- Eric D. Brown, D.Sc.
- Posts
- Foundations Matter
This ancient tree at Crater Lake has weathered decades of storms, losing its bark and branches but never its grip on the rocky foundation that keeps it standing. Sometimes what looks "dead" from the surface reveals the strongest roots below.
This weathered tree at Crater Lake has me thinking about what lasts.
The tree lost its bark years ago. Most of its branches are gone. Everything you'd typically associate with a living tree - leaves, growth, seasonal change - disappeared long ago. But it's still standing. The root system holds. The core structure endures.
Your technology strategy needs that same kind of durability.
Walk into any executive meeting about technology, and you'll hear about the latest AI platform, the new analytics dashboard, or the automation tool that promises to solve everything. These things get attention because they're visible. They're what you can demo to the board. They generate excitement. But they're also what gets cut first when budgets tighten or priorities shift.
A machine learning initiative gets two years and significant investment…until market conditions change. The CFO starts asking hard questions. So…half the project gets shelved. What survives? The improved processes for evaluating vendor claims. The team that learned to ask "what decision are we trying to improve?" before building anything. The foundation work that nobody talks about in board meetings.
The flashy parts get cut. The foundation stays.
I've watched this pattern repeat across organizations. Three things consistently outlast whatever technology happens to be trendy: how decisions actually get made, how teams work together when problems arise, and what people really know beyond the technical skills on their resumes.
Your process for evaluating options and allocating resources stays constant whether you're using one platform or another, whether your vendor gets acquired or goes out of business.
Some cultures default to collaboration when problems surface. Others fragment into silos. Some ask "what are we trying to solve?" before "what should we buy?" Others jump straight to vendor evaluations. These patterns matter more than your technology choices.
The most effective technology leaders I've observed spend most of their time on these foundations. They:
Clarify how decisions get made before automating them.
Understand what information people actually need before building dashboards.
Build teams that can adapt to new tools rather than teams that depend on specific tools.
Hire for judgment, not just technical credentials.
Figure out what they're actually trying to fix before evaluating what might fix it.
This work doesn't generate excitement like AI pilots or digital transformation initiatives. Your team won't get energized about decision processes the way they get energized about the latest platform demo. But when the next disruption arrives…and it will…you'll be the organization still standing.
Every technology trend has an expiration date. The platforms you're evaluating today will be legacy systems in five years. The vendors you're partnering with will get acquired, shift strategy, or disappear entirely. But solid foundations compound over time, and good decision processes get faster and more reliable with practice.
The tree in this photo has survived decades of storms and environmental changes. It endures because its foundation can handle whatever conditions arise next. Most executives understand this intellectually. However, when budget season arrives and the board inquires about the AI strategy, or when competitors unveil their latest digital initiative, the pressure to focus on visible, exciting projects becomes overwhelming.
That's precisely when foundation work matters most.
Can people in your organization explain how technology decisions get made? Not just who signs off, but the actual process from problem identification to vendor selection to success measurement.
When new tools or platforms emerge, does your team adapt quickly or struggle to keep up?
Do your technology projects solve clearly defined problems, or do they search for problems to justify the solution?
If you're not confident about these answers, start there. Before the next AI initiative, before the digital transformation project is finalized, and before the technology roadmap is finalized.
Build the foundation that survives when everything else changes.
If you found this post helpful, consider sharing it with another executive grappling with AI, technology, and data. If you want to explore AI and other Technology strategies, grab some time on my calendar, and let's chat.
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