If you’re late to the game, you’d better hope that your competitors aren’t moving quickly, because if they are, don’t be shocked when they speed past you simply by tapping into superior technologies.

Shouldn’t CIOs Know Better?

Probably not. Consider the fact that rather than being tasked with leading innovation, a majority of CIOs are defined as followers within their own organizations. According to CIO.com’s 2014 State of the CIO survey, only 44 percent of CIOs report directly to the CEO. Those CIOs just aren’t seen as leaders.

Many of these CIOs with clipped wings report that their colleagues view IT as a cost center. They complain that they don’t even control the IT budget, and they bemoan the fact that so much of their time is taken up with mundane chores, such as simply maintaining IT systems.

If a majority of CIOs don’t have real power, can you blame them for being risk averse?

Another reason CIOs often stick with an incumbent, even if that decision runs counter to their interests, is that their team will often resist change too. In other words, CIOs are undermined both from above and below.

In the past, shifting to a new technology often meant you’d need to make significant changes to IT infrastructure; you’d have to retrain your staff, and you may even need to bring in new people. This all tended to be cost prohibitive.

The cloud era is changing this dynamic, since so many new technologies are now delivered as services. But that leads to a new and unexpected problem. Your own IT staff may now fear change more than you do.

Why is this? To answer, let me ask you another question: What do IT professionals highlight on their resumes? Certifications. What achievement factors disproportionately into promotion decisions? Yep, certifications. And what do your employees fear losing if you switch to a new cloud-based technology? That’s right, certifications, and the job security they used to provide.

Studies have shown that the pain people feel when they lose something is far greater than the happiness they feel when they get something new. Behavioral economist call this loss aversion.

It’s no surprise, then, that loss aversion will prompt a CIO’s IT team to fight to protect what they already know and are certified on. I’ve seen engineers sabotage pilot programs because they didn’t want to change under any circumstances.

NEXT: We Were Pushed