Mark Tauschek, VP, Distinguished Analyst & Research Fellow, Info-Tech Research Group.
As the exponential advancement of technology accelerates through the knee of the curve, organizational IT departments must lean into the curve and adapt foundational management and governance principles or be left behind—far behind.
Gone are the days when technology and IT leaders could think linearly and absorb disruptive technologies over time. The compounding effect of exponential technology advancement demands IT leaders adopt an exponential IT mindset. Forbes Technology Council member Pascal Bornet explains the concept very well in a Forbes Council post, “How The Tech Sector Can Help Bridge The Divide Between Exponential Progress And Linear Thinking.”
Resistance Is Futile
Apologies for the ominous heading, but it doesn’t have to be something to fear. The point is that it can happen to you, or it can happen with you, but it will happen. I’m talking about the impact of the exponential advancement of technology on enterprise IT. My colleagues and I have been researching just how profound the impact will be, and we have concluded that every area of IT—every domain and functional area—will experience hyper-change. We coined the term “Exponential IT,” and it is happening even more rapidly than I had anticipated.
When we look at the technology advancement curve over the past half-century, it will look more like a step function where the steps become increasingly frequent and steep. Examples abound, but think about the nascent Internet of 1983—it started to gain momentum and break through in the early ’90s. But it’s almost a decade before the Internet hits critical mass. Then server virtualization—getting faster, then IaaS public cloud—faster yet, then mobile for the masses—down to a couple of years for mass adoption. Then we see generative AI in the form of ChatGPT 3.5 in late 2022, and it was the fastest adoption of any technology in history at the time. Generative AI is the catalyst—it drives us past the knee of the technology curve, smooths the curve and turns it nearly vertical. It’s not just enterprise IT that is profoundly impacted; it is every organization in the world and society.
Lean Into The Curve
The question I often get seems like a simple one, but it’s actually complex. How do we get from where we are to where we’re going to need to be? While my initial answer may seem glib, it’s really intended to get people thinking about what it means to “lean into the curve.” It means leaving the idea that technological advancement is linear behind you. Adopt an exponential mindset. Study and understand how technology advancements compound and build upon previous advancements. Apply that thinking across IT domains. Every functional area in IT is being profoundly impacted, but there are practical measures you can take now to lean into the curve.
The pace of change makes it seem impossible to keep up and stay current, and that’s true. It makes drinking from a firehose look like sipping from a pristine mountain stream. That doesn’t mean that ignorance is bliss—it is still incumbent on IT leaders to provide organizational leadership when it comes to technology benefits and risks. If the business is coming to you asking about technology and you don’t know what they’re talking about, the end is nigh. It is a career killer if the CEO mentions technology and you can’t have an educated discussion on the topic.
Start Small, But Not Slow
When one starts to exercise, the advice often given is, “Start slow.” But if you think about it, what that means is to start small, not slow. You must get into a routine of exercising regularly and consistently. What it means is to take brisk walks before you try to start running, or don’t try to bench press your weight on the first day at the gym. In the same way, you’re building muscle when you decide to assume an exponential mindset and apply it to your organization. Don’t go and develop a bunch of processes and procedures and schedule hours of meetings to develop an innovation function—you haven’t built the foundational muscles to succeed. My Forbes Council post, “Don’t Let Disruptive Technologies Hit Like A Meteor,” provides more practical steps you can take once you’ve started to develop the exponential mindset “muscle.”
Here’s what you do to start.
Set aside at least two hours a week now (book it in your calendar) to research what is happening with the exponential advancement of technology in your industry. For instance, what are the new and novel use cases for GenAI in manufacturing? Search the internet and find articles in industry and IT/trade publications.
Schedule a 1-hour bi-weekly meeting with your direct reports to provide input from their functional areas. This assumes that you have tasked them with the same scheduled research you have undertaken.
Schedule a more formal review quarterly with your team. You should have developed a long list of technologies and use cases that you can now vet more formally and get to a shortlist that you can assess for value and readiness.
The Bottom Line
The exponential advancement of technology is both exhilarating and terrifying at once. When you start to think about the art of the possible with emerging technologies in terms of value and benefit to society, it’s breathtaking. When you are in a role where it is your responsibility to stay current and informed as hyper-change drives technology forward, it’s daunting. Start by adopting an exponential mindset and taking a few small, actionable steps to embrace an exponential world.
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