Lessons in Digital Transformation
Hani Khalaf ????? ???????
Storyteller | CTO | Arabic Speaker | Consultant | Mentor | AI, GenAI, IoT, Computer Vision, Smart Cities | Providing 'Outcomes' to organizations through Technology | ???? ?????? ????????? ? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????
Many vendors are pitching Digital Transformation to their customers. The promise is to transform the customer’s business through the use of technology and business process re-engineering. The same vendors however have their own digital transformation programs, to transform their own business to become efficient and remain competitive in an ever changing business environment. Some have realized early enough that if they do no transform their business, they might cease to exist in a short time down the road. While some have been very successful in their transformation, some were not. It takes a lot of courage to transform your own business.
I recently read an interesting article about GE’s experience in their own Digital Transformation. The article was very informative and pin-pointed the exact reasons why this transformation has not been successful. What follows is a few highlights from the article and lessons learned from my observations of similar situations.
· While the GE experience is considered to have failed so far, what matters is what GE will do next. Your own Digital Transformation is a matter of When, not a matter of If.
· Digital Transformation is a journey. Journeys can start in the wrong direction and correct their course with the right feedback.
· Creating a unit within the company with the task of transforming the business will most likely fail if the whole business “is not in”. Many digital transformation attempts failed because they were treated as “projects”.
· Starting with a big “transformation team” and "engineering" the results so the transformation looks successful, is a recipe for failure. Digital transformation requires a “startup” mentality which most likely cannot be achieved with big teams. If the transformation did not improve on the bottom line, then most probably it’s not working.
· A healthy transformation means a good public image and is a reflection of your internal success. If things are not working out internally, sooner or later, this will go public.
I encourage you to read the full article at: https://www.inc.com/alex-moazed/why-ge-digital-didnt-make-it-big.html.
#DigitalTransformation #Disruption