Thursday, May 7, 2015

Digital Master Tuning #83: Is Digital Disruption the Ultimate Motivation to Change

With the change, it comes with new innovations. 


It is true that fast-moving digital technology makes lots of new things possible. And lots of the new things that happen appear and disappear just as fast as Summer rains. The digital shift can be disruptive, but it can also be from smaller, "tipping point" changes. Ultimately, is digital disruption the business motivation to change?


Change upwards with planning: Change can be an opportunity, but at the end of the day, it needs to be all about moving the business numbers upwards. Although we have to change with the "tide," we have to stand firm on our principles which would guide us in our decisions and how we relate to others. Change is inevitable, but we must know how far to bend. We have to engage our sixth sense to decipher when to make the change and to discern what to throw out and what to keep. But most important of all, we need to have a plan. Set out goals and work at them in a systematic way. Setting timelines, and sometimes resetting those timelines. Because we are not perfect and even our plans will need modification due to unforeseen obstacles. Further, if you want meaningful change in an organization, it will not really happen until you get buy-in and sponsorship from senior management. Without this, you will get chaos and some temporary change, but not change that moves the business forward!

The classic transformation metaphor: The renowned metaphor of the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly demonstrates the digital transformation beautifully. As the caterpillar begins the process it still has mobility and more than less its qualities of being a caterpillar. As the process continues "being a caterpillar" is disrupted, and the following parts of the process that produce the butterfly begin. The caterpillar becomes totally dysfunctional and cannot be recognized as a caterpillar any longer, only then can the butterfly emerge. Disruption allows for "new" energy to flow and bring with it something that would not be born without it.

Talent Management Analytics: Analytics just means asking interesting questions to produce new insights which help navigate through change journey. The amount of data being captured nowadays is exploding and as such those who filter "useful from useless" data most efficiently will regain control. Unfortunately, many HR practitioners consider “data” to be a four-letter word and thus to be avoided. Even more, unfortunately, some HR practitioners have decided that lots of data are good to have and are expecting employees to provide it without considering what time that takes out of the working day or even what HR is going to do with the data once it is to hand. You need smart maths geeks to help make it work, but you need to be brave enough to ask the questions like:
- how do we know for sure our training makes a difference to peoples' performance?
-how do we know for sure the people we call 'talent' are really that special?-
-how do we know we are eliminating unconscious bias at the interview?
- how do we know our online application tools aren't filtering out precisely the kind of new thinking that could reinvigorate our business?


The adaptation of digital professionals: The only constant in life nowadays is "change." How we as individuals and businesses adapt to changes defines how successful we will ultimately be. It is very true that unless there is a disruption, people very rarely move out of their comfort zones. Growth is not possible unless we are willing to move out of our comfort zone. Hence, disruption acts as a catalyst for growth by pushing us out of our comfort zones. The qualities of digital professionals today include, but not limited to
 (1) Global Leadership
(2) collaborative problem-solving and team-working,
(3) Digital Literacy
(4) Communication
(5) Emotional intelligence
(6) Entrepreneurship,

Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, Values, and Ethics are components for the realization of the future. All in all, change is good and we must embrace and adapt to it because with change comes new innovations. If you have a good change strategy in place, and adaptability to change, you can ride above the change curve, and make caterpillar-butterfly like digital transformation in an elegant way.



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