Digital transformation: a transformational approach from the ground up. The fourth in our series on transforming organizational culture for digital transformation success explores the importance of a revolutionary approach, new organizational structures, and the right office location for digital transformation (DT, DX, digital transformation) success. Explore strategies for successfully driving DX with innovative thinking.
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The beginning of digital transformation, a revolutionary approach and new thinking
One of my personal favorite words in the English language is “Revolution”. It means revolution or transformation. One of the contrasting words is ‘Evolution’. Evolution means gradual development. The difference between the English spelling of the word with and without an R is huge. I have a personal favorite writing book. It’s called “Write from the Bone Up“. When it comes to the desire and attitude of change in DX practice, it should be the same as the word “revolution” and the title “Write it down to the bone”.
The importance of creating a new organization to execute DX
I mentioned earlier that if you want to change a process in your organization, you have to start all the way back at square one. The same approach is needed when creating a new business model through DX, which means that for any “transformation” process, it’s important to have an objective view of your organization from the beginning. To ensure this objectivity, he recommends bringing in outside experts, preferably members of the executing organization.
This unfamiliarity allows you to look at everything from the ground up. The newer they are to the organization, the more objectively they can talk about the organization, the processes, and the company’s core business, without taking into account how it compares and contrasts with their previous experience, or the culture or politics of the organization.
It’s easy for anyone to come up with 100 reasons why something shouldn’t work. There is no such thing as a problem-free organization or a problem-free project. Innovation is virtually impossible in an atmosphere where people are only looking for reasons not to do something. So it’s better to find at least one reason why something works than why it doesn’t.
If DX is led by people who know the internal strengths and weaknesses too well and are familiar with the organization, it will be an evolution, not a revolution. For existing leaders and members of the organization, this evolutionary model offers a great deal of comfort, but we have to acknowledge that it’s not really what we’re trying to do. It’s important to recognize that the old way of doing things will never work.
Start working in a new environment, a foundation for innovation
In some cases, the same task can be split into two organizations and run in parallel to increase the probability of success. One organization is made up of internal people and the other is made up of completely external people, and they are given the same mission and goals to execute. This approach is used by some global companies, but it’s not easy for small and medium-sized businesses. Alternatively, as mentioned earlier, you can acquire an executing organization externally or create a new company. This isn’t easy either, which is why the best solution, if possible, is to form a new organization and bring in new people to run it. It bears repeating.
And to add one more tip, consider starting your DX efforts in a new space, not in the same office as your existing departments, but in a space that is intentionally separate. This is especially true when you’re newly organized, exploring challenges, and strategizing. It’s a period of about six months to a year that gives you a chance to step back and look at the organization and see the problems objectively. Earlier, I suggested putting the DX and business organizations in the same room.
This is based on when DX is past its infancy and entering its stabilization phase, which means that separation is beneficial during the initial setup process because it requires independent eyes and minds, and working together in the same room is better once the challenges are clear and the process of execution and collaboration has begun.
Choosing the right office location to drive DX
When you start working in a new office space, you’re starting from scratch in many ways. You’ll be using an external internet network, like the one you use at home, instead of the company’s own network, and you’ll be able to see the inconveniences and problems you’re experiencing. As a result, you can see what you need to change for work efficiency. In addition, you can focus on execution, free from unnecessary interference from the existing organization, and create an optimal situation to work towards a single goal. Collaboration with external partners becomes easier.
These days, the environment for starting work in external spaces, including coworking spaces, is well established. By the time you’ve built your DX organization internally, agreed on what you’re going to do with your existing organization, and are in the process of executing DX in earnest, the decision about where to locate your office space should be based on the above advantages.