Parenting changes how we work, so why doesn’t Digital Transformation?

Posted: July 11, 2019

Before I was a parent, I emphatically subscribed to the logic “many hands make light work”. This vernacular is often used to mean that more people can do things faster and more easily when they work together. I soon found out this applies almost everywhere in life, except for small children. While young children are often eager to “help” their parents with tasks around the house, a new parent can fall into the trap of accepting before realizing the grave error in that decision. A task that used to take five minutes now takes three times as long, because your “helper” needs a level of patience and guidance greater than you required to get the task done yourself.

The execution of Digital Transformation initiatives can be plagued by the same uninformed logic. There are many vendors, of all sizes, that are willing to “help” you advance your digital journey. They may offer a range of technology, integration, and services. But like small children, many know the immediate task at hand but not the end-to-end vision, purpose, or end result they’re pursuing. A journey that should have taken months is now surpassing the one or two year mark. What do you do?

Change is Hard, But Necessary

In both cases, as a parent or as a digital officer, you step back and consider your options. Do you continue down a path with no visible end? Do you introduce new technology? In the instance of a parent, it could be a YouTube video that demonstrates the current task; as a digital officer, new software and/or integration that facilitates better execution. Or do you change who is doing the work? For a child, maybe a non-parent of authority; or in an organization, a different leader with higher seniority. Or do you change how the work is done? Chunking the work for a child; or breaking down organizational silos within an enterprise.

New Ways of Working

In both cases, we must change how we work. As parents, we change how we teach our children to do a task to best suit them at their current age and skill level. This likely differs from how we’ve always done the work. In corporations, we must do the same. Digital Transformation is about people, process, and technology—in that order. Yes, technology (infrastructure, cybersecurity, mobility) are the pieces you see, but real change occurs in people (organization, culture, clients) and through processes (policies, procedures, governance).

Read the LNS Industrial Transformation Research Spotlight.

Digital Transformation

While leading corporations try to seek market and shareholder differentiation in sustained growth and efficiency, this is extremely difficult to accomplish. Growth by itself isn’t enough – it must be combined with improved asset utilization. Digital Transformation is one of the core innovations being used by leading corporations to increase asset utilization through higher efficiency and integrated value chains. A key challenge is accelerating this value by finding and using methods to transform operations faster than the competition.

See how ADNOC is digitally transforming their operations.

Rules for Digital Acceleration

AVEVA’s philosophy for accelerating Digital Transformation is a holistic approach that focuses on all components of Digital Project Execution excellence by empowering all project personnel with the right enabling technologies and training to TRANSFORM WORK. This can be achieved by following three simple rules:

1. Make Digital Transformation a business priority, not an IT project.
2. Start the transformation by creating a strategic digital roadmap, visibly supported by executive leadership.
3. Think BIG but start small – proof of concept with high ROI in selected area.

Change is Needed Now

No matter where you are on your digital transformation journey, the time to act is now. Not sure where to begin the journey, or stalled along the journey? Let’s change that. Learn about AVEVA’s approach to Digital Acceleration , its optimization of the Asset and Operations lifecycles, and the use of a complete digital twin across the enterprise. Applying best practices from 23+ years of digital transformation implementation and more than 50 years of industrial software innovation, we can help you grow the digital maturity of your organization.

So whether you’re new to parenting or to digital transformation, don’t hesitate to jump in with both feet. The journey is long, but the rewards are great!