When business and tech fall out of sync

Some people are really into technology. They’re always interested in the latest framework, a new language, or a new cloud service.

Don’t get me wrong, I love experimenting with new stuff too.

But in business, it’s all about impact.

My alarm bells would go off if we were doing high-fidelity designs before technical scoping.

Sometimes, I was asked to plan the technical implementation of a feature before I knew what problem we were solving with it.

Things feel off when business and tech are not aligned.

The tech team should work on projects that bring value to the business. If there’s a divide between the business objectives and the tech team’s work, you can see it. Feel it.

The product team adds some features to the backlog without knowing what it takes to build them.

The tech team is busy rewriting a subsystem to microservices that will never return the investment.

Marketing is preparing a campaign without a tracking pixel to a landing page that won’t handle the load.

It’s the wild west. Everyone stands alone.

Everything is so damn hard. Every initiative is met with resistance, even the good ones.

There’s a general atmosphere of gloom and futility.

Leave it be, and the company goes into a downward spiral.

Turning it around is possible with a few solid initiatives, a different mindset, and buy-in from the senior leadership.

Having someone show up with a fresh perspective to point at your blind spots helps a ton.

I’ll break down my turnaround strategy in tomorrow’s email.

Yours,

Taj

P.S. Ever worked in such an environment?