Digital Transformation and how to escape its seduction

You probably heard it in school, and surely enough you have heard this at your University, and you never stopped hearing this when you joined work and the saga continues. Yes, we are back to talk about Terms, only not so hot this time. This is probably the most oft-used, over-used, one of the terms that defined this generation – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. It is not a new challenge, given the fact that computers and software have carpeted every Organization in the last few decades.

Digital Transformation, as you’ve always heard, is adapting the structure and strategy of an Organization to tap opportunities powered by Digital Technology. So what started specifically as the IT domain, Digital Technology is no more restricted but has seeped its way to every part of Company’s value chain. In gatherings, big and small, you hear leaders of Organization mention digitizing every single thing. This leaves the Managers, the on-the-field folks, to struggle to makes sense of Digital Transformation, often ending up confused on what to prioritize and pursue as opportunities.

The most common belief Managers have of Digital Transformation is that it requires sweeping disruption on how they conduct Business. So typically a Manager of an Automobile factory may imagine the cement and concrete walls would break suddenly and somehow silicon chips and soldered plates would appear. Alright, Okay, you know we are exaggerating! But figuratively, that is the kind of disruption managers imagine, at least in the way Businesses would appear to Customers.

When Managers and Leaders hear that they need to transform their Businesses in a digital way, they think of dramatic disruptions. But more often than not, Digital Transformation means something very different from absolute disruption. Successful Digital Transformation strategies across the world have been mostly to do with incremental steps to better deliver Businesses, the core. By this we don’t mean that re-imagining Businesses in a drastic way is not necessary. Many Organizations have succeeded in their radical disruption journeys and we couldn’t be more thrilled to hear their success stories. But what we try to say here is that the foundation of all these digital transformation processes should essentially be centred on one single thing, why you do Business – the Customer.

So when you imagine Digital Transformation in to your Business, the main aspect to be considered must be that how does this contribute to increasing the efficiency of my business in delivering to customer needs and how does this incrementally change how to deliver the core, all enabled by digital. The question that Businesses need to answer is – how do I exploit the promises of the Digital age to the betterment of my Business rather than getting succumbed to the pressures of being a Digital face?

Let’s face it. You cannot out-google Google! What you must be concentrating on is how you create your own digital ecosystem for the kind of Business that you are in. The Digital Transformation only gets bigger in the days to come. That is why it is imperative that you be clear of why you do Business in the first place. You are not here to show that you can be digital, you are here to serve your customers. Strengthen your core; every single thing including digital technology is only an enabler.