Why I wrote Trusting Technology

I’ve spent my career at the boundary of business and technology. Yet after decades of looking, I haven’t found a book that connects the two in the way I would like. So I decided to take a stab at writing one myself.

Trusting Technology was published yesterday.

I said recently that while every business today relies on technology, 95% of us do not work in the tech industry. In many regards, that statistic is just fine. After all, every business needs accountants and lawyers—and most leaders are not skilled in those areas.

But I would argue that tech is a little different. Certainly, technology operations are procedural and follow rule books, just like finance and legal. It’s clearly appropriate to hire skilled technicians to do this work—no CEO really needs to understand how to configure a secure network, set up a server, or find and fix a bug deep in the bowels of a complex piece of software.

Here’s the difference—tech is also inspirational. Understanding where others have succeeded—and failed—helps business leaders of all stripes to generate ideas for their domains. Knowing the right questions to ask allows them to cut through the hyperbole, complexity and misconceptions that are, unfortunately, rife in the tech industry.

And understanding how to chart a low risk path to success—through minimalist change, converting information to insight and intellectual property to assets—drastically increases the odds of success.

That’s what I mean by connecting business and technology. And if you can’t connect the dots, how can you trust your business to technology?

If that sounds interesting, I hope you find Trusting Technology to be valuable. Mostly though, I hope you enjoy the read. 

Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order your copy here.