Leading digital transformation

Most organisations of any size have started to experiment with digital transformation (DX), often as a series of trial projects in data analysis, automation or AI. However, a sophisticated DX strategy involves a programme of planned experiments rather than a series of uncoordinated projects.

 

A coordinated approach to DX, with its elements of synergy and cross-fertilisation, will deliver far greater value than a series of trials that take place in functional silos.

 

That’s why employing a digital chief is so important. This is someone with oversight across all elements of a digital transformation programme. They are there to ensure a realistic and pragmatic approach to DX, avoiding too much ambition, and promoting agility. They are a resource for anyone trialling new technology, helping to build a case for the technology that will be trialled. But they should not, except in a few circumstances, have control over the way experimental digital technology is trialled, as this should be left to the team that believes they will benefit from it.

 

What does a head of digital do?

 

So what role should a head of digital or chief digital officer play? They are, as mentioned earlier, a resource for the whole organisation and they will be involved, in a hands-off manner, in new uses of digital technology throughout its lifecycle – before it is trialled, while it is being deployed and after it has been implemented.

 

As someone with responsibilities (even, perhaps, ultimate accountability) across the programme as a whole, they will largely be responsible for building the organisation’s DX strategy, ensuring there is a strong focus on organisational goals including employee and customer satisfaction, rather than simply on the excitement of using new technology.

 

Part of this involves having a strong impact on organisational culture. They should build a willingness to try new things and accept that “the way we do things here” isn’t always the best way. And they should act as an evangelist for the opportunities that digital technology brings, especially with sceptical middle managers, acting as a change agent and driving forward a belief in the critical value of innovation. As part of this, they should also engage with any tendencies towards a “blame culture” instead promoting the attitude that any new learning, even if it involves failure, is valuable.

 

Another major part of their role is sharing knowledge and experience. By acting as a knowledge centre where anyone can come for advice, they can help to build best practice across the organisation as well as sharing insights about emerging tools and technologies that could be opportunities in the future.

 

Identifying opportunities

 

The head of digital should be able to identify opportunities for new uses of digital technology, perhaps tools that are not yet being used in their industry, but which are showing promise elsewhere.

 

They also have a role encouraging managers to identify inefficient processes that could be improved through better technology. They will help those managers to formulate the business case. This can be about improving efficiency such as reducing costs, increasing speed or boosting the quality of outputs. But it can just as much be about helping organisations to generate new insights into products and markets that could be used to increase profitability.

 

In some (lucky) organisations there will be many such opportunities. The head of digital’s role here is to help individual teams to identify priorities as well as mediate if two projects run by two different teams have the potential to clash.

 

Facilitating digital investments

 

When new technology is being trialled, at least some knowledge of the value it might bring is needed. While it is very possible that the team trialling it does have some knowledge – perhaps that is why they have proposed its use – the digital chief should be prepared to offer any advice they can. However, their real role here is in facilitating, rather than controlling, implementation. This can involve a variety of things.

 

Firstly, they should be able to advise on the resources that will be needed – or at least to act as a sounding board for any proposed investments, including in new people and skills development. They should also be able to help functional managers who are bidding for resources to build their business case for further investment. (It’s one thing to get permission to license a new tool, but quite another to get the resources needed to run it effectively!)

 

An important option may be to form a partnership with third-party organisations that have specialist skills or tools which could improve the prospects for success. The digital chief should be well placed to identify the best partners, ensure appropriate collaboration (for example avoiding vendor lock-in), and build an ecosystem of suppliers with the potential to benefit the whole organisation.

 

In addition, as someone with a cross-functional role, the digital chief will also be well placed to avoid any unnecessary duplication of effort or investment, meaning business cases should be easier to make.

 

Governance of new technology

 

When new technology is put into live operation, ensuring proper governance will be essential. The digital chief should be capable of advising on roles and responsibilities and ensuring proper controls to manage any risks are in place. Because new technology is being implemented there may be new risks the organisation is unfamiliar with. The digital chief needs to identify these and agree appropriate mitigations.

 

There is also a need to ensure that any use of new technology is in line with the ethical standards, and indeed the compliance requirements, of the organisation. For example, if an AI tool is being trialled, it will be important that any outputs are fair, that the use of the technology is transparent to any stakeholders who might be affected by it, and that a named person, or group of people, are accountable for any harms if they occur.

 

The governance of digital technology is not a simple matter. There are policies and procedures to consider, standards and best practice to adopt, risks to be identified and managed, and the reporting of success (or failure) to be arranged. The team adopting the new technology may be inexperienced at doing this, or simply distracted by the new technology: the head of digital must therefore take on the burden of good governance.

 

Managing success

 

Identifying success or failure is critical for any investment. But so is learning from the results of any trial. Successes should be shared across the organisations so that other functions can trial the technology. Failures should also be shared as they can deliver a great deal of learning. It is important, though, to avoid attaching blame. Unless, of course, the failure was due to negligence, especially if there is the possibility that the team that failed were given responsibility without power (for example, insufficient resources).

 

The head of digital does have an executive function with failing projects. It is up to them to end “zombie” projects that are clearly going nowhere but where the team responsible are too engaged to press the stop button. They should enable a culture of “failing fast”, where blame, as well as waste, is avoided and the teams involved are supported and encouraged to experiment elsewhere after a failure.

 

The head of digital will also probably have an important communication function – with the media, regulators, investors and the board. This is because they are able to place one experiment with digital technology in the context of the wider programme, meaning that one individual project, whether successful or not, does not have undue influence on the organisation.

 

This is a big job, one that is key to an organisation’s success during a time of rapid technological change. And it takes a special type of person, with considerable interdisciplinary and management knowledge, but who is willing to listen and take a back seat rather than interfering with the people who know best what their team needs.