Spirited conversation starters
Why Culture Eats Digital Transformation for Breakfast
"Culture" isn't just a buzzword; it's the operating system of your organization. And here’s the kicker: most digital transformations fail not because of technology, but because of culture.
Let's dissect this, shall we?
First, resistance to change. Humans are creatures of habit. If you’re introducing new digital tools or platforms there’s going to be some pushback. It's not the tech that's at fault—it's the natural human tendency to stick to the familiar. And with good reason: doing what’s familiar is incredibly efficient — at least in the moment. The irony? Organizations champion innovation but often harbor a culture allergic to the changes and short-term discomfort necessary for innovation to take root.
The Phantom of The Opera’s 35 - year management gaffe.
I’m an ardent listener of podcasts, in part because snippets of this “edutainment” often inform my thinking about business and strategy.
Case in point: An episode of This American Life I recently consumed stuck with me for its gobsmacking cautionary tale of the destructive effects of siloed thinking.
In 2020 This American Life aired a segment about The Phantom of The Opera, the Broadway musical that ran for three and a half decades before closing this past spring. The intent was to explore the realities of being a Phantom orchestra pit musician: 27 immensely talented musicians working in a cramped space playing the same music night after night for decades.
In his introduction to the segment, Ira Glass quotes from No Exit, “Hell is other people.”
Digital transformation: more human than silicon.
When the C-Suite truly gets behind a digital transformation initiative the dream state is an org so tightly woven into the tech stack that it becomes exceedingly nimble — capable of delivering excellence at scale while mining new revenue streams. IT leaders and functional heads are truly collaborating with integrated teams and initiatives.
Notions such as “nimble," “agile” and "fusion teams” are bandied about.
But what's often overlooked is the reality that digital transformation shakes up the very human lives that help drive these changes. In the rush to 'go digital,' the complex task of managing human emotions, behaviors, and culture is often neglected or woefully under managed.
At The HCDT Project we believe this is why McKinsey, BCG, KPMG and Bain & Company all put the risk of failure at somewhere between 70% and 95%.
Continuous learning is FUNdamental.
How CIOs can foster a culture of curiosity and tech literacy?
Typically when digital transformation initiatives are launched, a fair amount of learning new work modes is part and parcel of the experience. To those on the receiving end, it can feel cumbersome, unfair, even threatening to job security. This can especially be the case for employees who don’t consider themselves particularly “technical”.
We have some thoughts about how to counter this response and instead move people to what we like to call having a “Yes, and” state of mind.
Lead by example. How does the IT department manage and make sense of the rapid rate of change? Be open to sharing how much continual learning the tech team itself needs to do these days.