Differentiate With Digital

Not all companies were born digital; starting lines may differ mightily, but the goals are mostly the same. With industry lines eroding, the threats of encroachment from digitally native firms are real — and with consumers holding everyone equally accountable — companies must create a digital flywheel to have any chance at surviving.

It’s all about resource allocation. It is about attacking technical debt to create working capital — and putting that capital to use by investing in business technologies that create value for customers and change the game for you. Annual incrementalism is too slow and risky; you need a radical plan to make business technology a point of differentiation and an engine of growth.

Companies are abuzz with innovation practices as design thinking catches on. The beauty of this progress is how it signals potential; the challenge, however, is that those working on innovation are a mostly inoculated team, often facing inertia from the core business. The question is not “Can you innovate?”; the question is “Can you convert innovation to enterprise-wide norms and value?”

We are at the early days of a technology revolution. AI, ML, RPA, AR/VR, and others are part of a dizzying array of new technologies that remake operations, allow you to individualize at scale, and create powerful business platforms. Long test periods are relics; you must rapidly experiment and operationalize to stay apace with consumer demand and competitive pressures.