Goliath's Revenge

Chapter 8 Rule 5: Value Talent over Technology

It is incumbent on all of us to make sure we are building a world in which every individual has an opportunity to thrive.

—Andrew Ng, Google Brain project founder

So, you’ve validated your step-change customer outcomes, prioritized your Big I innovation opportunities, started actually putting your data to work, and opened up your innovation model. Take a breath. Celebrate the progress you’ve made in positioning your career and your company for Goliath’s Revenge. You have two more rules to go and they are focused on the softer side of what separates the established companies that will succeed in a winner-takes-most world from those that will struggle.

When most people hear news about accelerating digital disruption, the rise of AI, or improvements in robotics, they think, “My company needs to get that technology deployed as soon as possible.” It is a natural reaction. However, the necessary technology is actually widely available.

The hard part is translating those digital innovations into real business results, not science projects, or worse, white elephants. Doing so requires a clean-sheet approach to sourcing, developing, integrating, and retaining talent.

As you will see in the Goliath’s Revenge survey results in Chapter 10, only 27% of small companies and 29% of large ones believe that they have the right digital talent. More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed identified either moderate or large talent gaps.

Time ...