Are you approaching digital transformation with the right mindset?
For many years as we worked our way through school, got our first jobs and built our careers, we’ve been taught that learning and evolving who we are and our skillset is an ongoing and continuous journey. Of course there are certain goals we set and achieve whether obtaining a certain degree, or getting a promotion. We also mark achievements or perhaps acknowledge failure, learning from the experience and moving on wiser for it. We also can’t forget the old saying from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Life’s a journey, not a destination”, a saying I’ve always thought has stood the test of time for a reason.
In today’s business environment, there’s now an expectation to be on a journey to evolve and grow, or risk being left behind. The business world has coined this as simply ‘Digital Transformation’. A very broad and potentially overused phrase, digital transformation most often refers to transforming a business through various digital technologies and creating new connections, efficiencies and ideally cultures. Perhaps it’s been an ongoing project at your own organization, one that you’ve been a part of and helped move along or even complete?
Last week, Gal Rimon shared a post on Forbes discussing the reason that most digital transformations fail. The headline caught my eye given that much of what we do here at Vodafone Business is working with businesses to help them advance their digital transformation. The piece shares some grim stats including a McKinsey & Company survey that found 80% of organizations surveyed had undertaken a digital transformation effort in the last five years, but ultimately most companies fail to achieve the aim of their digital transformations. And, an earlier study from McKinsey found less than one-third of respondents said their organizations’ transformations improved their company’s performance.
Gal’s hypothesis that digital transformation failure is because most organizations don’t have the right mindset is an interesting one and I’m in agreement. He explains how it’s treated as a project or initiative with a start and end. When in fact, transformations are not projects, but ongoing processes that need continuous investment, measurement and adjusting. He reiterates the importance of a feedback loop and ensuring we put the right behaviors in place. Here at Vodafone Business, we’re always honored to be a part of our customer’s digital transformation journeys, and hope that together we can establish the right mindset and feedback loops for best success.
Check out Gal Simon’s post here. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.