Nowhere in any organization is there more potential disruption going on 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 shakes up the industry. Some disruptors will be easy to spot. 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), which was formally the goal, will become a subset of Change, Transformation and Transition Management. IT must be prepared to accept that as soon as the steady state (BAU) is achieved, disruption will shake things up again.
- Welcome to the VUCA World (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity): This disruptive state will require a new set of skills that have not been part of mainstream learning and development. Within IT, these skills, at every level of the organization, will require significant amounts of investment capital to ‘upskill’ current employees to function effectively in the VUCA world. In IT, we are facing a workforce talent crisis of epic proportions and the VUCA skills in IT are leading the talent deficit.
- Technology - What is its Role in the Organization?: One of the four takeaways from the Fortune Global Forum is that "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 people who are technically competent and, at the same time, 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 key business driver for companies. The technology function needs to be strategically aligned, future focused and technically robust. Executing on this paradoxical operating paradigm will require a new blueprint. It is by no means an easy or simple task.
- Ironically, The Greatest Challenge Isn’t Tech, But People: Since technology is often embedded in and drives the innovation and change process, it is necessary to bring people with you on the change journey and create the right culture. 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 to include structure, people and process.
If you're interested in learning more about 'future proofing' your IT organization, we invite you to register and secure your spot for our upcoming lunch and learn, "Finding the Right Balance Between Business Innovation, Operational Excellence and Future Focus".