Succeeding at Digital Transformation needs Context

One of the most popular topics these days is ‘Digital Transformation’. A quick Google search on “What is digital transformation” returns over 8 million hits! Seems everyone has a point of view on the subject. Filtering through the first page of search results, I came across a pretty decent definition:

“Digital transformation is the profound and accelerating transformation of business activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact across society in a strategic and prioritized way.”

[There is some great information and reference to digital transformation everywhere — one of my favourites is right here on i-Scoop.]

I love this definition because of its vagueness — digital transformation can be executed in many different ways depending on the type of organization, the objective or the starting point. My point is, there is no single way to ‘do digital.’ It’s really all about context

The Context of Succeeding at Digital

In my experience, the likelihood of succeeding at digital transformation increases when there is a solid understanding of two separate but related contexts. These are:

• External context of change — how do customers experience your business today versus the desired future customer experience.
• Internal context of change — how the organization is structured to deliver today versus how it will be structured to deliver in the future.

The context of change in both instances helps leaders make a determination on how best to approach and deliver digital transformation. Without one or the other, success will be a challenge.

Initiating Digital Transformation for Success

To understand the external context of change, start with documenting the customer experience has it happens today. Detail the steps that a customer takes going from the need to decision to purchase. Next, document the desired customer experience as you envision it occurring in the future. Once you’ve completed these exercises, compare the two — you’ll be able to pick out the components of the customer experience that need to change.

To understand the internal context of change, you’ll need to take the same steps but with your business process — how work is designed today versus how it should be designed in the future. In the transformed design (the desired future), the business process design must be aligned to deliver the desired customer experience.

Understanding the internal and external context of change builds the foundation for designing your roadmap for digital transformation. Through defining the aspects of the customer experience that need adjustment and aligning the supporting organizational structure and processes, you can structure a change roadmap for success.