WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: using the objective key results method (OKR) is a great way to align everyone in a company. Or so they say - I've never been part of an org that leverages them to its full extent. So this is a great reference to learn by example - like a view source on an HTML web page ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: 8 best practice from the world of VCs and startups to help teams innovate.

WHY IT MATTERS: interesting solution developed at Cloudflare, a technology company, to facilitate conversations across the organization. The paper highlights the challenges of making random chats truly random (and useful). As work from home and remote work become the norm post-covid, this will become required in all organizations. Not only large distributed companies but also startups that decide to go full work from home.

WHY IT MATTERS: a collection of 30 pitch decks with links to use as a starting point for your startup pitch!

WHY IT MATTERS: never waste a good crisis. Well if this is true, then companies that will find solutions to tackle the health interventions highlighted by McKinsey should have a bright future. In many cases, digital technologies will be at the center of those solutions...

WHY IT MATTERS: this article helps positions the strengths and weaknesses of lean and agile to highlight where each fits best in an organization.

WHY IT MATTERS: amazing reference of business models to help explore possibilities in your innovation plans.

WHY IT MATTERS: great reference for getting out out the pandemic crisis... but not only that. Useful tools for any innovation scenarios.

WHY IT MATTERS: it is a great time to be creating a startup. I posit it is because companies are in panic mode and ready to try anything, thus giving new players a chance...

WHY IT MATTERS: entertaining read for Sunday morning that may help you steer away from danger as you plan and deliver your digital transformation.

WHY IT MATTERS: most companies will brace for economic slowdown and start to cut costs. Good or bad for digital transformation? I say it is good.

1- technical resources may be easier to hire as they are let go when their projects shutdown or scale back

2- automation - especially digital based - has the potential to cut costs, and thus become attractive

3- travel bans mean enhanced demand for remote- and tele-presence. Expect projects to explode in the area of videoconferencing, remote work, etc.

WHY IT MATTERS: the list is very interesting, the % much less. Enjoy and don't depress too much.

WHY IT MATTERS: take your pick from one of these competitive advantages that often set new digital transformation disruptors apart from the rest.

WHY IT MATTERS: for digital transformation, this post does not matter because digital transformation will continue for years to come because the fundamentals are good: new tech that solves a real problem, cost reduction, better customer experience, more flexibility, more features, etc. Fundamentals are also great for Machine Learning (AI) and blockchain because they truly represent milestones in the evolution of digital technologies, like HTTP did during the dotcom era.

Many companies will burst as the current bubble bursts (digital bubble? AI bubble? Blockchain bubble?), as did pet.com and Webvan in 2001. Yet, the same way Amazon & Google survived the downturn to emerge bigger and better, companies with crazy valuations today but with proper business models will survive this one. So go back to looking at the leaders behind those companies and determine if they can lead their ship past the disturbances that are bound to come with a bubble burst...

WHY IT MATTERS: this article and accompanying video explains the process that successful venture capital firms go through when deciding to invest - or not - in stratups. It breaks down the pitch deck to explain what works and what doesn't. This is great for startups but any business transformation - especially digital transformation - should have a pitch deck like this!

The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_YP1n7kSE

WHY IT MATTERS: I wrote about the buffer open culture in the past and find this latest post to be a great summary of the best practice they have put in place over the years. Critics will say this only applies in startups but I would argue that 1) Buffer is already a 6+ years old 80 person team company 2) Large companies are composed of business units often much smaller in size than Buffer. That being said, many of my colleagues like coming to work in the morning and interacting with people face to face during the day so this model is not for everyone. But if you are looking for a different way to work, then I suggest you look at this and the new agile tribes that I wrote about previously.

for more go here: fmcs.digital/?s=buffer  and fmcs.digital/blog/digital-agile-transformation-at-ing-shows-it-is-possible-to-transform-legacy-non-technology-organizations-to-agile-using-the-concepts-of-tribes-squads-chapters-via-mckinsey-digitaltransformat/ 

WHY IT MATTERS: it is a great summary of the key success criteria and pitfalls of innovation in large organizations. Must read for any startup or executive in large organization.

WHY IT MATTERS: large organizations are not structured to deliver on the innovation that digital transformations required. Partnering with startups is thus the way to go.

WHY IT MATTERS: I am 53. I had a startup that failed when I was 30. I guess it is time for me to get back on the startup trail? ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: this is a positive news about new technologies. However we must brace ourselves because many people will loose their jobs and not have the skills - or the willingness - to adapt. This will certainly create turmoil in companies - and possible whole countries. Prepare.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Fintechs are paving the way for the transformation of a very slow moving industry - the Financial sector. We should all learn from this example in other industries that move slowly, for example grocery.

The accompanying report to this article is also full of interesting background information: http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/financial%20services/our%20insights/bracing%20for%20seven%20critical%20changes%20as%20fintech%20matures/fintechnicolor-the-new-picture-in-finance.ashx 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Startups are truly changing the world and Buffer's transparency experiment has been a leader in this field that I've followed since the beginning. It is great to see it all here in one long timeline. For those that have not tracked this over time this is a great way to catch up!

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

We say one company in a thousand makes it. This study provides hard facts that the numbers are more like 16%.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Grocery is the last frontier for digital disruption, everyone knows (huge market but late adopter of digital, especially eCommerce see http://sco.lt/8ai7W5 http://sco.lt/6q1Ijx http://sco.lt/8Y94vh ).

But no one knows when exactly they'll get disrupted. Many are betting on eCommerce but from the looks of this report, we may see a lot of changes in our weekly trip to the supermarket, from shelf monitoring to augmented reality.

Then again, grocers are pre-historic in their use of technology because of low margins and a very repetitive shopping experience. We mostly always buy the same products and are looking at our store "experience" to be fast with low prices, not so much fun and experiential (see Amazon GO http://sco.lt/8MTY8X where there is no cash register to slow you down still needs to be cheap http://sco.lt/80HuqX).

So my bets are on the startups that enable faster grocery shopping at a low cost- all others I expect will have a hard time (sorry AR and VR startups...)!

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Interesting to see where eCommerce is strong- unsurprising that USA is king, clearly China is not far behind (or ahead?). And Canada is not even on the map.