The Intentional Organisation - Issue #6 - 🕵️♀️ What the Heck is Digital?
The Intentional Organisation - Issue #6 - 🕵️♀️ What the Heck is Digital?
1. What the Heck is Digital?
Digital Transformation is probably one of the most diffused words in recent years. Google lists “about 474’000’000 results” for this word. With such a mass of information out there, still, a lot of people don’t have a shared view on it.
I’m starting to accept the fact that probably the concept of Digital means different things for different people. And this is fine.
The reason for this is that we experience technology differently. And adoption is impacting people in a variegated way. Think about Facebook. Originally conceived as a platform for college students, today I see it more used by my mom (who has been 52 y.o. for more birthdays that I can remember) than by my teenager nieces. Which also leads to a critical simplification we tend to make: young people are “Digital Natives”, elderly people are not. I’m also not convinced by this statement. I was flabbergasted when I discovered that about 25% of the people we were hiring in-store, did not have an email. Their average age was below 25. There is, for sure, a trend that favours instant messaging over email. But the reality was that there were a lot of people for which technology was superfluous.
No wonder that, against this background, organisations have a difficult time taming the world of Digital. Add to the equation the many different interpretations that can exist within a company: Digital Sales, Digital Channels, Digital Communication, Digital Product Creation, Digital Technologies, Digital Recruiting, Digital Talent... am sure you can add many more.
We did pick, at a certain point, all the roles that had Digital in their job title (to which I always wonder... is there somebody who does marketing today that is not digital 🧐) and asked them to define what Digital meant. We stacked 140 different definitions. Not much of a shared view.
The current Covid-19 pandemics has shown how this entire topic is not about technology. Most companies have been able to move to remote work in a matter of days, often the most significant obstacle being that of buying enough laptops. What came after was more a question of balancing organisation and autonomy: two very social skills.
It has also proven that technology can be counterproductive. When I read that one of the most significant segments of growth has been in surveillance software, I can immediately think of companies who are making themselves quickly irrelevant by sticking to control practices that have nothing to do with the collaborative spirit of digital.
I’ve written already about the maturity necessary to think “Remote First”. Which is the same as thinking “Mobile First” in the broader digital domain. It is very much about understanding human habits and supporting them to develop collaboration, customer focus, self-management, creativity, resilience and imagination.
Having different ideas about Digital testifies the incredible variety in human minds. We need to foster this diversity of thought, not compress it into a mandated interpretation. This way, someone in our organisation will be able to capture the next weak signal of a rising opportunity. Someone else will instead be able to create something genuinely new and innovative. We will then be prepared for coming challenges and crisis, by becoming more adaptable and ultimately more resilient.
Leading Digital Transformation based on a very human variety of meaning and intentions is the best antidote to a dystopian future of technology domination.
I have always looked to frame neatly every aspect of my work in a specific definition and neat topologies. I realise this time this exercise is not just useless, but might even be dangerous, by putting a limit on our imagination.
Sergio
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3. Reading Suggestions
Here some of the readings from this last week:
👩💻 A good contribution on HBR from Ernst & Young linked to Digital Transformation. Tech Should Enable Change, Not Drive It is a significative title. Boiling the ocean's water... but at the same time so many are now using tech to drive also remote work transformation. #DigitalTransformation
🎙 I came back onto a 2015 interview with Brunello Cucinelli, with a very modern view on work. "I am interested in the quality of working hours, not the quantity. The brain of the human being.". Lots of food for thought. #FutureofWork
🤖 The RSA has published a very interesting report on Work and Automation in the time of Covid-19. The report identifies clusters of jobs where automation is accelerating due to the Covid-19 pandemics, and ask for ups killing and transition services. #FutureofWork
🌈 Mckinsey has published two interesting articles on Diversity and Inclusion. The first is on the role that companies have in making meaningful progress for LGBTQ employees. The second is the 2020 Report on Women in Workplace. Not many good news, as the reports highlights some stepping back due to Covid-19. #DiversityandInclusion
🎒 An interesting article from Marker on the risks for the economy from Remote Work. There's however not much concentration on the possible benefits. #RemoteWork
4. The (un) Intentional Organisation 😁
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5. Keeping in Touch
Don’t hesitate to get in touch, either by responding to this newsletter directly, or by using the contact form on my blog.
I welcome any kind of feedback, both on this newsletter as well as, in general, on the content of my articles.
Sergio
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