OWP liVe REPORT

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digital immigrants (“we were not born with it, but we get it”) and digital “ignorants”.

solution is to align the top team from day one and make the strategic priorities clear.

“A lot of companies we work with are reluctant to be this precise because it opens them up to failure,” he said. However, you have to overcome this discomfort and push yourself; commit to both a number and a time. Doing so will focus your transformation and help you avoid the pitfall of “doing digital for the sake of doing digital”.

is largely because, in order to achieve digital transformation, cutting across the traditional silo model of organizations and embracing cross-coordination is key. Questions will arise such as: should we have a central team? Should I hire a CDO? These must be answered at the start and not halfway through the digital transformation process. Governance is not about centralization, though. Instead, it is about “enabling the company to steer the program in a unified manner and balancing the ambition of the transformation with the existing culture in the company.” "Do it early, and spend the time it takes because the cost of having to stop to do so further along the execution line is extremely high," said Bonnet.

“Do it early, and spend the time it takes because the cost of having to stop to do so further along the execution line is extremely high,” he said.

The strategy will change depending on which group you are working with. But, beware, the digital ignorant might know the company inside out, so you need them all. This is the reason reskilling and continuous learning are key parts of digital transformation. Professor Bonnet explained that normally the board announces the decision to transform digitally and, usually, at that stage everyone is aligned — it seems in everyone’s common interest. But when matters move to where to focus effort or allocate resources, things become fragmented. This has to be nipped in the bud. The data on alignment says that only 28% of executives and middle managers responsible for implementing digital change can list the companies’ top three priorities. “Let’s avoid this tacit nodding that we will do something while avoiding the detail,” urged Bonnet. Tension tends to build at the stage of resource allocation, with people reverting back to protecting their own interests. The 3 Tackle top-team alignment head-on

Ask: what are we aligning on, anyway?

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Decide on the right digital governance for your company

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Wade cautioned against executing too many digital projects without knowing what you want to achieve. What are your priorities? What is your digital transformation objective? “Becoming more digital” is “a terrible answer” in Wade’s eyes: “Your objective should be something more business focused.”

“This might not be the most exciting topic but our research shows it’s one of the key drivers of performance and profitability,” declared Bonnet.

He recommended that the digital mission should be:

> Precise

“Our experience, from looking at hundreds of transformations, is that the ‘let a thousand flowers bloom’ strategy usually leads to about 1,000 disconnected flowers that are extremely difficult to scale,” he said, insisting that companies cannot ignore the need for a layer of governance when they launch digital programs. This

> Realistic

> Inclusive

> Succinct

> Measurable