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There be dragons 🐉 

You may not be familiar with the term ‘Chasing the Techno-Dragon”. But to me it describes the reality that a lot of business and tech-focused leaders find themselves in, and that is:

The need to constantly stay on top of emerging technologies and tools despite the ever increasing pace of innovation.

For many, this focus borders on obsession and invariably distracts them from the core purpose of their position as data leaders: to help the organisation deliver on it’s strategic objectives.

We see this problem popping up a lot with AI and other emerging tech. It manifests as a type of FOMO - “If we don’t stay on top of new tech then we will fall behind”.

Unfortunately, the speed of innovation only increases, and with it, the need to hop from one new technology to the next. Failing to get a handle on this can seriously limit your ability to deliver impact.

The thing is: You NEVER catch the Techno-Dragon ❌ 

I get it, there is a tonne of super cool tech out there waiting to be explored. There’s a lot happening around AI that could fundamentally disrupt and forever change the data and analytics space. It pays to be aware of these potential disruptions coming our way.

But there comes a point where the need to stay on top of new solutions and innovation distracts us from the real job that we as data leaders are here to do: deliver data backed business outcomes.

A ‘Chasing the Techno-Dragon’ mentality creates the following problems:

• We become ‘tech-first’ instead of strategy first.

• Little to no business justification and, by extension, ROI for our investments

• Data projects are seen as ineffective and expensive (cost centres)

• Our tech stack becomes an unwieldy Frankenstein 🧟‍♂️

Reversing this mindset and getting back to fundamentals is crucial for the data leader who wish to lead effectively and ensure that they focus their data investments on products that will move the needle strategically, not just the ones they think are cool.

Let’s take a look at how. 👇🏻

Forget about the Techno-Dragon 🐉 

Chasing the Techno-Dragon is like being on a treadmill that just keeps getting faster and faster, whilst simultaneously getting more expensive to keep running! 🏃🏻‍♂️

Eventually, you are going to fall off spectacularly and everyone in the gym is going to see it. That hurts, trust me.

To survive and succeed as a data leader we need to get back to the basics and deliver on our data strategies that ensure we invest in relevant and aligned technologies.

This is not to say we can’t, as a team, explore what’s out there and see how it might support our overall objectives. But I don’t see this as being the role of the data leader at all.

If necessary, establishing a cross functional and part-time innovation hub made up of data team members as well as relevant business stakeholders to explore new tech and how it might support business outcomes can be a good approach.

Furthermore, there is no harm in being aware of what exists on the market. Keep abreast of what exists on the market by attending conferences and keeping in touch with your network for ideas and insights.

But remember: Data is a business discipline, not a technical one.

Technology is not our reason for being. Business outcomes are.

So stop chasing that Techno-Dragon 🐉 

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Tristan Burns

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