What’s Your Digital Appetite?

 With so many things going on, businesses with the right dose of digital appetite, can digest information, experiment innovation, and develop talent more aggressively. 

Many organizations are at the inflection point of digital transformation journey, either be a disrupter or being disrupted, digital makes the significant impact on every aspect of the business both horizontally and vertically, with increasing speed. Today’s businesses simply cannot stand still, if you do not move forward, you are already lagging behind. Re-imaging the future of business is exciting, however, reinventing the business to get digital ready takes both bold leadership vision and the right dose of digital appetite in order to unleash business potential and lead change and digital paradigm shift effortlessly.

Information appetite: The exponential growth of information brings significant opportunities and unprecedented risks to the business today. Not only is information interesting economic goods, but the value is also difficult to determine, it could be utilitarian, hedonistic, extrinsic, intrinsic, social, practical epistemic etc. In Fact, the digital leader’s information appetite as well as how capable the business can process and refine information directly impacts the business potential. Information Management is the overall process of refining information to achieve its business value. The information management leaders should keep checking: What information do we have, in what format and the location and method is it held? How is information associated with the tangible value of the business, products or resource? Does hierarchical structure or bureaucratic management setting stifle information flow? When the digital leaders have the right dose of information appetite, they will be able to take the courage to break down functional silos, to streamline data flow and apply an integrated information management solution to conquer business challenges. Information is one of the most invaluable assets of the business nowadays, it has no value apart from a goal, a product, or the resource people can use to make decisions. This is true of any asset. It can increase in value once it is used effectively. Information value partly depends on the perception of information quality, usage, and satisfaction. The healthy dose of information appetite helps the business have the better digital taste, “digest" information appropriately, and manage information lifecycle effectively.

The shareholders' innovation appetite: Digital is the age of information. The business’s innovation appetite directly impacts on how aggressively the organization can manage a healthy portfolio with the right mix of incremental information and breakthrough information; short-time gain or long-term innovation investment. Breakthrough Innovation is better with greater ROI but with much greater risk, thus, it takes the bigger innovation appetite. If shareholders value innovation more, then, theoretically, they would value companies that devote more resources toward future innovation more than those that optimize short-term profits. Innovation is risky because money and resource spent on R& D is not necessarily a good indicator of future innovation performance. Research identifies projects that ultimately break new ground frequently are fraught with uncertainty on many dimensions such as technical, market, resource, and organizational uncertainties abound. Thus, besides the right dose of innovation and risk appetite, it’s important to have the risk attitude, develop the business innovation capability for improving the success rate of innovation management. Lack of the culture of learning and risk tolerance should be blamed for stifling innovation. The good innovation leaders are in demand because they have the right dose of risk appetite, good attitude, rational risk management skill to unleash the full digital potential of the business.

Talent appetite: Digital means rapid change and fierce competition. In many industries, products are becoming more commoditized putting pressure on pricing, margins, and investable budget dollars. Thus, today’s organizations must build differentiated business competency through highly effective leadership that inspires with a clear vision, engaging with inclusive teams, focusing on higher order intrinsic needs and raised consciousness about the significance of outcomes and new ways in which those outcomes might be achieved. People are the center of business competency. Every true digital pro is behind the curve on specific skill sets and wants to learn new stuff. The business’s talent appetite will directly impact on how businesses can take initiatives, break down stereotypical thinking box, discover, empower and inspire talented people to achieve more and lift the business up to the next level of the business growth cycle. Organizations need to pay more attention to creating shared and admirable goals and then encourage the teams to compete and collaborate as they deem fit. As a society, we need to respect and encourage change, difference, and uniqueness. With the right dose of talent appetite, organizations can update their management practices, recognize and develop their people in a digital way. It is only when all individuals challenge themselves and then come together as a group will we see real human potential achieved.

The business environment organizations find themselves in today is especially difficult as compared to years past. With so many things going on, businesses with the right dose of digital appetite, can digest information, experiment innovation, and develop talent more aggressively. Digital transformation is a long journey, organizations have to take a step-wise approach, continue assessing, fine-tuning and adapting, to reach the next level of business maturity.

Posted in: Digital Master,Digital Maturity,Digitalization