Too often, we see articles shared preaching the importance for organizations to adopt a digital strategy without encapsulating what that really means. To remove some of that confusion, I like comparing an organization’s digital transformation with something everyone knows – a road trip!

Let’s start with some truth – a digital strategy can be enormously beneficial to a department or organization and its ability to deliver value to customers. BUT, like a good road trip, becoming a digital organization isn’t an overnight journey – and it doesn’t always follow a set path. It requires planning, understanding, commitment, and the ability to embrace the detours along the way.

Oh the places you’ll go!

Before setting out on a trip, you need to have a destination in mind.  Similarly, executives need to agree on what ‘digital’ means for their organization. What problems are you really trying to solve?  Once you have these identified, your organization can begin to evaluate the possible ways of getting there.  

Loading up the car

Digital transformation is as much a business transformation as an IT one. Digital processes are about re-examining your business from top to bottom in order to have the right information, available at the right time, to make the right decisions. Cooperation, communication, and most importantly – organization-wide understanding is key to making sure this happens.

It’s important to start with the problem without focusing on what the solution might end up being. Challenge pre-existing assumptions and ideas about who should be doing what, when, and how. Break down your tools and processes so that you can rebuild it in a more efficient, modern way.

Digital organizations have governance and management frameworks that are very different than paper-based organizations. Keeping everyone involved ensures that you have multiple sets of eyes on the road. Making sure they know why this journey is happening means they’re looking out for the right kind of obstacles and opportunities.  

Take advantage of the bumps along the way

A digital organization embraces speed, communication, learning, and also, failure. It’s less important to have a map setting the route in stone from  start to finish than it is to be aware of what’s going on around you. Being aware of your surroundings lets you be prepared to change direction when a better path becomes available (or to avoid that head-on collision up ahead)! A digital organization uses this awareness to stay relevant and ahead of the curve. Approaches and methods like incremental development, democratized governance, Test Driven Development, and Agile are all designed to support teams in this way.

This can be a big change in thinking, especially for larger, more traditional organizations. Understanding which tools are available, and when to leverage them, can significantly improve your chances of finding success in your transformation.

Embrace being off the beaten path

So – before embarking on your digital journey, make sure you understand where it is you want your organization to go, focus on the journey, and be prepared to embrace being off the beaten path. You might not take the path you first imagined, but digital transformation is about the journey, not the destination.