Digital Transformation Failure Factor: Organizational Readiness

The time to address digital transformation project readiness is before the ERP investment is made. The efficacy of pre-existing capabilities, processes, and norms is the foundation the digital transformation builds on.? The more stable the foundation, the greater the probability of success. In situations where the foundation is seriously unstable, a project can be doomed before the Kick-off Presentation.?

One point of clarification, this article Is not about digital transformation OCM Readiness Assessments.? ?

The Organizational Readiness Question

The question is asked best by Johnny Carson:

“Talent alone won't make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: 'Are you ready?” ????

This is a question business leaders should be asking themselves a year or more before the ERP investment is made. ?Even if there is no digital transformation on the horizon, getting these things right will make the organization ‘Transformation-Ready’.

The Digital Transformation Readiness Factor Model

The model below identifies the things that contribute most significantly to transformation success if they are in place and working well in the current state before the project starts.? The six of them have several things in common:

• They can be developed during periods when the current state BAU status quo still exists, and they generate benefits both in the current state and during the digital transformation.
• They cannot be installed or fixed once the project begins.? In the model three of the six require development and implementation and the other three are learned and only drive improvement with experience.? The items that are implemented create significant disruption and additional resource allocations, and the items that are experience dependent require a good deal of lead time before they can make a difference.
• They are all put under greater degrees of stress during a transformation, but if they are already in place and performing well in the current state, the risk of those stresses upsetting the project are reduced significantly.

A brief article will be posted about each one of these factors.