Culture eats technology for breakfast
NO matter the country you live in, your company and its people are going through a transformation. Here in Jamaica we are moving from business as usual to seeing pockets of experimentation with innovation across industries. And yes, we do have a long way to go.
For those further along the digital transformation curve, there is no doubt that culture played a significant role in moving things along, creating momentum with some velocity. Organisations can easily get caught in the trap of rolling out new technologies without the buy-in and enrolment of their people, ultimately leading to shallow and slow adoption and success rates or, worse yet, systems and processes shelved to collect dust; the time and money spent to implement them wasted.
The role of culture in enabling an organisation’s performance is often underestimated. Yes, traditional senior leadership resting on their laurels can tell employees what to do, however evidence shows that this approach, whether in the public or private sector, will continue to disappear (like the dinosaurs) as our digital economies and literacy evolve.
Workers are demanding a different work culture that includes integrating and interacting with technology. If you’re a technology professional you can likely identify one or more major technology projects expected to significantly add value to the company but instead resulted in a gross misuse of time, money, and people resources. When asked for the reason behind this, you will also most likely hear the people did not buy in. While some companies are listening and making the necessary adjustments, others are stuck and falling further behind.
The culture challenge also sits within technology organisations. It may show up as technology innovation implemented only when top management or team members spend most of their time fixing problems caused by old ways of thinking and outdated technology, instead of experimenting with dynamic ways to deliver solutions to the market. The lack of strategic foresight and technological prowess aligned with customers’ evolving needs eventually takes care of organisations like these in the same way Netflix took care of Blockbuster.
Peter Drucker, a famous management consultant, is known for saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This holds true for technology as well. While we all know that technology is a critical enabler, history and present-day events show it never works without people. Many companies struggle with understanding the relationship between people and technology because they see tech as a fix rather than an enabler, and overload employees with trendy solutions without focusing on change management and organisational alignment.
Aligning culture and technology change can be considered in four stages: assess, dream, cultivate, measure and then repeat. While this may seem simplistic it can be the difference between thriving, surviving the information age, and closing shop. If organisations are to succeed in their digital transformation, HR and IT professionals will need to work together to create innovative and flexible cultures. A dynamic, accountable and resilient workforce can emerge, creating an environment where technology and change are embraced and championed.