Redefining Transformation: Digital is Only a Detail
Not seeing the ROI on a “digital transformation?” Here’s why.
Entire industries are asking the same question: With all of the significant investment in digital, tech, and cyber “transformations,” why aren’t we seeing a more positive impact on business growth?
In my observations during my thirty years optimizing Telcom and GovCon organizations, the answer is glaringly simple, if financially painful: Transformation only occurs where the focus is placed.
If you focus on a “digital transformation,” that is exactly what you’ll get—a change in technology, from on-site to cloud, from human-powered to AI-driven. The only thing you’ve transformed is the way you’ve done business with technology, not the business itself.
If you want a significant shift in business growth, outcomes, and success, then everything you do should support that aim. It’s a business transformation powered by a shift in digital technology or AI. Digital transformation is only part of the equation—only if it actually adds to the desired end result.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that the desired end result in any transformation is a positive, palpable impact on the organization’s bottom line. Not a transformation for transformation’s sake.
The Transformation Turnaround
The term “transformation” was first used to describe the comprehensive and strategic process of fundamentally altering a company’s operations to achieve significant improvements in performance and profits.
As business evolved, so did our definition of what a transformation really delivered— perhaps driven by what one consulting firm or another could deliver within a specific time frame. And we’ve quickly approached the time when the word itself has lost all meaning—and all the real business performance results with it.
We believe it’s time to bring it back.
The Driving Force of True Transformation
To achieve significant improvements in operations, culture, and performance, we don’t have the luxury of focusing on only one aspect of a business. An organization, by nature, is a sensitive, collaborative machine, responsive to the changes and impacts of its leaders, its teams, its processes, customers, and, yes, its technology.
To guide and accelerate its overall growth, every dimension must work together toward a single aim, a cohesive vision, a North Star. Our Turnaround Model elevates these key dimensions—People, Process, Technology, Leadership & Culture, Customers & Shareholders—and incorporates them into goal-setting and decision-making to drive accountability, results, and performance.
True transformation is achieved not by focusing on any one of these dimensions alone, but through the delicate, powerful balance of all these organizational dimensions. And the better you can see how they work with and relate to each other, the faster results can occur.
By embracing this comprehensive perspective, we pave the way for real, impactful change that drives sustainable growth and success.
Author Bio
In her 30+ year career as a transformation executive, Jenevieve Creary has earned a reputation for accelerating positive, palpable business growth and creating sustainable value for organizations in GovCon and beyond. Ready to elevate and accelerate your results? Click here to schedule a consultation.