{"id":148248,"date":"2019-06-28T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=148248"},"modified":"2019-06-27T21:30:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T02:30:04","slug":"5-reasons-organisations-fail-digital-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/06\/5-reasons-organisations-fail-digital-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reasons why organisations fail at digital transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Although organisations might have the best intentions and are committed to digital transformation, there are attitudes and behaviours that can inherently undermine a successful outcome. The five outlined my seem minor, but can have a serious impact on whether successful digital transformation is achieved, or not.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mona.uwi.edu\/msbm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mona School of Business and Management<\/a>, of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mona.uwi.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica<\/a>, held its annual CEO Breakfast Forum, in Kingston. The Forum, which is celebrating its 10<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary this year, had as its theme \u2018<em>Agile Leadership for Digital Transformation<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"148249\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/06\/5-reasons-organisations-fail-digital-transformation\/msbm-2019-invitation\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?fit=652%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"652,1024\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1558024145&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"MSBM 2019 invitation (Source &#8211; UWI)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?fit=191%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?fit=652%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright wp-image-148249\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?resize=323%2C508&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?w=652&amp;ssl=1 652w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MSBM-2019-invitation.jpg?resize=191%2C300&amp;ssl=1 191w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/>The terms \u2018agile\u2019, \u2018agile leadership and \u2018digital transformation\u2019 have been buzz words for quite a few years, with numerous books and articles being produced on the subject, and organisations worldwide being encouraged to embrace them. Could a discussion in Jamaica offer some revolutionary insight on the subject? Unlikely, but the event was geared towards the Jamaican business community; hence the discussion was framed to not only to consider the Jamaican, but also the Caribbean, business context.<\/p>\n<p>To that end, the core of the Forum were two talks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Leading change in the era of disruption<\/em>, by Murat Bicak, Executive Vice President, Strategy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pmi.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Management Institute<\/a>; and<\/li>\n<li><em>Leveraging agile leadership for digital transformations<\/em>, by Drs Sylburn Clarke and William Lawrence, UWI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To a considerable degree, the talks focused on the elements needed for organisations to realise successful digital transformations. However, it is equally important to understand what might some of the attitudes and behaviours that has resulted in less than effective results \u2013 even when organisations have committed to such initiatives. Below, we outline five reasons.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>1. It is all about the technology<\/h3>\n<p>Frequently, when organisations embark upon a digital transformation initiative, the focus tends to be almost exclusively on infrastructure and on technology:\u00a0 increasing connectivity; upgrading equipment; introducing new software applications and digital systems. These elements contribute towards an organisation\u2019s digital transformation process, but it does not \u00a0&#8211; and should not \u2013 stop there.<\/p>\n<p>According to Drs Clarke and Lawrence, \u201c<em>acquiring ubiquitous technologies yield competitive parity only<\/em>\u201d. In other words, having ubiquitous technology has become the norm across the business landscape, and allows organisations to be on par with their peers. More importantly, focussing on technology alone to realise comprehensive and effective digital transformation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>2.\u00a0 The staff is not involved<\/h3>\n<p>In the organisations that can afford it, frequently, the digital transformation effort is driven from the outside \u2013 through consultants that have been secured to deliver the desired results. However, as Mr Bicak noted, once the consultants leave, the effort is likely to fall apart, if the employees were not integral to process.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, employees are invited to get involved towards the tail end of a transformation process. However, the first-hand knowledge and experience that they could bring to bear, along with the opportunity to foster a sense of ownership in the process are lost, which tends to result in difficulties in properly integrating the \u2018transformation elements\u2019 into the existing work flows and processes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>3.\u00a0 The effort is not cohesive throughout the organisation<\/h3>\n<p>Generally, the decision to embark upon digital transformation is made at the executive level. However, the implementation, and those who are affected, are the lower level staff. Frequently, the manner in which senior management and the executive operate, is not affected by the digital transformation effort. This dichotomy creates dissonance within the organisation, which it could be argued, inherently undermines the success of transformation initiative from the outset.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>4.\u00a0 Trying to eat the entire elephant in one go<\/h3>\n<p>Even in a modest-sized organisation, a digital transformation initiative would require several aspects of the organisation to be addressed. Although those aspects might be addressed discretely, they might not be properly organised into a cogent projects that: allow for strategic execution; build on past successes; facilitates (incremental) improvements; and boost staff morale.<\/p>\n<p>When the transformation is tackled in a scattershot manner, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work involved, and to lose the stamina needed to see the process through to the end.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>5.\u00a0 Digital transformation is seen as a sprint and not a marathon<\/h3>\n<p>Finally, many organisations see the digital transformation process as an outcome, and not as a process. It is an activity to tick off their checklist, and once it is done, management can rest easy since it has been completed. However, technology is continually changing, which in turn is affecting how businesses and organisations operate.<\/p>\n<p>The novel approaches of today can be seen an archaic next year: but also, the organisation itself should be evolving. Hence, in the absence of regular reviews \u2013 and a willingness to iterate and pivot \u2013 the once lauded outcomes of digital transformation could soon become a millstone around the neck of an organisation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit:\u00a0 UWI;\u00a0 \u00a0Gerd Altmann (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Pixabay)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although organisations might have the best intentions and are committed to digital transformation, there are attitudes and behaviours that can inherently undermine a successful outcome. The five outlined my seem [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[71,330,286,40,86,15],"class_list":["post-148248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ict-tech","tag-businesses","tag-digital-transformation","tag-events","tag-expertise-hr","tag-meetings","tag-trends","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Digital-transformation-cog-circuit-Gerd-Altmann-Pixabay.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-Cz6","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148248"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148253,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148248\/revisions\/148253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}