Digitalisation

What we need to do is to envision the digital future of yourbusiness. Without a compelling vision of where you are goingand why it is imperative, you will probably be painting racestripes on a 20 year old Chevy. What assets will be valuable ina digitally-transformed business? How can you transformcustomer experience? Internal operations? Your business model?How can units work differently - and work together differently- in a more connected way? Look at the media industry.
Ithas been completely transformed by digital technology. Someare putting their toes in the water. A few have jumped in andfind they aren't drowning. They are reaping huge results. A very familiar, important and inevitable question we need toface these days is "Is my business equipped enough to getdisrupted?" The risk that the disruption can happen highlyradically if you are not prepared for it beforehand.
If you do believe it could happen, it is well worth getting awayfrom the office to consider what to do very soon to avert it. Taking the time to have a serious answer might make all thedifference in success or failure three years from now. The next question is this. If you or your company isn't ready, what should you do about it? It is important to think throughwhat you personally should do as opposed to what "thecompany" should do.
You can control your plan. You can onlyinfluence the corporate approach. The answer will set your agenda for the next six months. Achange is indeed coming and it is coming thick and fast. Transformation is occurring. It can't be escaped. It is abouthow people collaborate and work. It is about the way businessprocesses are executed. It is most certainly about how weunderstand our customers and obsess about the experience.
Itis about how we use digital technology to radically shift howwe provide amazing experiences for our customers. It is radicaland it is now. Customers are in charge. That is a profound shift. At our core, do we get that shift? There is a convergence of customersbeing in control and our designing experiences that easily helpthem reach their goals. What if we don't? They will leteveryone know about it and go somewhere else.
It is thatsimple. Do you see it coming?As senior managers, you alone possess the skills and resourcesto make it happen. You can decide to transform and surviveor you cannot. No one else can make that happen. It is up toyou to create the vision. It is up to you decide who is "on the bus" and who is not. Here is the tough thing. Not all of your people and seniormanagement gets "it". To assume otherwise will hinder you.
You need to decide who is on board and who is not. Youneed to get those who are not on board off the bus, as gentlyas you can, but as soon as possible. Delay will only hinder youand you know it. Your desire to strive to digital maturity and make it happen issomething that really matters. You need to make sure thereare targets for progress, they are well known and they aremet. That cannot be delegated.
Communicating the vision can't be delegated either. It is up toyou to take a stand. It is up to you to communicate it. Themessage needs to get through and no one else can do it. Dodevelop a serious communication plan. Make sure that it isfollowed.