Building a Digitally Agile Culture - 3 Things Every Leader Should Know

As leaders, we often make the mistake of assuming that we know best. To be fair, that confidence comes from years of hard work that we have put in our respective fields, but if the past 18 months has taught us anything, it is that we live in an ever-changing world. As the adage goes, ‘change is the only constant’.?

While one cannot predict the future, we can to some extent anticipate it and prepare for it. And to be better leaders tomorrow, we must learn today.

In the next sections I will highlight 3 key considerations for leaders to think through when cultivating a Digitally Agile Culture, namely: Transform yourself first; Embracing digital agility is more about people than tech; Adopting digital tools & wellbeing.

But first, what is Digital Culture?

The World Economic Forum (WEF) report on Digital Culture: The Driving Force of Digital Transformation released in June 2021 describes digital culture as follows, ‘Organizations with a strong digital culture use digital tools and data-powered insights to drive decisions?and customer-centricity while?innovating and collaborating across the organization. When implemented purposefully, digital culture can drive sustainable action and create value for all stakeholders.’

This WEF definition really resonates for me. It’s true every organization has its own unique culture, however WEF notes there are several ‘common traits that enable organizations to excel in digital ways of working’.?Whilst recognizing culture itself cannot be digital, these common elements around being data driven, innovative, customer centric & collaborative, all make up Digital Culture.

The more time I spend time with CXOs across industries in Asia Pacific, it’s clear there is an increasing acceptance on both the opportunity and the need to become a ‘data driven org’ and leverage digital tools.

Evolving Digital Culture becomes a foundational element for unlocking significant Digital Transformation opportunities. These exist right across industries, from an FSI offering hyper personalized differentiated customer experience, to a Healthcare provider looking to transform both its own clinician’s productivity experience as well as the end-to-end patient experience.

Cultivating a digitally agile culture, 3 key considerations:

1.??????Transform yourself first

Start with yourself. Many of us can be quick to dismiss ideas, jump to conclusions, and disapprove of those who don’t agree with us. These reactions are often driven by fear, anxiety or even anger. Often fueled by a desire to ‘outsmart’ others, we fear being ‘wrong’ about anything.

?This kind of defensive or closed mindset can be very limiting. A more open, curious, and empathetic mindset, on the other hand, allows us to pause and reflect before we respond.?For me, this is a constant daily effort, easy to say, harder to execute!

As leaders, we must first try to develop this mindset ourselves, try to model it daily, then coach our teams to do the same.

Nurturing innovation through encouraging experimentation and an ‘always learning’ environment

Nurture an atmosphere of constant learning and growth. At Microsoft we strive to continually cultivate a learning environment, including empowering employees to carve out dedicated learning time each week for their own self-paced development. An inspiring leader and mentor of mine once described himself as a ‘professional mistake collector.’?It’s critical to try and lead by example and not be afraid to make mistakes. While it can be tempting to play it safe and copy existing strategies, our failures often teach us more (about ourselves and the world) than our successes. Encourage experimentation and celebrate learning behaviors on a regular basis.

Empowering others success

Good leaders remember with humility that their primary role is to help empower their people and teams to be successful. This involves building trust with each individual, delegating and empowering others, as well as ensuring an open two-way feedback loop via regular 121s.

2.??????Embracing Digital Agility is more about the People than the Technology

How can we enable and empower our people and teams to function with agility? The answer involves a combination of many elements.

Aligning on a shared common purpose

Ensuring we create clarity on our shared purpose and vision across every member of the team is critical. At Microsoft, our Company mission is ‘To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.’

As author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek notes, ‘People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe’. Having a clear sense of purpose can be the biggest anchor and motivator for teams while weathering tough times.

Small, Diverse and Empowered Teams

Fostering collaboration and a safe inclusive environment is key to inspiring each member to be their best authentic self and achieve success. Wherever possible avoid siloes that obstruct transparency within the organization and do not inspire trust.

The highest impact teams I see have clearly defined and aligned goals, continually measuring their progress and course correcting real time.?Collaboration also allows us to embrace a diverse set of voices, skills, and capability to execute fast for impact.

3.??????Adopting Digital Collaboration Tools & Wellbeing in a Hybrid World

It really feels like the shift to Hybrid Work with COVID-19 will have lasting impacts well beyond the pandemic. How do we ensure people and teams are truly connected, supported, heard, and able to do their best work in this new hybrid landscape?

Digital collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams unlock a diverse set of real time collaboration and communications, including voice, video, chat, sharing and co-authoring documents and more.?Whether in small teams or at scale this is critical to allow people to work, anywhere, anytime for impact.

Beyond connection though, we need to think deeper on the wellbeing and development of each team member. In February 2021, Microsoft introduced Viva a new category of technology solutions called employee experience platforms (EXP), with a vision of EXP as a ‘digital platform that provides people with the resources and support they need, seamlessly integrated within the same tools they use to do their work, so they can succeed and thrive no matter their location.’

Our work as leaders is also to grow leaders for tomorrow and thus, whilst we continue our own growth journeys, it is important that we share our insights with others so that they may benefit from our learnings. It is my hope that through this article I was able to do the same!

Here’s to learning more and growing as a community!