How to Avoid Bad Digital Strategy
Bad digital strategy is worse than no digital strategy. Learn what it looks like so you can avoid it in your firm.
What's the problem?
Digital strategy is not straightforward. Writing something that gets the engagement of the business and drives true transformation takes time. You need to avoid these common mistakes if you want to succeed.
Misdiagnosing the Problem
Unless you focus on the right problem, you'll never get the right outcome.
Focus on Value
Digital strategies can be too bland to be useful. Focus on areas where digital drives value.
Unachievable Goals
Be realistic in your ambition. Be clear in what you want to achieve and what is truly possible.
Don't Overhype
Vague, unachievable goals lead you nowhere. If your staff don't believe the strategy is possible, they won't try to achieve it.
No Coordinated Action
Establish a sequence of coordinated actions that get you to your goal.
Wisdom of the Crowd
There's untapped experience throughout your firm. Harvest and harness it to find the right path.
Misdiagnosing the Problem
Does your problem statement define a real problem, or is it “too wooly” to be actionable?
- Whose problem is it?
- What is it costing them to fix today?
- How many people have the problem?
- How much pain is it causing?
- Are you fixing a real problem, or trying to justify your own ambitions?
Unachievable Goals
Bad problem diagnosis leads to bad solutions. Worse, you might set yourself up to fail if you set goals that are not measurable or not achievable.
- How will you measure the success of this project?
- What is the primary objective of your strategy?
- Has any other firm achieved this before?
- Does your firm have a good track record in this area?
- How will your team know when they have achieved the goal?
- If things struggle, do you have a plan to fix them that isn't "try harder"?
Coordinated action is key
Assuming your goals are achievable and your problem diagnosis is strong, you still need to lay out how you’ll solve the problem.
- What actions will you take first?
- How do these actions link together to unlock your outcomes?
- What external factors might impact your strategy?
- Where do you need more information before you decide?
- Have you got your steps in the right order?
You have to break tasks and actions into a sensible sequence of steps. If you are buying tools before you have a clear picture of how they’ll be used, you’re in for a rough time.
How does this help with Digital Strategy?
Focus on Value
Strategy is costly. It requires hard choices. If you want to make a success of it you must focus on value and diagnose the biggest problem.
Get Real
"We're going to be the number one digital provider" sounds good, but if you're currently in last place then your staff won't buy into it.
Right, first time
If you do the right things in the wrong sequence you will get a bad result. Link together actions and outcomes to unlock the experience of your employees.
What do you do next?
You need to learn how to find and fix the biggest problems that data and digital technology create today:
- Where is your data hurting Customer Experience?
- How much time is wasted on manual processes today?
- Do your executives trust the reports they use to run the business?
- Can you monetise information and make new revenue streams?
- How can you cut costs and boost revenues at the same time?
We recommend building a Causal Decision Model that clearly links actions to outcomes and provides a sensible sequence of steps for your staff to follow.
If you need our help to make this a reality, set up time to chat using the link below.
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