Digital Is Everyone's Business turns three next month and I am forever grateful to the people who continue to send me messages about it. This blog was prompted by a former colleague who recently tagged me on a post whilst reading the book during their European summer vacation.
When writing the book, I set out to share my professional experiences and help executives be more progressive. The book has five clear sections and what I didn't realise, was these sections would become fundamentals for the majority of organisations from 2020 due to the pandemic. Each section is practical, not dependent on the other and helps to build capability.
Somewhat controversial at the time of publishing, the book began with Your Mindset. Challenging organisations to rationalise non-value adding or legacy work and integrate initiatives undertaken in stealth or by small groups who are unable to scale their ideas. This starting point is now what all organisations consider and will continue use.
Technology follows after the rationalisation of work; why continue to run legacy tech when it is not required as the work has been rationalised or modernised? The book shows how to stack rank expenditure and strategies to scale for the future. Including the successful approach of splitting a team's focus to 50-60 percent on foundations, 20-30 simplifying complexity and 10-20 percent on innovation.
These two stages lead to greater Relevance; employees can now make better decisions within an aligned framework; however, they must consciously manage risk. Mitigation of risk through controls is the best approach and helps reduce incidents. Integrating this information across an organisation builds resilience, delivering velocity and maintains Relevance - breaking old habits.
Almost all organisations are now driving Innovation at a greater rate; it is no longer optional, it's a necessity. But, not all employees are innate innovators; all vendors aspire to be; however, only a few will achieve a genuine partnership. The roles within Innovation are dissected to ensure people's efforts are in the areas of their greatest probability for an outcome; something that will make a meaningful difference.
Finally, the book concludes on Digital, with a warning to consider the earlier stages. These help you avoid being Digitally numb or dumb. The numbness is avoided through the earlier steps to drive greater value-adding activity within an organisation. The dumbness is avoided by conscious thought and not taking pointless legacies into the digital realm. Organisations are encouraged to assess their product’s digital readiness, the maturity of competing organisations and qualify how best to differentiate.
As per earlier anniversaries, I am giving away five books. Share something on social media, tag me, and if you are in the first five people to do so... I will pop a book in the mail for you.