Yes, CEOs aren’t hermits carrying a Hasselblad, wearing a Tissot, driving a Jaguar, and partying on a private yacht. They interact with people and technology and know how to get the best of both worlds by strategically using one in convergence with the other. Strategy isn’t a solo sport for sure.

However, the days of CEOs yearning for a super device that is a computer, a personal tutor, a library, a movie theatre, and a game console in one are over. Smartphones even for the hoi polloi have these functions. Come on now, CEOs need technology to make their life and bottom lines better, easier, and somewhat more exclusive, don’t they? And frankly, owning a 414-foot yacht that boasts of helicopters, a submarine, and enough space to throw unrestrained, celebrity-packed parties sounds so much better than fast cars and military planes, but it isn’t that something that makes people remark: ‘He can surprise anyone with technology that he carries in his pocket!’ Well, the only technology that CEOs love is the technology that makes their managers and workers get the best results with minimal hassles. 

Yes, CEOs are magicians who come endowed with the vision to adopt technology even as everyone else is looking at it with suspicion. More than that, CEOs with a vision know the importance of empowering their work-force with the most appropriate technologies which can be but isn’t necessarily the smartest.

So they would surely want their managers to go about with some device like the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active that is a toughie that comes with NFC built in, a 3-pin pogo connector to quickly and easily connect a group of devices and charge them all at once, a bar-code scanning solution, is slim, light, and premium but yet withstands a 1.2 metre fall, comes with the assurance of IP67 dust and water resistant certification, a 4,450 mAh power workhorse that doesn’t dream of stopping before 10 hours, and a capacitive stylus that is tougher than the conventional ones. The CEOs might also want the iPhone users in their company to go for the Mophie Space Pack, an iPhone 5/5s case that not only extends battery life with its 1700mAh battery but also acts as a portable hard drive, giving 64GB of additional storage. By the way, I know there will be CEOs and people at the top who would love using smartphones launched by Gionee… those that do not cost a bomb but have all desirable features that are usable. After all, it is an exclusive elife that everyone looks forward to, if you know what I mean. All I am trying to say is that great CEOs never shy away from the newest trends in technology and want their people to adopt them fast.

Moreover, the visionary CEOs would want their staff to use less paper and put more byte into their day. Yes, they create an environment with technology woven in and make the best people decide to stay on and give their best. Showbiz isn’t the keyword here. We have examples of people like David Karp, the founder of Tumblr and having a net worth of at least $200 million, who rides to work on a Vespa.

Technology isn’t a million dollar diamond lapel-pin brought in to get all the Oohs and Aahs in a celebrity party. It is simply a tool that works and makes work smarter, easier, and a lot more adaptable to diverse conditions and norms. It is easy to get carried away and introduce frivolous technologies in corporate environment. Bottom lines do not need technology dancing the cancan on a ramp. Profits come when adopted technology is like the vocabulary of R L Stevenson – precise and competent. Technology is the new-age grammar of corporate success. More technology and less of fashion tantrums is what will keep the bottom lines floating.

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Technology is the new-age grammar of corporate success. More technology and less of fashion tantrums is what will keep the bottom lines floating

Technology is the new-age grammar of corporate success. More technology and less of fashion tantrums is what will keep the bottom lines floating

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Article published in ‘Business Insider‘ dated 08 April 2015:

2015_04_08_BusinessInsider_CEOs know that strategy isn't a solo sport

2015_04_08_BusinessInsider_CEOs know that strategy isn’t a solo sport

2015_04_08_BusinessInsider_CEOs know that strategy isn't a solo sport

2015_04_08_BusinessInsider_CEOs know that strategy isn’t a solo sport

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Article also published in Marketing Buzzar, dated 09 April 2015:

2015_04_09_MarketingBuzzar_CEOs know that strategy isn't a solo sport

2015_04_09_MarketingBuzzar_CEOs know that strategy isn’t a solo sport

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Arvind Passey
09 April 2015