Unlock the Full Potential of Digital Transformation
Setting an Ambitious Business Aspiration
Many digital transformation efforts fail due to a lack of ambition. Companies often hold back to increase the odds of success or to minimize risks. However, this can lead to pilot projects that fail to show enough value or gain business buy-in. Successful digitally transformed companies invest a short upfront period to set a business-centered and ambitious vision. They identify customer pain points and reimagine critical end-to-end business capabilities to deliver breakthroughs in performance and customer experiences. For example, an industrial company aimed to create a world-class value chain with a 5 to 10 percent increase in customer retention and an 80 percent reduction in non-value-add work. This vision came from best-practice visits to other industries, inspiring them to reimagine a different way of running the business.
Having a clear aspiration ensures that teams have the license to reinvent and improve critical processes. Top management buy-in aligns the aspiration with the company's strategic goals and helps justify allocating resources. A customer-centric goal provides a vision for the entire organization to rally around. It encompasses not only financial and operational impacts but also the well-being of people.
Prioritizing Cross-Functional Initiatives
After setting an ambitious vision, companies must disaggregate and sequence the overall journey into discrete digital products or use cases. Prioritized use cases should have a direct or indirect impact on operating profit and cash flow generation. For instance, more-effective supply and demand matching can optimize inventory and minimize lost sales. Pricing optimization engines can set and adjust prices based on customer demand. Marketing effectiveness can improve the ROI of campaigns.
To achieve transformative outcomes, companies need to sequence use cases in a self-reinforcing way. They should have a clear understanding of how all the use cases fit together in a digital ecosystem. Overhauling foundational data systems can also have a significant impact. Data products can connect to existing legacy systems, and as digital products deliver value, companies can use the generated cash to modernize systems and implement MLOps tools.
Applying Digital Technology for Rapid Development and Scaling
To execute a business-focused digital transformation, business and IT must collaborate closely. Businesspeople bring a deep understanding of processes and value, while technical experts provide data expertise. Rapid development and scaling are crucial to keep the momentum going. Digital teams should aim to deliver an MVP with tangible proof of impact within three to five months and reach an industrialized and scaled solution in eight to ten months.
Companies need to clarify how to reach the desired end state. For many, fixing the supply chain domain may be the first step towards becoming more customer-centered. By rethinking their mindset, capabilities, and operating model, companies can extract the full value from digital transformations without a large upfront investment. They can reinvest cash generated by early digital products into further innovation, leading to sustained competitive advantage.
Early Season Glory and Recent Struggles
A little over a month later, the Blaugrana juggernaut seems to have slowed down in recent weeks, at least domestically, bringing fans and the players alike crashing back down to Earth. Ever since Barcelona’s win over local rivals Espanyol at the start of November, the team has only managed to accumulate five points from their next five games in the league, with losses against Real Sociedad and Las Palmas and draws against Celta Vigo and Real Betis.To further the thought, the goalfest draws came from winning positions with the team ahead in the game and on the cusp of seeing it out, only to throw it all away. The fractured form in recent weeks can largely be attributed to evident dipped physical levels, which unsurprisingly has hindered Barcelona’s execution of the physically demanding system under Hansi Flick. How else do you explain the sudden cracks in the high offside line and the laboured movements of the havoc-wrecking forwards up front?Player Fatigue and System Challenges
The situation calls for a time of reflection and takes us right back to the start of the season. When Flick arrived, there was a certain reluctance to optimism at Barcelona. Certain things were pretty clear from the get-go. How the German lines up. The system he likes to play. The high-defensive line. The profile of players who play a prominent role in his teams. But doubts remained nonetheless. Doubts about whether his trademark style of ‘high-risk, high-reward’ football with relentless pressing and untiring running on both ends of the pitch would be sustainable for the entirety of the season. Whether this very style is compatible with the squad made available to him. Or whether Barcelona’s lack of quality squad depth would come back to bite them when rest must be afforded to the first-choice XI. All of these questions still remain unanswered to this day.Addressing Concerns and Adapting
In fact, Hansi Flick has been finally bestowed the opportunity to address these concerns this far into the season and confront reality. The bitter laydown is, after a blistering start, the players chosen as Flick’s Gala XI have started to fizzle out physically. The style of play that propelled the team up in the clouds earlier is proving to be more of a bane than boon against opposition that plan to frustrate the Catalans by remaining organized in their press and defense. There is a reason Barcelona are able to perform against the best of the sides in the Champions League, who have to be fearless to survive, and not so much against those who simply plan to deny Barcelona the fun of tearing them apart.For the latter, the game calls out for a more familiar controlled approach in possession, contrary to the gung-ho style Flick has introduced. There is a reason that the Barcelona teams of the past were able to control games as they did. Mind you, this reason advises to honour the past, not be obsessed with it.The current streak of inconsistency also asks questions of the level of substitutes at the club. The likes of Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres and Gerard Martin, are deputies for key positions in Flick’s setup yet for reasons sporting or physical are unable to provide quality solutions to the team. It leaves Flick with one hand tied behind his back, knowing very well that his changes cannot win him games. It is a disadvantage that prompts him to overuse much of his preferred pool of players.Looking Ahead and Trusting the Process
Bottom line, the situation tells a story of a forgotten fact – Barcelona is still very much a team under construction sportingly, financially and now philosophically. Concerns that loom so large now, did so in July too. But the team’s incredible form papered over and now find themselves front and centre of Barcelona’s recent exploits.It also calls out the fans for their short-lived cautious optimism, who quickly traded their unwavering support for justifiable yet towering expectations as the team took no prisoners when they picked up some steam. The Barcelona that romped over teams in stellar wins isn't dusted, but now demands the same patience that was promised when Hansi Flick got the keys to the club.The dip in form is noticeable, worrying even. But it is not without these underlying contexts that need to be understood. It must also not be forgotten that Hansi Flick has done an amazing job so far. With the resources at his disposal, he continues to get the best out of his players without throwing any tantrums.It is his commitment to his ideas and philosophy that has brought this team to this juncture and jumping ship just as waters get tricky won't do anyone any favors. Flick knows what he is doing. He even hit the right notes in his analysis of the draw against Real Betis, reassuring of the fact that the best is yet to come. Trust the process. The team is still yet to hit their peak. The season is long and serious business is yet to start. To quote Ruben Amorim, “The storm will come”.