company's key business driver. The technology function must be strategically aligned, future-focused, and technically robust. Executing this paradoxical operating paradigm will require a new blueprint. It is by no means an easy task.
- Ironically, The Greatest Challenge Isn’t Tech, But People: Since technology is often embedded in and drives the innovation and change process, bringing people with you on the change journey and creating the right culture is necessary. This is the central challenge to survive business and technology-driven change. The focus is to foster a mindset and framework that embraces change while neutralizing the fear of change. The challenge is to demystify the change process and accept that change is here to stay. That means rethinking everything about how a transformative IT organization operates today, including structure, people, and process.
In the face of constant disruption, IT organizations stand at a critical crossroads, where adapting to the evolving VUCA world is no longer optional—it’s essential for survival. The key lies in managing technology, empowering people, fostering a culture of adaptability, and rethinking traditional frameworks. By embracing change as the new normal and recognizing that all companies are, in essence, technology companies, IT leaders can strategically position their organizations to navigate these turbulent times with resilience and innovation. The future belongs to those who are technically proficient but also people-focused and forward-thinking.
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