Technology Strategy Patterns

Introduction

This Is Water

My favorite joke is told by philosopher and author David Foster Wallace in his address to the graduating class of Kenyon College in 2005. It goes like this: One morning two young fish are swimming in the ocean. They come across an older fish who waves happily and calls out to them, “Morning, friends! How’s the water?” They nod in acknowledgment and swim on. Once they’re out of sight, one turns to the other and asks, “What the hell is water?”

With this joke, Wallace reminds us that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones hardest to see, that we can lock ourselves in mental models so complete that we don’t even know we’re imprisoned by them.

As technologists, we can be perhaps particularly susceptible to this. Our work is engaging and requires a watchmaker’s attention to detail. Yet, as technologists, we are businesspeople. A hammer doesn’t exist to be a hammer. It’s a tool to construct something else. Technology is one tool with which businesses are constructed, rise, and fall. We operate in wide spheres of ever-farther-reaching impact on the world around us. In a sense, this book is about constructing a new mental model within this water of business.

Discovering Strategy

The roles that are ultimately valued at an organization tend to be the people who do what the boss did. If the boss used to be a salesperson or deal-maker, that’s who she’ll recognize, side with, empathize with, reward, understand, and listen to most. If you want ...