How to become a more effective leader: a personal note to fellow technical and business leaders to bridge the divide between technical and business perspectives
Before we dig in, I must admit that this is a topic that triggers me all the time. The fact that executives are either technical or business-focused may be an issue that naturally works itself out over time.
Maybe because technology is new, relative to sales, finance, or marketing, there hasn’t been enough time for senior technologists to ascend into the executive ranks. Whatever the reason, it causes many of the issues I deal with on a regular basis.
Definitions:
Typical Management Structure: The typical organization will have the following senior positions.
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
- Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and/or a Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Depending on the company’s size, there may also be senior positions for sales, human resources (HR), revenue (CRO), and legal.
Microsoft has the following executive org chart: CEO + Chairman, Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Human Resource Officer, Chief Financial Officer, President, and Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy.
Kroger (a major grocery store chain) has the following executive org chart: CEO + Chairman, President, CIO, Senior Vice President of Alternative Businesses, Senior Vice President of HR, CFO, General Counsel, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, and Senior Vice President of Retail.
Microsoft and Kroger are completely different businesses, but if you were to compare the types of positions, they have very similar organizational charts.
Going from Suck to Awesome
Suck – Technical resources not understanding the business and business resources not understanding tech.
Sucks a little less – At least one party tries to bridge the divide between technical and business perspectives.
Awesome – Businesspeople intentionally work to better understand tech, and technical people intentionally work to understand business.
Bridging the Divide Between Technical and Business Perspectives
A Word of Advice to Technical Resources
Hey technical folks, if you want to be more effective at leading teams and managing projects as well as have an overall better understanding of the business, I highly suggest reading a business book every now and then. You will develop a greater understanding and compassion for how complex businesses are and improve your ability to evaluate the value of proposed user stories.
That’s it. Yet for some reason, I will feel better if I continue to drive this point home. It isn’t that you must become an expert at all things business-related. However, even the most basic understanding of business concepts will greatly increase your ability to communicate with business-focused roles, which is almost every other management role in most companies.
In a minute, I will give the inverse suggestion to the business roles. Still, the brutal fact is it is more likely that somebody in a technical position will read a business book than someone in a business position will read a technical book.
In the end, the person who makes the effort to cross-train themselves will be the winner, so there is an upside to the investment.
There are several reasons why this may be true, but the one that sticks out most to me is that the business of business books is very strong. There are lots of business books on almost every subject. Additionally, most books are written so they can be read with very little previous knowledge of the topic. Prior knowledge doesn’t hurt, but it isn’t necessary.
And unlike technology subject matters, business topics tend to age well. That is, a great business book will likely still be a great business book, even 10 to 20 years from now. I’m not sure I can say the same about most technology books.
Here are some reasons why your efforts to cross-train will be worth the work.
Vocabulary: You will gain valuable vocabulary that will allow you to better communicate with other managers within your organization. There are many phrases and acronyms that come directly from business books. For example, you may have heard the phrase, “Get the right people on the bus,” which is a quote from the book Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Learning: Continuous learning is valuable. Your peers will notice your new understanding of business. Business-focused positions might even begin having different types of conversations with you, which they previously avoided because you lacked a base business knowledge.
Technology: Ultimately, almost all technological work is to empower a business process in some way. Knowing how businesses work will help you build better technology.
Career: Career advancement almost always involves managing people, managing portions of the business, or managing processes—all of these benefit from having a better understanding of business.
Leadership: You don’t need direct reports to be a leader. A person can lead a project, lead an initiative, or lead a committee. There are many ways to hone your leadership skills. These skills are important at work but also benefit your personal life. For example, having better negotiation skills helps when buying a house.
A Word of Advice to Business Resources
The reverse goes for business folks. Every now and then, it would be great if you leafed through a technical book. Nobody expects you to write code; in fact, nobody on the tech team would want you to write code. However, you would gain more empathy for the absolutely crazy environment technical people often deal with daily.
Imagine you were discussing building a new four-bedroom house with a contractor, and you said something like, “You should be able to build me a house for $10,000 by the end of the week, right?” The contractor would form a negative opinion based solely on that question. That is what technical resources deal with all the time—a complete lack of understanding of what is involved in building out systems.
Not understanding general concepts, timelines, and skills required is to be expected, at least somewhat, the first time. Unfortunately, my experience has been that this issue is persistent. Some good leaders adapt, but I hear comments like, “That should only take an hour, right?” all the time.
In many cases, the stakeholders can’t even explain what they want within an hour, so how can the development take only an hour? How about deployment, testing, and creative assets?
There are good reasons why a business leader needs to become more technical, even if they aren’t going to be doing the work. These include…
Communication: If you can learn the industry lingo and terminology, communication will be much more efficient. More importantly, it will be much more nuanced. Acronyms, although annoying, save a lot of time in communication. Additionally, in the abstract world of technology, new and unique words exist to describe products, services, and processes that may not exist in the physical world. Having a grasp of the vocabulary can dramatically help when speaking with a technical person.
Respect: I have seen even the most positive person turn negative after years of being worn down by the effort required to work with people in other departments. Technologists will make extra effort if they respect their peers. One way to earn that respect is to understand tech better.
Priority: If you can effectively ask the question, you will create less friction with your requests. Requests with low friction naturally get done first. Having respect and a baseline understanding of the effort involved in accomplishing technical requests will help you better prioritize your request against others. It will also help prevent assumptions about how that work will be completed. It takes more than “only one hour, right?”
Speed: If you observe two technologists talking with each other, you will probably notice how fast they communicate. Learning about technology will increase your ability to move through conversations faster.
Resources: The ability to assemble better teams improves because you can identify the highest performers.
Not Getting Boondoggled: If you know just a little bit of tech, it will be harder to be double-talked. You will better understand the effort involved, so you won’t be as reliant on other people for information.
Expanding Your Base to Becoming More Technical or More Business Savvy
The lack of cross-training at the management level is a major weakness of many organizations. Nobody in their right mind would hire a random executive to coach an NFL team (unless they completely understood football). BUT, across organizations everywhere, there are CTOs reporting to CFOs. There are Product Owners who don’t understand how the businesses work.
Remember, the most important first step is to understand the language of the person you are trying to communicate with. You will be surprised at the instant respect you will gain if you make even a minor effort in your own personal cross-education.
There are numerous reasons companies don’t train, much less cross-train, their employees, such as:
Cost
Effort
Complexity
Training some people but not everyone can create friction
Lack of knowledge on how to train
Here are some ideas on different forms of training that are more grassroots.
Book clubs: Hold regular group meetings where everyone discusses a certain book. The group can read the chapters at the same intervals, so discussions can be facilitated about very specific topics.
Brown bag lunches: Have experts speak about their projects and topics of expertise. I have found that spending 30 minutes in an information setting can be very valuable. It allows people attending to ask specific questions that may be hard to get accurate answers on their own. The group setting allows many people to learn concurrently. It’s also a valuable exercise for the speaker to practice talking to non-experts.
Online Courses and Webinars: Use free or low-cost online resources. Platforms like Coursera, edX, or Khan Academy offer courses on a wide array of topics.
Job Rotation and Shadowing: Allow employees to shadow other roles or rotate through different departments. This not only provides training but also helps team members understand different aspects of the business.
A List of Technical Books for Business
Most technical books won’t be that helpful unless you are a technologist. The following, however, is a sample of books that review the development process and some specific technologies that business-minded folks could appreciate.
The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford: This novel is an excellent introduction to the world of IT and DevOps. It’s written in a story format, making it accessible and engaging even for those who don’t have a technical background.
Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz: This book is ideal for understanding how to use data effectively in a business context, particularly in startups. It covers key metrics and strategies for making data-driven decisions.
Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking by Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett: This book offers a clear and practical introduction to data science concepts and their applications in business.
Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics by Rick Sherman: This book covers the fundamentals of business intelligence, data warehousing, and analytics, providing a solid foundation for business professionals looking to understand the technical aspects of data management and analysis.
The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, and Jessie Stricchiola: Understanding SEO is crucial in the digital business world. This book is a comprehensive guide to the strategies and tactics of effective SEO.
Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber: Understanding Agile methodologies, particularly Scrum, can be crucial for business professionals working with technical teams. This book provides a practical guide to managing projects in an Agile framework.
A List of Business Books for Technologists
There are tons of lists of business books online, so I assembled a list that is unique, related to Agile, and team-focused.
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox: This novel uses a compelling narrative to introduce the Theory of Constraints, offering insights into optimizing production processes and improving managerial decision-making.
The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford: This novel is an excellent introduction to the world of IT and DevOps. It’s written in a story format, making it accessible and engaging for those without a technical background. This book is basically an updated version of The Goal.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni: This book, presented in a fable format, explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics and team failure, providing insights into building cohesive and effective teams.
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker: This classic offers timeless wisdom on how to be more productive and effective as a leader, focusing on time-management, decision-making, and prioritizing what’s truly important.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek: This book emphasizes the importance of understanding and articulating the “why” behind actions and decisions to inspire and lead effectively, offering a perspective on how leaders can motivate and influence others.
The Zen Leader: 10 Ways to Go from Barely Managing to Leading Fearlessly by Ginny Whitelaw: This book integrates the principles of Zen with leadership practices, guiding readers on how to transform stress, develop holistic leadership qualities, and bring out the best in themselves and their teams.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the divide between technical and business perspectives in the corporate world is a significant challenge, but it’s one that can be bridged through intentional efforts in cross-training and self-education.
By understanding the language and fundamental principles of each other’s domains, both technical and business professionals can foster better communication, mutual respect, and more efficient collaboration. This approach not only enhances individual competencies but also contributes to the overall effectiveness and success of the organization.
The suggested reading lists for both technologists and business professionals serve as a starting point in this journey. For technologists, gaining insight into business processes and decision-making can vastly improve their ability to contribute to broader organizational goals.
Similarly, for business professionals, a basic understanding of technical concepts and processes can lead to more informed decisions and a greater appreciation of the complexities involved in technical work.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a more cohesive, well-rounded, and collaborative workforce where diverse skills and technical and business perspectives are valued and leveraged for the benefit of the entire organization. Whether through book clubs, brown bag lunches, or formal training programs, the investment in cross-disciplinary learning is a step toward building more dynamic, adaptable, and innovative teams.
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