The 21st century Luddites oppose new technology due to concerns about job security and automation.

Supervisors may resist new technologies due to concerns about data privacy, security, and job replacement.

Others may resist new technologies due to lack of understanding or fear of change, which education and training can address.

To address resistance to change, individuals can use strategies like identifying the problem, keeping an open mind, and aligning teams.

Providing training and support can help address resistance to change by improving user preparation, training effectiveness, and employee experience.

Clear communication and transparency are essential to build trust and mitigate resistance with supervisors opposed to technological change.

A phased adoption approach and early colleague involvement can facilitate smooth AI implementation.

New technologies like AI and automation can increase productivity by up to 90%, but may impact individual employees.

Most workers believe the right technology boosts productivity, although some may resist change.

Data analytics can help identify areas of resistance to new technologies, such as job security concerns or skill gaps.

Regulatory frameworks like GDPR and CCPA can address concerns about data privacy and security.

Involving end users in technology decisions improves acceptance and reduces resistance to change.

Education and training help staff adapt to new technologies.

Building trust with supervisors opposed to technological change requires understanding the reasons behind their resistance, such as fear of job loss or lack of understanding.

Leaders must define a vision for digital trust and act in trustworthy ways through informed decisions and organizational changes.

Establishing core values and guiding behaviors is crucial for building trust, and leaders must exemplify these values consistently.

Creating an authentic environment can improve productivity, outcomes, and trust with supervisors.

The 21st century Luddites oppose new technology due to concerns about job security and automation.

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We cannot buy tomorrow — using stories to understand technology change

By Mark P. McDonald | December 03, 2021 | 0 Comments

tech NO logyPersonal ObservationHuman AbilityFuture of High TechDigital Society

The dynamic and accelerating rate of change, disruption, societal concerns, etc can make it difficult to see what it all means, the direction we are heading in.  Speculative fiction is one of the ways that people try to make sense out of what can appear to be senseless.  Gartner instituted a special project called “Stories from Planet B“.  The goal was to use stories and other artifacts to help stakeholders envision preferred and plausible futures in a way that is transformative, inspiring and disrupting.

Here is my story, you can find the others at “Stories from Planet B” on Gartner.com

Enjoy

Mark

YOU CANNOT BUY TOMORROW

Tara sat down, rubbing her leg to work out a cramp she had picked up on the walk from her house. She had delayed this to the last minute. “Can’t turn ten ‘till you talk to the old men,” her brother reminded her.

Tara cleared her throat. “Question: What was it like at the start?“

Response: Project 2207, Darius Senna, aged 105, recalling the founding of Pantos.

The front of the room darkened. “Tara. The name means star,” came a man’s voice from the darkness.

“Dad says it’s also a lubricant that has gone bad, ‘Tar — ahh!’”  The room got even darker.

“We call ourselves Pantos. The fifth wave of Planet B colonists, B5, like the vitamin,” the man’s voice continued.

Darius Senna walked out of the darkness. He was wearing a blue collarless shirt rolled up at the sleeves, dark pants and brown boots. Tara noticed his rough hands, and his face, lined from UV rays. A bench appeared. He sat down.

“We were not the first. The first were the explorers. They discovered Planet B, determined it could support life, and summoned us to our new home. Then came ships, filled with those who could afford to leave Earth behind.”

Senna leaned back. Tara noticed the old style comms implant on his wrist. “Six centuries ago, the English sent ships carrying goldsmiths, jewelers, governors and soldiers to Jamestown. They sought to civilize their ‘new world.’ Likewise, the first ships to Planet B carried engineers bankers, officials — the cream of a curdled civilization.”

Looking out the window, Darius continued: “Those first ships were technological marvels. Gossamer solar sails, filled with technology and terraforming equipment. They landed in the northern hemisphere of Planet B. When their technology failed, they starved, just like the colonists at Jamestown.”

He paused and looked at Tara. “After three more waves, some of them are still around, eating from waste regenerators, asking their tech why it doesn’t work. We don’t see them much. We think about them even less.” Darius leaned forward, clasping his hands, just like Tara’s father did when making a point. “We Pantos understand — the physical world feeds the digital world. When the physical does not work, the digital does not matter.”

“Old Earth technology changed in the early 21st century. It turned inward. It became obsessed with experience, entertainment and consumption.” His face hardened. “Before then, technology had made people’s lives better. Then society went digital, and consumption mattered more.”

Darius unclasped his hands. “Data replaced reason. People focused on themselves. Technology meant looking down at a screen, not up at the world around them. People thought it was wonderful. Screens made them feel better.”

He leaned back. Tara noticed the scar down the inside of his left arm. No one had scars anymore, not since the invention of Dermaplast. Darius saw her staring and, almost under his breath, said: “With their narrow datasets, myopic algorithms and self-centered beliefs, they couldn’t see what was really coming. And they never did.”

“I had just turned twenty-seven,” Darius said. He paused, lost in a memory.

He resumed, “We Pantos are not Luddites. We are some of the finest innovators and engineers humanity has ever known. Old Earth technologies were advanced, but consumptive. They were great for solving little problems. Distributing products instantaneously, keeping their users’ attention, showing each other how successful they were.”

“But when the big problems came, technology could not handle it. The heat, the drought, the pandemics, the inequalities, the authoritarian states. This was the world as it really was, not how it appeared online. Their technologies spent what resources they had, but could not create more. When their inherited wealth dried up, it all fell apart.”

“You know why we Pantos tell each other, ‘You can’t buy …”

“… Tomorrow,” Tara finished. She heard that at least ten times a month.

“Right,” Darius replied. “We say that when it’s time to get to work.”

“The ‘northerners’ brought Earth’s ethos of control and exploitation. Digital entertainment, not physical engagement. They binged on culture as they starved and froze to death. If you go up north you can see the graves of trillionaires, and screens looping videos demonstrating their importance.” Darius went silent.

Tara waited, unsure of what to do next. “If we are not the first, then when did we get here?”

Darius looked Tara directly in the face. “We came in the last wave. We came on outdated ships driven by ions. The ships were cannibalized once we landed on the southern hemisphere, far from the first four failures.”

He smiled, “The first waves came to Planet B in space limos. Pantos came in space beaters.”

“Pantos went to work. Our technology fits our hands, not our eyes. We built our homes, rather than having them printed. Building them ourselves proved we were here to stay. Doing things yourself teaches you the true costs and benefits of your actions.”

He paused for a moment, and said: “Tara, remember to feed the Briax when you get home.”

She knew. Doing builds ownership and responsibility; consuming builds nothing but your waistline.

Darius resumed: “Technology is part of our agency. Planet B sustains life, but we are building a world to ensure our minds stay broad; we think before we act. We make mistakes, like we did at Junction.”

He rubbed the inside of his left arm.

“Failure is acceptable when we learn from it. Unacceptable when it is a cost of doing business, or called an externality.”

“We stay strong, acknowledging challenges and celebrating progress. Technology encourages contribution, not consumption. Contribution brings meaning. Meaning motivates innovation and improvement. If it does not work for all of us, then it does not work well enough for any of us. We have much work to do. You know…”

“You can’t buy tomorrow,” Tara repeated, reflexively.

The room brightened. Senna was gone, as was the bench. A woman’s voice spoke up. “Congratulations, Tara. Welcome to your next decade.”

Tara stood up. As she was leaving, she thought she heard the woman say: “Another turning ten. A blessing.”

“Yes,” came Senna’s reply. “Old enough to understand, and young enough to care.”

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The Importance Of Ethical Leadership In Tech: A Call To Action

Ed Wallen is the CEO of C&R Software, whose mission is to humanize collections via their world renowned cloud-native, end-to-end platform.

Today’s consumers are at the mercy of an array of technologies. This is a long way from the earliest versions of protecting one’s personal data or identity that consisted of trustworthy signatures and handshakes. Now the cost of most goods or services is the collection of personal information.

As a result, “ethics in tech” enters the conversation. With technology advancing at a speed beyond comprehension and human existence operating almost exclusively online, those developing, managing and utilizing said technology have a moral responsibility to establish and maintain boundaries to prioritize the human experience over technological gain.

How does one navigate this ever-evolving and expanding issue? And whose responsibility is this to carry?

If we aren’t careful, curiosities and concerns regarding data privacy may turn into another iteration of the bystander effect. All levels of the organizational hierarchy could very well operate under the premise that there’s no imminent danger, and certainly, someone, somewhere, is working to ensure that. Technology has increased efficiency in nearly every aspect of human life. Engineers are developing technological tools with the goal of increasing revenue or cutting costs, an irresistible goal for many corporations.

But the technology remains just that—tools in an obscure Mary Poppins-esque toolbox. It’s up to the organization to acknowledge its values—ideally for the customer and employee—and see past short-term gains when they come at the expense of brand integrity and employee or customer retention.

In what ways are principles of ethics enforced in this space? At the risk of oversimplification, it starts with the culture of the organization, and the culture must be emblematic of the entire roster. Is there trust in the leadership? Are employees presented with the opportunity to practice work-life balance? Are companies weighing the importance of the customer relationship? Is senior leadership setting the example for the rest of the employees by exhibiting the characteristics representative of company culture?

As our day-to-day lives home in around a screen and our personal interactions turn virtual, more privacy is at risk. Headlines have inundated our senses with controversial, vague or even nonexistent security policies, widespread misinformation and data breaches from top dogs like Facebook and Twitter.

Keeping in mind that the customer and employee are any organization’s most valuable assets, with every missed opportunity to practice ethical use of technology, the relationship between the customer and the brand, or the employee and the employer, is now tarnished. As human behavior has demonstrated time and time again, trust takes a lifetime to build but only an instant to break.

How can leadership and developers continue to embody ethical practices in order to build customer and employee trust?

The advancement of technology isn’t slowing down. As soldiers returned home from World War I, there was no attempt made to shut down mass production and mechanization because of a nostalgic desire to recreate jobs and reinstate manual labor. A 2019 report from Oxford Economics predicts automation could replace nearly 9% of the global manufacturing workforce, displacing upward of 20 million jobs as early as 2030 (pg. 4).

This isn’t just a demand for ethical technology practices and policies; it’s a call for ethical leadership. Even if your company is not developing software or isn’t distinctly a technology company, it undoubtedly relies on the use of technology, so no governing leadership is off the hook.

The good news: Implementing new technologies does not have to imply an infringement of ethics. Establish and secure proper protections as the company evolves and advances. Appoint personnel and leadership to be responsible for upholding the protections and do so in the best interest of the customer and employee. Anticipate areas for potential risk or consequence. Too often, a new technology offers convenience and excitement so prominent that it overpowers any hint of vulnerability or danger, and, therefore, the effort to enforce ethical practices becomes reactive as opposed to preventative.

Ultimately, it comes down to responsibility and accountability. Business leaders must do their due diligence to always put the customer experience and employee relationship first. It’s the old-fashioned trickle-down effect. If industry giants set the example, if C-suite executives follow suit and if leaders of all organizations put forth the effort to implement new technology without completely removing humanity from the equation, culturally, we stand a fighting chance at not only embracing new and efficient technologies but doing so with confidence and trust—in your brand and each other.

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Others may resist new technologies due to lack of understanding or fear of change, which education and training can address.

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ManageEngine Survey Finds Global AI Use Up, but Lingering Fears It Won’t Deliver

August 2021 by ManageEngine

ManageEngine announced results from its recent market study, The 2021 Digital Readiness Survey, finding that 86% of organisations worldwide are using artificial intelligence (AI) more than they did two years ago. However, only 35% of the global respondents reported that their confidence in the technology has significantly increased.

The focus of the study was to understand technological and process maturity in a post-COVID world, in areas such as remote work, security, business analytics and AI. ManageEngine commissioned Dimensional Research to conduct a survey of 1,210 qualified executives and technology professionals from small businesses to large enterprises. Researchers investigated geographical trends from North America, Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, India and Singapore.

Organisations worldwide mainly increased their use of AI to improve business analytics (63%), increase operational efficiency (62%) and enhance the customer experience (60%). While a majority of global respondents (94%) believe that AI will meet business expectations—and 65% stated AI had delivered measurable business results—some fears remain around the technology’s performance.

“The potential for AI to improve business efficiency and the customer experience was firmly on show through 2020, with AI handling everything from increased customer service volumes to oversight of self-service processes,” said Rajesh Ganesan, vice president at ManageEngine. “While AI is being handed more responsibility and is applied in more business-critical use cases, our research shows this is a double-edged sword and that more work is needed to embrace the technology and lift internal capability to ensure AI achieves its promise.”

Business Analytics Identified as a Key to Success

The growing use of AI coincides with a broader trend of using analytics to improve the use of available data and the speed and accuracy of decision-making. Profitability and competition, particularly in the post-pandemic era, are also driving organisations across the world to invest in business analytics platforms and capabilities.

Business analytics is an umbrella term for several types of analytics—descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive. Descriptive analytics interprets data simply, diagnostic analytics helps answer why something happened, predictive analytics makes forecasts and prescriptive analytics makes suggestions.

Predictive and prescriptive analytics, in particular, might help organisations more accurately forecast future trends and suggest potential courses of action to help avoid negative consequences from any future disruption on the scale of COVID-19.

The biggest user of business analytics by far is IT. An average of 63% of IT departments worldwide cited this in the survey. In North America, however, 67% of executives noted their use of business analytics, which was higher than their IT departments’ use (61%). Business areas such as marketing, sales, human resources, operations and R&D are also showing interest in business analytics but are well behind IT and executives on adoption and actual use.

Other key global findings of the survey include:

 A mighty 96% of organisations are planning to continue supporting remote workers for the next two years. Concerningly, the report also found that 84% of IT professionals believe that remote workers have increased their enterprise’s security risk.
 More than half (56%) of respondents stated that improving their security infrastructure is a key driver of adopting new technologies.
 78% of organisations revealed that remote workers download software without obtaining approval from the IT department; this shadow IT mainly included mobile-specific applications (40%), online meeting tools (38%) and document sharing solutions (31%).
 84% of respondents use more cloud services now than they did before the pandemic began. However, most respondents believe that improved security (56%), performance (52%) and reliability (51%) would increase their company’s confidence in cloud-based solutions.

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To address resistance to change, individuals can use strategies like identifying the problem, keeping an open mind, and aligning teams.

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The Right Way To Evaluate A Technology Solution For Your Organization

Founder and CEO at Ludi, Inc., a healthcare technology company making it easy for hospitals to pay physicians.

Selecting a new technology for your company can be daunting. Organizations usually begin this process with a desire to either streamline or solve specific pain points. Regardless of your specific needs, implementing new technology will involve change. For your organization as an entity, change can be great. Change can reduce inefficiencies and errors, as well as usher in new opportunities. But for the people who work for your organization, change can trigger anxiety and ultimately resistance to the new technology. Here are six things to keep in mind when evaluating new technology:

1. Identify your problem. It sounds simple, but many organizations jump straight to the solutions they find appealing. If you focus on the true problem you’re trying to solve, you will stay goal-oriented while searching for a vendor.

2. Keep an open mind. You may have seen a solution you find appealing, but remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. The technology partner you choose should be an expert in the field and may offer you products that you didn’t even know existed. Stay open to new ideas and solutions. One of the things I’ve noticed is prospective clients saying, “We can’t buy this product unless it handles this exact case we’re trying to solve for.” That’s not always the most effective approach because it doesn’t take all the variables into consideration. For example, my company works with hospitals to streamline complex physician payment structures. The hospital may have had the doctor recording their time one way because they were using a paper system and approvals needed to be checked in a certain manner for that doctor to get paid. Once you eliminate paper, though, in that particular scenario, everything is up for discussion – not just the way doctors record their time, but the entire physician payment process at the hospital. Rigidity will not benefit you when evaluating new technology.

3. Get your people on the same page. Meet with department heads to pull together all the pain points that need to be solved. You must be comprehensive during your internal review because needs come out differently across different departments. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem with the new technology, but it’s important to align your team before you bring in a vendor. Then prioritize your needs. Once your departments agree on the priorities, be clear with your team on who is making the final decision. Departmental input is important, but knowing who the purchaser is within your organization is equally important. Remember: Don’t lose sight of why you're buying this technology. Keep the ultimate purpose in mind.

4. Consider internal change management. Change is difficult for many of us, so it’s important to stop and consider the people who will be affected by this change. Resistance to change can originate from any of the following: loss of control, insecurities about competence, feeling defensive about past work, concern about more work and general uncertainty. Be proactive in preparing your staff for a change, because all of these responses tend to have a ripple effect in corporate cultures.

5. Focus on the future. If you’ve ever bought a house, you know that there are things you didn’t know you needed until you lived with your investment for a few years. Technology is no different. You may have a list of goals for your business, but there is no telling what you’ll need 10 years from now. The best technology partner will be flexible enough to support your organization as it grows. How can you find a partner with this type of future-focused outlook? See point number two.

6. Listen and be patient. The people delivering technology solutions in the market are experts and can offer you insights into the industry. I suggest finding a solution that can handle 90% of what you need out of the box. Work with your solution provider and try their out-of-the-box solutions for 90 days before you decide what you need next. Make sure the product you choose is flexible enough to grow with your business, but resist over-customizing the product because that can back you into a corner.

Technology solutions truly can help you streamline and standardize your business. Time spent organizing what problem you are trying to solve will make the search much more efficient. While there may not be a solution out there that does everything you hope to accomplish, keep an open mind and you'll find a solution that's right for your specific needs.

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Providing training and support can help address resistance to change by improving user preparation, training effectiveness, and employee experience.

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UC user adoption training must evolve for hybrid work

Learn why industry leaders at Enterprise Connect said user adoption training is key to UC success in the hybrid workplace -- and how employee experience platforms can help.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how people work. The adoption and use of unified communications tools, for example, skyrocketed to support remote workers. But, as workflows have changed, organizations must alter their approach to supporting end-user adoption of new tools.

At the start of the pandemic, organizations rolled out whatever tools they felt necessary to support remote work. As a result, employees learned how to use the tools on the fly as the traditional methods of user adoption training -- such as classroom-style trainings in the office -- were no longer possible.

Now, as organizations have become more strategic about their unified communications (UC) investments to support a hybrid workplace, they must also consider employee training to ensure adoption success. There is a direct correlation between preparing end users before deploying a new tool and user productivity post-deployment, COMMfusion LLC President Blair Pleasant said.

Most end users who felt they were well prepared with training before a deployment believed the new tool made them more productive, according to a BCStrategies survey of end users and IT leaders. Of those end users who said they weren't adequately trained, only 17% said they felt more productive.

Pleasant and other industry analysts and leaders spoke at the Enterprise Connect virtual conference. One key topic was the importance of supporting user adoption in a hybrid workplace to ensure UC deployment success and employee productivity, regardless of location.

Hybrid work means new training models

As organizations think about user adoption programs in a hybrid workplace, they have to ensure training is equal for both remote and office-based employees, said Eric Hanson, chief marketing officer at cloud-based communications provider Fuze.

Some user adoption training methods, like classroom-style instruction, will be set aside as employees work remotely. Other training strategies will emerge, like Yammer community forums, to create more of an online discussion, said Alan Shen, CTO at IT management software provider Unify Square.

Video training will also be key, especially to recreate the feeling of in-office training. For more successful video training, organizations should consider virtual events that combine real-time activities with asynchronous, on-demand content, Hanson said.

Training structured with synchronous and asynchronous content can address the different ways people learn and create a more engaging experience, he said. On-demand materials can also be used for reference after a training session.

"Adoption isn't something that happens right after deployment," Hanson said.

However, using video for training can be challenging, despite the overall growth of video across organizations, Pleasant said.

"The problem is end users can do it on their own time, but it doesn't mean they're going to," she said.

Training goes beyond business workflows

Organizations need to remember that UC tools are not just for business workflows and communication.

"When deploying new technology, we just think about the technology," Pleasant said. "We don't think about the organizational changes, the cultural impact and change management."

Rolling out a new application or system is not the main and end goal. The deployment needs to help employees collaborate more effectively, she said.

For example, many employees have used UC tools not just for collaboration workflows, but to maintain company culture and personal connections with their co-workers during the pandemic. User adoption training could include educating employees on how to use a new tool for social communications, like virtual happy hours, to support team cohesion, Shen said.

Employee experience platforms support user adoption

While training is key to boost user adoption, a major roadblock to adoption is the actual experience when using the tools. According to a global Omdia survey on the future of work, the biggest barrier to achieving successful outcomes with digital workplace technology is employee resistance.

"It's not a surprise as employees and line-of-business decision-makers have an idea of what tools they need to be successful, and IT isn't listening to them," Omdia analyst Tim Banting said.

According to the survey, 45% of companies said the IT department determines the need for workplace tools and makes the final recommendation. Only 15% of companies involve other stakeholders in the business when making buying decisions.

The result of not including employees and lines of business in buying decisions is not achieving ROI because employees aren't using the tools, he said.

Employee experience platforms can help highlight where user adoption is faltering and where more training may be necessary.

Addressing the gap between performance and experience

The operational data and application performance metrics that IT sees do not always reflect what employees are experiencing, said Johnny Russ, general manager of employee experience management at Qualtrics, a provider of employee experience tools.

IT may see data about the tools employees are logging in to or the number of help desk tickets filed, but they don't see data around situations where employees are logged in to an app but having frustrating UX.

"We're often missing appropriate understanding of why this is happening," Russ said.

Employee experience platforms, such as Qualtrics and Microsoft Viva, can provide greater insight into how employees are engaging with tools through features such as training effectiveness surveys, pulse surveys and AI-driven analytics. Without these metrics, IT could have a hard time addressing UX.

Or, as Pleasant put it, "You can't fix what you don't measure."

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Three Change Management Priorities For Seamless GenAI Deployment

President & CTO at ContractPodAi.

There is no question that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as a powerful, transformative force in today’s business. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC looked at how GenAI would significantly change how organizations operate. They concluded the technology is "approaching a critical juncture, seemingly poised to transform business models, redefine work processes and overhaul entire industries."

In the next year, more than 50% of CEOs surveyed said they expect GenAI to "enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders," while roughly 60% expect it to "improve product or service quality." Within the next three years, nearly 70% also anticipate that GenAI will "increase competition, drive changes to their business models and require new skills from their workforce." The lasting business impacts that CEOs expect from the technology include boosted efficiency and increased time-to-revenue.

Generative AI comes with a low barrier to entry, empowering organizations to start small and grow their usage of this technology over time. Because of this, I recommend starting with a particular use case and scaling it to the greater organization from there. The secret to the scaling process is for senior leaders to keep a close pulse on their change management efforts. After all, if your organization does not have a smooth adoption and implementation process and is neither aligned nor trained sufficiently around new technology, you'll likely fall short of reaping the full ROI from your digital investment moving forward.

Here are three change management strategies to keep in mind if you’re planning to embrace GenAI in your organization.

Taking A Phased Adoption Approach

Integrating AI into the day-to-day work of the organization necessitates a simple and seamless adoption process. To foster this digital transformation, senior leaders should consider a phased approach that sees AI deployed gradually and refine processes as needed. This gives employees time to familiarize themselves with the technology to maximize its benefits and minimize its disruption to the business.

Additionally, they can build a digital infrastructure characterized by robust digital resources, dedicated support teams and user feedback loops. All of this goes a long way in preventing the problems that typically arise in the adoption process.

Fostering A Culture Of Trust

Another change management strategy is mitigating organizational resistance around AI. This is achieved through clear and direct communication about the business objectives and expected outcomes of AI adoption, and an open discussion about the collaborative partnerships that can form between employees and the technology.

Transparency is key here. On top of establishing these lines of communication, senior leaders should ensure that AI solutions are designed with security, transparency and accountability measures in place. It’s also important for employees and customers to be assured that their data privacy will continue to be top of mind as the technology becomes further scaled to be used within day-to-day workstreams. Be sure to communicate that protocols and guidelines will evolve in the spirit of fostering an ethical and socially responsible AI culture. All of this translates to more support and buy-in across the enterprise.

Redesigning Career Paths And Skills

The advent of GenAI does not have to mean the disruption of traditional job roles but rather a redesign of professional skills and career paths. As AI is gradually integrated into everyday operations, employees should be taught new skills, allowing them to leverage the technology to its fullest.

Some examples of this include advanced training in applied AI, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). As AI scales to take on both repetitive and complex tasks, organizations should concentrate on bolstering employees' built-in business instincts and reinforcing their natural human skills. This involves nurturing areas such as business creativity along with strategic and critical analytical abilities and enhancing emotional intelligence within the workplace. This effort should be coupled with a special focus on fostering employees' continuous improvement.

At the end of the day, having a successful digital transformation journey calls for prioritizing the change management strategies mentioned above and exploring other best practices.

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Lessons Learned Selling Digital Transformation In A Risk-Averse Industry

Michael W. Levin, CEO and co-founder of Ideon.

In a 2018 McKinsey survey, 80% of respondents said their organizations had undertaken a digital transformation in the preceding five years.

And that was before the pandemic, which has, to say the least, accelerated such changes.

Of course it has. I’m preaching to the choir when I posit to this audience that digital change is necessary for the survival of almost any organization today, business or otherwise. That’s certainly the case for the industry in which my company operates—health insurance and employee benefits—and especially so for carriers, in part because of the rapid rise of InsurTech, which is helping to drive digital innovation throughout the industry.

And yet.

All too often, selling digital transformation within large organizations is an uphill battle. That’s especially the case at organizations in established industries—with ways of doing business that can sometimes date back decades—and is even more a truism if those organizations have a predisposition to manage risk. There are many reasons for this, of course, but three fears play a key role.

• Fear Of Change: It's human nature to favor the familiar over the unknown. We prefer what we know, even when shown a superior alternative. So it’s understandable that executives accustomed to analog processes may be wary of digital ones. There’s an entire field of study, behavioral economics, built around the status quo bias.

• Fear Of Loss: Digital transformation requires investment. And as a general rule, humans react twice as strongly to the loss of a given amount as they do to the gain of the same amount. So unless the ROI for a digital transformation project is clear and convincing, certain colleagues will tend to resist spending money.

• Fear Of Mortality: Not literally, of course. But bosses and employees alike often associate digital change with staff reductions. But even though such relationships are unclear, some executives resist change if they believe it will lead to a loss of headcount or otherwise erode positions of power.

The Way Forward

So how can an organization’s evangelizers persuade colleagues to embrace change? There’s no simple answer, but my experience over the years helping insurance organizations embrace data transparency and connected ecosystems suggests that four strategies—on their own or in combination—can help break through most institutional roadblocks:

1. Align proposed changes with business goals. Change for modernizing’s sake is one thing. Change that helps achieve already established goals is something else entirely. Good leaders are generally driven by big-picture aims. Tying digital transformation to company priorities allows evangelizers to harness existing momentum rather than requiring them to start from scratch.

2. Create your own stakeholders. Whatever their personality, human beings are much more likely to support an initiative if they feel invested in it. Quite frankly, we value something more when it's ours. And the best way to create investment in the idea of change is to involve colleagues early in the transformational journey. Ask the appropriate decision-makers or influencers for input about their problems and possible solutions. If the digital transformation you seek is the logical conclusion to that process, otherwise resistant colleagues will more likely support the idea because they had a hand in getting there.

3. Marshal your facts. Before investing resources in digital transformation, decision-makers want to know that it will pay off. Prepare information—statistics, research findings, anecdotes—on the ROI of digital transformation. Seventy-six percent of employees surveyed said having the digital tools they need makes them more productive. Additionally, Harvard Business School technologists report (paywall) that companies with the most effective digital transformations have higher net income than those with less-successful digital transformations. Data points like these can motivate leaders to prioritize tech imperatives.

4. Leverage FOMO. Regret aversion is a powerful thing. That is to say, many people are not as afraid of making a bad decision as they are afraid of feeling bad about a decision they made. It’s one reason people follow the crowd. We don’t necessarily believe that other people are smarter than we are. But many of us do believe (if only nonconsciously) that if we follow the lead of others we will have company if our decision turns out to be unwise. Regret aversion bias can be leveraged powerfully when selling digital transformation by framing a failure to adopt change as leaving an organization alone in the dark while the rest of the industry—or even its cutting-edge leaders—moves toward the light.

I know there is a reliable path to digital transformation because my firm has seen dozens of clients and partners complete such journeys. But accounting for the inevitable challenges, both structural and psychological, is key to achieving success.

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New technologies like AI and automation can increase productivity by up to 90%, but may impact individual employees.

Title:

Content: Slack: Companies still aren't making the most out of hybrid working technology

A new study from Slack has uncovered the shocking reality about productivity that is costing businesses money.

The company's latest State of Work Report surveyed more than 18,000 workers across the world, finding companies are still failing to supply employees with sufficient productivity tools, and highlights the growing need for businesses to adopt AI in order to achieve their best results.

As well as leading to fewer profits, IT decision-makers’ apparent reluctance to distribute software designed to support remote workers is leading to company-wide dissatisfaction that could be losing businesses their talent.

Should my business use AI?

Around one-quarter (27%) of the companies Slack surveyed were using AI tools to help productivity and efficiency despite more than three-quarters (77%) of employees believing that automation could help them save time, thus increasing productivity.

Those study participants who had adopted some type of AI or automation were found to have reported productivity levels up to 90% higher than those who hadn’t, strengthening the case for the relatively new technology.

In fact, Slack’s blanket statement that “new technologies, such as AI and automation, are largely not implemented” indicates a large-scale trend that companies and their ITDMs are slow to react, risking leaving them in the dust as the small handful of companies that are willing to experiment leap ahead.

More broadly, four in five workers said that having the right technology to get the job done would improve their productivity.

It’s not just about having the right technology, though. The report briefly looks at the physical office, where quiet libraries, collaboration spaces, and larger social lounges could all play a pivotal role in how workers engage.

Finally, a wider look at wellness is in order too, according to the findings, in order to help workers establish a better work-life balance where they are able to switch off from work outside of regular hours.

“The workplace is continuously evolving – and never more so than in the past few years. Companies must rethink the employee experience to increase productivity today,” said Brent Hyder, President and Chief People Officer at Salesforce. “Organizations that embrace new ways of working, such as flexibility, automation and AI, and collaboration tools will help their employees – and ultimately their customers – find greater success.”

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!

Most workers believe the right technology boosts productivity, although some may resist change.

Data analytics can help identify areas of resistance to new technologies, such as job security concerns or skill gaps.

Title:

Content: Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The huge additional demand for data scientists, in the wake of the huge demand for digital transformation due to the global pandemic crisis, has revealed difficult barriers for companies to achieve the desired efficiency.
The demand also revealed a decline in job satisfaction among data scientists in some areas of business.
A survey of data scientists commissioned by the leading data analytics firm SAS found that four in 10 data scientists, for example, are unhappy with their companies ’ use of data analytics tools and models, while the study found that there are more than 20 obstacles to efficiency at work.
The importance of the work done by data scientists has grown as many companies accelerate digital transformation projects using modern technologies to improve business processes.
More than 90 percent of respondents indicated that their work performance remained at or increased compared to before the pandemic.
The report assesses the impact of the pandemic, the challenges encountered, the level of overall satisfaction with the data analytics environment, among other things, to deepen the state of data science.
The study showed that the pandemic disrupted standard business practices, leading to a shift in assumptions and variables in business models and predictive algorithms, and a multiplier effect of adjustments to processes, practices, and operating standards.
More than two-thirds of data scientists surveyed were satisfied with the results of analytics projects, but 42 percent were dissatisfied with their companies ’ use of data analytics tools and models, indicating a problem with how analytics insights are used by companies in decision-making.
A similar percentage (42%) said that decision makers in their companies and organizations did not use analytics results, making the use of analytics one of the main barriers facing companies.
Fewer than a third of respondents reported having “advanced ” or“ expert competencies ” in software skills, such as cloud and database management.
This is problematic given the dramatic rise in cloud use, with 94 percent of respondents reporting that their use of the cloud has increased or maintained since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Jalal Qaoglu, director of customer consulting for the Middle East and Africa at SAS, said that there is clearly more demand for data scientists, pointing out that the type of demand is beginning to show a lot of differences, which he stressed requires them to have different technical and business skills.
He explained that one of the main sources of frustration facing companies is finding a way to build sustainable and agile AI operations using enabling technologies, saying that insights gained from data analytics are “great catalysts for digital transformation initiatives ” and that a sustainable and agile analytics hub would give companies“ a clear advantage in competitive market conditions. ”
“In this context, we found concerns about the retention of data scientists and the lack of skills required to perform important emerging roles, such as data engineering, modelling and software development processes, which remained a problem that coincided with demand outpacing supply.
With over 40 years of experience, SAS helps companies with their advanced native cloud technologies and managed services.
We are also developing talent building programs to build a generation with the insights and competencies to drive innovation and digital transformation in companies. ”
The study also identified gaps in the ongoing institutional focus on AI ethics, with 43 percent of respondents indicating that their companies do not conduct specific reviews of their analytics processes regarding bias and discrimination, and only 26 percent reporting that “unfair bias ” is used to measure the success of their business model.
The research revealed positive results from the impact of the global pandemic crisis: 73% of respondents said they have maintained the same level of productivity or become more productive since the outbreak of the crisis, while 77% reported having achieved the same or higher levels of cooperation with colleagues.
This suggests that many of the challenges highlighted were perhaps more present before the pandemic.
Other challenges faced by companies included the amount of time spent preparing data versus creating models.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported spending too much time collecting, researching, managing and cleaning data.
Data scientists are generally strong and optimistic about the way the pandemic has highlighted the important role they play in their companies, and how that role can evolve over time.
This role will become even more important if data scientists can take advantage of the full range of tools available to manage the analytics lifecycle, pursue data science training, seize skills development opportunities, and embrace data preparation as a first step in modelling.
Additional findings and discussion points, including strategies for data scientists to improve processes and outcomes, can be found in the full report Accelerating Digital Transformation.
# Company Data
- Done.

Regulatory frameworks like GDPR and CCPA can address concerns about data privacy and security.

Title:

Content: Future Trends In Data Analytics: Navigating Opportunities And Challenges Ahead

Future Trends In Data Analytics: Navigating Opportunities And Challenges Ahead

Industry expert Sneha Dingre’ shed light upon the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and how they stand at the forefront of this revolution, reshaping how organizations derive value from their data.

Kapil JoshiUpdated: Monday, March 11, 2024, 06:08 PM IST

The landscape of data analytics is rapidly evolving, presenting both unprecedented opportunities and daunting challenges. As a digital transformation expert deeply entrenched in this dynamic terrain, Sneha Dingre’s career has witnessed firsthand the transformative power of harnessing data for insights and action. In the path forward, it is imperative to not only understand our current position but also anticipate the future trends that will shape the trajectory of data analytics.

Industry expert Sneha Dingre’ shed light upon the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and how they stand at the forefront of this revolution, reshaping how organizations derive value from their data. These technologies have transcended mere buzzwords to become indispensable tools for unlocking actionable insights and driving efficiencies. With advancements in AI algorithms, businesses can now predict trends, personalize experiences, and optimize operations with unprecedented accuracy. The future of data analytics will undoubtedly be shaped by the continued evolution and integration of AI and ML, ushering in a new era of innovation and transformation.

“Big Data represents another frontier in the realm of data analytics, offering organizations the opportunity to turn mountains of information into valuable insights. By harnessing advanced analytics tools, businesses can extract actionable intelligence from vast datasets, enabling informed decision-making and targeted strategies.” She explained. “From identifying market trends to uncovering hidden patterns, Big Data holds the promise of unlocking untapped opportunities and driving growth across industries.” She added.

Real-time analytics emerges as a pivotal trend, enabling organizations to make decisions at the speed of thought. With technologies like in-memory computing and stream processing, businesses can analyze data as it's generated, empowering them to respond swiftly to changing market dynamics and customer needs. The ability to derive insights in real-time will become increasingly essential in an ever-evolving business landscape, where agility and responsiveness are paramount.

However, amidst the promise of data-driven insights lies the critical imperative of ensuring privacy and security. As custodians of data, organizations must prioritize the protection of sensitive information and earn the trust of their customers. Regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and CCPA underscore the importance of transparency and user empowerment in safeguarding data privacy. In the future, one can expect a heightened focus on data governance and cybersecurity to mitigate risks and uphold the integrity of data-driven practices.

Probably the most profound trend of all is the cultural shift towards a data-driven mindset. It's not just about leveraging technology; it's about fostering a culture where data is embraced as a strategic asset. “As digital transformation experts, our role extends beyond technical expertise to championing a culture where data-driven decision-making is ingrained in the organizational DNA.” She stated, By cultivating a data-driven culture, organizations can unlock their full potential and thrive in an increasingly data-centric world.

Conclusively, the future of data analytics holds immense promise for those who are prepared to embrace change and innovation. knowing that the power of data has the potential to reshape industries, drive growth, and unlock new possibilities, staying abreast of emerging trends and fostering a culture of data-driven innovation, will help organizations to navigate the complexities of the data landscape and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

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Involving end users in technology decisions improves acceptance and reduces resistance to change.

Title:

Content: No Jitter is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

5 Mistakes To Avoid When Replacing Your Communications Technology

After working on projects replacing hundreds of phone systems over my years as a consultant, I have noticed some common trends in the projects that are the most challenging.

Here are the top 5 most common mistakes we see when replacing a telephony system:

  1. Skipping the needs assessment. Often a move to a new telephony solution occurs when the existing system reaches end of life. In these cases, it’s easy to think that your goal in replacing your existing solution is to simply duplicate what you have. But you are missing a big opportunity for improvement.

Communication technology has changed considerably in the last few years. New solutions go beyond telephony to include collaboration tools and support multiple forms of communication. Users can move seamlessly between devices and incorporate SMS text messaging and IM in addition to voice. There are usually opportunities to improve outdated workflows caused by limitations of the old technology.

If you are looking at a replacement due to inadequacies of the existing technology, a thorough needs assessment is still a good idea. Most organizations have some percentage of power users who will benefit from higher-level “tools,” and the most successful implementations recognize these users and provide the tools to make them more effective. Standard users can benefit from enhancements such as voice mail messages in their email, and the ability to work remotely, if they don’t already have these capabilities.

It's useful to document your common user requirements in addition to the more complex special requirements. When you understand the workflows of your users and how they utilize the features in your current telephone system, it will help you select a better replacement technology.

  1. Not involving business users in the decision. When a system is selected only by the IT team, it often does not fully meet the needs of the wider group of end users. We once saw a solution selected based primarily on what would be best for enhancing the IT team’s resumes.

Including end users in your needs assessment will help to uncover both business and technical requirements. This has multiple benefits:

  1. Reveals productivity enhancements offered by mobility and collaboration capabilities not available in the current system.
  2. Uncovers communications issues. Often, we find that many user complaints can be resolved through changes in business processes.
  3. Improves system acceptance. When business users have had input into the process, they are less likely to resist adoption of the new system.

Involving business users in the selection process results in a better decision in the end, although a larger group can slow the process. Business users often help to clarify what is truly needed versus what is nice to have. They typically aren’t swayed by the coolest new toys, and offer insight into areas where true productivity gains can be achieved.

  1. No end-user communications plan. End users are much more likely to accept and adopt a new technology tool when they understand how it can benefit them. A good communication plan can go a long way in reducing resistance to the change. The best communications plans take a custom approach and target messages to specific groups of users, explaining the benefits of the new tool that are most relevant to each group.

You can download an eBook that explains the adoption and change management process in greater detail

  1. Skimping on user training. UCaaS providers typically don’t offer “classroom” training on live phones. They offer virtual classes with live instructors, recorded sessions, and train-the-trainer options. While these methods save a lot of labor for the vendors, they can be insufficient for the users. On the surface it seems OK. After all, how hard can it be to use a new phone?

But new telephony solutions bring many new capabilities that users may have never been exposed to previously. They may not know how to manage calls and features using a computer instead of the hard phone.

And there are cell phone apps, collaboration tools, and presence and status information. There may be multiple tools that offer the same capabilities. Your new tool may offer chat, or video conferencing. Which tool should they be using?

All of this complexity creates confusion for your users. If your new solution has any feature depth, then there will be complexity. In order to get full use of the new capabilities, users must be trained on them, and given guidelines on which tools are to be used.

  1. Underestimating the difficulty of porting numbers. This process can be quite dysfunctional, especially if you have been with your carrier for several years. Records can be inaccurate, and the entire process is based on this information. At times, this can be a headache (or worse). For a breakdown of common problems, check out this article

Often the process takes longer than expected, so build extra time into your process to allow for that.

For more tips and advice from people who have gone through this process, check out these sessions at Enterprise Connect:

Tuesday, March 26 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm

UCAAS CASE STUDIES: HOW YOUR PEERS MADE THE MIGRATION

Moderator: Melissa Swartz(Swartz Consulting)

Panelists: Steve Panton (Gannett Fleming), Brian Harrison (Broward College), Karen Gordon (King & Spalding)

Wednesday, March 27 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm

ENTERPRISE LEADERS SPEAK OUT: VOICE MIGRATION--CRITICAL ISSUES FOR A (STILL) CRITICAL CAPABILITY

Moderator: Melissa Swartz (Swartz Consulting)

Panelists: Scott Johnson (Cargill), Georges Habalian (HCA Healthcare), Eric Zweigbaum (Conair)

Education and training help staff adapt to new technologies.

Building trust with supervisors opposed to technological change requires understanding the reasons behind their resistance, such as fear of job loss or lack of understanding.

Title:

Content: Digital transformation through seven building blocks: how to harness the technology edge for successful impact

This wide-ranging book captures digital impacts at the level of the individual, institution, and industry. Here are some key takeaways and tips.
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Launched in 2012, YourStory's Book Review section features over 315 titles on creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation. See also our related columns The Turning Point, Techie Tuesdays, and Storybites.

Drivers, trends, and implementation of digital transformation are well captured in the book, Winning in the Digital Age: The Seven Building Blocks of Successful Digital Transformation by Nitin Seth.

Digital makes possible speed, accuracy, productivity, innovation, and convenience. Successful digital transformation calls for changes at the level of tech stack, organisational culture, operational processes, and leadership mandates.

Nitin Seth is CEO of tech services form Incedo, and was earlier COO at Flipkart, MD for Fidelity International in India, and Director of McKinsey's Global Knowledge Centre. In the dotcom years, he was also founder of the startup ActiveKarma. The book thus provides a unique blend of perspectives from the author’s 25-year journey as a founder, intrapreneur, MNC consultant, and CEO.

The book is written from a practitioner point of view, with plenty of checklists and tips in around 50 chapters. But surprisingly, the book has no index, and there is no bibliography of related books. Some of the material comes across as repetitive across the chapters as well.

Here are my key takeaways from the hefty 510-page book, summarised as well in the table below. See also my reviews of the related books Dual Transformation, Future Tech, Innovation Ultimatum, Seeing Digital, Out-Innovate, From Incremental to Exponential, The Next Billion Users, and Machine, Platform, Crowd.

1. New rules of business

Customer expectations have increased, and real-time personalisation, convenience, value, and transparency are the norm, as offered by the FAANG giants and nimble digital startups. Product and business lifecycles are shrinking, and the VUCA world calls for continuous learning, experimentation, and reinvention (even at the cost of some cannibalisation).

Digital transformation calls for end-to-end change, with iterative feedback loops between strategy and execution, Nitin observes. Customer relationships need to become more co-creative, along with open innovation platforms and a web of partnerships,

Every company needs to build a tech DNA, and digital transformation needs to involve the CEO, CIO, CTO, and CMO (some even have a Chief Digital Officer). A cross-functional structure is needed to support a range of product offerings, with product managers playing the role of integrators connecting customer, business, and tech insights.

Harnessing data holds the key to better customer engagement and internal operations. But many companies run the risk of creating a “data quicksand” or “murky swamp” if they don’t leverage it effectively, Nitin cautions.

“Two-speed execution is critical,” he explains, with a mix of speedy short-term execution and long-term bets. “Managing this duality across levels is essential to success in the digital age,” he adds.

Business models need to be reinvented, and the operating model should embrace “aligned autonomy.” Data infrastructure should be capable of handling big data, real-time transactions, agile adaptation, and rapid experimentation. The mindset of “getting it right the first time” may not work, Nitin cautions.

2. Sectoral transformations

Observing patterns from digital impacts across sectors yields useful patterns for insights and foresights. The author analyses transformations in six industries in this regard.

Fintechs have brought payments (now impacting B2B transactions as well) to the forefront of digital transformation, while life sciences are moving from laggard position to tipping point. OTT players have been leading the content game, but 5G offers telcos a breakthrough opportunity via IoT solutions and network slicing.

Banks have been attacked by digital natives, and continue to have a “control mindset” – they need to work more on data harmonisation and customer-centric design. Automation and advisor enablement are transforming wealth management, but concerns remain over cybersecurity, Nitin observes.

Enterprise products are being transformed by cloud-led “SaaS-ification”, with lots of potential via global delivery. Across these sectors, digital impacts are in data assets, disintermediation, omni-channel operation, automation, customer stickiness, personalisation, pandemic resilience, and regulatory transformation.

3. Tech building blocks

The author identifies seven key building blocks of the tech stack, moving outside-in: customer experience design, analytics, automation, AI, data infrastructure, blockchain, and cloud.

“The most important aspect of these digital technologies is that they are not independent but are interconnected,” Nitin observes. Rapid and seamless customer experience requires process redesign via automation and process improvement via AI self-learning.

“Cloud is increasingly becoming the backbone of the technology stack,” Nitin affirms. It enables infrastructure scaling, varying cost, enhancing AI, and improving enterprise data – which ultimately reduces time to market, enhances customer experience, and facilitates new business models.

The author distinguishes between different types of analytics: descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, continuous (as compared to batch), and augmented (with AI/ML). “Analytics projects are messy, complicated and iterative,” he cautions. Tech skills will need to be blended with domain and problem-solving skills as well.

“While Amazon may have had the advantage of starting as a digital-native business, Walmart and Home Depot have successfully managed to integrate both their physical and digital channels to tremendous competitive advantage,” Nitin says.

“Process mining has emerged as a key technology lever in business process transformation,” he adds. Decision-makers are augmenting their intuition and experience with machine-enabled recommendations (“augmented intelligence”).

Digital is helping with diagnostics, optimisation, risk management, and workflow re-design. Superior data governance, architecture agility, and API-driven insights are key enablers.

“Blockchain is a nascent technology but one with tremendous potential, given its promise to enhance trust in both record keeping and transactions,” Nitin observes. Other technologies on the rise include VR/AR and voice interfaces.

Tech decisions to make include build, buy or subscribe, as well as joint ownership by business and IT heads. “The need and urgency for reliable digital solutions have never been as compelling as in the post-COVID world,” Nitin affirms.

4. Global delivery

This section of the book addresses the digital opportunity for the IT/ITeS sectors in emerging economies like India. “The ability to increase innovation capacity leveraging the global delivery model is a great opportunity for enterprises in the digital age,” Nitin emphasises.

Instead of just cost, execution and support centres, global delivery centres (captive or outsourced) can become hubs for revenue, innovation, and competitive advantage. Nitin cites his experience with the McKinsey Knowledge Centre in India as an example of delivering analytics capabilities globally.

This requires a mindset change, different operating model, better talent profiles, entrepreneurial leaders, and global-local partnerships. India is well positioned in this regard due to the size and youth dividend of its talent pool.

Managers need to get out of the “comfort zone” of existing back-office arrangements, and step up their creative and entrepreneurial quotient. The younger workforce is more confident in this regard, Nitin observes. He urges managers to invest in new and varied experiences of their own to develop a global mindset.

5. Organisational change

“Organisational culture is probably the most important enabler of digital transformation,” Nitin explains. Cultural capabilities should be built in seven areas: learning, knowledge management (KM), agility, innovation, diversity, change management, and future of work.

“Audacity is a critical success factor,” Nitin explains, drawing on the experience of Flipkart during its phase of rapid growth. “Risk-taking is essential but it has to be intelligent risk-taking and not just playing the casino,” he cautions.

“In the digital age, every enterprise has to be a knowledge company,” he affirms. High-quality, contextual and proprietary knowledge is a key differentiator, and requires leadership sponsorship, knowledge architecture, and a culture of sharing and collaboration.

Nitin classifies KM levers into two types: strategic (leadership commitment, culture, design) and operational (architecture, processes, tech). KM enablers include incentives, success stories, KPIs, knowledge maps, editorial roles, taxonomy, and search tools.

“The biggest challenge to learning is hubris, that you know it all and/or I know best,” Nitin warns. Humility is the antidote.

The L&D function should enable personalised, self-directed, byte-sized, and group social learning, and improve its own talent DNA. Multi-skilling and future-skilling are the need of the hour, which includes empathy, contextual intelligence, and problem-solving skills. The future of work calls for increased human-machine collaboration as well.

The quantum and quality of enterprise innovation can be improved via collaboration with startups, acquisition of specialty firms, and academic partnerships. This can increase the innovation quotient beyond incremental steps. Nitin recommends that the culture should be one of “aligned automomy”, with a safe space to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from them.

Agile approaches for “fail fast and learn fast” help cope with a fast-changing world. Customer proximity and collaboration help build trust, and actual execution rather than just planning is a source of learning.

6. Leadership principles

Professionals need to shift their thinking from being managers to being entrepreneurial leaders. The author defines the “5 Cs” of successful leadership as cause, care, courage, communication, and character.

“Leadership is about finding your own personal style,” Nitin advises. “Leadership is a journey,” he adds, and leadership emerges with the choices, challenges and responsibilities one faces.

Nitin provides a range of tips in this regard: solve rather than complain, stretch yourself, give before getting, do the right thing rather than the easy thing, and focus on larger goals rather than personal ones.

One outstanding chapter addresses the 16 contradictions or dualities leaders face in the digital age. They include growth/profitability, short/long term, customer/employee, sales/delivery, quality/speed, data/intuition, product/service, plan/do, autonomy/control, intellect/emotion, and even spirituality/materialism.

Leaders need to focus on their customers, employees, society, and the environment as well. This impacts them at the individual and organisational level, eg. in terms of “good growth” and “bad growth.”

7. The next generation

The concluding section focuses on the unique opportunities for youth, and how to find the sweet spot of success with passion, talent, and purpose. Digital natives are more intuitively able to understand new technologies and how new business models can be built using them, Nitin observes.

“Leadership is not about a position assigned to you, but about the responsibilities you take on proactively,” he advises. Youth should build their hard and soft skills across disciplines, cultivate long-lasting relationships and explore entrepreneurship with a sense of purpose.

“Technology disruption is creating unprecedented new opportunities,” Nitin observes. Countries like India have a supportive startup ecosystem that lets entrepreneurs think big and take risks. Stories of MakeMyTrip, Ola, Paytm, and Flipkart are exemplary in this regard.

“Success is about discovering and realising your full potential,” he suggests. “One of the negative consequences of success is arrogance,” Nitin cautions. Humility, grounded circles, and ethics can be corrective factors.

Two chapters share leadership lessons from Steve Jobs (eg. intersection of engineering and arts, simplicity, conviction, design, focus, resilience) and even the giant sequoia trees (eg. natural strength, scale from seed, community support).

Another chapter shares practical business frameworks and principles like risk-return tradeoffs, 80-20 rule, urgent/important matrix, and industry S-curves. Trust is defined as a combination of credibility, reliability, intimacy, and focus beyond just the self.

The road ahead

In sum, the rapidly changing digital age calls for new approaches to individual creativity, tech mastery, organisational design, and leadership mandates.

Digital is an equaliser and provides a level playing field for new ideas, talented teams, and perseverance. Toggling and aligning short-term (specific problems, quick wins) and long-term actions (bigger strategic bets) help in the transformation journey.

“When change is inevitable, you might as well set your sights high. Play to win, not just to survive,” Nitin signs off.

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).

Edited by Teja Lele

Latest

Updates from around the world

Leaders must define a vision for digital trust and act in trustworthy ways through informed decisions and organizational changes.

Title:

Content: Technological solutionism — the idea that tech developers can be trusted to innovate or code our way out of problems, and into prosperity — is on its way out. Individuals’ trust in tech and the companies who develop it has been eroded by innumerable failures. For businesses, it’s no longer acceptable to use technology without taking steps to ensure it’s trustworthy.

Regular people — and, increasingly, legislators and regulators — have reasonably been made skeptical by recent transgressions against individuals’ privacy, calcification of corporate or individual biases into life-altering algorithms, constant threats that new tech erodes their ability to make a living, and beta testing unsecured or faulty connected devices or vehicles on an unsuspecting populace. Looking at the near future, with generative AI and virtual worlds being implemented faster than we can track, the trust problem is only getting worse.

More tech isn’t going to solve this problem. Customers are looking at the choices that company leaders make and assessing whether those choices match individual consumers and citizens’ values — and whether they put people first. And because every company uses some form of digital technology in its operations and relationships with customers and partners, every company needs to worry about digital trust. “Digital trust programs are a necessity, and when done right, can be both a differentiator and enabler for a business. As demands rise for companies to show they are trustworthy, organizations should strive to build a digital trust strategy that meets or exceeds their customers’ expectations, not just what’s legally required,” according to Vikram Rao, Salesforce’s Chief Trust Officer and a member of the World Economic Forum Digital Trust Steering Committee.

Some companies may look at the problem and hope they can buy or hire their way out of it. In some cases, a new role, like a Chief Trust Officer or Chief Digital Trust Officer may help. But before CEOs and boards rush into creating a c-suite role as a panacea, they need to take a hard look at what exactly trustworthy technology looks like in the 21st century, how companies earn digital trust, and what changes and investments they need to make to do that.

What makes technology trustworthy?

No technology is inherently trustworthy or untrustworthy. After all, technologies have no agency in themselves; instead, as a character in the Afrofuturist film Neptune Frost puts it, “technology is only a reflection of us.” Trust in technology is a reflection of the decisions people make when they develop the tech, use it, and implement it. While there are many ways to think about trust, when the World Economic Forum convened business, government, and civil society leaders in the field of trustworthy tech, the assembled group reached this consensus: “Digital trust is individuals’ expectation that digital technologies and services — and the organizations providing them — will protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expectations and values.”

In this work, the Forum’s Digital Trust Community realized that the most important question to ask with regard to technology is not “how do you get people to trust technology?” Rather it’s “what do we need to do — as technology developers, owners, and users — to respect people’s values and expectations?” With the right mindset and the right goals, it’s possible to develop an effective and trustworthy strategy for the use of digital technology. At its heart, such a trustworthy tech strategy comes from consideration for the individuals subjected to new technologies (regardless of the technology in question).

With respect for individual rights and expectations in mind, a trustworthy digital technology strategy should identify the right goals. The World Economic Forum’s digital trust community offered three broad sets of goals:

  • Security and Reliability
  • Accountability and Oversight, and
  • Inclusive, Ethical, and Responsible Use

As Julie Brill, Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer and a member of the Forum’s Digital Trust Steering Committee said at the time, “the goals of any developer of AI or other technologies should mirror the goals of the organizations and individuals who use or encounter that technology. Shared goals of inclusivity and responsible use, strong privacy and security protections, and effective oversight are the foundational elements to building a trustworthy relationship between developers, their customers, and individuals who use the technology.” Users and consumers can better rely on technologies that protect them, that include their needs and match their values, and that have good governance practices baked in, to remediate any inadvertent harms.

How do you invest in digital trust?

Earning digital trust isn’t simple, and it can’t be automated. Rather it requires a series of judgment calls, investments, and organizational changes that reflect the totality of a technology’s likely impact on individuals. These shifts, encompassing the whole business, can only be orchestrated by company leaders. As Keith Enright, Chief Privacy Officer at Google and Digital Trust Steering Committee member, said, “decisions companies are making now about preparedness determine where they will be down the line in terms of trust.”

Becoming prepared to start earning back trust requires CEOs and Boards of Directors to do at least three things:

  • Define a vision for digital trust
  • Plan to act in more trustworthy ways
  • Recruit people who will help earn trust

The first investment leaders need to make is to take the time and energy to truly understand the impact of the technologies they create or deploy. Developing a realistic and comprehensive vision for how an organization uses technology in service of its goals and those of the people who rely on it determines how an organization will invest in digital trust.

Leaders should approach decisions involving technology with a clear sense of how those technologies reflect and impact core organizational values and the values of the society in which the business operates. Their vision for creating or adopting new technologies must consider both the benefits to the business and society alongside a clear and responsible assessment of the potential harms new technologies might impose on potential customers or other stakeholders.

For example, a business adopting generative AI must assess how the technology might increase efficiencies (a benefit to the business), unlock new solutions to pressing challenges (a benefit to society) while also developing a plan to prevent expected harms, for example, to democratic processes from AI “hallucinations” or misinformation and to workers displaced by these advanced technologies. Only a vision that responsibly considers both the benefits and the risk of new technology can truly be considered trustworthy.

After deciding on a vision that includes trustworthy goals, organizations need a plan to act for digital trust. This plan requires leaders to invest in the internal structures and teams that best support digital trust. For all applications of digital technology, the Forum’s work identified eight dimensions where positive action can help achieve an organization’s goals — both trust goals and overall financial or strategic goals. Those dimensions are cybersecurity, safety, transparency, interoperability, auditability, redressability, fairness and privacy. (As with the Digital Trust Goals, these dimensions are defined and explored in the Forum’s Insight Report, Earning Digital Trust: Decision-making for Trustworthy Technologies.)

In most organizations, these areas likely fall to different departments and leaders, which means optimizing them requires an interdisciplinary approach — and possibly some structural change — in order to support the careful decision-making required to earn trust from users and other stakeholders. However, the realities of a given industry or company may mean it’s not possible to maximize every one of the dimensions described. For example, greater transparency may not be possible for companies who work in highly-sensitive industries (e.g., national security), so their accountability and security would have to supplement. Similarly, some dimensions of trustworthiness (perhaps most noticeably privacy) vary between jurisdictions and geographies. People’s expectations and values are the litmus test for what makes technology trustworthy. Trust, itself, may be highly region and industry specific.

The third big initial investment is in the people who can help the business earn digital trust. Making technology trustworthy is a multi-faceted effort conducted on an organizational (or societal) scale — which means that ultimate responsibility for trustworthiness falls to the CEO. This general duty of trustworthy technology decision-making doesn’t mean, however, that the business shouldn’t invest in recruiting experts (maybe even on the c-suite), who can help establish the right strategy, and the right structures, to support digital trust.

This leader, possibly a Chief Trust Officer — but just as likely to be the Chief Privacy Officer, General Counsel, CISO, or another executive — must be both an expert in stakeholder management and a trusted counselor to the CEO and the board. Stakeholder management comes into play where companies already have cybersecurity, privacy, compliance, and even ethics functions. The leads for each of those roles has a stake in the overall trustworthiness of the digital strategy of a company — in both building it and benefiting from it. In order to be a counselor on digital trust, this individual must also be able to think systemically — bridging between these disciplines in order to help leaders make the best judgement call on how, where, and toward what ends new technologies should be applied.

In order to be most effective, an officer responsible for digital trust can’t be an expert on every technology and every facet of trust, rather they have to be able to understand the strategy for the company and the values of affected individuals, workers, and customers. They support development of a trustworthy vision by conveying a system-wide picture of what the technology landscape looks like to CEOs and boards and helping build a strategy that supports trust rather than erodes it. They also help oversee the myriad and interdepending actions that, taken together, earn trust from users, partners, and other stakeholders.

CEOs must understand that trust in the technology that underlies and enables virtually every business can’t be bought, but by investing in the time it takes to make the right decisions, establish a trustworthy vision, and recruit effective supporters, it can be earned.

Establishing core values and guiding behaviors is crucial for building trust, and leaders must exemplify these values consistently.

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Rekindling Trust In Post-Pandemic Leadership

Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.

As leaders navigated their companies through the challenges of a global pandemic, pivoting to accommodate a red-hot consumer economy and then recalibrating for an ever-allusive "new normal," something surprising happened: They lost the room.

This is supported by a recent Gallup survey, which found that only 21% of U.S. employees say they "'strongly agree' that they trust the leadership of their organization." It seems that after leading the charge into their companies' post-pandemic future, many business leaders are looking behind them and finding few followers.

As Gallup explains, "Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success." However, as companies cut costs, embrace new priorities and reconfigure their teams, many employees feel their leaders are neither inspiring nor strategic.

This may help explain why more than half of employees are disengaged at work and 42% are looking for new job opportunities.

Put bluntly, trust is a foundational component of effective leadership, and bosses or supervisors who haven’t earned their teams’ trust are leaders in name only. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action, and I believe it’s imperative to creating sustainable, thriving organizations at every level.

Steps To Restoring Trust

I believe that repairing the damage should be an urgent priority for leaders at every level, in companies big and small. Here are three steps to begin restoring trust in your leadership today.

1. Establish Your Core Values

Trust within an organization stems from the establishment of and adherence to core values. These values serve as the guideposts that shape the behaviors and interactions within a team. When an individual joins a team, understanding these core values helps them recognize the team's priorities and behavioral guidelines.

As a leader, it is crucial to exemplify these core values consistently. Failure to live by the set values can lead to a credibility gap, and your team can perceive a disconnect between what is professed and what is practiced. This can erode the trust your team members have in you and in the organization.

Every company can have its own set of core values, but example traits with broad application include:

• Openness

• Respect

• Compassion

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Teamwork.

Core values serve as the team’s North Star, informing actions and stipulating standards in any scenario.

2. Expect People To Be Themselves

Establishing an environment that encourages authenticity is critical for the well-being and productivity of a team. This means creating a space where team members are free to express not only their best, but also their less favorable traits, and making them feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves into the interaction.

This inclusivity necessitates a supportive leadership approach that fosters an atmosphere of trust and safety, allowing individuals to operate in their true essence.

In unhealthy organizational structures, employees often find themselves investing significant amounts of time and energy deciphering their role within the team, figuring out team dynamics and trying to interpret the expectations of their superiors.

This constant self-adjustment and evaluation, the equivalent of constantly trying to solve a complex puzzle while performing professional tasks at a high level, can take away from their ability to focus on the challenges at hand and problem-solving.

In contrast, removing identity-based stressors allows people to focus on tasks, fostering improved productivity and more meaningful professional and cultural outcomes.

3. Create A Culture That Accepts Different Perspectives

In an increasingly polarized and reactionary cultural and business environment where even a marketing campaign can create an intense cultural backlash, people are often afraid to bring their authentic selves to work.

One employee survey found that 64% of people are "fearful of being authentic around others in the workplace," with 70% saying they "adopt an entirely different personality when they’re at work." This is a serious challenge for today’s leaders. When people feel they can’t bring their authentic selves to the office, I find that mistrust is a natural next step.

In reality, biases, or the viewpoints and preferences that collectively comprise our authentic selves, are natural and ubiquitous. Everyone has biases forged from their preferences, experiences and expectations.

Bias is perhaps better understood as perspective, and I believe that accepting people’s biases as part of their authentic selves is an important part of a safe, trust-filled work environment.

Leaders can help their teams experience this reality by creating an environment where biases can collide and empowering people to leverage their unique perspectives and authentic selves to build better businesses and cultivate thriving teams.

How To Take The Next Step

As leaders adapt to a continually changing global business landscape, many are losing their employees’ faith. Addressing this challenge requires decisive action.

To take the next step, leaders must foster a culture of engagement, facilitating open dialogue and extending unconditional support to their team members, even when faced with what may seem like unconventional ideas.

I am a firm believe that every opinion must be respected and acknowledged, which can help ensure that every team member feels seen and heard. This practice is deeply connected to the concept of "loving unconditionally," which may seem unusual as a corporate value but is integral to the trust-building process.

Most importantly, trust is built brick by brick as leaders’ consistent words and actions create an environment that values authenticity and diverse perspectives. It takes time to build but can be lost in a moment, making now the perfect time to begin rebuilding or reinforcing trust as a foundation for future success.

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Creating an authentic environment can improve productivity, outcomes, and trust with supervisors.