There is no Digital Transformation which is not Cultural Transformation in the first place.
Technology on its own will not bring a cultural change (for now); hence, Technology will not be enough to produce any type of transformation.
Digital Transformation, being also cultural, can only by provided by human being…
Maybe in the future, will accelerate a transformation process, but we are quite far from it.
can be disruptive, but transformation is something beyond disruption..at least in the short term.
I say short term as time is a key factor when we talk about disruption and when we talk about transformation.
The 3T theory
I like the 3T theory about transformation:
Transformation can only happen through Time or Trauma.
According to this theory, no workshop, course, consultancy can bring transformation on its own.
If we follow a workshop and will not get the promised transformation, the workshopper or consultant will say that it is because we did not follow her instructions.
If we go to a nutritionist an we don’t loose weight, the nutritionist will say that it is because we did not follow the diet recommendation.
And she is right…
…but this is not the point!
The point is not who is right or wrong.
The point is that we knew all of this before the consultation.
We do not get fit just by paying a monthly gym membership. We need to actually go to the gym and this is the big and most importante transformation success factor.
The importance of habits
Every process, in order to be successful needs time, but also habit.
Habit is the key to cultural tranformation.
We need to get the habit to go to gym, to respect a diet, to use a software.
The power of habits is well explained by James Clear in the book: Atomic Habits
No transformation will happen without a change in our habit.
And again we need time to change habit. Not technology, not process, not gurus.
We can create several scenarios for our Strategy, but not necessarily able to implement all of them.
Transformation through Trauma
…and the trauma in the 3T theory? where does it stand?
If we have a car accident or a serious desease, it is an actual Trauma.
In this situation, we change our way to see the world and life values and consequently our habits will change in a very short time.
Trauma is the only shortcut to transformation. and not always works out.
Sometimes, even with a serious accident, after a while we go back to being who we were before.
Again, lots of promises in vain.
Can we control tranformation?
We have seen that Transformation, coming through Time or Trauma, can only be controlled in a very small part.
This means that technology itsel will not bring transformation.
What makes the difference is how we use the technology, the tool.
And for an effective use of the technology, we need to consider the human being, the technology limit and the environment.
Help from people is still crucial for our tranformation!
