What do you think should be the first step on any transformation journey? In this special episode, we compiled statements from various digital leaders to find out what they see as the very first step on such a journey. From aligning on the vision to considering the cultural basis - listen for yourself to learn more.
What do you think should be the first step on any transformation journey? In this special episode, we compiled statements from various digital leaders to find out what they see as the very first step on such a journey. From aligning on the vision to considering the cultural basis - listen for yourself to learn more.
Christine: (00:02)
Welcome to the Lost in Transformation podcast series dedicated to the complex world of Digital Transformation. We feature guests from large corporations, start-ups, consultancies and more, to shed light on the success factors around Innovation, Transformation, and adjacent topics.
We share first-hand insights and inspiration from experts for all the intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, and anyone curious about Digital Transformation.
Christine: (00:30)
What is the first step on a transformation journey?
In our previous special episodes of “Lost In Transformation”, we asked how Digital Transformation can be defined, and what’s important to consider before we embark on a transformation journey. This time, we checked in with digital leaders around the world to find out what they see as the first step on such a journey. And to be honest, the statements were very diverse. We tried to summarize them into the following clusters: Some mentioned, the first step should be the foundational alignment on the vision, being clear on WHY you want to transform. Other leaders referred to defining the problem they want to solve, for whom, and how to make a change, as the initial step. And again others would start with the cultural basis, considering the buy-in from stakeholders and the team’s understanding.
As varied as the statements are, What do YOU think of as the first step on a transformation journey? Take a listen and get inspired!
Jon Brezinski: (01:31)
Finding a problem to be solved and considering how from initiation of a transaction all the way through to the end, how we can make this experience or the person's work better. So looking at not only the consumer side but also the operator side, how we can improve everything together. I think that that's actually the first thing that we looked at in deciding how we're going to move forward. Can we make a difference and how we can make a difference and to whom we can make a difference?
Marie Cheong: (02:02)
I think the first step in the, and the hardest part of it is actually acknowledging that it needs to be done. I think a lot of people think that you know, they already have quite a lot of digital technology and they're already quite digitally enabled. And to some extent, that's probably true. So the kind of making the case that this is actually a different way of doing business, that this is potentially transformative to the way that you serve your clients and the way that your company makes money and your unit economics. I think that's kind of the big challenge and the long-term commitment that's needed.
Denis Oakley: (02:38)
I think the first step on the transformation journey is asking why you want to do it. I'm a big fan of Simon Sinek, and it's very difficult to say, okay, we want to do transformation so that we can stay level with our competitors is also, we can make more money. It's hard going out there and say, okay, why are we doing this? What is the just cause that we have got that is going to change the world that is going to create more value for people? And this is I think the absolutely most important thing because when I've seen both from my life when I've seen entrepreneurs who are focused on the money, they are doing entrepreneurship, they are creating startups. They're creating businesses there. They're trying to grow business because they're totally focused on the money that they're going to generate rather than the value that they're going to create.
It's a soulless company, a company has got to be doing the right thing. So they've got, when you start the digital transformation, it's an opportunity to say reset. When we go forward, we're not going to be playing the same game that we have been for the last 20, 30, 40 years against all of our competitors. We're going to be playing a different game on a different playing field that says, okay, why are we going to do this? What change are we going to be trying to make in the world in order to sort of creating those massive profits that we really want to take away and return to shareholders or sticking up profit pockets? This is why you're doing it.
Thomas Fell: (04:12)
For me, the first step is to create a cultural basis and a positive mood for change.
Thomas Jacob: (04:19)
Well, the first step is actually, thinking about what you want to achieve. Never start with technology. That's a very bad idea, as we found out. We had lots of great ideas, what we could do with the technology. And a lot of them, in the end, turned out to be not so great ideas from a business point of view. And so in that regard, never start with the technology. Start with what you're trying to do. Start with a problem statement, make it as specific as possible, as clear as possible, as well understood by everybody as possible. Manage the expectations also very well in terms of how you define the outcome, make the outcome as measurable as possible. If it's only qualitative, it will be very hard to prove. If you can, measure it in terms of, increment of OEE, for example, in the factory, if you can measure it in terms of digital units produced, if you can measure it in terms of dollars to service creates, that's perfect, actually, because then you have a very clear idea about the return on investment, ultimately.
Wilma Gerber: (05:28)
Getting your leaders aligned and bought in. A transformation is an endurance event. There are going to be ups and downs along the way. And if your leaders are not truly bought in, they will start to take potshots at the first sign of trouble, or they'll start to distance themselves. And that's when the whole thing will fall apart.
Scott Anthony: (05:48)
I think the first step on any journey is making sure that your team is truly aligned behind the journey. And when I say truly aligned, I don't mean that they're just sitting at a meeting saying they want to do it. They're not nodding their heads "Yes" while their brains are shaking "No". They believe at their soul level. That this is something that is critical for the organization to do. And this is harder than it looks. There are lots of reasons why people will get together in groups and then fall prey to common biases like groupthink or the hierarchy of fact, and a range of other things where you think as a leader, they're all behind you, but they're actually not. They say that they agree publicly in the meeting and then they privately go and subvert you, not because they're bad people just because they don't really agree with it. So taking the time to align, to really get people to understand that this is a strategic imperative, that imperative is going to tie to how resources are allocated, that will tie to how people are measured. That is something that people often skip. And without that foundational alignment, it is never going to work.
Florian Bankoley: (06:50)
So the first step on this journey is to have a very clear understanding of what is your asset? So what is the core competency? The asset data capability you have will make a difference. Because what I've seen is that people embarking on this and having a very diffused view on what their core asset is. And this will be a problem along the road because you will get sidetracked a lot if you're not do not have this established very clearly.
Linda Sessa: (07:28)
I think aligning that idea and vision with your stakeholders is very important and spend some time on it because it's very important that you do look at the same pictures with your board members, with your immediate stakeholders, and with the people that you're going to be working with. Because reading from slides, people build different mental pictures of what the digital transplant journey is going to be. And if that is not aligned, you will have troubles along the way. The second part, ensure your budgets because it's very tricky if halfway down the road, you are left without the money. And, I think that the third one: do build your communication plan, think about how you will communicate to the wider organization, and keep that pulse going throughout the digital transformation journey, so as long as it takes.
Ee Ling: (08:20)
So I think the first step to do a transformation from a leader's point of view, is to communicate your change story. I think you need to have a very, very clear vision of what your organization should look like and say 5 to 10 years. And it doesn't even need to be something that you came up with. You can always be co-creating this kind of vision, but a group of your more senior leaders, but you want to be able to pin that version of what your organization looks like true digital transformation. And then the next step I would say would actually be to create a SWAT team. Who is the task force that you're put accountable and held accountable for this innovation journey, innovation initiatives, and next, which is something that I think a lot of organizations don't do is actually aligning people's KPI. So if you are really serious about innovation, you need to be aligning Employees' KPIs to innovation as well. Just like how the performance review back in the days used to not be 360 degrees. It used to be a one-way performance review, but these days performance reviews are typically 360 degrees.
So your subordinates people reporting to, you have to think that you're a good leader as well. So in terms of innovation, can we actually include innovation rating into people's KPIs. So how many initiatives have this person shut down versus encouraged?
Henning Tomforde: (09:42)
I think a first step is essential. So what we've done is we tried, and this is what we are doing these days, we are trying to approach this topic bottom-up and top-down right. So it needs to be ingrained in the business. So people need to be capable of driving digital transformation themselves. They need to know what agile working means. They need to know, or for them, it is important to understand and demystify some of the digital technologies that are out there. But if this happens without any connections to the top, and if there is no general understanding of exactly the same matters right on the top, then I think, it will end in an interesting exercise. Certainly with good feedback, and maybe even with the good outcome, but this won't move the needle in the end. Right. So there won't be any sustainable change. So I'd say a very first step is to try to find that good bottom-up approach that involves, not necessarily all employees, but at least a critical mass. And we always target something like at least 10%, which we consider as a critical mass. But at the same time, start also at the top and create this understanding. So there are both pieces, know what they are talking about and also know what their role is and could be and what the most powerful ingredients are to move the needle.
Claus Karthe: (11:11)
So I think that the first step of the journey is this alignment, which I just mentioned before. So what is the problem you're trying to solve, right? Is it the real problem and why are we trying to solve it? Will it really improve dramatically something. I think this alignment is the thing. And I mentioned startups before, right? So like digital transformation, it's a little bit like that. So you may have the idea or a tool and you'll try to kind of find the application for it. But I think it has to be the other way around like we find the problem and then you look forward to solving it. So this initial step I think, is very critical.
Bjoern: (11:52)
From my side, the first step is to take it really seriously. I think the first step a quote from an industrial IOT investor, which I appreciate a lot. And it's, if you don't like change, you will like irrelevance even less. And I mean, there are books about all these big incumbents, which went down because they weren't able to change. You should really lead a serious discussion about the future and the future of your products and your customer base. And how does it affect your business as a whole? And then I would say, and it's probably referenced to us at Chemovator, just get started. It's really not analyzing spaces more about trying stuff out in it. I would say fail fast, fail early mentality. Because digitalization needs experimentation, especially for companies that are not digital natives. So you need just to try out, and start a couple of things before you scaled them across the company. And, that's, I think where we can help a little bit with.
Markus: (12:56)
I agree. Just start doing things, not planning too much. Do it.
Christine: (13:04)
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