Hi-tech continues to transform the way we operate. Hardly an organizational process is unaffected - whether it be manufacturing , marketing, sales, R & D, HR, finance or strategy building, each one has its hi-tech component that has dramatically shifted what we take to be "standard operating procedure." The question is not whether to introduce IT into the operation, but how often to upgrade. Innovations are available at an astonishing rate and on a scale that promises unending acceleration. Just when you've got the latest hardware with a million miles of wire nicely tucked away, wireless is the way to go.
Managing in the Information Age requires more than competency in technology, although it would be interesting to design a basic technology competence test that would be the entry point for managers (How many gigs in your notebook? Does your PDA have WAP? FIR? What's the URL for Yahoo? If you go Linux, would you need 1) a doctor, 2) a lawyer, 3) a mechanic or 4) a server?). The job simply requires a certain elemental level of understanding of what's happening in the technology field.
Managing, however, deals with people, and not everyone who is adept at IT has the people skills required to perform adequately. Years ago, John Naisbitt, the futurist and author of the Megatrends series, pointed out that the operative trend in this arena was not simply hi-tech, but the combination of "Hi-Tech/Hi-Touch."
The more advanced technology becomes in the operating environment, the more intense becomes the relationship among people. Perhaps it is no accident that in the early days of the Information Age, major IT company facilities were known as "campuses" and often included recreation areas. People dressed casually and worked long but flexible hours in settings that would not normally be recognised as an office. These early efforts at increasing the connections and networks among people have largely been superseded by practices which , although less visible, are even more effective.
Some of these practices are worth considering as benchmarks for companies of the future. One small U.S. web-focused IT company organizes itself into various teams with the CEO named the "Chief Vision Officer," and the "All Team" (yes, everyone) has the final authority on any decision. Part of their mission statement is to "do only what people have passion for doing," and they once sold off a highly lucrative business because nobody was enthusiastic about running it. Every meeting begins with a review of the corporate vision, and this is followed by a time of "clearing" in which whatever is on your mind is brought up, whether it be a personal problem gnawing at you or a business opportunity you just dreamed up. Instead of offering sick days, the organization offers "well days" in which persons can take time off to pursue a hobby or relax, or spend time with the family. Staff are a mix of ages, races, and genders -- discrimination is taboo. But they are highly selective about who becomes staff. Applicants fist fill out a form that doesn't even inquire about competency because that is understood; the questions focus on attitude. Interviews are conducted with every staff member who then meet and decide whether or not the applicant is "part of the team." Because of (or in spite of) these practices, the business is doing extremely well and has every intention of achieving "outrageous success."
People in the field of hi-tech operations are not the one dimensional geek-figures stereotyped by the media. They are, increasingly, all of us. Leading and managing now, as always, requires sensitivity to the human spirit.