Lorrie Norrington has over 35 years of operating experience in technology, software, and Internet businesses. Norrington is currently an Operating Partner at Lead Edge Capital, and serves on the boards of Autodesk, Colgate-Palmolive Co., HubSpot, BigCommerce, and Eventbrite. She lives in Silicon Valley. This blog is part of the 2017 NACD Global Board Leaders’ Summit series.

A company’s board sets the tone from the top and oversees long-term strategy. However, now more than ever, boards also must actively work to understand technology trends and encourage a culture of innovation that drives long-term growth. The development of an innovation mindset has become an imperative for directors.

The pace of technological change is forcing governance needs to evolve faster than anticipated. As a result, the inability to innovate has become one of the biggest business risks in most enterprise risk management assessments. It is useful to understand that both evolutionary innovation (or the combination of small ideas into bigger change) and discontinuous innovation (which is disruptive to companies and industries) can render companies uncompetitive in months and years—not decades.

Below are some of the techniques I’ve used over the past decade as a director to keep current on my knowledge and help boards embrace technology and innovation.

Take It Personally

You don’t have to live in Silicon Valley or be a technologist to possess a solid working knowledge of innovation and technology trends. In our previous roles as executives, we were forced to keep current on business and technology changes. The same holds for board directors. It is up to you. Annual updates through events like the NACD Global Board Leaders’ Summit are essential to learn about key trends and best practices from other boards. However, given the rate of change, you cannot rely solely on annual updates. Every year, at a minimum, I read the top three business technology books on Amazon’s bestseller list, attend one technology conference (Mary Meeker’s annual pitch is a must), and read my favorite tech-focused publications (i.e., Recode and TechCrunch) daily. This routine enables me to engage in the boardroom with an informed perspective.

Go Beyond the CEO

With today’s rate of change, it isn’t realistic to expect the CEO to have all the answers regarding innovation efforts and how teams are applying technology. If your board has a technology and innovation committee, take time to understand executives’ areas of focus and ensure the agenda is balanced to include both the risks and opportunities technology change can create. If your board does not have one, ensure one of your board members is designated to engage regularly with the chief technology officer or chief product officer about their mid-and long-term innovation and technology plans.

Create an “Innovation System” for Your Board

A technology and innovation review should be part of your annual, board-level strategy or product review. Examining current technologies and innovations, as well as early-stage technologies and innovations that management believes to be part of the future, are two key behaviors to build as a part of your board’s robust “innovation system.” Last, by including technology and technical product skills as part of the criteria for new board members, you will ensure the board has the right skills long-term to encourage and challenge management.

In sum, boards set the tone for the entire organization. If you embrace technology and innovation, this empowers everyone throughout the company to do the same. In a world where the rate of technology and innovation will determine long-term success or failure, directors must embrace the changes needed to encourage and challenge management to accelerate their understanding of technology and the pace of innovation.

To learn more about technology and innovation, attend the 2017 Global Board Leaders’ Summit, Oct. 1–4, 2017, in National Harbor, MD. For the full Summit agenda, please visit the Summit website.

Lorrie Norrington

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