Digital transformation or extinction… The choice is yours
During 2015, you’re bound to have read or heard the term ‘digital transformation’ several times (if not, you’d better start worrying).
During 2015, you’re bound to have read or heard the term ‘digital transformation’ several times (if not, you’d better start worrying). You probably think it’s one of those somewhat fleeting terms that suddenly become all the rage, only to disappear after a while. But make no mistake this time: ‘digital transformation’ will change our lives (in fact, it already is) and will radically transform our businesses.
What is digital transformation? It is the whole range of changes, across every aspect of human life, brought about by digital technologies. It is a process that will change our environment, the way we live and consume, and consequently our businesses and institutions.
Therefore, if your business is to survive, it will have to compete in a new environment that we can define by the acronym VUCA (another term to learn): Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. In true Darwinian style, we will witness a process of natural selection in which only those businesses that have managed to adapt successfully will survive; many others will disappear in the process, whilst new and as yet unthinkable ones will emerge.
To complicate matters further, it is also necessary to maintain the traditional business whilst embarking on digital transformation. To succeed in this transformation, it is crucial to understand that it is not solely, nor fundamentally, a matter of technology. The real challenge lies in realising that this is a shift in the economic model, with new rules that require us to adopt a different mindset.
Therefore, as well as mastering new technologies, one must know and understand the new ‘rules of the game’ – the new models of relationship between producers, intermediaries and consumers – and be capable of leading a profound cultural change within one’s company.
Combining all these factors requires highly specialised profiles that are not commonly found within companies. Relying on an ‘Interim Manager’ who fits this profile and who can help us initiate the digital transformation whilst the traditional business continues to operate is an ideal solution that is well within your reach.
Think of the extinction of the dinosaurs, and decide whether you want to be among the companies that survived… or among those that waited to see what would happen. It is essential to begin the transformation now; delaying it could mean your company’s demise sooner rather than later.
