Digital Darwinism - the usual "suspects" are of little help

Karl Heinz Land is a pioneer of digitalization.I meet Karl Heinz Land between two presentations in Zurich. His speaker agenda is packed, which is not surprising - after all, Land was one of the first in German-speaking Europe to recognize the megatrend of digitalization early on and interpret it correctly. We are sitting on a park bench in the Lindenhof in the old town. For once, my counterpart is clearly enjoying not speaking in front of a large audience in a lecture hall."All business is digital business"The first thing I ask Mr Land is how strategic he considers the topic of digitalization to be and why? "We are dealing with an extremely strategic, if not the most strategic topic of all - all business is digital business," is the Cologne native's succinct but concise assessment. Land is also convinced that everything that can be digitized will be digitized. He is referring to all areas of the value chain, such as marketing, sales, product range and logistics. He also believes that everything that can be automated will be automated. The combination of digitalization and automation is an opportunity for new business models - and at the same time a threat to established business models. He sees the self-driving car as a logical consequence of digitalization and automation. Here Land includes a quote from Jack Welch, long-time CEO and Chairman of General Electric:"If the change outside your business is quicker than inside - the death is near."Digitalization enables quantum leaps and clears the mind for completely new approaches and technical progress is only limited by our imagination.Managers are challengedNow I want to know from Land how well the digital message has been received by boards of directors and management teams. "This is a big problem because the potential has not been understood. Delegating the issue to the CIO in no way solves the problem. Executives need to understand the changing market mechanisms - from owning (Hilton Hotels) to operating (airbnb). "And what are the biggest risks of the perception gap between companies and consumers? "Once the need for digitalization has been recognized by the management, it collides with the "clay layer" in front of the next levels of the organization. If this persuasion work is not successful in a timely manner, I see this as a major risk." Land sees a further risk in underestimating the pace of digital change - the time factor is a key factor in the initiative. He also sees the involvement of traditional, large consultants ("the usual suspects") as a further risk because they use traditional, time-consuming methods. However, agile methods in the sense of SCRUM and Pareto thinking (80/20) are in demand.Close market observation requiredAnd now I come to the key question: how does a company define the "right" pace for digital transformation? "Generally speaking, I don't have to be faster than the bear chasing me - but certainly faster than the one fleeing next to me! One prerequisite for assessing the pace is precise market observation, and in the digital age this is of course not limited to your own industry. Compliance requirements are partly responsible for the slow approach. In such situations, I recommend "excubate and then incubate" - i.e. outsourcing innovation units for a short time and with a lot of freedom, and then reintegrating them when the solution is functional.""Observe a sense of helplessness"And what are the biggest challenges for companies when it comes to digital transformation? "I often find that companies are at a loss as to where to start. A digital checkout or readiness check can be very helpful here to make the need for action explicit. And even in this phase, the analysis phase must be short and certain improvements can already be implemented in an agile manner at this stage. And as already mentioned, external partners must be brought in here who have this "agile DNA" in their understanding of consulting. I see a further challenge in the appropriate clustering of the need for action. I recommend three groups here: Customer Journey, Product and Service Innovation, Efficiency Improvements. And yes, a third challenge is primarily a mental one. By digitizing our business, we are creating more transparency for customers and giving them more power. But there is no way around it. "And what else does the digital Darwinist want to add at the end of the interview that is important to him? "What is often overlooked is that digitalization is not about technology, but first and foremost about people and culture. Without this, a transformation project is already doomed to failure."______________________________Excerpt from the latest book by Karl-Heinz Land: Dematerialization - The redistribution of the world in times of digital Darwinism.Core theses on dematerialization (excerpt):- Digitalization and dematerialization: Everything that can be digitalized will also be digitalized; physical products will be replaced by digital solutions. - Every company is affected by digital change - because "every business is a digital business".- Digital Darwinism always sets in when technologies and society change faster than the ability of companies to adapt to these changes.- In the sharing economy, consumers are becoming producers and thus prosumers: intelligently networked platforms are enabling more and more consumers to actively participate in value creation.- Only creative and social fields of activity that require empathic, that require human interaction will be less affected by job losses.______________________________As part of the digital series in Marketing&Communication by Christoph Oggenfuss (markITing ag), the first two seasons were entitled "Digital - not trivial" and "Digital - from Talk to Walk". The third season, "Digital - walk before you run", is all about the right pace of transformation.