In a Digital-shifting world, you should really appreciate the difference between Change and Transformation
Lately I happened to reflect on the difference between the concepts of “Transformation” and “Change”. These two terms are often used interchangeably when in fact the difference is profound. Is it always a safe bet to aim for Change? And can we say the same for Transformation?
In the Digital world, the term “Transformation” is used so frequently that it risks to lose its deep meaning; but what does “Digital Transformation” mean, and why should it be more than just “Change”?
First of all: what is a Change?
A change is a movement from one state A to a different state B — It can be proactive (with the intent of having a benefit, the individual decides to adopt a new technology, tool, or approach to a problem) or reactive, following an event (we realize that an approach has not worked in the past, a regulation has changed, a new IT tool has been adopted at company level and everyone has to learn how to use it, etc.).
The key point of a change is that it is potentially temporary — you can go back from a change.
A Transformation certainly contains the component of Change within, but in this case this element consolidates into something lasting and permanent; through a transformation we arrive at a “New State” from which there is no going back.
At the base of a transformation there is an evolution of mental models, those “filters” through which we observe the world and decipher the information that comes to us from the outside.
Put in these terms, one might think that the “Transformation” is a step ahead of the Change, and from a purely chronological perspective it might also make some sense to think about it that way. Without a change (in the sense of a “movement” to a new state), certainly there can be no transformation. As if to say that if I want to permanently relocate, I need at least to travel to the new city. On the other hand, the converse is not true — change can (and must) exist without transformation (we arrange trips to visit countries even if we plan to come back at some point).
A change can be temporary, but a transformation is permanent, as it changes your way of seeing the World
When should we aim at change?
Change allows us to experiment, making adjustments in a non-destructive way and see if they work. We may find that these changes themselves require new minor tweaks (additional changes) or that they simply don’t work in our specific environment. From here it is relatively easy to “adjust or rollback”.
Aiming at Change is something we should do all the time — experimenting with new approaches gives us the possibility to discover paths that, otherwise, we would have just avoided (the human brain tends to minimize energy expenditure, so between two paths it will always try to choose the one that “has worked so far”)
And when can we think about Transformation?
If we want a Change to become permanent, we are aiming at a Transformation. In this case it is not just a matter of “adopting practices”. It is about “involving and upsetting” our neural networks to the point of welcoming a new mindset, a new culture, new filters. After a transformation, we no longer perceive reality the same way as before; we now have a new way of conceiving things. There is no turning back from a transformation, you can only move forward.
A Transformation is a step that we should take wisely even if sometimes we are forced to speed things up (as happened with the pandemic); the advantage of a Transformation is to have a consolidated and stable state, in which we are fully aware of our “identity” and the mechanisms that work for us.
Can these concepts be applied at scale? Is it possible to “impose” Change or Transformation?
Both Change and Transformation can be referred to a single individual, to one or more organizations of individuals, or to the entire society (in the most disruptive cases); if we want to drive each one of them in a team or a company, we need to deal with increasing complexity and consider the system as a whole:
- In a system made up of n people, each of them will evolve in potentially different directions
- In order to say that a group of people has embraced a transformation, there must be a critical mass of individuals in that group who have actually done so, a significant and predominant percentage
Getting the same team in the same direction is already challenging, and doing the same for a whole company (different teams and functions with different goals and attitudes) is certainly much more complex.
While it is true that a Change can be imposed and reactive (but beware of possible adverse reactions, and at least be transparent with your team), when it comes to a Transformation I am strongly convinced that this is not possible. A Transformation cannot be “imposed”. The Transformation must be accepted by the People, first of all. If this does not happen, if mindsets have not shifted towards the new cultural approach, there will be just reluctancy and maybe forced adaptation, but no real Transformation.
My two cents on Digital Transformation:
When I hear about “Digital Transformation” I am not just thinking of companies modernizing their processes or experimenting with new tools and new approaches. Instead, I am thinking of realities that seek to spread a comprehensive “Culture” of digital, which can also be different depending on the type of specific purposes and needs: a company that focuses entirely on the technological product will adopt different approaches from a company that “only” needs a robust ICT governance and solely relies on off-the-shelf applications, with little need to develop internal products.
In each case, however, if you want to aspire to a true “Transformation” it is necessary to put people always in first place, be very clear about the strategy you have in mind, and give them the opportunity to accept the changes that are proposed. In this way, you have at least a chance to propagate and evangelize the new culture and reach that critical mass of people.
