THE DIGITAL MINDSET PART II

Jayesh Ghatge, Market Principal, ThoughtWorks

Responding to the rapid change in the marketplace, as Part I in this series referred to, requires organisations to perform a self-reflective deep dive. Organizations need to critically and courageously examine existing brand value, range of products and services and their business processes. The analytical view should also revisit capabilities and the value that partners bring to an organization’s  business. With Time-to-Market being one the most important factors for success, the speed of technology evolution only complicates an organisational transformation agenda.

Yet another element that adds to the complexity of change is the dynamic IT landscape and prior (sometimes sizable) investments made by an organization. Organizations tend to deal with the IT landscape by creating, a just as complex IT structure or outsource to vendor partners.The latter is also a result of organizations still not realizing that IT systems can be a value add or play a strategic rather than supportive role.

When on their  Digital Transformation journey, every organization's IT system comes under the scanner. These largely include three main components; the systems of records which are packaged applications like ERP, HR, finance and CRM that automate repeatable processes for efficiency, the systems of engagement that are customer facing and ensure the brand meaningfully engages with customers, and the systems of intelligence that combine the power of systems of records and of engagement, to mine insights into performance and customer engagement.

ThoughtWorks, in its experience of driving digital transformative journeys has witnessed traditional organisations’ follies such as, functions operating in silos which causes the group as a whole to fail, even if the individual silos are on point. For an organization with a digital mindset, to perform at par, all its new assets, solutions and platforms that are being built as part of the digital journey, should benefit from every department’s full participation. A misplaced belief, in such situations is that newly minted digital-future-ready elements are the responsibility of the organization’s CTO or CDO, relegating these important elements to be IT solutions rather than business solutions.

While growing comfortable with having a digital mindset, a lot of brick and mortar business are seeing value in making the transition from Digital Platforms for Business to Digital Platform as a Business. The difference between the two being how to create  a new business using digital capabilities vs. how can digital support my existing business. And the pitfall in the latter is the entire enterprise is usually not behind these efforts of platform development and enhancement.

Quite understandably, most if not all digital transformation journeys are considered big IT programs and are compared to creating an e-commerce channel or crafting a differentiated in-store / physical experience using digital tools. And given the nature of such change that affects the fundamental behavior of an organization, it becomes difficult for traditional businesses to plan their, sometimes radical investments for 5 years later. Agility in these situations are maintained with the help of digital leaders, who, when hired by the traditional businesses can help the latter cross the chasm to become a digital business.

In  our experience, ThoughtWorks sees few organisation leapfrog to potential digital offers and be bold and willing to experiment and fail. But it’s these few business that will find it difficult to catch-up and even if they do, they will have siloed digital solutions. The root cause? Their approach which views digital transformation as an  -  IT program rather than a fundamental change in the DNA of the organisation that enables embracing tomorrow.

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Some learnings which can be used as a guide for organisations who really want to transform:

1. Identify the Change Agents within the existing organisation
2. Develop an executive vision for change and revisit it regularly
3. Communicate the change agenda in a language that works for the organisation
4. Transformation is about creating a continuous learning organisation
5. Where possible make the journey visual
6. Break down the vision into strategic bets for lean experimentation
7. Constantly Iterate on the experiments that are being invested to scale
8. Be your own target group, go out there and talk to customers
9. Regularly measure the outcomes of your bets
10. It’s okay to fail, make it a safe environment for experimentation

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Some Successful Digital Transformation Journeys and Other Interesting Reads:

THE DIGITAL MINDSET-PART I

How Domino’s Pizza Achieved 50% More Profits in a Year

An Airport in Your Pocket-Bengaluru Airport's Digital Journey

7 Digital Innovations That Changed the Fortunes of Domino’s Pizza

How Sathyam Cinemas is Clocking Big Business on their New Digital Ticketing Platform