Technology has made today’s markets extremely competitive, technology has removed many barriers to entry and in the case of disruption has offered substitutes to traditional products.

In this fast paced evolving landscape, values are ever more important as business leaders use them as a tool for making high quality rapid decisions.

 

Traditionally a company would have a mission and objectives, this goal setting approach can be rigid as opportunities and threats that don’t align with objectives can be missed. While traditional decision making process can be too slow and the company can be late to react. Using values to make choices allows for rapid decision making to act on the threat or opportunity.  

 

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“In this fast paced evolving landscape, values are ever more important as business leaders use them as a tool for making high quality rapid decisions“

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The human element

Technology offers significant opportunity but it can be a Pandora’s box. Ultimately we should acknowledge that technology is only an enabler for your people to extend their capabilities.

 

If the people don’t engage with the technology then it makes it difficult to get the expected performance boost. Feeling empathy towards your team can really help choices of technology that will provide the best user experience for your team.

 

Knowing how will this technology affect my team on a day to day. Will you need to retrain them. How long will it take to gain expertise as they are essentially going back to being beginners.

 

Adopting a lean approach here is best, make a list of assumptions and test them by sharing with your team, they are ultimately the users. Talk to them and understand their pain points and make sure the technological solutions is solving these pain points directly.

 

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 ” Ultimately we should acknowledge that technology is only an enabler for your people to extend their capabilities.“  

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Summary

In a world where markets are subject to more competitive forces than ever it is critical as a business leader to remember the following. Practice making rapid decisions using values, speak to your team about their pain points, and always keep flexibility in mind when selecting software. Then review your results and start all over again.