Panel members were:
Janine Gibson, Assistant Editor, Financial Times (FT) and Head of FT’s Digital Platforms and Projects
Bruno Giussani, Global Curator, TED Conferences
Pascale Kaufmann, Founder & CEO, Mindfire Foundation
Gustaf Nordbäck, CEO of Headspring (a joint venture between FT and IE Business School, Madrid) and Michael Skarpinker, FT contributing editor and columnist, executive editor of Headspring, also attended
Peter Lorange posted the questions to the panelists and lead the discussion
Karin Mugnaini, President & COO, Lorange Network was also present
Question one: What is the overall status of “digital” today? How might one define digital transformation?
It is important to reflect on the differences between digital transformation, digitization and digitalization (automation by means of computer) as well as AI (having a lot to do with innovation), and which are processes. With digital, often comes disruption. The panelists seemed to agree that “digital” is closely associated with computer-based support to individuals in general, as well as now particularly important for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic (working from home; distance learning; zoom-based conferences; remote shopping; etc.). It was also discussed that digital transformation might be seen as being closely linked to innovation, the appetite and ability for innovation. Digital transformation leads to more innovation, and vice versa.
Question two: Digital generally exploded in traffic during the months of lockdown. How did the companies who saw booms in their digital businesses manage the sudden and radical increase in users? What were some of the technological challenges? Which managerial challenges did they face? What commercial challenges?
It seems critical that digitalization generally gave organizations a better ability to listen to new “data”, and in particular, consumer behavior data coming from organizations’ customers. This then led to a sharpening of successful corporations’ strategies. This “listening” process was going on continuously, and this also led to frequent revisions of successful corporations’ strategies. Leadership from the top and a clear vision is critical. This must be practical and “redone” every day. Understanding the audience with forensic rigor (why have they come, what are their “need states”, what are new need states, how are they behaving, when, where, etc.) and following the audience over and over again, are key.
Case example: FT
Six new “need states” were identified, among which:
The typical digital reader started logging in 5-6 times per day, more frequently than before – for a relatively short review of key news and events during the morning, a more comprehensive, longer read during one’s lunch hour, and then maybe another short read during the evening.
More focus on lifestyle materials during the week, and not during the weekends only which had previously been the case.
A more enthusiastic, advocating style.
Case Example: TED
The typical physical TED meetings had now largely become illegal.
Technical readiness to be in a position to “recreate” TED-based creative thinking/mind-opening now through virtual interactions.
Shift in content but not in experience - bringing people together is still core.
Question three: What specific actions or investments does one take/make to become stronger in the digital area? How can one develop a stronger “digital mind-set” among the employees in one’s organization? And what factors might hold one back when it comes to achieving more effective digitalization?
To hire the best, most innovative and creative people seems more critical than before. Many corporations are “competing” for these people. To be able to articulate a particular purpose that talents might relate to is important – it is not a matter of money alone! Using the importance of one’s brand and its power is ever more important in the hiring process now. And being clear about the role of your company and the ability for the hire to engage, can help attract great talent.
How to build the “right” infrastructure is key. To integrate different skills is important regarding this. Redundancies should be avoided. New skills should be hired. Effective cross-disciplinary implies the linking of many out-of-the-box thinkers. Having tech, content, data sets and community that are all consistent helps.
As already noted, to lead from the top is key. Many creative persons, such as typical journalists traditionally found in FT, might have rather set opinions/closed mind-sets. For such persons it might be difficult to change from writing relatively long stories to shorter ones. An answer is to be willing to try new things – open-mindedness!
Technology can become a commodity though, so the human factor is ever more important. Bet on tech people but also on those who can link disciplines and do the skills machines can not do!
Question four: What is the link between corporate strategy and digitalization?
We have already pointed out that better data can lead to a clearer understanding of the behaviors of one’s customers, and thus to improvement or sharpening of one’s strategy. Through discipline and focus on what is relevant, one may also be able to reduce costs and to increase outputs. But it is a challenge to multitask effectively. Insights/competence levels do matter. Geographic differences as well as industry differences also matter.
It should be noted that an organization might typically not stop what it did before even though digitalization may be in full bloom. FT still prints newspapers, for instance, and is likely to continue to do so for some time still (the 200-year tradition!). But one should always ask: Why am I doing this? Strategy means choice! And, it is a reality for most organizations that they may not like to stop things. To do less is typically hard.
Remaining afloat in these challenging times is often the company’s priority, but remaining relevant and figuring out a way to do the activity with a mid- to long-term focus can be helpful. Remember that this is a process; we should not just do it once but rather keep at it so companies can increase their customers dependency on them.
Question five: To what extent might it be a problem with assets now becoming absolute, given a shift towards more digitalization? Can a multi-disciplinary approach to digital be the answer?
We may see a different approach to digitalization when being relatively small players, in contrast to world leaders. The former may be more flexible than the more traditional leading players. Often, start-ups develop effective strategies. New industries might be more easily created by bringing diverse disciplines together, without any vested interests.
So-called disruptive innovations might come about this way – new winners will emerge and older firms, traditionally in the lead, will disappear. One might speculate that there eventually might be a single winning firm remaining. On the other hand, new creative minds will always arrive on the scene – entirely new firms! Thus, we may never see a one-firm dimension!
Sticking to a mission, and connecting to things that are seemingly not connected is important.
Some general comments
A digital mind-set implies that one must be open to testing, have a learning mind-set, be better listeners, ask questions, be more agile with a deep empathy for all customers! The result is that one might be able to develop more effective strategies, given a better understanding of one’s customers.
It was also pointed out that we should always keep in mind that computers as such lack competence! They are only good at brute force computing. We humans must use our brains. Small data may be coming, replacing large data analysis. Stay relevant! Artificial Intelligence (AI) has its challenges cut out!
Please note:
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