Digital Transformation Manifesto

Background

For the last few years, the term Digital Transformation has become “cool”. Organizations believe they need to have a Digital Transformation or they will be viewed as out-of-date and lose the competitive edge. We have heard Digital Transformation described as something as complex as totally changing the business strategy and focus of an organization to something as routine as updating digital systems.

So, what is Digital Transformation? Is it just the last definition that your heard? Is it a high level amorphic term that doesn’t have any real meaning? How do you know that you are really involved in Digital Transformation? And even more so, how about organizations that claim they are done with their Digital Transformation, what have they really measurably changed?

Purpose

To create a commonly accepted understanding of the meaning of Digital Transformation.

Our Plan

In an effort to eliminate some of the confusion surrounding Digital Transformation, the Fellows of the Institute for Digital Transformation have created the Digital Transformation Manifesto. This document is the first step in a larger effort to involve industry experts in creating a commonly recognized set of tenets that defines Digital Transformation. These tenets are not a “how-to” of Digital Transformation, rather they are a collective of beliefs and guiding principles for an environment that can drive and sustain a transformative organization, supported by technology. In the same manner as the ITIL and Agile Manifestos helped shape industry understanding, we are hoping that the DT Manifesto will do the same.

An Invitation and Further Involvement

You are invited to sign the Digital Transformation Manifesto. Please review the document below. If you agree with the initial tenets, understanding this is the starting point, not final state, please sign the manifesto. Your signature along with other industry leaders, will be displayed on the published document. In addition, if you would like to part of the work-group refining and revising of this material by adding your perspective and expertise, please indicate so at the end of the signature form.

Digital Transformation Manifesto

We are creating a commonly accepted understanding of Digital Transformation that Enterprises can apply to objectively establish and assess their transformational efforts.

Digital Transformation enables organizations to drive outcomes that align with the organization’s purpose, yet we have seen that Digital Transformation can mean many things to many people.  Calling a program or project “a digital transformation” does not necessarily make it so.  Iterative improvements in efficiencies whether through digital systems or revised models or processes is not transformative.  Digital transformation should lead to metamorphic change among an organization’s products, services, systems, operations, and culture. The breadth and depth of that transformation is amplified by the innovative capabilities of digital technologies, but it is not digital capabilities alone that drive the transformative result.

As fundamental as the digital technology is to an organization’s ecosystem, an organization should strive to adopt the following transformation tenets, in order to realize sustained success in driving digital transformation:

• We proactively embrace change
• We have the agility to pivot quickly
• We create purpose-based value
• The customer and stakeholder experience are at our core
• Our decisions are driven by data
• We are reimagining business strategies and practices
• Our culture is one that empowers individual leadership
• Ethics are integral to our organization

If your efforts do not result in your organization fully embracing these tenets, your digital transformation is highly likely to fail.

Digital Transformation
Manifesto Authors

Jessica Carroll	Hans Gillior
Ray Sheen	John Thorp

Appendix A
Why These Tenets Matter

We wanted to create a commonly accepted understanding of Digital Transformation that Enterprises can apply to objectively establish and assess their transformational efforts.

Digital Transformation can mean many things to many people but calling a program or project “a digital transformation” does not make it so. This manifesto defines digital transformation as the continuous holistic journey of organizational and technological adjustment in order to drive outcomes that align with an organization’s business purpose.

To successfully remain on the path of digital transformation, an organization should strive to have these core tenets as part of their organizational fiber.

• We proactively embrace change

An intentional mindset embracing change is fundamental to organizational survival. As natural as it may seem to hold onto the familiar, instantiating an organizational ability that supports curiosity and exploration is foundational to create desired outcomes. Creating a culture that actively welcomes and seeks change is required.  In the relatively short history of the fourth revolution there are multiple use cases where organizations were incapable of adapting and too reticent to take the risks needed to transform, ultimately failing.

• We have the agility to pivot quickly

Speed is a competitive advantage.  With rapidly changing technology and social trends, market threats and opportunities can materialize overnight and the organization that can respond most quickly creates advantage.

• We create purpose-based value

In the Digital Era (or the 4^th Industrial Revolution), power shifted to the stakeholder. The consumer experience took center stage and drove great change in how we consume information, interact with each other, and address our everyday lives.  As this era continues to evolve, there is now a greater focus on environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) concerns. A north star of organizational purpose that puts the stakeholder, the environment, and society at the center will need to be woven into your culture.

• The customer and stakeholder experience are at our core

In the Digital Era, virtually all products and services are quickly commoditized.  However, delivering experiences that create customer trust and a strong connection between the customer and the business (or stakeholder and organization) are among the few remaining competitive advantages.  Digitally transforming customer interactions into a personal interaction “of one” can enable a personalized delightful experience for the customer and foster the desired level of loyalty to the business.

• Our decisions are driven by data

With technology and society changing so quickly, years of experience can become obsolete overnight.  To compensate for this, digitally transformed organizations capture real-time data from both customers and their processes and rely on that data when making decisions.

• We are reimagining business strategies and practices

Digital transformation demands that you re-envision your business practices for the simple reason that your current practices are insufficient to meet today’s demands.  As products and processes are digitized, new markets and capabilities become possible.  These new practices can transform an industry or create new ecosystems based upon new customers, products, services, and partnerships.

• Our culture is one that empowers individual leadership

A transformation culture requires leadership at all levels of the organization. Traditional hierarchical structures are gradually being replaced with flatter constructs with decision making being pushed downward. To be a nimble organization and quickly pivot to respond to market pressures, all employees must be empowered to make appropriate decisions.

• Ethics are integral to our organization

Achieving sustained growth and performance in the digital era demands confidence that an organization’s actions and motives are rooted in an ethical foundation. Customers now demand no less. Organizations must create the confidence with both internal and external stakeholders that the actions taken are in the best interest of the customers, the organization, and society.