Watches, Warnings, Disaster Prep, Decision-making - Lessons on TBM & Digital Transformation from Hurricane Dorian (and my mom)

As of 9:49 pm EST, Tuesday, 9/03/2019, Hurricane Dorian was moving north, roughly 100 miles off the east coast of Florida and expected to continue moving along that trajectory on Wednesday as well, skirting the Georgia coast along the way, according to the National Weather Service. While it seems that Florida and Georgia may mostly be in the clear, North & South Carolina are still threatened by this massive hurricane system later this week.

At this point, it looks likely that the US will not suffer the threat that Hurricane Dorian posed just a few days ago. The people of the beautiful islands of the Bahamas, however, were not so fortunate. Hurricane Dorian brought its full force and devastated the island as a CAT 5 system, with winds gusting at speeds between 185 mph – 200 mph… costing seven people their lives (at last count) and laying waste to homes and property throughout. Rescue efforts are still ongoing at this point (find live updates at the National Hurricane Center).

Hurricane Warning

As I contemplated Hurricane Dorian, I couldn’t help but see striking similarities with Digital Transformation. This Age of Digital is similar to a super-active hurricane season… a period of heightened uncertainty, unexpected chaos, turbulent change, and unprecedented opportunity. We can look at the Central Atlantic and see several storm systems brewing and in various stages of development: Tropical Depression Blockchain, Tropical Storms Machine Learning and Robotics Process Automation, as well as hurricanes - Hurricanes AI, Big Data, and IoT. 

As various forecasting models attempt to predict where and how these disruptive, unpredictable storm systems will make landfall, hurricane watches are issued far and wide across the US… the United States of Industry that is… so the states of Banking, Insurance, Retail, Healthcare, Hospitality, Transportation, and Manufacturing have all declared states of emergency in anticipation of the worst. Businesses within these industries, like property owners in every state in the path of these storms, can be seen rushing about to their local supply stores to prepare. They frantically load up on the latest technologies, services, skilled labor; even picking up a company or two along the way to fortify their businesses to withstand the gale-force winds of Digital Transformation. With these emergency declarations, and with hurricane watches upgraded to hurricane warnings, dollars are freed up to address impending disaster - but where should these dollars go? How should they be spent? How can companies and industries be assured that their investments will allow them to survive the coming digital onslaught… better yet, even find ways to thrive? 

To manage our hurricane seasons, we have the National Hurricane Center - an agency to study the weather patterns, historical weather trends and develop predictive forecast models. Thankfully, in managing our way through this season of digital disruption, we also have a guide! We have a Digital Transformation Center to study the digital landscape, historical trends, and develop models to help us make data-driven decisions on our technology spend. The name of this discipline, you ask? Technology Business Management (TBM).

A Model for Navigating Digital Transformation

In my last article, we learned about the TBM framework and the four value conversations that are the foundation of the framework. Another critical component of the TBM framework is the TBM model… like the weather forecast models that help us navigate storms and provide us data to drive decisions about evacuations, preparedness, and safety, the TBM model offers a mechanism to help today’s companies make sense of their technology spend. It provides a method to “plot the path” of how dollars should flow from your general ledger to your infrastructure, applications, projects, investments, services... and ultimately, to your business capabilities.

A few notes about the TBM model:

• This model will evolve – Managed through the Technology Business Management Council, this model will continue to evolve and adapt to both a) meet the needs of today’s business environment and b) anticipate the needs of tomorrow. Learn more about the TBM Council here.
• This model is not prescriptive – it’s a guide that provides a useful pattern to predictably allocate your technology spend to every aspect of your business. It’s made to be flexible and extensible. Note: Your ability to benchmark your technology spend against your peers may be compromised if you stray too far away from this model.
• This model will not make your decisions for you – We do not expect hurricane forecast models used to analyze weather patterns to make decisions for us. On the contrary, we decide, based on the insights derived from the forecast models, whether we should evacuate or ride out an incoming storm. In a very similar fashion, the insights surfaced by your TBM model will ensure the transparency of your technology spend, and highlight patterns and trends enabling you to make the best choices in navigating this turbulent, unpredictable hurricane of digital disruption.

Lessons from Mom

The hurricane season of digital transformation is real. You can see the damage to the legacy movie industry, as streaming giants like Netflix, Hulu & Amazon have thoroughly disrupted entertainment and introduced a new business model, laying waste to giants of old like Blockbuster. The transportation industry, attempting to recover from the disruption introduced by Uber and Lyft, braces itself for a new storm system – self-driving / autonomous vehicles. You may be in an industry that has simply been skirted by the most recent wave of disruption, and, like my dear mom in South Florida, feel a level of contempt for exaggerated forecasts and warnings of impending danger when the next digital storm develops. You may, like my mom, have the temptation to ignore the warnings, and ride out the storm. Do not fall for this temptation – it will precede the destruction and disruption of your business! Trust your TBM model, analyze the insights, and chart a path not only away from the devastation, but towards your digital success.

How are your companies leveraging data and insights to navigate this unprecedented season of digital transformation?

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Are you new to TBM and want to learn more? Get the book here or join the TBM Council today and receive a complimentary PDF copy.

Have you ever vacationed in the Bahamas? Have you known any friends or family that called the Bahamas home? Know anyone with roots or connections to that incredible island paradise? Please join me in donating now to the Hurricane Dorian relief effort by clicking here: RedCross_DorianRelief or donating to another relief organization of your choice – the people of Bahamas need your help!

#BahamasStrong #Dorian #tbm #itfm #tbmforum #cios #digitaltransformation #communication #adoption #apptio #TBMC2019