2017 Blog Archive

Face it: business is unpredictable and unforgiving, but can we really justify being a jerk in order to return results to shareholders?

Case in point: Most people in the United States do not recognize the name Cher Wang, but if you own a smartphone, you owe a debt to her influence. In fact, she is as responsible for the modern smartphone as Steve Jobs.

Why is it so hard for business leaders to admit they know less than they thought they did about their circumstances and must instead come to grips with the facts in order to confront reality? Before we can answer that question we must first ask, why is it that we expect CEOs and others in the executive leadership suite to have all the best answers instead of asking all the best questions?

Only the most forward-thinking software engineers and data scientists claim to understand the multiplying variety of disruptive digital technologies and trends invading our organizations. Even worse, the business leaders deciding how to deflect, adopt or simply question the impacts of these disruptors on their strategies and stakeholders are handicapped by biases of superiority, optimism and illusions of control. As analysts, the confusion we feel when assessing the potential impacts of these trends on the companies we serve is frustrating and demoralizing. Why can’t leaders admit we know less than we think we do?

Where do you belong? Consider that question while you’re reading about our one of our newest businesses, RECONVERGE, because it’s the most important question most of us will ever ask.

Business leaders today have no choice to put technology to work to drive growth, innovation and strategy. Those who don’t won’t be leaders of anything for long.

Strategy. Innovation. Growth. These priorities used to be simple goals to understand and, sometimes, even simple to achieve. That simple world no longer exists.

Much has changed in the 22 years since I set out to build what would become Aurora WDC. We no longer think of strategy as a strict assembly of analytical methods applied to business problems. We no longer consider technology optional to achieving the mission of driving growth and innovation. And we no longer feel like we must achieve business success alone.

Every champion in history understood one thing their lesser rivals either forgot – or overlooked entirely: it shouldn’t matter whether you emerge the victor in every contest; it only matters that you’ve beaten your own last, best performance on your chosen field of battle.