Agile Transformation Everywhere! - Winning over Stakeholders

One of my favorite workshops that I do is called Agile for Stakeholders. Now there are books, frameworks, and tools to help agile product owners, scrum masters, and leads, including StarCIO Agile Planner, but there are limited resources for stakeholders.

Stakeholders are anyone that contributes to priorities, requirements, and business cases to product owners as input to the vision and product backlogs. Most agile teams and teams of teams work with multiple stakeholders, so educating them on how agile works and how to be active participants is essential. 

continue reading "Agile Transformation Everywhere! - Winning over Stakeholders"

A New Must Read for CIO and Digital Leaders

I won't say much except that The Future is Faster Than You Think is an excellent "must read" for CIO and digital leaders.

Unlike many futuristic books, the authors write specifically to a ten-year horizon, a perfect timeframe for their thesis. They state quite convincingly that the power of multiple technology convergences will drive stepwise transformations or exponential technologies - and that this will come sooner than we think.

continue reading "A New Must Read for CIO and Digital Leaders"

What is Driving Digital Transformation Change?

After I posted my last 5 Minutes with @NYIke video on the #1 Reason Why Digital Transformation fail, a small discussion ensued on LinkedIn about transformation and change management. Is digital transformation a new name for business transformation? And regardless of what we call it, how can leaders help the resulting change management easier for employees and less difficult for leaders?

I'm not one to overly debate semantics, but I believe that digital transformation and business transformation have some fundamental differences. Also, if you follow my methodologies on digital transformation, then change management evolves into what I call transformational change.

continue reading "What is Driving Digital Transformation Change?"

Driving Competitive Advantages with Master Data Management

Do you feel like your databases are more like data vaults? The data vault contains all the information on customers, prospects, products, operations, and finances, only no one knows how to unlock it and discover its secrets.

Getting inside the vault is only the start of the challenges. Inside, it contains a myriad of data silos, including databases, data lakes, file systems, and other technologies, storing multiple copies of critical data in different formats. Outside the vault, the enterprise has a broad mix of SaaS tools that also contain vast troves of essential data. Plus, there’s an ecosystem of third-party data that, if integrated and joined correctly, can help establish context and better analytical insights.

continue reading "Driving Competitive Advantages with Master Data Management"

Digital Transformation is Absolutely Important in a Volatile COVID-19 World

Should COVID-19 start, slow down, or pivot your digital transformation strategy?

The answer is yes, but it depends on how your organization defines digital transformation and where it is in its journey.

There's a running joke floating on social media, "What started your organization's digital transformation," and the answer circled is "COVID-19."

Hopefully, your organization started it's digital transformation long before COVID-19.

continue reading "Digital Transformation is Absolutely Important in a Volatile COVID-19 World "

COVID-19 in the Numbers: Transformation Leadership Needed in Banking, Travel, and Higher Ed

Every business in every industry needs to look at itself in the mirror and decide who they want to be when they emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown. That is if they come out of it.

The world's changed. Every person, business, and institution is going to be looking at their own mirrors and deciding for themselves. And what are the key questions?

What's important? What's relevant? What do I need to excel at? And most importantly, what is no longer relevant.

As I look at different industries, some alarming data sticks out. These are all places technology, digital, and data leaders must develop a voice on to help steer their organizations. Quickly.

Mind you that I know life hasn't been easy for people, employees, and companies. The numbers of people sick and dying are staggering. The hardships people are facing are extraordinarily challenging.

continue reading "COVID-19 in the Numbers: Transformation Leadership Needed in Banking, Travel, and Higher Ed"

What Digital Transformation Means Viewing Through a COVID-19 Lens

It's an interesting time to be thinking about transformation. Some will argue that we have to slow digital transformation efforts because COVID-19 business issues will have higher priority. Others will suggest that COVID-19 will drive a new wave of transformation requiring organizations to better support remote work and digital workflows. Still, others will recognize revenue loss, job loss, and other financial impacts requiring a rethinking of investment priorities.

Yes, yes, and yes. I believe organizations will need to rethink their transformation strategy and priorities. As I said in my recent white paper on reorganizing to a post-COVID-19 world, organizations need to consider a new defensive and offensive strategy.

So in this week's 5 Minutes with @NYIke, I go back to the basics on What is Transformation. Here's a hint, it means the same thing but different. Watch the video and then read more below.

continue reading "What Digital Transformation Means Viewing Through a COVID-19 Lens"