Getting executive buy-in for digital transformation is key to its success. Indeed, a recent study from Deloitte found that the most successful programmes had executives who spent nearly 20% of their time on the project.
This matters, as McKinsey data shows that while nearly all businesses are engaged in some form of digital transformation, less than a third are achieving success with it. The lack of technical skills in the C suite perhaps goes some way to explain this.
The Robert Half CEO Tracker monitors the background of CEOs. In a recent edition they found that while there was growth in the number of CEOs with a tech background, they still represented just 14% of senior leaders.
Keeping up
This represents a problem, as there’s an expectation that senior leaders are all knowing, so admitting a lack of understanding in a topic is hard to do. What’s more likely is that projects won’t be rolled out or will have lacklustre support.
“Younger people have less to lose earlier in their career and you have more safety nets around you,” says Caroline Caruthers, CEO of data innovation agency Carruthers and Jackson. “It’s different if your mortgage, your marriage, and your reputation are on the line as you will be less inclined to take risks or step out of your comfort zone.”
This is demonstrated by data showing that hiring executives from outside the firm is more likely to result in change and innovation as they have less to protect in terms of reputation and status. Reverse mentoring programmes can create a culture whereby it becomes acceptable for senior leaders to extract knowledge from junior peers.
The wisdom of youth
Research from Vanderbilt explores how reverse mentoring programmes can benefit older employees. The analysis found that the frequent churn of interns in the recording industry provided experienced executives with a constant array of insights into the cultural trends of the time, with this directly feeding into the creative output of the company.
The study suggests this kind of process is increasingly common in cultural industries, with both formal and informal processes established to allow senior executives to learn from younger colleagues. This is somewhat easier in these industries as the mere presence of younger interns can communicate vital trends via their clothes, tools, and even language.
This informal communication is then built on by more formal programmes, such as focus groups and low-stakes assignments that give the interns a platform to show off their cultural knowledge. The study reminds us that such cultural exchange is by no means guaranteed, however, with inter-generational differences commonplace.
Overcoming difficulties
Research from Harvard highlights the difficulties this can pose when it comes to technical knowledge. The study found that younger employees were often freer to experiment with new technologies and therefore gain a good degree of knowledge in them than their older peers.
It’s by no means guaranteed that they’re able to share this with their older peers though. This is because it’s one thing to have a degree of knowledge but quite another to be able to teach it to others. This can result in senior leaders getting only a partial understanding of the technology, with the tuition often omitting the various risks associated with it.
This was highlighted when the junior consultants were tasked with share their awareness of ChatGPT-4. While they could outline some of the benefits of the technology, they were less able to highlight the risks or challenges involved. When they did present various risks associated with the technology, they tended to be very much at the individual level rather than more company-wide risks.
The researchers argued that junior employees were ill-equipped to share the merits, or otherwise, of technology because they lack a deep understanding of the technology they’re using, while they also tend to focus on immediate human-level challenges rather than systemic challenges.
“Historically, the main obstacle to senior staff learning about new technology from more junior colleagues was if they felt their status was being threatened,” the researchers explain. “Our research shows that generative AI presents a different set of challenges. Juniors who are working at a project level are more likely to focus on the specific risks they encounter.”
Ultimately, there isn’t a shortcut to learning about technologies like generative AI. While talking to junior colleagues is not a bad thing, it shouldn’t be viewed as the only way to learn about the technologies that are driving digital transformation today. There are a range of courses that can help to fill that gap, including this MOOC from IBM that is tailored specifically for senior leaders.
“Senior professionals need to recognise that there are no shortcuts to learning how to use AI effectively and mitigating the risks. They require proper training,” the researchers conclude. “They cannot simply follow the lead of junior professionals when adopting AI.”
