The Digital Process Revolution is here

Every aspect of our work lives is being transformed by digital technology: analytics, cloud, social, and mobile are changing how we work and how our work is measured. The digital revolution is well under way and it shows no sign of slowing…Ever. What you need to decide is how to deal with it. As I see it, you have three choices. But before I explain those, let’s define what the Digital Revolution is.

For most, “Digital Revolution” is seen in the changes we are experiencing in everyday life. The Digital Revolution is the biggest change in our culture we have experienced since the Industrial Revolution, and it is happening at an increasingly accelerated rate. We see this happen as digital technology touches more and more of our lives. In fact, it’s fair to say that no aspect of our lives has been left untouched by digital technology. The change is really amazing when you stop and think about it. It wasn’t long ago that we put up with functional gaps in the systems we use. But, today, apps that seem to fill these gaps are just a search away and many of them are free or so low in cost that they are only a blip in the departmental budget. It comes as no surprise, then, that these apps are used by a lot of companies to deal with the Digital Revolution.

But I’m going to take this one step further and argue that it is really a Digital Process Revolution. This better describes what is happening because this change we are all experiencing impacts the way businesses must work in order to compete – or even survive.

So the transformation to digital is real and it’s happening all around you, even if you can’t see it. But what’s a business leader to do? As I said earlier, I see three choices. Choice one is finding apps to fill functional needs as they arise, which will keep your team happy in the short run. But your long-term prospects for keeping up with the competition aren’t good.

The second (bad) choice is to put your head down and hope it all blows over in a year, or two. Do this and I guarantee you, your last act of leadership will be listing the company’s equipment on K-Bid.

If you want to win the Digital Process Revolution, the only choice you have is the third: to develop a strategy that identifies the unique strengths within your business – its people and processes – and then deploy the technology that supports them. This method will allow  your people and processes to optimize their effectiveness, and move your business forward.