In the tech world, the high pace of change in the external environment, tools, methods, platforms and the ecosystem is a way of life and the tech leaders have to stay abreast with the latest and greatest. Typically, the changes are incremental and are a kind of natural progression of their skill sets. Now, with the advances of AGI, AI, ML and hundreds of startups building new solutions, it’s clear that the technology landscape is being painted with new colors.
A simplified definition of innovation is to come up with a new or improved process, product, service or solution to improve efficiency and/or impact. There are no two opinions about the meaning, value, needs and impact of bringing innovation to our workplaces and operations. Innovation is a key ingredient which must be in place to grow a business, be competitive and stay relevant. And today, innovation with AI is not only a choice but a mandate.
In addition, bringing the complexity of change management in a mid to large sized software organizations, makes it like a mountain climbing exercise. In such organizations, bringing a transformational change requires a lot more than the change itself. It’s not limited to the methods, technology, algorithms and transition plans.
It’s unlike any other strategic planning process we’re accustomed to. Simply building additional goals/OKRs around it and rolling down OKRs into action plans for teams will not suffice. The leaders at the top are going back to the white board, and working to evolve the roadmap and direction for the business while staying customer-centric.
So, what does this mean for you in the frontline, execution focused, attending to your customers and leading team(s)? What do you need to do to be successful in these scenarios? What skills and competencies would help you ? How can you stay relevant and competitive? How to keep up with innovation being redefined in today’s era?
To navigate these challenges successfully, individuals must embrace continuous learning and development. Acquiring skills in emerging technologies such as AI, ML, and AGI is paramount. Additionally, cultivating adaptability, creativity, and a problem-solving mindset will be crucial. Collaborating with diverse teams and fostering a culture of experimentation and risk-taking can foster innovation and ensure relevance in today’s dynamic era. You must start planning for the future and start bringing the change proactively, even if there is no immediate deliverable in front of you currently. Here are some concrete actions you can take to achieve this:
- Reprioritize your deliverables – Take a hard look and question the status quo; spot the inefficiencies and unnecessary noise in the system and remove those; create time to learn
- Learn the emerging technologies – there are numerous resources available like online courses, tutorials, books, communities, open platforms and developer communities to kickoff the learning. My favorite is Deep Learning by Andrew Ng ; which is a very methodically and systematically put together content; and it also helps me learn about innovative work happening across the tech startups
- Be a deliberate leader – Create experimental prototypes and hackathon type of activities to enable learning on the job; but do NOT lose focus from your primary job responsibilities
- Think strategically – Develop strategies for managing organizational change related to the adoption of AI technologies. Be proactive, think ahead and get ready to respond quickly for emerging opportunities.
Is any of this easy ? Absolutely not!
With a passion to enable middle management, I would like to offer a deep dive into this subject. I would love to listen, learn and brainstorm to devise a contextual plan for you.
I can be contacted at Nabler (https://nabler.us/contact-nabler).
#leadership #aiml #reinvent #changemanagement #nabling
