Leading Digital Quotes

“Digital Masters spend time understanding customer behavior and designing the customer experience from the outside in. A Digital Master figures out what customers do and why, where, and how they do it. The company then works out where and how the experience can be digitally enhanced across channels.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“Our research shows that successful digital transformation starts at the top of the company. Only the senior-most executives can create a compelling vision of the future and communicate it throughout the organization. Then people in middle and lower levels can make the vision a reality. Managers can redesign processes, workers can start to work differently, and everyone can identify new ways to meet the vision. This kind of change doesn’t happen through simple mandate. It must be led.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“An energized workforce, believing strongly in a shared vision, may still proceed in many directions. Governance provides the guardrails and steering wheel to keep the transformation on the right track.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“Building a wide variety of incompatible processes and systems may seem like progress, but it limits bigger opportunities. This incompatibility impedes a coordinated approach to customer engagement and a unified view of operations.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“Digital transformation requires changes to processes and thinking—changes that span your internal organizational silos. The clear delineation between technical skills and leadership skills is blurring fast.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“technology leadership is not just about IT leaders, although they are part it. It’s not just about technical skills, although they’re essential. It’s about merging the skills and perspectives of business and IT leaders so that they drive transformation together.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“Whatever approach you choose, you need to create appropriate levels of digital technology synergy, brand integration, investment coordination, skill development, vendor management, and innovation over the long term.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“a company’s strategic vision is only as good as the people behind it.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“digital transformation cannot happen without astute digital investments—the what of digital”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“we saw no examples of successful transformation happening bottom-up. Instead, executives in every Digital Master steered the transformation through strong top-down leadership: setting direction, building momentum, and ensuring that the company follows through.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“social media, mobility, and analytics are not goals to attain or signals to send their customers and investors. These technologies are tools to get closer to customers, empower their employees, and transform their internal business processes.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“Meanwhile, an incremental vision will only turn you into a faster-moving caterpillar.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“These bridging roles may soon become the responsibility of every manager. “I believe,” said Markus Nordlin, CIO of Zurich Insurance, “that the successful leaders of tomorrow, in any business or industry, are going to be true hybrid professionals who have spent some time in IT but have shifted to operations and vice-versa.”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. —MICHELANGELO”
― George Westerman, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation