For at least 5 years, the term digital transformation has driven many organisations to embark on major projects of rediscovery, to become the company they need to be to remain competitive and to stay in business.
“5 Steps to digital dominance”, “The top 10 attributes of a successful digital transformation project”, every technology vendor, systems integrator or consulting organisation have what they believe is the perfect approach to transformation. Agile and Lean-Agile has been adopted as the way for organisations to execute in a way that is responsive to market and customer demand. Technology has been at the core of most digital transformation initiatives but many organisations are becoming aware that it’s not all about the technology and that the people and leadership are key to success.
I believe that strong leadership principles are needed for digital transformation to succeed and that these principles are introduced and practised across all levels of the organisation. I’m sure most transformation project methodologies include the people and leadership factors, but I very rarely see digital transformation being driven with people and leadership as the foundation.
Transformation of an organisation also means the transformation of the people and the philosophies of the business – how products are developed, launched and supported. But it also includes how customers are treated and supported and the metrics used for success.
The implementation of a cloud service, a digital mobile app or an online customer portal is merely the window that reflects a potential transformed company, but deep down is where the real transformation lies. And a transformed company has its foundation in a transformed leadership team, a leadership with transformed philosophies.
Digital transformation must start from a leadership point of view before it then extends to the business model, the people and operations and finally to how technology will support this.