Here’s my takeaway from day two of Brainstorm Tech: Technology is not the answer.
That’s an odd conclusion from a tech conference. But it emerged from an intense discussion on transforming companies with an eclectic group that only could have been convened here: the CEOs of Sprint, Best Buy, Sears, Electronics Arts, Athena Health, Juniper Networks and Flextronics; the incoming CEO of HP’s printer and computer business; the president of CVS/pharmacy; the CEO of a drone startup; the CIO of General Electric; and venture investors for Comcast, Google, Qualcomm and Microsoft. All agreed technology is driving change at an unprecedented pace. And all concurred that companies need to disrupt themselves, or face disruption. “Every company represented at this table is a disruptor, and is being disrupted,” said Scott Coleman of Microsoft Ventures. “That’s a very different world to live in” from even a decade ago.
Yet most of our conversation focused not on changing technologies, but on changing cultures, and the people skills needed to change them. Big companies need leaders who will drive new technologies and business models; middle managers who are willing to embrace change; a culture of accepting and adopting ideas from startups; people who can spot and deploy technologies developed by startups; and service providers who can realize the value from rapidly evolving and proliferating technologies.
As investor Eddie Lampert, who has spent the last decade trying to revive Sears, put it: “Disrupting yourself … is very hard to do.” Technology won’t do it for you.
More below.
| Alan Murray | |
| @alansmurray | |
| alan.murray@fortune.com |
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Around the Water Cooler
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