Digital Transformation

Be Transformative – Digital business transformation is about making fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a shift in environment. The shift has occurred. The shift is becoming a digital business. The approach should be about transformation. What is happening in many cases is that we are adding racing stripes to a 20 year old Chevy and think we now have a race car. We don’t have a racecar. We still have a 20 year old Chevy that looks fast but isn’t. The first thing is to recognize is that there is a “burning platform”. This is a decision by the CEO and the C-Suite that the business must be different to survive. Without that fundamental vision at the highest level, complete transformation can’t occur. Incremental gains can be made by others but true transformation has to be owned by the most senior of senior management. Read more here … 

Transformation won’t be easy. In fact, it will be hard! – So many times, transformation into a customer focused world is framed as a no brainer. We feel like idiots that we aren’t there yet. Why aren’t we on board? Why is our company so immature? The fact is, transformation is hard. It is hard, hard work. It takes discipline. It won’t happen overnight. It isn’t free. It will cost us not only a little but a lot. We need to convince ourselves, and other leaders, it is worth it and that we will be in it for the long haul. Otherwise, what is the point of it all? Read more here …  

Build a digital Business Ecosystem – Building a digital business is about building an ecosystem, not just a few isolated initiatives that have no impact on each other, the business as a whole or your external networks. So, in a digital business ecosystem that is focused on amazing customer experiences, both living (people) and non-living (strategy, process and technology) interact as a system along with external networks of suppliers, vendors and customers. In essence, as a digital executive, you are building a system. Leave an essential part out, and the system is not complete. Read more here …

Obsession with Customers – This isn’t about being normal. Sorry, normal just won’t work. We need to be obsessed with the customer experience. We need to think about it all the time. Doing anything else will just not work. Being average is not helpful. Your staff need to look at you and scratch their heads in disbelief at how obsessed you are. Your peers need to be afraid of you when you discover average or bad customer experiences. They need think twice about not caring. You need to be a madman. This is about passion. The digital executive needs to care and be passionate about astounding customer experiences. Read more here ….  

Transformation requires Being Focused – In addition to being obsessed, the other essential ingredient to success in transformation efforts is focus. It must be recognized, when you are obsessed with your customer, that you can’t do everything. If you think you can, disaster is looming around the corner. You can do a few things very well. Strategy is about deciding which ideas should be implemented. Focus is doing them. Focus is not about swinging at every pitch. Focus is about swinging at the pitches that are most likely to get you on base or to advance another player so they can score. Read more here …  

What is the return on the investment in the stunning? – There comes a time where we have to make a decision. What will we invest in? It is a serious question and not a budget exercise. If we are going to be intentional and proactive, we need to make an investment. At first that may be just our time as a digital executive. Eventually it will be about people, our processes, our strategies and our technology. If we don’t become intentional in our approach to our digital customer experiences we will continue to be haphazard in our approach; reacting, responding, solving toxic experiences in real time. This intention however must be about heartfelt experiences. It must create a passion for our mission as a digital business. Read more here …  

What is at stake?  – What is at stake? I have been thinking about this as we frame our future. What is it that allows for us to produce extraordinary results? While there are many contributing factors, perhaps the most important is the way we listen. Which leads to breakthrough thinking. Which leads to extraordinary action. Which leads to amazing results for our company. Read more here …  

Focus your changes on engagement and not technology – We all know it. We all hear it. Leadership loves to talk about change. Employees love to ignore it. Talk is very cheap. If we are honest however, we all know it is true. Change is inevitable. The real question is what we will do about it. Will we lead it or will we be a victim? The biggest challenge is knowing the right time to change. Often, by the time we realize we need to change, the moment has passed us by. The worst possible scenario is that others’ realize it before us and beat us to the punch. Rather than being strategic, we are impulsive and reactionary. Our perceived competitor builds a website that does X and we have to do it to. Why? Maybe they have just wasted a ton of money. Mimicking others is not a strategy. Read more here …  

Your journey to change and transformation – You are on a hero’s journey. You have a passionate desire to learn how to harness disruption and innovate in completely new ways. Most importantly, you want to transform your company into a customer focused machine. You are being introduced to new connected customers. You are seeing how they progress through a dynamic journey. You are discovering how they respond and behave at each moment of truth about your mission. Generation C’ers are different than their traditional counterparts. You can’t reach them through direct mail. Their phone numbers (remember land lines) aren’t published. They may or may not subscribe to your eNewsletter. You can only reach them if they choose to be reached. They are in control of who they do (or don’t) connect with. Read more here …