{"id":2052,"date":"2019-11-06T04:46:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T04:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2024-03-04T14:10:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T14:10:29","slug":"four-things-that-all-managers-should-know-about-digital-transformation-but-most-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/bigdata-cloud\/four-things-that-all-managers-should-know-about-digital-transformation-but-most-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Things That All Managers Should Know About Digital Transformation (But Most Don\u2019t)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tToday, technology has become central to how every business competes. Futuristic advancements like artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing are no longer pie-in-the-sky propositions, but mission critical initiatives that leaders are racing to implement within their organizations.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUnfortunately, most \u00a0of these initiatives fail. In fact,\u00a0McKinsey found<\/a>\u00a0that fewer than a third of organizational transformations succeed. That\u2019s incredibly sobering. Imagine any other initiative with that type of expected return not only getting consistently funded, but enthusiastically viewed as a smart bet on the future.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYet digital transformation doesn\u2019t have to be a sucker\u2019s bet. The truth is that\u00a0digital transformation is human transformation<\/a>\u00a0and that\u2019s where you need to start. Initiatives fail because organizations habitually get blinded by the \u201cgee-whiz\u201d aspects of technology, don\u2019t focus on clear business objectives, scale too fast and then declare victory way too early.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1. Focus on People First, Technology Second<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAt first, digital transformation seems fairly straightforward. There are many capable vendors that can competently implement cloud technology, automation, artificial intelligence applications or whatever else you\u2019re looking for. So, theoretically at least, a standard procurement process should be effective in sourcing and executing a project.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYet consider how the\u00a0the nature of work has changed<\/a>\u00a0has changed over the last few decades, due to technological shifts. We spend far less time quietly working away at our desks and far more interacting with others. Much of the value has shifted\u00a0from cognitive skills to social skills<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0collaboration has increasingly become a competitive advantage<\/a>. New technologies such as the cloud and AI will only strengthen and accelerate these trends.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe truth is that\u00a0value never disappears it just shifts to another place<\/a>. Consider\u00a0the case of bank tellers<\/a>. There are more than twice the number of bank tellers today than there were before ATM machines, but the work they do is vastly different. They are no longer there to execute transactions, but to advise, solve problems and up-sell. That takes very different skills.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSo the first step towards a successful digital transformation is not the technology itself, but thinking about how you can empower your people through it. Where do you expect value to shift to? What new skills will your people need to learn in order to succeed? How can technology help them get where they need to be to serve your customers well?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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2. Establish Clear Business Outcomes\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother common mistake executives make when implementing new technology is to focus on the capabilities of the technology itself, rather than the business outcome you hope to achieve. Are you trying to drive transactions, improve service and customer experience or something else entirely? You need to determine that before you can even think about a technical approach.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s why every transformational effort should involve operational managers, partners and front-line workers from the start. You need also to talk to customers and see what they actually value, rather than what would simply help operations to run smoother. From there, you can begin to develop a vision for how your business can function differently.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor example, when\u00a0Barry Libenson<\/a>\u00a0first arrived at the data giant Experian as Global CIO in 2015, he spent his first few months talking to customers and the business units that served them. Everywhere he went, he found the same thing: what customers valued most was access to real-time data, which his company\u2019s existing infrastructure could not provide.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nFrom there, the path forward was fairly simple, but not easy. He needed to shift \u00a0his company from a traditional on-site server architecture to the cloud. That took him three years to accomplish, but it\u00a0transformed Experian\u2019s business<\/a>, empowered new business models and led to new revenue streams.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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3. Identify A Keystone Change\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOnce the vision is in place, the tendency, all too often, is to embark on what becomes a \u201cfive-year death march\u201d to achieve it. In the end, everybody ends up frustrated, angry and, inevitably, it turns out that by the time the vision is achieved, the technology is out of date.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSo instead of trying to swallow the entire vision whole, it\u2019s best to\u00a0start out with a keystone change<\/a>. Think about a clear and tangible goal you can achieve in the near term that would require the involvement of multiple stakeholders and pave the way for future, more complex initiatives in the future.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOne way to do this is to choose a solution that will help people with tedious, mundane tasks rather than create a new capability. It\u2019s much easier to get people excited by reducing the time and effort they have to expend on something they hate then it is to push them to adopt something new. You always want to attract and empower, rather than bribe or coerce.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor example, in Experian\u2019s case, Libenson started out by creating internal API\u2019s rather than building customer facing features. These didn\u2019t create an enormous impact, but they showed what was possible and built momentum for the larger vision.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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4. Treat Transformation As A Journey, Not A Destination<\/strong><\/h3><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPerhaps the most dangerous part of any transformation is when the initial objectives have been achieved. That\u2019s when motivation begins to weaken and complacency sets in. In my book,\u00a0Cascades<\/em><\/a>, I call this problem\u00a0surviving victory<\/a>\u00a0and it is a crucial element of every transformational effort.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe key to surviving victory is to plan for it from the start. In Experian\u2019s case, the journey was never about the cloud. That was merely a destination. The vision was always to serve customers better and to develop new business models. That\u2019s why Libenson focused not only on implementing technology, but indoctrinating new values and beliefs.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cHaving gone through this transformational process over the past three years and seeing concrete business results, we are much better positioned to adopt those technologies,\u201d he told me. \u201cWe\u2019ve made the changes in culture, our organizational structure and skills to be able to adopt new technologies quickly, completely and with better collaboration with our customers.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThat emphasis on values is key, because to\u00a0change fundamental behaviors you first have to change fundamental beliefs<\/a>\u00a0and digital transformation is always about empowering action. Keep your eye on that and you will be likely to succeed where most others fail.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital transformation is human transformation and that’s where you need to start. The first step towards a successful digital transformation is not the technology itself, but thinking about how you can empower your people through it. Where do you expect value to shift to? What new skills will your people need to learn in order to succeed? How can technology help them get where they need to be to serve your customers well?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":622,"featured_media":2651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[95],"ppma_author":[3337],"class_list":["post-2052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigdata-cloud","tag-big-data-amp-technology"],"authors":[{"term_id":3337,"user_id":622,"is_guest":0,"slug":"greg-satell","display_name":"Greg Satell","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/medium_09100e21-0736-4ca7-ac55-7140c8c4d9d2-150x150.jpg","user_url":"https:\/\/www.gregsatell.com\/%20","last_name":"Satell","first_name":"Greg","job_title":"","description":"Greg Satell is an international keynote speaker, adviser and bestselling author of Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change. His previous effort, Mapping Innovation, was selected as one of the best business books of 2017. You can learn more about Greg on his website, GregSatell.com<\/a> and follow him on Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/622"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2052"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36219,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions\/36219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2052"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}