You Have Been Sold: The Hidden Truth Behind Organization's Reactive Management Approach
In my previous article, "The Shocking Truth About Operational Reporting", I promised to explore the true causes of inefficiencies and discuss the pitfalls of reactive management. Let's start with the first major issue.
Leading Technology Innovation and Business Growth
Throughout my over two-decade career in technology leadership, I've consistently been at the forefront of innovative solutions, assisting organizations in becoming more efficient, upgrading and adopting new technologies, methodologies, and best practices. My curiosity has always driven me to question why businesses invest in certain solutions when more effective and better alternatives exist. In recent years, my focus has shifted towards research and business development technologies, deepening my understanding of these dynamics. I sought to understand the motivation behind decision-making processes and discovered it was much simpler than I anticipated. The secrets lie in marketing and sales. As sales technologies evolve, the entire process increasingly relies on prospects' emotional decision-making. The aim is to scare, impress, sound like industry experts and close the deal before the logical part of the prospect’ brain is activated. And when the deal is sealed it is time for your organization's technology experts to onboard the solution, integrate with legacy systems, evaluate and live with this decision.
The Hidden Costs of Technological Hype: Cloud and AI Lessons
Decades ago, when we were evaluating tools or technologies, documentation primarily consisted of specifications, technical use cases, and examples. Today, most shared content centers around value propositions, buzzwords, testimonials, certificates, and achievements. We no longer see ourselves as mere customers; we rely on partners who prioritize our business over their own. It's like believing a healthcare provider who claims to care about your health more than their business.
When cloud solutions became popular, everyone was eager to adopt and migrate to the cloud. Why? Because business development experts, certified solution architects or sales representatives were sharing success stories and industry use cases. But no one told businesses about the significant investments needed for new solutions, frameworks, technologies, and expertise. Everyone was sold on the promise of huge savings. Now, years later, we see that success often hinges on factors that were not considered or implemented by customers, requiring further investments. The same pattern is now emerging with AI. Companies are so sold on AI's potential that they fail to consider that these solutions might be trained on the same marketing content organizations use for their products or solutions.
When businesses make buying decisions, they've often already been sold on a bright future without considering essential success metrics for evaluation. They rarely request proof of concept for specific cases to assess complexity, required development and operational resources, or solutions exception and failover handling. Because they've been sold on a vision, they neglect proactive steps for future planning, evaluation, and risk assessment, approaching their operational modernization tasks with the same oversight. Business Intelligence should consistently uncover efficiency metrics and provide actionable insights for every business decision. Whether it's an innovative solution to enhance customer experience, a methodology to optimize processes, or tools to streamline development and operations, true Business Intelligence ensures informed decision-making and maximized efficiency.
The Crucial Role of Strategic Planning in Avoiding Operational Inefficiencies
The top issue on my list for inefficiencies is the lack of Strategic Planning. When business stakeholders fail to provide or plan EPICs or OKRs (business objectives, goals, and key results for measuring success), it leads to significant challenges. Key results are as important as objectives, if not more so, because detailed key results enable better result evaluation. Without proper strategy and planning, organizations are forced into a reactive stance rather than proactive management, leading to prolonged operational inefficiencies and budget waste that extend beyond the implementation timeline. To avoid these pitfalls, ensure you have clearly defined, unbiased evaluation metrics and the necessary tools for metrics evaluation. Integrate data collection, monitoring, and business intelligence solutions into your staging environment. Develop a clear evaluation and testing plan, and conduct thorough research on alternative solutions or competitor tools before proceeding with implementation. Always remember that all innovations require additional investment in Learning & Development for your operational resources or end users, especially if they involve modifications to customer-facing applications.
Stay tuned as I continue to explore insights into operational inefficiencies. Consider investing in an AI solution to monitor and evaluate the quality of your strategic planning. It's a small investment that can save you a significant amount of time. Save time on research and ask me about your options.
