Leadership Challenges when Digital Innovation is a Marathon
4th Annual Symposium of the SEV Center of Excellence in Creative Leadership
Like running a marathon, organizations need persistence, resilience, and adaptability as they face the challenges of continuous and rapid improvement over the long term. The goal is not simply to implement a few digital tools or processes but to fundamentally transform the organization to be more agile, customer focused, and ultimately more competitive.
Digital transformation has become even more relevant in recent years due to the acceleration of technological advancements and the pandemic-driven impetus for more digitization in every social and commercial interaction. Organizations that were previously slow to embrace digital technologies have been forced to rapidly adapt, and many are struggling to keep up.
Such is the pace of change, that digital innovations transition rapidly from inspiring awe and controversy to being taken for granted. As an example, consider chatGPT and its cousins. As this goes on, we may fail to recognize their transformative potential and most organizations certainly struggle to learn how to adapt. This requires a sustained effort over time and a mindset that doesn’t settle for complacency.
Over the past ten years, there has been a lack of clarity in the definitions of digital transformation. Paradoxically we talk about it as something new, but it also feels familiar when considering the many waves of change brought about by information technologies over the decades. At least four questions seek better answers. First, what is being transformed? Is it the technology, people, organizations, or society? Second, what does the term transformation really mean? Is it one big radical change, or a sequence of incremental changes? Is it a new way of doing business or is it a new kind of business? Is it an end-state or a process of change? Third, in what ways are today’s “digital” infrastructures and services different than earlier generations of computing and telecommunications (technically also digital) to warrant a novel label? Fourth, what is the role of digital in the transformation? Is it an enabler or a driver, a means, or an end in itself?
One may dismiss this word play by answering summarily “all of the above”. However, in practice, leaders are called to set goals and priorities, make compromises, explain why the organization is transforming, and motivate people to take ownership of the many changes involved. The choice of words matters then.
With these thoughts in mind, we invite you to revisit selected cases to get an appreciation of how certain leaders confront the challenges of technological, market, and organizational transformation when the magnitude and speed of change are breathtaking.
The program features distinguished speakers from industry and academia, organized in four panel discussions on Agile Management, Logistics, Retail, and Financial Services.