Technology for Non-Technical Leaders
Enough understanding to ask good questions and not be sold to. For directors and executives who sign off technology decisions without a technical background.
Runs most often inPublic sectorEducationHealthcare and life sciences
What participants can do afterwards
- Ask the four questions that expose a weak technology proposal
- Read a technical recommendation for the assumptions it is hiding
- Judge build-versus-buy without needing to be an engineer
- Set the reporting that tells you whether an investment is working
- Take a real proposal apart in the room, not just in theory
Modules
4 modules, 5 facilitated hours.
1.Four questions
1.5 hrsThe questions that expose a weak proposal regardless of the technology.
- Ask the questions that expose a weak proposal
2.Reading a recommendation
1.5 hrsFinding the assumptions underneath a technical case.
- Surface the assumptions in a technical recommendation
3.What to ask for in reporting
1 hrsSpecifying the small number of numbers worth seeing.
- Specify reporting that shows whether it is working
4.A live proposal, taken apart
1 hrsThe group works a real, anonymised technology proposal through the course's questions, end to end.
- Apply the full toolkit to a real proposal
How it is delivered
A facilitator runs the course live, in person or live online. Attendance is taken per session, participants submit work against the modules above, and a facilitator grades it. Those records stay with the organisation and can be exported.
Further reading
Technology judgement for non-technical directors is the public briefing that sits next to this course.
