Digital Transformation Magic! (Part 1)

Part 1 - Scaling a bus fleet with blind drivers

In Part 1 of this series on Digital Transformation, I will address what digital transformation isn’t: magic. Using a unique take on the Jim Collins bus analogy, I will take the magic explanation to its logical conclusion to show that a given technology or process is not going to fix your digital woes. That is because the real problem is a leadership one: culture. But culture drives process, which in turn drives technology, so we have to address both in meaningful ways. Look out for those in Parts 1.5, 2, and 3!

Clouds, Rainbows, Unicorns, and 'Agile DevOps' Sprinkles

Of course building Kessel Run was as simple as buying some cloud platform and sprinkling it with some ‘Agile DevOps’ right? Those things are magic!

No, it's not magic, and neither is scaling it. But admitting it’s a matter of thousands of hours of effort on the right things is problematic for two reasons:

1) It means everyone else could have done this all along and doesn’t let the status quo off the hook.

2) It means everyone who hasn’t put in the thousands of hours of deliberate practice can’t reasonably take credit for the achievement and aren’t qualified to lead it.

So the status quo will continue to perpetuate the myth that cloud and ‘agile DevOps’ are some new magic and scaling Kessel Run is something anyone can do if they buy the right tech and get the right process certifications. Status quo senior leaders will attempt to scale by parachuting in the ‘brightest leaders’ to grow current efforts and spin off new efforts. They will also try new starts by selecting programs at random without regard to people and culture. Resist that status quo!

The Analogy

A unique take on Jim Collins' bus analogy is illustrative here. The status quo magic explanation creates a scaling approach that is equivalent to taking a really great bus cruising down the highway towards a beautiful destination, kicking out the driver and replacing her with a blind person who has a great resume. Then we add another bus to the fleet, don't do anything with the bus itself (maintenance, make it more comfortable, etc), cover up the windows, and put another blind driver with a great resume at the wheel.

What's next? The drivers and the people who appointed them agonize over the people on the bus, "Oh, our people don't have the right skills." You are correct, they don't have the right skills to get the buses to the destination with blind drivers! That would require insubordination. The second group doesn't even have a capable bus, doesn't know the destination, and can't see out the windows! That would require magic. The problem is the drivers and the bus, not the people on the bus.

The Explanation

In case the analogy is not clear, I'm talking about leaders and culture. Place your people, the ones you already have, under great digital leadership practitioners who create generative culture. You probably don't have those. So you have to grow them.

How do you scale that? Unfortunately, there is no escaping the Mundanity of Scaling in the real, non-magical world. Scale is the aggregate of thousands of hours of deliberate practice, carefully synthesized by visionary leaders into a complex whole. Hard work by gritty people, their growth rate determining the growth rate of the company. Just remember that the leaders require deliberate practice, too, and that "experienced" 18 year senior servicemember you want to parachute in has zero hours of deliberate digital practice while that "inexperienced" six year junior servicemember now has thousands of hours--choose wisely.

When it comes to growth rate, it is worth restating that collective team skill x effort = collective achievement. The status quo method of scaling actually lowers collective team skill immediately by the insertion of unqualified leaders and by dilution, as well as over time by the pathological, non-growth culture they bring. Furthermore, this method also indirectly lowers collective effort, as the cultural impact of the dilution of qualified leadership and the insertion of unqualified leadership manifests itself and employee motivation tanks. This thereby lowers collective achievement. It is a setback with long a recovery, if it doesn’t start a death spiral first.

What To Do Instead

Scale people first. Mitosis is one option to consider. As individuals grow, leaders and expert practitioners will emerge. With the leaders you have a choice--use them to grow your current effort, to incubate and spin-off an effort, or send them to a new start. Mitosis is how Kessel Run successfully scaled to a point, though we should always be open to new and better strategies. Regardless, start by asking the people with thousands of hours of deliberate practice. They are the ones who have proven they can solve any problem that comes their way. Or you can try this: