Paint a compelling vision of the future.
“Have a strong story why change is essential and back it up with data,” Tiersky urges. “Pitch the transformation vision in such a way that you inspire people to want to participate. Having a compelling vision and method of communicating it, is critical to achieving this.” Share “parenthood” of the transformation. “People resist change, but they support the change they create,” he states.
Identify allies and change agents.
“In any given enterprise, there are certain people, even if a minority, who are hungry for change,” Tiersky points out. “Start by assembling an informal digital transformation team. Find those innovation heroes who are committed to making a difference, whether it’s part of their job descriptions or not.”
Instill confidence.
“One reason people fear change is they worry it will fail — wasting time and money and possibly creating embarrassment,” he states. “These fears can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Leaders need to demonstrate the confidence that will empower their organization to deliver at its best.”
Define clear goals and celebrate signs of success.
“The sooner you can start to prove the transformation is working, the faster you will bring people on board,” says Tiersky. “One way to show quick progress is to begin by tackling some of the easier parts of the transformation. Quickly find points of pain that can be fixed for rapid, measurable impact. Be sure to measure that impact and communicate it broadly.”
Drive alignment at all levels.
“Transformation efforts always need diverse teams participating, designing, building, testing, marketing, and selling a solution.” Tiersky says.
Start the transformation where it’s most welcome.
“Prioritize your initial efforts in the areas of the company that are most welcoming to change and where the barriers are lowest,” he advises. “That way, you can demonstrate not just optimization, but true transformation is possible, beneficial, and even rewarding. Start with a specific new product that needs innovation. Focus on just one area and apply design thinking to prove it can work. Then expand to more areas of the product and services portfolio.”
