In the rush to cement thought-leader status we are churning out valueless definitions of digital transformation, organizational agility, change and more (all part of the same chess set but that’s another story). The definitions miss their mark for simple lack of context. The context that’s missing of course – the leadership and people within a target organization. When a C-level executive from North America goes to Japan for the first time they get coaching in social interactions e.g. greetings, the exchange of business cards and gifts. If you don’t have a background in high-context cultures, either native or expat experience, this sounds crazy. If you’re […]
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The Digital Transformation Industrial Complex
Don’t get the title wrong, I’m not against big business in any sector, on any terms. They get a lot right and contribute immeasurable value in the way of goods, services, employment, R&D, social initiatives, and in extraordinary cases, customer delight. They do it all with a big targets on their backs, sometimes deserved, frequently not. The thing big organizations struggle with is simplicity. The digital transformation conversation is a perfect example. The public DX pitch is one of carefully choreographed impossible complexity where a select few claim dominance with big words, massive software investment and armies of consultants. In reality they struggle internally with […]
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A Leadership Analogy: My Father Was My High School Physics Teacher
The title is cringeworthy. What could have felt like a teen-angst debacle on steroids was in reality, a non-issue. My father taught chemistry too, and was the only teacher in the school for both subjects. I was in his class for the duration of my junior and senior years. It worked because of him, not because of me. He had a great relationship with nearly all of the kids including those who never took his classes. While I can’t speak to the exact reasons why that all worked, I can easily pinpoint some primary reasons for his masterful leadership in the classroom. Command of […]
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It’s Not Transformation If It’s Not Sustainable
Okay, so I’ve either piqued your interest or pissed you off, and it’s good either way. So let’s begin: The competitive landscape (and peer pressure) are forcing more and more businesses headlong into ‘digital’ transformation. The result is a ‘gold-rush’ climate as consultants and digital agencies pump the idea of ‘digital transformation’ as a service offering. The caveat being these services are often one-dimensional, focusing on technology-based interactions with little to no capacity to engage with the underlying organizational culture. Worse, and critically important is the lack of academic and experiential credentials at the agency level to provide structured inquiry and meaningful insight. So what’s […]
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Transformation: Hammer To Nail Gun
A carpenter has a hammer for framing new homes. She walks to work with the hammer, some nails and a few additional tools in a bag. She enjoys her work, is able to accurately estimate the time to frame a house and can forecast her work output, along with resulting revenue generation for the month/quarter/year. Before long, the nail gun is invented. It’s clear the new tool will at least double her productivity and enable her to take on additional work. Without thorough understanding or analysis, she invests in the new tool. Here’s a simplistic breakdown of the impact. Capex: – nail gun – new […]
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Digital Is Over, Start Thinking About The Humans
Digital transformation is an anachronism – there is only transformation. The next 2-5 years will be the most violent disruption yet and business is woefully underprepared. Established, trusted and well-funded organizations who position themselves as digitally savvy are talking about digital as a distinct or detached piece of strategy. Like air to humans and water to fish, it’s as critical as your product or service. The ability to survive and thrive rests on business’ ability to move beyond thinking about digital as an abstraction and bring it to bear, full force, in frictionless ways that feel like magic to customers. In January of 2018 a […]
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