Every week, Thornton May talks to executives across industriesabout what they are doing in IT and what's motivating them to doit. The surprising insights gained from this empirical researchprovide the backdrop for his keynote presentation atIASA's Technology Super Session, “Managing TechnologyFutures.”

“I hypothesize that deep in the back of the minds of many boardsof directors in the insurance industry, there lurks a naggingbelief that they are not getting full value from investments ininformation technology — a feeling of doubt that is very consistentwith the experience of other vertical markets,” says May.

May is a futurist and executive director and dean of the ITLeadership Academy in Jacksonville, Fla. His experience researchingand consulting on the role and behaviors of C-level executives increating value with information technology has won him anunquestioned place on the short list of serious thinkers on thistopic. A gifted storyteller, May combines a lively style withdetailed research to create an experience for session attendeesthat is both informative and entertaining.

Named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT, May hasestablished a reputation for innovation in time-compressed,collaborative problem-solving. His insights have appeared in dozensof journals, newspapers, and other media. He is also the author ofThe New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics.

Greater Value from Technology

Organizations that are adept at gaining greater value fromfuture technology share three skill sets: future awareness,future preference, and future preparation. In building futureawareness, organizations should not treat the word future as a noun— a place or a thing —but rather as a verb, a mode of behavior.

“Organizations have to be viscerally aware that nextwill be fundamentally different from now,” May says.

According to May, best practices in future awareness includetime-stamping all key enterprise processes and technologies. Thisentails timing how long a given process takes, branding variouspieces of the technology with a sunset date, and estimating thecosts of replacement or termination. Companies should alsoundertake an annual exercise to “exfoliate” portions of theexisting technology portfolio that have outlived theirusefulness.

“Organizations spend all their time and attention at the frontend of the technology digestion process and little or no time andeffort at the back end, which is a mistake,” May explains.

Future preference deals with organizations' ability to shape thekind of future they want to experience. “Organizations successfulat 'futuring' have a point of view on how they want the future tobe different,” says May. “However, only 40 percent of the Global2000 have an IT Road Map — a pictorial description of where IT isgoing.”

In building future preparedness and realizing full value frominvestments in technology, organizations need to recognize that thefuture will be different and use that recognition to paint apicture of what that future looks like.

“The picture of what the future looks like must be deconstructedinto the skills sets required to prosper,” says May. Those skillsmust then be taught or acquired in order for organizations to beprepared for what the future entails.

Fostering Future Success

Over 80 percent of Global 2000 companies do not considertechnology forecasting, technology strategy, or IT budgeting a corecompetency. May believes the reason for this is that at manyorganizations, executives have little or no real idea how IT isspending money today. Additionally, the reason many companies failat future planning — and the reason so many technology forecastsare inaccurate — is that prognosticators assume the future willsimply be an addition or subtraction from the present.

“The thinking of 'this year plus 10 percent' still drives mostIT planning,” May says.

To be successful in technology forecasting, budgeting andstrategy, insurers will need to master five “Next Gen TechnologyLeadership Knowledge Sets” and be able to answer four “Must Know ITNew Knows.” All of those were detailed in Monday's Super Sessionand promise to change the way attendees think about the future oftechnology.

“The starting point for differentiated future-making competenceis psychological,” May explains. “Organizations who are best ableto plan about the future of technology think about thefuture differently than ones who don't.”