The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation (Management on the Cutting Edge)

by Gerald C. Kane

organizational changes required to harness the power of technology.

the organizational challenges of digital disruption are on par with the technological ones,

How leaders at each level adapt may differ, but adaptation at all levels is critical.

Executives cannot simply impose change on organizations, yet grassroots change is unlikely to be sustainable without strong executive support.

digitally maturing companies are organized differently. We find that they are far more likely to rely on cross-functional teams and push decision making to lower levels of the organization.

“Why do so much education and training, management consulting, and business research and so many books and articles produce so little change in what managers and organizations actually do?” They assert that the first step in resolving the gap is focusing on “why before how.” They argue that “too many managers want to learn ‘how’ in terms of detailed practices and behaviors and techniques, rather than ‘why’ in terms of philosophy and general guidance for action.”1

Executives need early warning systems, particularly since many may overestimate their ability to respond in time, thinking they can just run out and invest heavily in technology when the threats manifest.

The biggest threat that respondents reported falls under internal organizational issues, such as complacency, inflexible culture, and lack of agility. In other words, the biggest threat of digital disruption is in the organization itself—that the company would be either unable or unwilling to change fast enough to respond to the threats posed by digital disruption.

The biggest difference respondents said is the pace of doing business. Put simply, digital business requires companies to act and respond faster than they ever have before. The challenge is that many of the organization’s communication and decision-making structures can’t move as quickly as the organization needs them to.

“If you’re truly going to accelerate performance improvement, you have to stop focusing on efficiency. If it’s just efficiency, that’s a diminishing-returns game. The more cost effective and faster you are, the harder it’s going to be to get to that next level of efficiency. But if you focus on effectiveness, on impact, on value delivered to whatever the arena is—the sky’s the limit. That’s a mindset shift, getting out of that efficiency mindset.”

They focus on productivity and efficiency, rather than learning, growth, and innovation. The key for older, legacy organizations is to identify and work around the organizational inhibitors that keep them from learning and to foster a culture of learning and a growth mindset in the organization—

We define digital maturity as aligning an organization’s people, culture, structure, and tasks to compete effectively by taking advantage of opportunities enabled by technological infrastructure, both inside and outside the organization.

the way you work,” says Canney. “It’s about

process of current change and adaptation as “maturing,” rather than “maturity”

clear and coherent digital strategy is the single most important determinant of a company’s digital maturity.

goal. Do differently. In this step, the organization plans a six- to

An affordance perspective suggests that the value of technology is found in the new capabilities it enables for your business, not simply in owning it.

Hidden affordances refers to strategic moves enabled by technology that aren’t apparent when you first adopt it.

Progressive affordances suggest that certain capabilities must be mastered before subsequent capabilities can be tackled.

entitled “Jefferson and Lincoln: Different

The most important skills

for succeeding in a digital environment are strategic thinking, change orientation, and growth mindset.

being innovative is also about a willingness to act on those ideas.

Which Digital DNA Traits Are Needed Most by the Organization?