Technology Will Save Your Organisation from Extinction

Once Upon a Time, a Large Asteroid Hurtled Towards Us…

Whether you’re a certified palaeontologist or just a hardcore fan of the Jurassic Park series, we can all agree on one thing: we know that the dinosaurs became extinct because of a devastating event.

In the modern world, we face our own metaphorical ‘asteroids’ – challenges which could each be just as devastating to our organisation as the last. In 2020, COVID-19 and its widespread effect on the economy and business is essentially all of those usual asteroids bundled into one world-ending threat. If our organisations are to survive both the pandemic and the changes it’ll bring, we’ll need to hit back hard, sling-shotting the disaster away from us.

We should spare a thought for our reptilian friends at this juncture: whereas a T-Rex doesn’t have the technological know-how or the arm span to deter such a catastrophe, we’re much better equipped.

So how do we conquer these seemingly insurmountable odds?

Small Changes Make a Big Difference

To many of you, the above sentiment will not be a new one, and you’ll know exactly what kind of changes I’m talking about… if you said ‘technology’, you’re spot on. We’ve known for years that technology adoption is crucial to keep our businesses both competitive and robust, and now it’s more important than ever.

After reading Microsoft’s latest announcement, however, it seems that we still have a few of those Jurassic beasts living among us, frozen in the moment and watching the asteroid approach. In case you missed it the announcement, Microsoft have made it loud and clear that ‘a failure to fully embrace technology is harming businesses’, and that small tech changes can make a huge difference – to the tune of ￡48bn, in fact.

The good news is that Microsoft has paired the related report with a significant pledge, aiming to aid 1.5m people into a technology career, while connecting 300k of us to tech job opportunities by 2025.

It’s an ambitious undertaking, but one that could very well shield us from the pandemic’s lasting effects – but only if we grab the opportunity with two hands.

Change is Good

If all of this seems like it’s too little too late, as we sit stranded in the midst of the pandemic, let me remind you of one of the main reasons we’re not still dwelling in caves today: our ancestors embraced change – and change fundamentally means progress. There’s no such thing as too late!

I know that some of you will be second-guessing the idea of ‘change is good’, given the intense changes we’ve all been faced with this year. But let’s think about the positives here – and one particular quote that comes to mind for me:

“We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”

-Satya Nadella

Whether you’re already in a technology role, or you’re a manager who’s had to support their team’s new remote working practices, you’ll know how relevant the above quote is to the last few months. Many businesses gone from gathering in offices to outfitting their employees with remote working capabilities almost overnight – a positive change from an intense circumstance.

The change has been evident in our personal lives too. We need only look to entertainment brands such as Activision Blizzard, EA, and Nintendo to see the boon offered by a growing dependence on technology in our daily lives. The former managed to pocket $1.52bn in the first quarter of Call of Duty’s release, while EA saw a 12% revenue growth compared to last year, and Nintendo hit their highest rise of annual profit in nine years at 41%. Without a doubt, homestayers turned to their tech toys to help them cope.

Elsewhere, Reckitt Benckiser – whose industry benefitted from a 230% rise in demand for cleaning and sanitation products – has recognised the importance of driving technology in this new world, through the appointment of Chief Transformation Officer, Volker Kuhn, who aims to drive adaptation and sustainable growth.

By leveraging machine learning models, the company is able to generate clear and accurate insights into the data they have, allowing them to optimise media spend and create natural digital journeys for their consumers. Such journeys start with awareness, before moving to purchases, recommendations, and ultimately increased sales and revenue. Once again, technology provides the ability to have a data-driven push and insight into marketing strategies that allows this business to keep growing. And guess what? None of that would have been possible without embracing technology and shifting towards a changed mindset.

A New Universal Language

Then of course, how can we forget the miracle of collaborative solutions such as Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom? Goodbye face-to-face and hello to the new universal language of video conferencing and collaboration – who hasn’t joined a virtual pub quiz or had a catch up with family using this technology in 2020?

All these solution providers, almost overnight, gave their customers the ability to stay connected, and as a result, sales have been astronomical, in some cases with reported growth of over 700%.

In the professional environment, these solutions have given businesses the invaluable ability to continue to communicate and collaborate with their customers, negotiate important deals and continue to increase their revenue and growth – as well as giving homeworkers the ability to be productive, collaborative, and maintain a virtual culture.

In fact, I’d even dare to say that without the power of this breed of communications technology, lockdown and isolation would have been far bleaker a prospect. Imagine navigating lockdown with just an old mobile phone and an overused email system!

Driving with a Wooden Wheel

Finally, it pays to remember that we haven’t always driven around on Michelins or Goodyears – and if we had stayed overly attached to the original models, our world would’ve stalled quite dramatically. Much like the transition from carriages to cars, we must decide to move quicker, faster, and more successfully than before.

As declared in Microsoft’s aforementioned announcement, technology is the one stable factor in the growth of our society and businesses. We must keep expanding that top line and we do that with data driven marketing and sales. We need to be agile and respond quickly when we are disrupted, and that means giving our people the tools to do that from wherever they are in the world today.

If we want to see sustainable growth, we must be resilient and that means change. Remember what I said: Change is good!

The ability to adapt, show true leadership - not just in our business arena but with our employees wide and far, have a culture of trust and freedom for creativity, offer our people the ability to feel true empowerment at a time where we feel very little of it in our own lives, and really contemplate the impact that technology can have as part of our growth both now and in the uncertain future that is to come.

Maybe, just maybe, if we do this, that ￡48bn boost and 300K of job opportunity might just become a reality and just picture a UK where that is the new reality.

And as for that 2020-shaped asteroid…? Well if we play our cards right, it’ll find organisations that are far more robust than it expected waiting for it – and once the dust has cleared, the innovators and technological embracers will be the ones standing, ready to build a brighter, safer future.