Either fast-growing businesses or well-established organizations have to continuously adapt to the numerous changes and well chart the path to significant business transformations.

Digital makes a significant impact on every aspect of the business from people, process to technology, both horizontally and vertically. The digitalization flattens the organizational hierarchy and blurs the functional, organizational and geographical borders in the business ecosystem. 

It is like a gigantic puzzle with many misplaced pieces, you have to put them all in the right places to discover the real meaning and unleash its full potential. You cannot make a true digital paradigm shift without an in-depth understanding of the digital interconnectivity and embracing the multitude of digital maturity.

 Innovative Initiation

Innovation Initiation The digital era upon us is people and innovation. Innovation is the mechanism through which you grow and evolve to something great such as higher value-add products/services or something new or better based on a combination or modification of previous attributes or approaches. Due to the low success rate, organizations should ideally have a sustainable approach to innovation. The robust process and tools that enable any business entity to generate winning concepts on a consistent basis, is the prerequisite for sustaining business advantage and growth. Innovation leaders need to clarify the goals and scenarios of innovation by asking themselves or others’ relevant questions and take initiatives to drive innovation efforts systematically.

Initiatives Either fast-growing businesses or well-established organizations have to continuously adapt to the numerous changes and well chart the path to significant business transformations such as digitalization or globalization, should CIOs take the initiative to promote such strategic business initiatives, if so, shall they promote at the front or lead from behind? Are they more of an idea initiator or governance champion? And what’s the best scenario to take such transformational leadership?

Interaction At today’s “VUCA” digital dynamic, organizations face both unprecedented opportunities to grow and fierce competitions or great risks to survive. Digital leaders should be able to help people navigate through difficult changes, overcome their challenges; help people achieve their goals and objectives, and more importantly, inspire and motivate changes by listening & telling enchanting and engaging digital stories. The good stories are interesting enough to engage others, meaningful enough to touch the hearts, logical enough to connect the minds, vivid enough to reimagine the future and persuasive enough to roll vision into reality.

Inertia Change is inevitable, successful Change Management is an ongoing business capability. However, do not expect everyone supporting your change initiatives to the same degree, it’s even no surprise that only a small percentage of people are changing agents, so both strategically and tactically, how do you handle people who do not support change initiative?

Inclusiversity More and more forward-thinking global organizations have established a "diversity and inclusion" initiative. However, inclusiveness is a mindset and a habit, it can not be shaped overnight, either as a one-time project or a "check-in-box" compliance tool. More objectively, would you label such diversity initiatives a "delight" or just a “makeup”? And how to build a truly delightful digital workforce?

The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 3 million page views with about #7300th blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. The “Digital Master” book series includes 28 books to share insight from the multidimensional digital lens and perceive the multi-faceted impact the digital era upon us is making to businesses and society. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.

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