The CDO has a foot in two camps — the client's needs, and the delivery team's capabilities. You can create what's exactly right for the needs of the real-world, plus you know just what your team can deliver and how to get there.
But it's easy to by dazzled by sparkly and shiny novelties.
The CDO's task then is to deliver outcomes focused on true value and the commercial promise of new technologies.
This chapter is about managing expectations and appropriate triggers to innovation, about how to stay at the sharp end of technology without being distracted by mirages.
We'll refer to the infamous Gartner hype cycle and look at how to exploit the hype cycle to our advantage.
In particular, we'll explore how to use new innovations and frontier technologies as a trigger to research and deep learning that's focused on the drivers of an emerging technology’s commercial promise.
Delivery teams are uniquely placed for this hard work, sitting so close to the real world users' experience, providing a vital feedback loop to the core business and product teams.
And that means that the Chief Delivery Officer has a special responsibility regarding innovation and hype, employing data-driven and evidence-based approaches to differentiate between what brings health disruption and business value and what does not.