In my work with leaders of all disciplines, this is the area I hear the greatest resistance to because of the hidden concern about intricate details. Technology has become more complex, and the grandiose promises of artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced robotics can overwhelm even the most technically curious.
Here’s how to overcome that fast:
Ask for a metaphor when a technology genius is giving an explanation. ‘It is like someone changed the locks to our house and only they have the master key’ is how a chief information security officer explained a highly complex situation for me. Before then he spent far too long giving me the intricacies of the security breach, which simply went over my head.
A picture explains a thousand technologies. Sometimes you just need a drawing, so ask for a visual representation of how all of your systems talk to each other, or how they are disconnected. Stand together in front of a whiteboard with a technology peer and draw it out together and it will help you see the dependencies and opportunities for how your work may become symbiotic. You’d be surprised how many companies have a technology map that looks like someone threw a whole plate of spaghetti at a wall! Far more complex than it needs to be!
Find a technical mentor. You don’t want to be in a board meeting or an important customer meeting asking how one system works or what a particular company buzz word means. Identify a technical expert who can be your mentor on technology areas and whom you can feel free to ask any questions. Ask them for a glossary of terms with simple definitions.
Sit in on a technical product design review or product development meeting so you can hear the language they use, or the areas they are debating. You might figure out a way your teams could work together to solve a mutual challenge.
Shadow your technical peers. Put your endless empathy into practice. There is no better way to appreciate another colleague’s life than to literally walk in their shoes for a day. Ask them for a day that would give you the most insight and increase your understanding of their world. Attend a CIO or CTO conference. Ask them where they get their industry technical news from and ask them to send you articles that might be interesting. Join a ClubHouse room that covers technical experts from your industry.
Too often business leaders don’t dive deep here or fail to surround themselves with people who can translate the technical realities and opportunities in clear ways.
This is the third and final part of this mini-series of VAL-Uable Insights which has now covered all three parts of the Trilingual Executive:
How you can unlock your creative understanding, How to increase your business understanding. It is important to realize you won’t always get it right, and sometimes translation fails. You can read more in Chapter Three of Rapid Growth, Done Right.
Meanwhile I’d love to hear what has worked for you or answer your questions.
Here’s to your increased Trilingual Understanding!
Val
P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/