This article was spotted and shared by an admired contact. On the face of it it is a fairly standard ‘yup, so what’ article about the value of Digital Transformation however if you look deeper it is highlighting a number of less well advocated points and pointing to a delivery approach that stands significantly more chance of success than ‘Transformational’ Digital Transformation.
Often conceived and designed as wholesale, value chain wide change taking years, devouring money and resources what the article points too is a much more targeted, outcomes focused change plan with people at the heart and simplicity driving decision making.
We have long believed that you should buy technology as an investment in your people, once they’ve peaked with what’s possible with the tools they have, further enable them with technology. This can be done in a specific, targeted and modular way and has so much residual benefit beyond ‘application overhead savings’ or ‘lifecycle costs’.
The strategic imperative for change can, and should be based upon a pull from the team, partners and of course customers. Mark our works, technology ‘push’ projects, programmes and transformations NEVER work. Align the technology to a benefit that’s understood and valued or a problem that’s understood and accepted by those living the experience.
Finally, think broadly when you are looking to benefit from technology. Capabilities that meet the above criteria and are out of the business operations engine room or add incremental customer value instead of large scale upheaval are easier to define, less risky to deliver and more likely to be supported by native capabilities with high degrees if implementability & usability.
Digital Transformation is an end state, a long term vision. It seldom works as a programme or plan. It is all too easy to load too much into it to make it achieveable whilst still leaving many dissatisfied with what it leaves out, or worse it is applied to a basic software implementation or process change discrediting the term itself and the ambition of the organisation.
Far better to achieve digital transformation through the steady digitisation of the business in short value cycles with specific outcomes and changes defined by simplicity and value.
The appraisal in the link below further demonstrates how and why this mindset change is important.