To choose the right solutions, leaders must not get blinded by tech hype

In the tech industry, the phrase 'one size fits all' never applies. The hype surrounding developments such as generative AI may be attractive to companies looking to be innovative. However, integrating the trendiest tech advancements does not always yield benefits for your business.

The allure of a technological silver bullet can sway companies to make decisions without truly understanding the broader business picture. Whether it’s AI or a productivity tool, leaders may adopt the first available solution, assuming it will address all their challenges and boost employee productivity. When that fails, they move onto the next option. In fact, nearly half of the respondents in our recent workplace alignment survey admitted to using five or more productivity applications at work. However, this isn’t always the best solution for employees, with 40 percent saying they find it frustrating to have so many tools at their disposal.

The fast-paced world of technology means hype and virality are the norm, and businesses can be left with a multitude of obsolete or ineffective applications and platforms. Take multi-cloud environments, for example. As they grow, more challenges are posed to IT teams, who can quickly lose visibility of what applications are providing real value. As businesses layer multiple cloud providers or solutions, potential overlaps and redundant applications are trickier to spot. Cost leakages for unneeded applications are one issue, but the complexity can also introduce security risks. It is essential that IT teams have an unobstructed view of their cloud infrastructure to identify problems caused by certain applications before they worsen.

Before embracing a new technology, leaders must consider some vital questions. Sometimes it pays to observe and learn from, while other times it’s essential to join the 'innovation wave'. Here’s how to develop a strategy that underpins the innovation process.

Making more conscious tech choices  

The phrase, "innovate or die," coined by Peter Drucker, serves as a reminder to business leaders to stay ahead of the pace of change. Being forced to evolve is the only way some businesses ever will, yet iterating too fast can leave those organizations unable to get the best value from their new digital strategies.                                                                                                                                    

When rolling out any new system, the risk will likely outweigh the reward if any of these three things don’t materialize: the capabilities of the application or tool, its integration within the existing technology stack, and the required efficiencies intended for the people that use them. If a new technology doesn’t perform as it should, this can have a knock-on effect on other areas of the business -- including the team members involved. This is why it is crucial for an organization to thoroughly onboard employees to a new app or software to ensure everyone understands how to use it and how it will improve their workflow. 

Ultimately, it’s how the users get on with the technology that matters most.

Ask yourself: Does the tech actually make sense for those individuals that will use it? Will it help them to do their job quicker? If the answer to both these questions is undetermined, deployment of that tech could slow down the rate of digital transformation or even hurt morale. It will pay to spend the required time to fully recognize and analyze the problem you’re trying to solve. The people using the tech day-in-day-out need to be able to handle the changes that come with digital transformation and kept engaged throughout the feedback loop, so you know what results are being realized.

The blueprint for advancing innovation

To achieve true digital transformation, leaders need to realize that going against the grain isn’t always such a bad idea. Instead of overlapping multiple technologies, they can operate just as effectively -- and cost-efficiently -- by being more selective. An effective way to decide whether to pivot course, pause, or fund a new or existing technology is by following an innovation framework. This is a foundational set of practices and tools that helps organizations generate, evaluate, and turn the best ideas into a value-add for the business. The framework provides just enough structure to create milestones and a clear path forward, while remaining flexible for emerging ideas that would influence the direction.

An innovation framework can be divided into three main phases: conception, validation, and growth.

1.       Conception: Find a problem-solution fit by proving that your employees have a problem worth solving -- and that the proposed solution could solve their problem. 

2.       Validation: Determine whether that solution not only solves your current users’ problem but also could have a growth market opportunity.

3.       Growth: Identify how the innovation will scale by repeating phases and jumping back in the process if necessary -- you can fail and recover on a small scale much easier than you can contain the impact of rushed digital transformation.

Aligning business and IT teams is key to informing each phase of the innovation framework. The non-technical team members will have particularly powerful insight on the practicality of a solution, so empower those stakeholders and involve them from the start. With over a third of respondents in our survey observing talent leaving their organizations due to alignment problems, this communication breakdown urgently needs to be remedied. This is a key pillar of the strategy behind the innovation process.

Ensuring a purposeful digital transformation  

In recent years, digital transformation initiatives initially set for long-term implementation have been executed in months, weeks, or even days. Nevertheless, while the approach to adopting new tech solutions is adapted on a case-by-case basis, executives are now realizing it can sometimes pay to slow down, observe, and learn from others. By dedicating time to research and integrate technologies that are built for the user, and following an innovation framework, you can help to distinguish between a fleeting tech trend and one that has genuine business value.

Image credit: NewAfrica/depsoitphotos.com

Ben Dilts is Chief Technology Officer at Lucid Software.