Questions you should ask, along with some recommendations based on Betty Blocks’ experience with over 400 customers building literally thousands of applications.
Change is coming
Today, many companies are seeking Digital Transformation strategies and for good reason: 80% of the companies that were on the Forbes top 500 list, just 20 years ago, are no longer on that list today. Incredibly, 40% of the current Forbes 500 are expected to no longer exist in 10 years. The inability to change has brought about some serious repercussions.
Regardless of your Industry: change is coming. No industry will be able to avoid it. Software is eating the world and it seems to have a voracious appetite! The key to adapting is taking a proactive and honest look in the mirror.
If Digital Transformation is on your agenda, we suggest asking yourself the following questions:
Where am I now?
Before you can change, you need to know what has to change. As a leader, you must set the right priorities. What branch are you operating in? Are your competitors outpacing you? Is your company culture holding you back? These are all relevant issues to look at before you think about changing. You can target the aspects that need attention much more efficiently if you know your current position.
Gather information on all facets of your company and get analyzing!
How Prepared is my Team?
So, leaders need to look at themselves first, but what should they look for? Addressing your soft skills is a good way to start. These are essential for communicating the need for change. Leaders need to see their blind spots and their “triggers.” Are you impatient? Do you have difficulty delegating? Breaking the cycle can help you change for the better, or at least help you identify people on your team to help you bridge these gaps. When Alan Mullaly turned Ford around, he realigned the people with the company. He got the people to focus on the greater good instead of target their best self-interest.
What’s my risk tolerance?
Change comes with risk. People feel that when there’s fear of failure, they will often resist change. This is normal. You should hate normal. Digital Transformation not only helps you embrace change, it helps you embrace failure. Encouraging people to try and fail can help transform your business and may prevent failures at a later stage that can be more costly. Failing early and often can help a company truly succeed. In the Silicon Valley, they see failure as an opportunity to “pivot:” recognize a particular approach is not working and then set a new course. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to fund those “risky” projects that you think might fail because Wayne Gretsky said it best: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Are We in “Denial?”
Geoffrey Moore, in “Escape Velocity,” shares the very sad fact that many companies starve innovation due to “status quo” projects stealing all the budget. This isn’t a fear of failure, it is out and out denial: Denial that there’s a problem and denial of a potential solution. It is the definition of insanity personified: doing the same thing over and over hoping that things can change. Systemic Denial starves innovation. Has your budgeting process enabled stagnation?
So you’ve asked, and hopefully answered, some pretty tough questions! Are you ready to truly transform your organization? Let’s begin!
First Step: Assemble a team of Mavens, Connectors and “Salespeople.”
A powerful method is to challenge your ideas constantly. Build a core team that shares a passion for change. In Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” he described archetypes critical to bring about change: Mavens, Connectors and Salespeople.
Mavens will see the horizon, Connectors figure out how to get there, and Salespeople will encourage everyone else that the journey is worthwhile. Get these people into a room and hear them out. Jack Welch used to call these “work out” sessions, but the
point is to make sure you are truly starting with the big ideas:
Tap into your business “Citizen Developers” and IT, the potential synergy cannot be ignored, because they are your transformational change agents.
Have them lay it all on the table, no sacred cows. Don’t leave the room until you have developed a Strategy. Remember; Digital Transformation is most effective when you first transform your business.
Develop a strategy
Having a clear vision gives your company a sense of purpose. By now, your team should be flowing with great ideas, but ideas without vision can be disjointed. Be bold with your strategy: Make sure you have a clear objective, that you have defined
the scope and most importantly, your objective helps you clearly carve out a distinct competitive advantage. Magic Wand time: What will this transformation bring?
Make sure everyone sees and buys into the shared vision.
Get the early win
After you have done the hard work of bringing forth the transformative vision of where you’d like to be, this is not the time for delay. You need an early win and you need one fast: Business Transformation projects of the 1990s often failed because it took way too long to bring about the desired change. No-Code solutions change that and can help you deliver projects within days and weeks as opposed to months and years. This helps maintain the energy and momentum you’ve worked so hard to build.
Encourage Citizen Development
You might have identified some projects. Get your citizen developers to just start building an MVP (Minimum Value Product). Highlight their achievements and make them feel like the heroes they are! And as the project grows, don't be afraid to bring in IT to help nurture and grow the idea. This is part of the evolution and reinforces the transforming power of team collaboration. Using a No-Code solution that can incorporate the expertise of your greatest developers using the frameworks of their choice becomes a win-win for both business and IT.
Make your Team Famous!
The best way to reinforce a transformation is to catch people in the act of embracing the new culture. This is where you can shine as a leader, by ringing the bell, tooting the horn or singing the praises for all the hard work.
Repeat!
Welcome to the No-Code era! Utilizing High Productivity tools will help you demonstrate the wins early and often. This is where the Betty Blocks platform distinguishes itself from other approaches. Our platform enables citizen development like no other platform. Technology won’t get in the way. You don’t have to know complex code because you can visually drag and drop your application into existence. Create your app as if you are building a website. Point, click, drag.
And don’t let the platform’s ease of use deceive you! You can go as far as you like, building robust solutions that will delight all your stakeholders, both inside and outside your organization. The only limitation is your imagination!
With the right team, vision and approach, you can transform your department or company into something that can live up to its full potential, and thanks to Betty Blocks, you can get there faster than any other approach.
