It is important to be innovative at different levels within the organization. For that to succeed, it is vital that there are commitment and a willingness to change at all levels of the organization. This requires a shared understanding of what digital transformation means and what new technologies entail. Research has shown that when all employees understand how new technologies change their work, they are more positive about digital transformation and more willing to support and ensure the success of such a change process.
Initially, and in most cases (roughly 75% of the time), digitalization is about optimizing existing processes (incremental innovation) that yield improvements in the short term. To a lesser extent (20% of the time), and in the medium term, transformation deserves attention within the company. We call the third level disruption. The company wonders whether, and how, they could make themselves redundant in the longer term (5%). “What if we started all over again as our own competitor?”
