Learning to do things differently will have a positive impact on your business. Recently, I had the chance to talk with Deep Patel for Entrepreneur to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding digital Darwinism. In the conversation, I  shared some of my work and observations about how living in an era of great disruption will ultimately humanize business (at least I hope). Following is a summary of our conversation and five prescriptions for surviving and thriving an era of digital Darwinism… 1. Reimagine yourself in an era…
Human-centered CX: Uniting stakeholders across the enterprise
Customer experience is said to be a top business priority for most companies around the world. Many experts agree that investing in CX establishes a competitive advantage against companies that choose to solely prioritise the bottom line. While customer experience is a noble and important catalyst for business transformation, becoming truly customer-centric requires an introspective approach. This takes stepping back to define what customer experience really means from the customer’s perspective – what they truly value and also whatâs primed,…
The Human on the Other Side of the Screen
I was in New York recently meeting with the IBM Watson team. While there, I had the the opportunity to sit with Robert Schwartz in the company’s Astor Place studio to record a podcast for a new series, “THINK Leaders,” which provides insights and advice on data-driven leadership for the C-suite. The conversation and the topics were quite provocative and eye-opening. So much so, that I wanted to share it with you here so that it may help, in some way,…
Why I Study Disruptive Technology AND People
Sometimes I struggle with trying to stay present and relevant. There are so many thought leaders and personalities with exceptional marketing behind them. All I can do is share my work and hope it finds and helps you in your work. Every now and then, I open my door to personal interviews. I did just that for Kimberly McSweeney. I wanted to share that discussion with you here… Why do you study technology and its impact on society? What first sparked your…
Building a Brand Through Experience Design
Recently, I had the good fortune of conducting a joint interview with Don Schuerman, chief technology officer and vice president of product marketing at Pegasystems on the topic of customer experience. Don brought an intriguing perspective to the table from more than 20 years on the technology side, working directly with companies to operationalize digital initiatives. You can listen to the interview here, but I also wanted to share some highlights from the conversation: The market is changing, whether we like it or not: Customer expectations…
Build Platforms, Not Just Products
Guest post by David Rogers (@david_rogers), faculty at Columbia Business School and author of The Digital Transformation Playbook: Rethink Your Business for the Digital Age. This excerpt is from Chapter 3, on how businesses need to transform their strategy for competition. Download a full chapter at www.DigitalTransformationPlaybook.com In 2007, two recent graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, were struggling to pay the rent on their apartment in San Francisco. When they heard that…
5 Questions Defining the State and Future of Digital Transformation
I recently presented at event in San Diego. My goal in doing so was to help attendees reframe the problems they were trying to solve and introduce new opportunities that would help them go back to work and contribute to meaningful change. I remember it being a beautiful day. The crowd was electric and more than open to new ideas. When I was done presenting, I playfully threw out that I would be outside on the patio (overlooking the San Diego Harbor)…
The Human Dimension of Digital Transformation
Seems that everyone is talking about digital transformation these days. Not a day goes by when I don’t hear a new voice or see a new book, post, report or conference on the subject. It would be wonderful if all work in digital transformation was aligned. But it’s not. With every expert that joins the conversation, it becomes increasingly difficult to sort the signal from the noise. I suppose that’s not unlike everything in life. The challenge is that those learning about or trying to…
Culture is Either the the Roadblock or Gateway to Digital Transformation
Executives underestimate the importance of culture in an era of digital Darwinism.  Most cultures are risk averse at a time when taking risks is the most direct path to innovation… Digital Transformation is the act of investing in people, technology and systems and processes to upgrade how businesses work in this digital economy. Technology is disrupting everything. Beyond market shifts, people too are different because of technology. As a result, behaviors, expectations and preferences are evolving. Our business philosophies and practices though…
Building Dragons: Digital Transformation in the Experience Economy
Guest post by Daniel Newman (@DanielNewmanUV), author of Building Dragons: Digital Transformation in the Experience Economy with Olivier Blanchard (@BrandBuilder) We set out to write a book about technologyâŠbut after 10 chapters and still very little technology discussion, we realized that we were in the process of writing a book that was about so much more. At the core, we wound up writing a book about change. More specifically, a book about how companies can align their strategy, mindset, human capital…
