Written by Zongezile Queba

Organizations today face a technology maelstrom. The Internet of Things, robotic process automation, 3D printing, blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality all promise to do things faster, cheaper and – thanks to artificial intelligence – more autonomously.

Executives have little option but to adopt these technologies as quickly as possible. Every marketplace is a war zone, rife with technology-enabled attempts to disintermediate, commoditise and bypass. Meanwhile, customers, now faced with proliferating options, expect their needs met swiftly, conveniently and for the lowest possible price. If one company does not meet their expectations, they’ll shift their business to one that will.

Technology has always been essential to creating greater customer value at a lower cost. On the surface, this seems an infallible formula for profitable growth, but in practice companies often find it hard to hold on to the gains from their digital advances. Most of the benefits must be passed on to customers, as is required to remain competitive. Further, many markets are constrained and so cannot reward technology investments with commensurate revenue growth. These harsh realities can lure companies into a digital race to the bottom.

There is also widespread social concern about the future of work as technology replaces people and jobs are lost. It actually seems more likely that the nature of work will change, as technology will amplify the human potential to yield unprecedented levels of efficiency and effectiveness.

The challenge for leadership is to deploy new technologies in ways that not only yield fresh efficiencies but also amplify human creativity, ingenuity and judgment. Augmenting leadership with technology will greatly increase leaders’ ability to meet that challenge, and so achieve real future prosperity

Agile teams and minimum viable products are not good enough.

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of becoming a “digital organization”, leaders often default to creating autonomous teams, then try to create space for these teams to innovate effectively.

Read more on good leadership in the world of technology.