Have you got what it takes to avoid the barrels of distracting digital tactics, over hyped technology or the belief that your market is immune to disruption? Have you allocated the right resources to deliver a focused plan of transformation? If you have, you’ll reach the platform of transformation. If not…watch out for those barrels!
Leadership (Not Technology) Delivers Successful Digital Transformation.
Most failed digital transformation projects start with technology or digital tactics. It’s so easy to do. We look for systems to integrate, data centres to use, website personas and wonderful designs. We seek out customers to engage with on social media and make lots of “content strategies”. Our plans are often built on assumptions and an extension of our current business model. While these activities are important, they rarely create digital success. More often, they are digital distractions.
When we look at competitors we see their technology, websites, proposition and staff. We believe that it is the sum of these assets that has given them competitive advantage. If you’ll permit the Donkey Kong analogy once more, when viewing competitors we can only see the top two layers as we look in. That is, we see their innovation and technology. Therefore it’s natural to assume that if we, too, had wonderful technology we could create marketplace disruption, or at the very least make a dent in an emerging market. The reality is that the journey of highly successful digital businesses goes beyond tech and teams. It is leadership that delivers a successful digital transformation and technology enables this change.
Transform in Stages at a Pace That’s Comfortable for You.
The web presents businesses with an unlimited set of opportunities. It also presents customers with an almost unlimited set of alternatives to choose from. However, the major rewards go to the few that dominate a marketplace.
The most successful Digital Businesses redefine the marketplace and displace entrenched competitors. Better still, they create new marketplaces. It’s the role of senior managers to find the best play that will create or redefine a marketplace, generating context for and resonance with the customer. Regardless of the size of the business, these actions require alignment of people, process, training, innovation and, of course, technology.
Mario gets the prize of digital transformation by skilfully traversing each layer. His starting point is to move away from fire fighting, solving the strategic layer first. No matter what he does, those distracting barrels keep falling, trying to knock him off balance. Like all games, there are techniques that make play easier.
Download our guide which has been created for CEOs and business leaders to guide them through each core element of Digital transformation. This guide is the digital transformation cheat sheet: Step By Step Guide to Digital Transformation
