Asking Better Questions: Context is micro by nature and doesn’t play well in the attention economy where prescription-based marketing has seconds to set a hook. Digital transformation marketing heralds one-size-fits-all imagery, easily packaged for change-weary leaders. Context, though, is the only way to discover all of the opportunities that lie before you. Simple, not easy.
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Unpacking Transformation 2020, Part 4: …The 22
Catch: the digital transformation narrative is stacked against you. 22: inaction is not an option. While the above example leans toward the extreme, it’s not uncommon. Bypassing the accepted narrative is the way forward. The mindset is so deeply entrenched that it demands a way around it in the same way a boulder demands water to flow around it. Be water.
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Resistance to change is a highly developed analog/mental muscle. We’ve been exercising it instinctively since childhood. Ask any parent about the impact of small changes to a child’s routine, and the resulting meltdown. Survival mechanisms and social conditioning are powerful – that’s why attempts at sweeping change end in catastrophe.
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Humans are masterful at cobbling sketchy theory into saleable packages. The internet extends this capability at massive scale because everyone is drinking from the same information fountain. It’s a side-effect that vaulted the “on-message” strategy, an established favorite of White House press secretaries, to wider application in marketing. It can give the appearance of synchronized messaging even in the absence of direct or deliberate coordination. Pack behavior dominates.
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Change is where we stumble. Digital transformation, innovation, and agility all hit human roadblocks. Only those who hammer away until they gain traction will pass them. As individuals we struggle to change habits even when our well-being is at stake.
If transformation were digital we’d all have reached nirvana using the Headspace app, peak fitness with Apple Health, and inbox-zero with Boomerang. Alas, it’s the work, not the tools, that brings results.
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Transformation is human not digital. And it’s not a standalone category. Anyone with skin in the game understands that the alchemy of change is some combination of leadership + key people/catalysts, culture, creative permission and technology that’s unique in different industries and even across teams withing the same org.
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