Revenue Journal®

Having spent much of my career in the tech industry, I have a deep understanding of hardware, software, and networking. It comes in handy as I help company leaders improve their systems.

Over the last few years, I have become dismayed at how often I encounter top executives who do not understand the technology they depend on every day to run their businesses. Business has shifted from paper to digital, and yet many top execs don't understand what goes on in the "back end" of those systems. For example, I often encounter financial people - controllers and CFOs - who are put in charge of IT. But they don't understand how IT really works. This puts them, and their companies, at a distinct disadvantage:

As I help CEOs increase their revenues, I often find that they are not aware how inefficient their companies are, from the point of view of their buyers and business partners. They don't realize how much their own systems are broken - and how much those broken systems reduce their sales.

Why is this? Because CEOs depend too much on their employees for information. When I interview their buyers and business partners, the picture painted by those interviews is completely different than the picture painted by the employees.

It's not that the employees are being deceptive. It's that they assume that the CEO is aware of the problems, and is not going to change them. They try to make the best of their situation, devising workarounds for some of the inefficiencies, and just accepting others. They are also insulated from the effect that pitiful processes have on buyers and business partners. Sure, they hear the complaints, but they aren't aware of anything they can do about them.