Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

Today, digital transformation requires upskilling all employees so they can harness digital tools and data. However, executives must first understand the different generations in the workforce:

• digital natives, who grew up with digital tools;
• digital immigrants, who are open to learning and changing; and
• digital refugees, who avoid digital tools they view as unsettling and scary.

All employees need a "basic understanding and comfort" of working with data—its potential and limitations.

Companies shouldn’t aspire to create a data-driven culture, but rather a data-informed one.

Data shouldn't be touted as a replacement for expertise or experience. Instead, it should enable employees to question the organization’s status quo, using insights from data rather than hindsight or past experience.

It’s important to remember that data, like all information, is power, and not everyone will embrace this transition readily.

As they become more senior, executives often have less contact with those at the front lines of their organizations and, as a consequence, their customers. Leaders need to be aware of these blind spots and empower their employees—including those closest to the customer experience—to take ownership of customers’ problems and innovate on their behalf.

As leaders develop and iterate their strategy for where they are going and how they will get there, they need to surround themselves with people who have their fingers on the pulse of the organization.