Technology far overrated in business success

Gene Mage

“Technology ... the knack of so arranging the world that we don’t have to experience it.” (Max Frisch, Swiss author, architect)

“Technology is a servant who makes so much noise cleaning up in the next room that his master cannot make music.” (Karl Kraus, Austrian writer)

Over the past five weeks we have been juxtaposing the seven distinguishing factors of “Good to Great” companies as articulated in Jim Collins’ book by that title, and the seven criteria presented in the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award application. But, as the great English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon remarked, “I do not attempt to reconcile friends.” Indeed, I find that Collins’ “Good to Great” factors harmonize with, and complement, the principles within the Baldrige process.

This week we take on Collins’ sixth factor, “Technology Accelerators”. If we have learned one thing since the dot com bubble burst in the year 2000, technology alone is nothing but an accelerant. When I think about this analogy in its literal sense, I get a mental picture of gasoline. Gasoline accelerates what is already there. In a well-tuned engine, more fuel and air will produce more power and more speed. In a poorly-maintained motor additional fuel causes it to sputter, cough, and ultimately seize. Arsonists use an “accelerant” to speed up the process of torching a (usually) well-insured structure. But in the absence of oxygen gasoline becomes harmless. Gasoline is only useful within a focused environment harnessed towards some useful aim. So it is with technology.

Unfortunately, too many executives who could not articulate a coherent strategy as defined in Collins’ “Hedgehog” principle are frightened to death of being left in the dust by “tech-savvy” competitors. Out of that fear, Collins notes, decision makers often stab the darkness looking for a technological “savior” for their business problems. But without a coherent strategy and effective corporate culture, more technology only magnifies the existing flaws. If a business process does not work, the technology accelerant will only make it fail in faster, more costly and more spectacular ways.

By contrast, the “Good to Great” companies used technology to accelerate their pace of progress after first getting their act together. Then, in the context of the right leadership and a unifying business concept, they applied particular technologies towards their business goals with extraordinarily good execution.

The Baldrige criteria talk about utilizing technology in a number of places. The Baldrige leadership imperative to clearly articulate organizational values and strategic direction sounds very much like Collins’ “Hedgehog” concept. The remaining criteria, however, demand thoughtful implementation by management if technology is to be a means, not an end in and of itself.

For example, the Baldrige criteria rightly emphasize processes and systems for gathering and disseminating customer and market information, but companies often lose sight of how information will actually be used for decision making. Even big, complex organizations need a relatively small amount of truly actionable data to guide decision makers. Yet too often the implementation of enabling IT systems drifts onto the soft gravel shoulder of comprehensiveness, reliability, and impressive interfaces.

Similarly, in information and knowledge management initiatives, few individuals can articulate “why” widespread access to organizational data creates value for customers, patients, or financial stakeholders.

The “e-learning” fad has graphically illustrated Collins’ point. If learning supports the core concept of the business, can be delivered in an engaging way that leads to mastery, and is applied on-the-job, then “e-learning” technology and web based training indeed accelerate the learning process. But too often expensive “e-learning” software packages are used to transmogrify old PowerPoint presentations from the classroom to the desktop. If those slides were drier than chalk dust when presented in a classroom, they became thoroughly desiccated on a computer screen.

We would be wise to use technology as a tool to accelerate a winning strategy. But we must never be so seduced by technology that it becomes our preeminent focus.

Got a business or leadership challenge? Ask Syndicated Columnist Gene C. Mage at http://www.makingitwork.com .

For more information on Jim Collins visit http://www.jimcollins.com . For more information on the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award, visit http://www.quality.nist.gov .