A human approach to digital transformation

This edition is dedicated to transformation and is divided into two episodes. The next part will be published on Thursday.

We've been talking about digital transformation for so many years that I wondered if interest in the term might be waning. For this type of question, I like to query Google trends, a free service from my go-to provider.

The term has been in demand since 2014, peaked this month (a point against which the rest is compared), proof that it continues to be a major concern.

What is the status of digital transformation in Europe?

The European Commission publishes a report called “The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI)” to measure digitization in areas such as human capital, connectivity, integration of digital technology, and digital public services, and track EU countries’ progress.

In the field of digital integration by companies, the European Commission publishes a special report here. It highlights the gaps between large organizations and SMEs. For example, only 76% of SMEs have a website (94% for large companies), and 18% employ ITC specialists (against 76%).

When it comes to the adoption of key digital technologies, there is also a significant gap between small and large companies in all areas. Overall, Big Data adoption stands at 14% in 2020, 26% for cloud, and 25% for AI, far from the EU objectives.

To go further, you can download country reports here.

To talk about succeeding in digital transformation, I called on two people I met during my training at HEC Paris:

• Michele Daumas wrote a professional thesis on the role of humans in digital transformation and defends the concept of the learning ecosystem. Her findings are detailed below.
• Lucie Bailly has converted the problems she encountered as Director of Transformation of an IT company into a digital solution. I will share our interview in the next episode.

How to boost transformation by hatching a learning ecosystem

Michele Daumas is an engineer by training, director of strategic programs, and spent most of her career in telecoms, a sector she joined in the 2000s. Today, she advises organizations on how to manage their digital transformation. She is also certified in the Agile methodology and graduated in 2020 with the Executive Master in Strategic Management of Information and Technologies from HEC Paris and Les Mines Paris Tech.

As part of this training, she presented a professional thesis, the entirety of which is available?here?(in French). She wondered how management could transform the company by relying on internal resources. She sees this as an egg?hatching to do internally to be able to imagine the transformed company.

?There are three axes for hatching ideas:

1. Choosing the right resources: the key is to bring together the collective of people who will work well together. Then to equip them with tools to move on to the realization and feel involved.

2. Share meaning: the leader must get involved, give the vision, and ensure cohesion throughout the hierarchy. It is necessary to anchor the new objectives and the indicators that go with them so that the whole team works in the same direction as the company.

3. Providing the breeding ground for the emergence of the learning team:?"apprenance" is a neologism that goes further than learning by including individual and collective practices to identify and address complex problems. Why do we need to move on to "apprenance"? To change glasses and see things differently.

?What are the conditions for success?

1. Have the right to make mistakes and trust in the collective. It's something complicated in French culture.

2. Build on the team's strengths and cultural anchors. For example, identifying what needs to change and refining solutions can rely on France's solid critical thinking. The result must be quantifiable for the Dutch and translate into additional income.

3. See things practically by adopting another point of view. Exchanges between teams and with third parties must be encouraged.

4. Have a toolbox to bring out ideas.

?These are the necessary conditions internally. Everyone has their role in the transformation, and we do not expect the same from each other. The project team must have the proper means to be able to imagine something else.

The emotional is also very important, and academic learning is not enough. If the pandemic can change things theoretically, it's different when you're locked up for good and have to connect to Zoom. For example, it is much more impactful to see someone doing than imagine someone doing.

The boosters of the transformation team

Michèle focused her thesis on the contribution of the outside. What are the boosters to transform faster?

• First booster: external intervention?through the contribution of new partners in the company, through recruitment or services. For example, a VP Michèle interviewed says that a turnover of 25% in the IS team is perfect for renovating the infrastructure and bringing different ideas. Otherwise, there are coaches specialized in organizing collaborative methods, think tanks with suppliers and even with customers, hackathons with external people.
• Second booster: change the inner vision by exploring outside of the company,?for example, through study trips, inter-company contacts, MOOCs, digital acculturation, peer networks, and communities of practice. Michèle mentions the example of Canada, where the 6-7 pm slot is reserved for outdoor meetings. We can objectify this for employees and make it "mandatory."

?All these leads employees to enrich themselves intellectually to get out of their mental model and be able to innovate.

There is a toggle limit; some people can't or don't want to change.?The tipping point is when the whole team manages to change glasses.?The team must start from the existing and go towards a future with uncertain contours. People must agree to iterate several times or even go back to find their way. It's not like a project where you know the target well.

There are also decisive exogenous factors, such as the need to work remotely during the pandemic.

?Of course, we must take into account the obstacles to the success of the team:

• The strength of habit and the fear of change,
• The fad: change to change. Changing is not always necessary.
• The time of assimilation, to adopt a new habit and do things differently.

It's good to have people from different backgrounds but not too much either because people have to understand each other. Finally, for Michèle, the state of mind counts as much as the external contribution.

??? Everything Bagel

The catch-all section to share news and good tips. I discovered in NY the everything bagel - a tasty piece with a large variety of toppings ;)

?? The article: Would you like to be more productive? According to Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton, the important is to improve your attention management, not your time management.

“Attention management is the art of focusing on getting things done for the right reasons, in the right places and at the right moments.” in New York Times shared by @Eric Georges

?? The tool I use all the time: Wave.video, a complete tool for editing videos, including transitions, music, texts, etc. The big advantage: it's free as long as the video is less than fifteen minutes long. And it doesn't require a lot of training. If you have any questions about the tool, contact me!

???The tweet: Elon Musk did nothing less than challenge Putin (written in Russian) to show his support for Ukraine (written in Ukrainian). But above all, he made his Starlink satellites available to the Ukrainians, nothing less!

Nice day to you all! Aurelie

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