Avinash Kaushik & Emma Storbacka @Avaus Expert Talks 2019
How do we turn data into business results while breaking down the silos? This is the most common question that many business leaders ask themselves while working within digital sales, marketing or service. Turning data into business growth is not a trivial task, but some #changemakers have already been on this journey for a while and were willing to share what they have learned about digital transformation so far at the ‘Avaus Expert Talks’ in Stockholm.
‘Avaus Expert Talks’ is an official side-event for Nordic Business Forum Sweden 2019. In addition to the web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, a great set of speakers from Telia, ICA, Postnord, Saint-Gobain, McDonalds and Growth tribe shared their experiences in this half-day event which was a brilliant opportunity for listening, learning and getting inspired. Here are my five key takeaways:
1. In Digital Transformation, ‘fail fast’ is encouraged; given that we still learn from it.
Fail fast is a technique that quickly tests strategies, plans and especially opinions. The idea is to avoid big investments until you are highly certain they will be successful. Hence ‘fail fast’ allows your business to experiment with creative ideas that would be too risky with a fail-big approach.
2. “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change” (as Darwin said)
Look at any failed company and you are likely to find leaders who were set in their ways and happy with the status quo. To remain relevant in any industry, companies must constantly be reinventing themselves and adjusting to new requirements.
3. Culture eats strategy for breakfast
Companies disconnecting these two are putting their digital transformation success at risk. Thus strategy, capabilities and culture should be aligned, thus enabling each other. Invest in change management early and you will be rewarded!
4. Being on-site matters
During the transformation journey, being visible to the key stakeholders and the rest of the team will help you to set and hear expectations from everyone involved. It will then be much easier to build rapport within the team and experiment with how the team will work together during this journey.
5. Outsourcing intelligence will help you solve the ‘unknown unknowns’ challenge
A lot of problems that we don’t know that we don’t know, can actually be solved by harnessing machine learning algorithms. Although Machine Learning (ML) is still a complex beast, there are some ‘simplified playgrounds’ in which you can test and validate your ideas before you hire a data science team to create a scalable solution.
Have you been on a digital transformation journey or you are about to start out? Share your thoughts and let me know what worked or didn’t. Game on!
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