The Business Mindset of Highly Technical Professionals

Engineers doing finance? Shouldn’t they stick to their analysis/numbers? Why do you need highly technical professionals to be financially savvy?

In today's fast-paced technological landscape, highly skilled professionals are in high demand, powering innovation and driving advancements in various industries

I had the privilege of working and leading teams on state-of-the-art technology development, designing the engines that will fly in 10 years, power turbines burning hydrogen and ethanol, new cleaner fracking technologies and today, robots that help you get your beloved online purchases that you wish would arrive sooner than the next day, and maybe they will. There are some common elements I have seen in all these high-tech organizations.

Let’s start with the good stuff because everyone likes to start with the bright items, and rightfully so since there are many.

These teams are full of brilliant, highly educated people who come mostly from top universities, and who are ready to go the extra mile to deliver. In that sense, all are very committed to doing their best despite all the noise around remote/hybrid/office work, Gen X/millennials and now Gen Z clashes, and all the other organizational churn.

They all seem to have an acute sense of what needs to be done, understand the urgency to deliver, and, for the most part, are very good at delivering high-quality outputs on time, or very close; keep in mind that this IS rocket science or beyond, so no small challenge.

Usually, these professionals have a sense of ownership for the product they are developing and consider it personal pride to ensure proper functionality.  They tend to focus extensively on their specific domain of expertise, often becoming masters in their field.

But, and this is a big but, they very seldom understand the business impact, return on investments, NPV, or even cost. Not only do they not have any of these skills, but they also don't care about them and often consider these elements a waste of their precious time, the time they can invest in solving problems, designing features or supporting customers. Unlike business professionals who often receive a formal finance, marketing, and strategy education, highly technical professionals typically focus on honing their technical skills. While this dedication is laudable, it leaves them ill-prepared to understand key business concepts.

So why is this, to say the least, an incomplete vision?

I would say the answer is obvious and common sense, but we all know common sense is the least common of them all.

I have seen organizations struggle to keep up with the workload, as there is always more work than resources, failing to decide which customer to serve, burning people out by trying to deliver and after all these vast efforts, capturing mediocre outputs or worse. Work prioritization, if it exists at all, is based on feelings, emotions, personal pride, and so on, none of which will make the team achieve their best.

Deciding between customer A, B or C, product 1, 2 or 3, project X, Y or Z, could be daunting, especially when all are needed, all look great and all look appealing. What to choose and how to decide and how to say no? Big questions.

Often, technical and business professionals operate in separate silos within an organization. These isolated working environments foster a lack of understanding and appreciation for each other's expertise. Technical teams might view business concerns as unnecessary distractions, while business professionals might struggle to comprehend the complexities of the technical domain. This cultural divide further reinforces the detachment between technical excellence and business acumen.

What usually ends up happening is upper management making financial-based decisions and plans that are not the best technical solution; engineers frustrated over their wasted efforts or what they perceive as the wrong paths to follow, and not understanding how those decisions were made; a great project in the recycle bin; and a mediocre solution in the customer’s hands.

I have faced this challenge, especially on satellite teams away from headquarter discussions. It requires a mindset change, appropriate incentives and upper management commitment. However, it is a dangerous trail, as we all know metrics drive behavior and we want to retain the wonderful traits we discussed at the beginning of this article.

It requires transparency from finance, also scarce, and taking down myths around information sharing; we don’t have to be open kimono, but the team needs to be aware of parts cost, labor costs, market and timing opportunity cost and so on. We are not all going to become MBAs but, as in life, we all need minimal financial savviness to make the best decisions for the team.

What you want are teams that deliver the best tech and make the best investment calls. Make them participants, aware, and rewarded for making wise technical and financial decisions, share financial information, incorporate it into your development processes and reviews, follow up through the life cycle to capture lessons and circle back. It may not be quick, and it may not be popular at the beginning, but is particularly important in down cycles, when all our sins come to the surface and process slack becomes cancer; they are called business cycles for a reason: You may be on top now, but tomorrow will come. The solution is in your hands.