If companies aren’t open to embracing new technologies—despite the obvious risks—then it’s only a matter of time before they are left scratching their heads, wondering how they became the next Blockbuster, Sears, or any number of organizations that failed to keep pace with market shifts and changing consumer expectations.
Yet an effective digital transformation strategy isn’t just about adopting the shiniest new tech tools and expecting them to work miracles. It’s also about making sure you have the right working culture in place to really reap the rewards. The right combination of people, process and technology are foundational for digital transformation.
Why digital transformation is so critical for your business
We are living in the age of digital. Technology is changing consumer behavior and consumer behavior is influencing changes in technology, including which technologies companies choose to adopt and integrate into their martech stack. As a concept, it's something pretty much all modern industries have to face, which can be a daunting prospect for many companies. It implies the adoption of unknown technologies, the (often misguided) dread of automating jobs, and a shake-up of everyday workflows that can take people out of their comfort zone. And the stats back this up: research carried out by Microsoft revealed that 61% of employees admit to feeling some sense of anxiety when new technology or a new way of working is introduced into the workplace, and 59% feel that automation threatens their personal job security. We get it. Change can be scary, exciting, yet it’s inevitable.
McKinsey & Company report that 71% of organizations that attempt to undergo digital transformation efforts fail. The ones that succeed have two things in common:
- Adoption of digital solutions that make information more easily accessible
- Implementation of self-service tech for internal and external stakeholders
These figures should be a real eye-opener for business leaders, as it demonstrates exactly why organizations can’t afford to be passive when creating a digital transformation strategy for their companies and staying ahead of the curve. But this complacency is all too common: less than half (44%) of IT decision makers from a recent study of 300 are confident in their organization’s vision for implementing a digital transformation strategy successfully. This lack of confidence often stems from many businesses mistakenly seeing digital transformation strictly as an IT-initiative. For organizations to really prepare for the latest and greatest new tech, it has to be a company-wide initiative that needs everyone—not just the people in IT—to embrace one clear vision for where the company is now, and how it can proactively prepare for the future.
As world-renowned psychologist Carol Dweck puts it, digital transformation really reaps rewards when the whole organization approaches new challenges as “a shared struggle where mistakes are inevitable, and your team members and company have got your back.”
This attitude is crucial in unlocking new ideas and cutting out the fear of digital disruption that is all too common in the modern workplace. With technology evolving at an ever increasing rate, organizations need to create a company culture that doesn’t wait for change, but looks for change. Otherwise, your customers soon will.
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