Today’s interview is with David Rogers, who is the world’s leading expert on digital transformation, a member of the faculty at Columbia Business School, and the author of five books. He joins me today to talk about his new book, “The Digital Transformation Roadmap”, the reasons behind why 70 percent or more of digital transformations fall short of their objectives or fail to achieve any sustained benefit, the biggest single factor for digital transformation success, Amazon’s press release/frequently asked questions (PR/FAQ) tool and lots of other things.

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Brands don’t need more feedback or survey data to better understand their customers – Interview with Nate Sanders of Artifact – and is number 482 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders that are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

NOTE: A big thank you goes out to the folks at CGS for sponsoring my podcast this month.

Now, CGS is a company you might not have heard of.

But, they have been delivering brand-building and customer experiences for 40 years for global brands that you will definitely have heard of.

Over that time, they have developed deep expertise in both outsourcing and technology, so you should definitely pay attention to what they have to say.

They’ve recently put together a free ebook and video that I’d like to point you to. It’s called The Transformative Power of Generative AI and ChatGPT and has been authored by CGS’ Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, John Samuel. It’s a really comprehensive guide and is designed to deliver insights, summarize research, and inspire creative problem-solving.

Follow this link to check out the free ebook and video.

Here are the highlights of my conversation with David:

• This new book is based on everything David has learned since The Digital Transformation Playbook: Rethink Your Business for the Digital Age came out in 2016.
• Digital transformation = digital strategy plus organizational transformation.
• You have to have those two parts in order to really make this work at scale.
• Definition: Digital transformation is transforming an established business to thrive in a world of constant digital change.
• And, there are three ideas embedded in that definition.
  • The first is that digital transformation is about the business. It is not about technology; technology is part of the process, it’s part of the execution but that transformation itself is not a technology transformation.
  • The second idea is that we are dealing with established organizations. We’re talking about an established organization that already has one or more business models, has customers, has a brand reputation, has partners in distribution channels and employees and org charts. All of these things are already in place. The challenge, therefore, is all caught up with how we take what we have, and use that to our advantage rather than letting it become an impediment to change.
  • The third idea is quite simply that transformation is a continuous process. Thrive in a world of constant digital change. Transformation is not a project. It does not have a start date or an end date. It is about becoming an organization that is going to continuously adapt because the change is not slowing down, it’s gonna keep coming.
• Surveys by people like BCG and Mckinsey found that 70% of or more of digital transformations fall short of their objectives or fail to achieve any sustained benefit.
• The five barriers to digital transformation:
  • 1. In many cases, companies are trying to transform themselves but there’s no really clear shared vision covering what does this actually mean for our business, our industry, our customers, our market, our products and services, our competitors, our business model, our revenue and what are the challenges and the opportunities? And, what does digital mean for us?
  • 2. In a lot of businesses, there’s really no discipline in setting strategic priorities.
  • 3. A common problem is that there is no habit of experimentation.
  • 4. There is no ability to scale.
  • 5. There is no real growth in capabilities.
• Solving for those barriers becomes the road map.
• Daniel Goleman, according to his research, has found that the most powerful of the six leadership styles he has identified is the one where leaders mobilize people towards a vision.
• Companies don’t spend enough time on their vision and the envisioning process. They don’t spend enough time thinking about what it all means for X or Y customer or employee A or B. They need to build those translation bridges, bridges between themselves and where they’re at and what the future might look like and what it takes to either enable that or get there.
• What’s our position gonna be in this future that we are barreling headlong towards? You have to answer the question. Why us? Why are we the ones (our organization), and why should we play that role?
• You have to develop a causal theory of if ….we make these kinds of investments and these kinds of changes in the organization, where is that gonna pay off for our business?
• You’ve got to get in the practice of getting out there and spending time getting the customer’s perspective on their context, their life, their work, their world and what they’re doing. That will point you to where real opportunities are to improve customer experiences and to drive growth and new value creation.
• When people hear the word organizational change, they often think it’s some sort of very fuzzy kind of management speak. But, its actually about changing behavior and systems and the way you do your work at every level of the organization.
• One tool that Amazon has used for a number of years that’s worked well for them is what they call their PRFAQ. So, it’s a press release/frequently asked questions. The idea here is that if you’re thinking of a new idea or a new venture, you should before you build anything, sketch it up in this memo that describes it and answers the sort of questions that customers and partners will ask. What you are doing here is you are trying to define your hypotheses and the process that follows has to be all about validating intent and testing those hypotheses, one by one.
• Start with the end in mind.
• David’s best advice: 1. Measure the time that you are spending listening to customers. You’ll probably be shocked how little it is for so many people in the business. 2. Empower small teams to solve customer problems.
• Go back to your calendar and count how much time your people are spending in meetings, talking to each other versus the time they’re spending listening to the customer.
• David’s Punk CX word(s): Humility
• David’s Punk XL brand: Acuity

About David

David Rogers is the world’s leading expert on digital transformation, a member of the faculty at Columbia Business School, and the author of five books.

In his newest book, “The Digital Transformation Roadmap” (2023), Rogers tackles the barriers behind the 70% of businesses that fail in their own digital efforts. He shows why every business must transform not just its products―it must transform the organization itself. Rogers offers a five-step roadmap to rebuild any organization for continuous digital change.

His previous landmark bestseller, The Digital Transformation Playbook (2016), was the first book on digital transformation and put the topic on the map. Now published in thirteen languages, it defined the discipline by arguing that digital transformation (DX) is not about technology; it is about strategy, leadership, and new ways of thinking.

Rogers has helped companies around the world transform their business for the digital age, working with senior leaders at corporations including Google, Microsoft, Citigroup, Visa, HSBC, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Merck, GE, Toyota, Cartier, Pernod Ricard, China Eastern Airlines, NC Bank Saudi, and Acuity Insurance, among others.

Rogers regularly delivers keynotes at conferences on all six continents and has appeared on CNN, ABC News, CNBC, Channel News Asia, and in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist.

At Columbia Business School, Rogers is faculty director of executive education programs on digital business strategy and on leading digital transformation. He has taught over twenty-five thousand executives through his programs in New York City, in Silicon Valley, and online. His recent research has focused on new business models, innovating through experimentation, governance for growth, and barriers to change in digital transformation.

For new tools and weekly content from David, visit www.davidrogers.digital, and feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn here.

Credit: Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash