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People, Process and THEN Technology
I just wrote this as a comment on a post regarding Digital Transformation. Recently I keep writing very similar words over and over. So …. logging them here, so in future I can save my typing fingers. Do you agree with this approach ….
Strategy is “a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim” (I would assume a digital strategy is a subset of that) … and so to ‘avoid solving the wrong problem really well’ (to borrow from my buddy John Caswell), we need to step back and ask ourselves what the hell are we trying to do with our business anyway?
With that defined the only way you are then going to be able to implement that plan is with the people you have. So get them on board. FIRST. If they aren’t on board work out why - and act. The company is about to change - so they are about to have their cheese moved. And, as the wag would have it - if you can’t change the people - then change the people. Remember, it is likely those people that understand the processes in current use - and can provide the best road map to get from A to B. After all, you do not want that mentality that comes up with lines like “well if I was going there - I wouldn’t be starting here” …. and by now we are getting to the third leg of the stool … Technology.
In other words - any transformation - digital or otherwise - succeeds by having clarity at the outset as to what you are doing and why with an understanding of what success looks like in that ‘Future Vision’. And to get there, the three legs of the stool are People, Process and THEN Technology. (that’s why I think the words are written in that order).