Thursday 21 May 2020

Why Digital Transformations Fails



Organizations are all feeling the sudden and increased urgency of digital transformation.  But there’s still a lack of clarity on what digital transformation actually means.  Definitions vary widely between companies and within companies. Me thinking, when a term can be stretched to mean just about anything, it starts to mean nothing. Urgency without clarity can be a risky combination.

The biggest challenge in today’s world is the language related to digital transformation. The term has been co-opted by every IT marketing person selling anything from personality  to followers.

Around the world, organizations are spending about a trillion dollars a year on digital transformation. Seventy percent of those transformations fail. I believe that this is happening because language prevents business and public sector owners from setting the right end goal. It also prevents them from following a very disciplined approach to getting there.

report last year from CompleteSpectrum showed a confusing mix of definitions of digital transformation from senior leaders.  These senior leaders only agreed on one thing — 94% reported that digital transformation was high on their list of priorities.  

I think it makes sense that digital transformation will vary for a bank versus a university versus a toothpaste brand, but it’s critical for teams within an organization to have clarity.

What i want to do is to be precise and talk about technology which is at the heart of digital transformation.  

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Why Digital Transformations Fails

Organizations are all feeling the sudden and increased urgency of digital transformation.  But there’s still a lack of clarity o...