ThinkTWENTY20

Harvard Business Review recently ran an article on questions Board should ask about digital transformation. They ran it because boards are usually hampered by their limited knowledge of technology. They need help with this, not to make technology experts out of them, which isn’t likely to happen, but to change their perception of the role of technology in the company. Often, there is still the perception that technology is a side issue that needs to be dealt with by the technical people. Some awareness training has yielded results by making them realize that it is a responsibility of the CEO, not just the CFO, and needs to have a central role in the company. 

To take it a step further, the board needs to understand how tech fits into their business strategy. Often they have a short term outlook in assessing this, but they need a long term strategy. They also need to know how to measure the results. And while boards have made progress in understanding cybersecurity, digital transformation has the effect of expanding the range of risks encountered.

The five questions HBR identified are:

1) Does the board understand the implications of digital and technology well enough to provide valuable guidance? 

2) Is the digital transformation fundamentally changing how the business (and sector) creates value? 

3) How does the board know if the digital transformation is working? 

4) Does the board have a sufficiently expansive view of talent? 

5) Does the board have a clear view of emerging threats?

See the article here.