Honor the past to invent the future
Culture and Digital Transformation
The Digital Transformation of traditional companies is 95% about people, culture, mindset, change management and only 5% about technology.
I still remember my first weeks as Chief Digital Officer at Michelin. We were planning to do a world tour with the top executives to get alignment on the strategy, including the digital transformation.?
Prior to this tour, I had a conversation with the CEO. I remember his advices at that time. Michelin is an innovative company with more than 130 years of history. Make sure that the digital transformation is viewed as an evolution in the long innovation history of Michelin.?
What did I do with this advice? I learnt as much as I can on all the innovations Michelin created (maps, signages, radial, etc.) and during the world tour I explained that we will build on the amazing innovation journey of Michelin and that Digital was just another step (a natural step to adapt to the new world).
I saw some Chief Digital Officer coming from the Silicon Valley, building ivory towers between the people who know digital and the others… Usually they will be in their job for 24 months… until the antibodies of the company will reject them.?
Best practice #1: Honor the past to invent the future. Spend time to build on the innovation journey of the company you are working in and demystify digital as a next step in this evolution.
Many of you offer to help? Did you have the same approach in your company? Could you elaborate?
Next best practice (#2): Connect the digital transformation to the strategy of your company.
Chief Digital Officer @ Secil | Ex-Shell | Ex-Fresenius Medical Care
2 年Eric, I think the guideline of honoring the past is incredibly important! Most companies have a high value past, and indeed Digital Transformation should be their next step in innovation. I hear very little about this point, and you described it masterfully! Where I digress only slightly is the 5% technology. I think in some sectors (i.e. Industry) the technology choices can have a deep impact on getting from a pilot purgatory phase to a highly scalable digital transformation. I do agree the people part including processes is the hardest, don’t get me wrong, but saying it’s only 5% about technology kind of implies that you can put to work any technology, and that in my experience is not the reality. Thanks for the wonderful article!
Entrepreneur, expert en marketing, business développement, management et coaching, avec une spécialisation en transformation digitale et intelligence artificielle.
2 年I completely agree with you Eric, and I would only specify: 5% tech, 50% people, 45% process
DT is “only 5% about technology.” Spot on!!!