The Technology Fallacy: How People are the Real Key to Digital Transformation, especially during COVID-19

  Leadership   Organizational Culture   Strategy   Teams  

Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This presentation offers managers and business leaders a guide for navigating digital disruptions—but it is not a presentation about technology. It is about the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology, many of which have become essential as companies seek to adapt to the global disruption caused by COVID-19.

Prof. Kane argues that digital disruption is primarily about people and that effective digital transformation involves changes to organizational dynamics and how work gets done. A focus only on selecting and implementing the right digital technologies is not likely to lead to success. The best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile, risk tolerant, and experimental.

Prof. Kane draws on five years of research, surveying more than 20,000 people and conducting interviews with over 100 leaders at such companies as Walmart, Google, MetLife, John Hancock, and Salesforce. He introduces the concept of digital maturity—the ability to take advantage of opportunities offered by the new technology—and address the specifics of digital transformation, including cultivating a digital environment, enabling intentional collaboration, and fostering an experimental mindset.

Every organization needs to understand its “digital DNA” in order to stop “doing digital” and start “being digital.” Digital disruption won’t end anytime soon; the average worker will probably experience numerous waves of disruption during the course of a career. The insights offered by this presentation will hold true through them all.

Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This presentation offers managers and business leaders a guide for navigating digital disruptions—but it is not a presentation about technology. It is about the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology, many of which have become essential as companies seek to adapt to the global disruption caused by COVID-19.