Ask HN: How to learn tech as a company executive?

[carterjbastian]

A friend of mine is taking an executive leadership role at a tech company. The role is head of informatics, and he was chosen because of expertise in the field, but doesn't have a background in technology. What resources would you recommend to help him catch up on the basics - technical infrastructure of large organizations, managing tech teams, etc.?

[CyberFonic]

I was confused by your question so I checked the Wikipedia entry for "informatics"

I don't understand, how can you be an expert in "informatics" and not have a solid grasp of technology? Something doesn't add up. Any chance you could elaborate??

[carterjbastian]

Sorry that was confusing wording. Not expertise in informatics, expertise in the field to which it's being applied – in this case, healthcare.

[lacbuddah]

It's easy math. (no expertise in tech + getting job in tech)/asking for a friend = this post is confusing.

[carterjbastian]

The position is a healthcare / tech crossover-episode :) He's an expert in healthcare, but not in tech. Sorry to confuse you!

[lacbuddah]

There are continuing education courses designed for full time working professionals that could be relevant. NYU has a bunch. I am sure other institutions that are physically closer to your friends location offer a combination of online and in person courses. Some are certificates, some not.

I would also recommend books on devops and various methodologies (agile, etc that are in vogue now), your friend should also get a list of all the software the team might be using to manage their work (bug tracking, issues, roadmap planning, etc) and get trained on them by those software companies or their certified partners.