Can twits tweet on Twitter? Can squares cope with Foursquare? Can technophobe CEOs face up to the challenges of Facebook?

As social media invades the workplace, doubts are being raised over whether people who grew up when personal computers didn't exist can manage huge companies where technology has taken over. The CEO is, of course, the focal point. But the same questions are being asked of others in senior positions.

There is gradually a realisation that despite all the hype about the techno-literate youth, it's only a handful of them who are true geeks. A recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research for Citrix (see box) says it all. A lot of Americans, who supposedly have silicon in their veins, have hardly any clue when it comes to cloud computing.

What does cloud immediately bring to mind? Heaven, said some. The weather report, said others. Only 16 per cent saw it as a computer network to store, access and share data from Internet-connected devices. They are also not clear about how the cloud functions. A good 51 per cent said that stormy weather could interfere with cloud computing.

The cloud is one example. Other studies dating back many years have been equally demonstrative of CEO technophobia. In 1998, the Wolfsberg Executive Development Centre in Switzerland made a study of CEOs of large companies. “The degree of incompetence is staggering,” concluded the report. In 2007, Deloitte came to a similar conclusion: more than 40 per cent of the CEOs studied were uncomfortable with technology.

“It seems that the link between organisational growth and innovative technology is being disregarded by CEOs,” writes Jon Dakin, director of business transformation agency Boxwood, in Management Today. “They prefer to ignore the importance of this function rather than admit their own ignorance. You could argue that many CEOs simply don’t have the time to learn how IT fits into the organisation in the same way as marketing, HR and finance do. The latter functions often appear to involve more common sense, perhaps. IT is new and uncharted territory, and this could potentially explain why the IT function remains so isolated from the rest of the organisation.”

There are exceptions. In India, some companies are popularising the concept of reverse mentoring. At Hindustan Unilever, a young media services manager is teaching CEO Nitin Paranjpe the complexities of social media. At Bharti Airtel, nearly 100 senior executives have been roped into the reverse mentoring process. It helps if you don't come with a big ego in tow.

There are some who contend that you just need a bird's eye view of technology. It is no use going into the intricacies of Facebook and Twitter because they are just today's fads. First, they will be overtaken by some new kid on the block soon. Second, they are relevant in a negative sense. They may tell you what's going wrong in terms of consumer complaints. Do they help sell more? Excepting for the people who are evangelists for the new media, the jury is still out. Social media are like a corporate advertising campaign; they help build image but normally add very little to the bottomline.

Does that mean you can get away with being a technophobe in the workplace? No. But what you need to know is really application technology. If you are still into snail mail when the world has converted to email, you have a problem. That's a productivity tool, though it's probably easier to let your secretary handle it. Technology principally aids those who become reverse mentors; it helps them climb the corporate ladder much faster.

But every techie loves to obfuscate things. He only feels secure when he keeps most of his domain knowledge to himself. Take everything he says with a pinch of salt. Beware of geeks bearing gifts.

GOOD HEAVENS

Americans were asked 'what is the first word or phrase that comes to mind when you hear the term 'the cloud''?

What comes to mind when you hear the word 'cloud'

Heaven

The weather report

Something hovering over you

Foggy vision

Ad on the computer

Cyberworld

It's going to rain

Smoke

White and fluffy

Something to do with technology

Source: Wakefield Research survey for Citrix.