Does digital transformation require a human revolution?

True digital transformation requires a human revolution, which starts from the inside out of your company, takes into account business impact and multidisciplinary cooperation, brings concrete and lasting results and makes the organization adaptive.

With the increasingly rapid advancement of technology and the increasing mass migration to digital, and the increasing competitiveness of increasingly ambiguous markets, many have begun to want to dictate what is right and wrong about digital transformation. The definitions go through various filters, algorithms, ideals and among those who want to surf buzzword and reach the reader with different concepts and in different ways, distorting reality and creating: the myths about digital transformation.

The superficial discourse of what is the transformation, makes the real process is seen as something that can happen overnight, but who works in companies in transformation, or that need to be transformed, knows that things are more complex and the results are more difficult to achieve.

But, after all, what is digital transformation at its core? How to achieve it? Which companies were really successful in this regard?

In this article you will be able to better understand the practice of digital transformation and be able to differentiate when it is applied correctly from the results collected. Check it out!

Organizational culture digital transformation

We have previously said here that Digital Transformation goes far beyond marketing.

A key point to understand how myths about digital transformations arise is from the definition of these two basic terms: change vs transformation.

Change and transformation may seem the same, but when we stop to think it is easy to realize that one is deeper and moves with diversity and deeper while the other is more superficial, making more basic changes to improve a point need.

Digital change and transformation: basic concepts to differentiate

When the company migrates only from physical to digital? Change. Invest in digital marketing? Change! Started Agile in the company? Change. Some goals can be achieved more easily. Adopting unconventional methods is significant, but it does not transform your company, and with the adequacy of new processes and technology, you make your organization prepared and current, but it takes much more than that. Change is much more related to the digitalization of processes and services, or the implementation of methodologies that improve processes and makes the company faster for decision making. But changing in this context is simply about making something better.

Often the necessary, in fact, is a change, it is the beginning of the Transformation. Hire specific professionals, develop a data-driven strategy and understand and think of new solutions: this fits the idea of change. And only after performing the necessary changes will you be able to become a transformer.

It is easy to realize, therefore, that when we talk about adopting new tools or even technological measures alone, for example, it has to do with the concept of change, but it is not something in the same proportion of impact that the transformation is able to generate. After all, when inserting a new management model the members of the company will be able to realize that the procedures become more agile, in fact, but it is something punctual, not transformative.

So, after all, what is transformation? How is it possible to make your company manage to institute an important one? We explain below, check it out!

What is transformation and why it can help your business

The transformation, as we said earlier, is very profound. We can see it as a large pile of small changes that, united and made in sequence, based on a specific business strategy and supported by a strong culture, with the right direction, provide the transformation of people, processes and market.

In addition, the transformation also has a lot to do with the importance of taking your company out of the comfort zone to reach new heights and set goals within new markets.

With increasing competitiveness, it is essential to use the precepts of transformation to innovate, grow and stay in the mind of the public to be seen as different and essential. For this, therefore, it is necessary to start from the base and structure models and processes that make your company more than resilient, adaptive.

How to transform your business effectively

It is common that during the trajectory of your company are defined some key points within a certain strategy. Which is really important because it serves to give a north at this first moment, but it is essential to know that you need to be prepared to move forward and experience new possibilities. But this cannot be done in any way.

When we talk about business transformation that’s exactly what we mean: the need to explore new niches, new markets, with new offers, and not only reach new customers and project the brand image, but generate a significant impact on everyone’s lives.

Because there are so many factors linked at the same time, the process ceases to be a change and becomes, in fact, a transformation. However, for it to be done effectively, it is necessary to follow the process in a linear way until the greater goal of the transformation itself is achieved.

The starting point should be the theoretical part or the acquisition of knowledge, that is, the definition of a multi-disciplinary strategy and the hiring or development of people considering the context of the company. With this in mind, everyone will be properly prepared to follow for the execution model. Without a full understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your business assets can be detrimental to the transformation process.

Now that we understand what transformation is, its importance for companies and how it should be done, we can get into the part that many have difficulty understanding: digital transformation, a concept that ends up losing its propriety due to so many myths that arise in the world. market and end up emptying it. Do you want to understand what digital transformation really is? Just keep reading!

Digital transformation: what it is, importance and how to do it

The physical existence of your business, such as sales, customer service and service provision, for example, must be linked synchronously with the digital sphere and this can be done in different ways, but it is necessary to understand the essence and the different sectors of your company and how they talk to each other before starting the change process. According to data collected by researchers at the IMD Business School in Switzerland, 95% of companies that seek digital transformation success fail and this is due to the myth that the process just means adopting new technologies hoping that the business will prosper. Rob Lewellyn, an expert on the subject, uses a very dynamic approach to explain how complex the digital transformation process is through the THRIVE method, a term that in literal translation means “flourish”, which attributes an aspect of thought to each letter. THRIVE, when analyzed further, means transformation, holistic, response, innovation, value and enterprise. Change, as we said before, is capable of containing minor problems, keeping the company organized and modern, but that is not enough. Transformation is a process that says a lot about increasing the internal capacity of the business and reaching new opportunities externally.

But transformation is not capable of occurring if the company is not seen from a holistic perspective, that is, integrated. It is necessary to think about the system of cause and consequence: when we change the functioning of a certain sector, product or service, how does the rest of the company feel about this change? Think in an integrated way, without individualizing each area. The company's response to opportunities and challenges is also a key point for successful digital transformation. But answer in what sense? When encountering barriers, how about not just trying to overcome or avoid them, but also using them to understand the weaknesses of your business? Changing the way you think can bring great information about your business that can be used in the future to prepare your team even more for future challenges. The last letters, which correspond to the values and the enterprise itself, have a more social context of demonstrating the identity of your company both to the public, in the external sense, and to employees and other company participants, internally, making everyone look beyond the marketing – and digital tools are essential for this to be achieved.

Digital transformation must happen at all levels for it to be effective, both leaders, supervisors and interns: everyone must observe the process from a strategic business vision guided by data collected through technological means, not just guesswork.

Did you see how digital transformation needs to be integrated in different ways in order to work? When we only work with one sector, without thinking about the company's other problems and how they talk to each other, a momentary improvement will be seen, but only digital transformation is capable of dealing with the different needs at once.

Are you in doubt about how digital transformation influences a company’s performance? Check out some success stories that used the strategy and reaped good results!

Digital transformation in practice: success stories

It is impossible to talk about success in e-commerce, or digital commerce, without mentioning the case of Magazine Luiza as an example. During the coronavirus pandemic, while several companies discovered the need to migrate to digital in a hurried manner and without due preparation, the company managed to not only maintain the profit rate, but increase it by almost 50% compared to the year previous.

According to Maria Luiza Trajano, CEO of Magazine Luiza, the successful performance is the result of an investment in e-commerce that has been made for years, unlike companies that only thought about digital transformation in the context of the pandemic.

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that Magazine Luiza's actions are integrated between physical stores and the online universe, integrating promotions, advertisements and even a more direct conversation with the public through the character Lu. The 3D avatar was created as a personification of the brand and presents products such as games and cell phones in a fun way, as if they were part of your daily life.

This way, people are aware of products available for purchase and keep the brand's image in mind when thinking about where to buy.

It's the perfect example of how revolutionary digital transformation can be. Digital transformation, as we mentioned previously, is about reaching new audiences, exploring new markets and operating safely in them. As an example of this type of attitude, it is worth mentioning the joint action carried out by the companies Claro, Oi, TIM and Vivo.

During the pandemic, due to the need to stay at home as a form of prevention, telephone companies joined together in a revolutionary campaign encouraging distance communication.

The companies focused on offering diverse resources, such as digital service, technical customer support, release of subscription TV channels, internet bonuses and data exemptions so that customers could access Government communication channels and health agencies.

Thus, subscribers of other operators could migrate in search of the benefits offered, thus becoming new customers. With the practical examples, it is easy to see the importance of understanding true digital transformation, leaving aside the myths that are created around it.

It takes effort and planning for effective integration and results to be achieved