Thinking digital transformation analog. On the napkin!

Cheese boxes is a simple game with a simple aim: whoever ticks the most boxes at the end of the game wins. Whoever closes a box, i.e. draws the fourth edge of the box, can mark it with an X and draw another line. This is how we feel our way forward step by step. Layer by layer. Box by box. With the finish line firmly in sight and all muscles tensed, we draw our first lines in the cheese box of digital transformation.

Box 1: From profit to meaning - The normative orientation framework

In your organization, the normative orientation framework defines the mission statement with its values, standards and principles. It defines the mission and shapes beliefs and the image of people. The normative orientation framework should always provide an answer to the existential question of what your company wants to stand for with customers and employees in digital markets.

Box 2: From either/or to both/and - the mindset

In complex and multidimensional situations, the ability to detect and endure ambiguity that creates uncertainty while still demonstrating decisiveness is increasingly in demand. People who think and act with confidence consider different perspectives, look at everything from a broader perspective, reflect and ultimately come up with a pragmatic solution that goes beyond the either/or paradigm.

3rd box: From knowledge to learning - the knowledge culture

It describes the handling of (non-)knowledge and the transfer of know-how within your company. Digital leaders have the ability to share and link their knowledge with others. They are aware that in digitally transformed times, they run the risk of overlooking complex interrelationships and jeopardizing the decision-making ability of their organization if they entrench themselves in the ivory tower of their silo and instrumentalize hoarded knowledge as a source of power. Step by step, we are also enclosing this important diamond.

Box 4: From marathon to sprint - the working method

The way you work determines the rhythm and mode of collaboration in your organization. In a digital VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), planning horizons are significantly shortened. Agility is the keyword here! It makes your organization more adaptable and agile. "Just do it" instead of planning for a long time is the new credo. Strategies, results and procedures are continuously adapted to the dynamic environment without losing sight of the big picture. Employees work independently in small, self-organizing teams. Working in an agile manner, they master the high level of uncertainty in the digital markets with confidence. Bravo! Definitely one of the most challenging moves. But you've done it.

5th box: From superhero to gummy bear gang - The organizational structure

Disney's Gummi Bear Gang is based on an American cartoon series and is also a great symbol of modern team and organizational structures. A magic potion enables the gang members to bounce agilely like a rubber ball. The gummy bear gang symbolizes a highly interdisciplinary team with a strong spirit - one for all, all for one! The motley crew can easily do without hierarchical structures and prefers to make decisions collectively. They are ideal role models for digital leaders. Why? Technology and markets are developing far too dynamically to continue relying on rigid, hierarchical organizational models for success. The digital transformation will inevitably change traditional value creation structures and the way we work together in the future. Line drawn. Box closed. New structure created beyond organizational cheese boxes.

Box 6: From feed-back to feed-forward - performance management

Traditional performance management often relies on false incentives and blinds people to the essentials. The annual target agreement cycle proves to be far too rigid in view of the highly dynamic market: targets that were defined at the beginning of the year often become obsolete, impossible to achieve or even insignificant over the course of the year. For the sake of the bonus, however, the organization blindly chases yesterday's goal, even though other priorities (should) have long prevailed. Others avoid the "business theater" by setting low goals from the outset. Looking back at the end of the year usually feels like a therapy session to come to terms with the past, which rarely generates momentum for change. But this is exactly what is urgently needed in order to parry the digital tidal waves with ease. Feedback should therefore become a feed-forward: Regular and immediate, future-oriented and motivating for action.

7th box: From flying blind to precision landing - the digitalization strategy

A digitalization strategy requires a clearly defined goal. Where do you want to get to? Your digital target image is therefore your stellar fixed point. It takes into account the future needs of your digital customers, technological developments and your digital competitive environment. It builds on the foundation of your own digital strengths and skills. Now we are only a few moves away from our goal.

8th box: From technical feature to real customer benefit - customer orientation

Customer experience plays an important role in the digital transformation of companies. Customers who come into contact with you or your offers and products have an experience. From the totality of these experiences, a judgment is formed, sympathies grow and, in positive cases, trusting relationships develop. At all points of contact - so-called touchpoints - the positive customer experience should have top priority. It is not the technical features of a market service that make the difference, but the many beneficial experiences and emotional kicks that your customers go through. We don't fool our customers with an X for a U. But we have also outlined this square. Not overnight, but in good time.

9th box: From product to digital business model - Digital Business

Digital disruptors usually completely rethink business models. Because they have understood one thing very well: Today, it is more important than ever to have the better business model than simply the better product. Focus on building digital, service-oriented business models. Ultimately, it is about answering the question of how you will make business and money in a digital tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Research the relevant customer needs and, based on this, develop business ideas that you can test under real market conditions. In this way, you will quickly find out which innovative business models will make you successful in the future. With chutzpah and strategic skill, we have also conquered this little box. All in good time.

I would like to expressly encourage you not to leave it at theory, but to get started quickly with the napkin sketch. You have earned success and your efforts will pay off for you. Let's go! With small strokes step by step on the napkin to great success in the digital world!

Great ideas have often been born on small napkins in the past. Jeff Bezos scribbled his first idea for the legendary Amazon business model on a tissue. In politics, Arthur B. Laffer made political history with a simple white cloth napkin. In 1974, the young economist astounded the two up-and-coming politicians Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld with a napkin sketch of his theory on the relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. To this day, conservative economic politicians pull Laffer's theory out of their pockets to justify tax cuts. Sure! What fits on a napkin also fits easily into the brain. Curiously, however, Laffer himself can't really remember that he ever drew his U-curve on a napkin. We don't know whether or not the appealing napkin story is really true.

What is interesting about the anecdote is that the story of the painted cloth napkin alone seems to be enough to bring a complex theory to humanity. And therein lies the insignia: theory and strategy papers are cumbersome and highly sterile, whereas visual stories are light-footed and infectious. They spread like a virus in the body - even if it is completely open whether the punch line of the story is actually true. Crazy, isn't it?

In any case, the napkin sketch is an intelligent tool for getting to the heart of complex topics. An extract of big ideas. Simple, visual and so condensed that it can be explained in a way that anyone can understand over a cappuccino, lunch or a drink at the bar. True to the motto of former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower: "What cannot be summarized on a single page of a manuscript is neither well thought out nor ready for decision."

The digital transformation master plan on a napkin. Sounds good! Almost as good as Mr. Merz's tax return on a beer mat. But isn't it a contradiction in terms to think of something digital in analog terms?

Analog thinking in digital times? Yes.

Digital means a razor-sharp, almost brutal dichotomy. Zero or one. There is nothing in between. Either-or, black or white - that is reliably one-dimensional. Analog thinking, on the other hand, knows a multitude of possible solutions and options. Diversity is exciting. Diversity generates points of friction. Friction creates sparks and fire. We see this in people with different backgrounds who work together in high-performance teams. Charismatic, diverse and edgy, they contribute to a mutual intellectual and creative cross-fertilization. The foundation of the bridge to the digital future lies - you guessed it! - lies in analog thinking.

Admittedly, this is a special form of mental effort that many people don't want to take on - and some probably can't either. But the effort pays off. After all, digital "either-or" thinking is a clear violation of the reality of colorful, creative diversity. And even more: it misses its actual purpose of providing orientation in a complex, digital world. I would therefore like to explicitly encourage you to think digital transformation in analog terms. Down to earth with a pen and napkin!

So sorry! "If you digitize a shitty process, then you have a shitty digital process."

Did he really say that? Yes! Thorsten Dirks, the former CEO of Telefónica Deutschland (and now a member of the Lufthansa Executive Board), used this provocative remark to shine a spotlight on the nonsensical nature of unreflected digitalization projects. At the Süddeutsche Zeitung business summit, he left the audience in a state of thoughtful shock for a brief moment with this incredibly honest formula. He was right!

Digitization is not an end in itself. That's it! Let's remember the old computer scientist wisdom "garbage in, garbage out", or GIGO for short. This is especially true in times of digital transformation. If bumpy, inefficient or even xxx processes are digitized one-to-one, you will only end up with bumpy, inefficient or xxx "digital" processes. There is no doubt about that. If you try to digitally transform an antiquated thinking and organizational model one-to-one, you end up with...you know! So let's grab a napkin and start rethinking digital analog.

With cheese boxes for digital transformation. Leckomio!

You probably remember the classic of all strategy games: Cheese boxes. What do we need for this? That's right! Nothing more than a paper napkin and a pen.

The aim of this game is to conquer as many boxes with an X as possible. However, before the game can begin, a framework must be defined in which the game can take place. It's very reminiscent of digital transformation! Define the framework, play, experiment, learn, develop and win in the end. This is how cultural and structural change succeeds - and that's what digital change is all about!

Our digital transformation cheese box consists of nine larger rectangular fields. We refer to them as transformation fields. Three transformation levels form the framework: Attitude and culture, structures and processes, and products and business models. Let's grab a pen and draw our rectangular cheese boxes on the napkin. You don't have to be Picasso to do this. Beauty is not important. It has to be pragmatic. Three squares to the right and left along the golden center and three more isosceles squares in a line below. You think nine cheese squares are not rocket science? You're probably right! Nor should it be. Presenting complex issues in a complex way is not an art.

Complexity is not overcome with complexity

This has always been understood in fine dining: Only tasty makes you happy! This also applies to bulky, brittle topics such as digital transformation. But how does delicious work? Ask your maître de cuisine for a good stock or gravy. The secret lies in reduction. Reduction is the term used in the kitchen to describe the strong boiling down of liquids.
The aim is to reduce the water content and thus significantly intensify the taste. If we want to win people over to the digital transformation and the step into an unpredictable future, we need a highly focused target image. If it is to be effective, it must be simple and intuitive. Simple yet sophisticated, complex yet easy to understand. Well structured and concise in its brief presentation. It must bring everyone involved to the table. Just like a well-reduced roast fund.