The Human Edge of Digital Transformation

As part of our ongoing projects in Hawaii and Japan, we’ve worked with leaders and their teams tackling the complex challenges of digital transformation.?

It’s been exciting to see the potential of technology harnessed for true transformation. But we have come to see ourselves as guides, to help leaders and their teams sharpen their?human?edge high stakes transformation journey.??

It’s a tough world and looks to get only tougher. And the toughest questions are always the human questions. How will you respond to a challenging and uncertain world? What direction will you choose? How will you get there? How will you weather the inevitable storms along the way? In particular, how will you and your team answer the call of transformation posed by powerful AI and digital technologies now gathering momentum?

These are important questions for any leader to face. But they are also pointed at each and every one of us.?

Our response is to launch a new initiative we call Wayfinding. Our inspiration comes from two ancient traditions—the Polynesian Voyagers and Japan’s Samurai Warriors—which relied on the human capacity to navigate and survive in a challenging world

Long before the compass was invented, the Polynesian Voyagers navigated their double-hulled canoes across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Their voyages covered thousands of miles. They learned to read the stars to locate faraway islands. They found Hawaii, a thousand years before James Cook sailed into Waimea Bay on Kaua’i Island. Nowadays, all we need to find Hawaii is our gate at the airport. But this wayfinding tradition has much to teach us about vision-setting, reading the signs of the world, and weathering any storm.?

The Samurai Warriors were masters of intentional learning and response, with time-tested strategies for building the internal strength to embark on a challenging life journey while maintaining a clear sense of direction and purpose. Most famously, Miyamoto Musashi embarked on a lifetime journey to explore the full spectrum of human creative potential.?

We hope you will join us on this Wayfinding journey, as we explore one of the most important challenges of the 21st?century, the iterative interaction of emerging digital technologies with the human edge of creative transformation.?

We would love to hear your thoughts.?

(Wayfinding is co-produced by Mayumi and Mike Birt for Ascent Partners, LLC)