Just months into 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” Of course, the vast majority of that was mere digitization. Nonetheless, to the extent that the pandemic forced most organizations to accelerate their digital roadmaps, it’s fair to consider how leaders can keep their foot on the gas in 2021.
To this end, the folks at the Thinkers360 business-to-business thought leadership marketplace asked a handful of digital transformation experts to offer our top tips for accelerating transformation this year. I drew on some of the core principles from the Adapt Manifesto and put them within the context of the Never Normal era.
Here’s my contribution.
To see what everyone else had to say, read the full post on the Thinkers360 blog. Thinkers360 Content Plan members can also download a written report summarizing key takeaways. Content Plan membership is free.
For anyone who prefers to read my remarks, rather than watch the video, here is a more-or-less complete transcript.
Hi, I’m Greg Verdino. I’m a digital transformation advisor, speaker and author. My most recent book is NEVER NORMAL. Today, I would like to share just three tips for accelerating transformation in your organization.
#1. BE A STUDENT OF CHANGE. This sounds obvious but most busy executives don’t make the time to step out of the day-to-day. Doing so will give you a transformation advantage. The sooner you recognize emerging shocks to your system, the quicker you can respond. And bear in mind, the shocks aren’t just technological. They’re biological (COVID), economic, geo-political, cultural, environmental, and more.
#2. EMBRACE AMBIGUITY. Any case studies, data or even assumptions that predate COVID are worthless today. Commit to acting in the face of imperfect information and uncertain outcomes. Alibaba emerged out of China’s SARS outbreak. Airbnb and Uber emerged out of the 2010 financial crisis. The next game changers aren’t waiting for the state of the post-pandemic world to become more obvious before creating the future that other organizations will need to compete in.
And #3. Pursue REVOLUTION THROUGH EVOLUTION. Many organizations have failed at transformation by trying to do too much too quickly. Others fail to do anything at all because they don’t know where to start or are stunned into inaction by the sheer scale of it all. Revolution through evolution means that a series of small, sequential steps will add up to massive and meaningful transformation over time. To be clear, I’m not saying “go slow.” Steady, yes but never slow. Meet always on change with always on change. Think of this as Deliberate Darwinism. Find the quick wins. The critical projects. Look for ways to start and sustain continuous improvement. It’s not ALL big bangs. Action beats analysis every time.
Once again, I’m Greg Verdino. Welcome to the Never Normal.
