Orchestrating Transformation - Preview

The Context for Transformation

don’t shed much light on the mechanisms of digital business trans- formation. In the two years between the publication of Digital Vortex and this book, a startling finding surfaced: executives fundamentally misun- derstand transformation in the context of today’s large organizations. First, too many companies see transformation as a kind of momen- tary revolution, or more commonly, as an episode they must endure, emerging on the other side of the process in an altered state. Like a caterpillar, the organization undergoes a one-time metamorphosis and, if the change works, it emerges from the chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly. Now, the organism can do things that no mere caterpillar ever could. This analogy is misguided and hinders incumbents from successfully executing transformation programs. Transformation is not an event; it’s an essential and perpetual task of leadership. To quote Ben Frank- lin, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” As Figure 4 shows, executives surveyed by the DBT Center recog- nize that business model reinvention will not happen over gener- ations, or every few decades, but rather every few years. And for roughly a quarter of companies, those that find themselves on a high- speed trajectory toward the center of the Digital Vortex, it’s an annual requirement. Yet their thinking on transformation remains more monolithic— we have to buckle down and get through this period of transition.

Fig. 4: Frequency of Business Model Reinvention

Survey Q. In the future, how often do you think your organization will be forced by competitive pressures to reinvent its business model (e.g., how it makes money, how it offers value to customers)?

?

41%

32%

23%

1%

4%

Every year

1 to 3 years

3 to 5 years

More than 5 years

Never

N=1,030

Source: Global Center for Digital Business Transformation, 2019

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