Introduction

Radical change, rapid acceleration, profound complexity.

Digital has changed the game, and these are the three themes that will ultimately redefine how your organization thinks, works, and behaves.

But for many leaders, the digital transformation process can be challenging. Oftentimes, there are simply not enough resources available to meet the demands of the future without trading away the present. And while many leaders have tried to solve this problem, most have found the answer to the digital challenge elusive, if not downright vexing.

Nevertheless, organizations of all kinds are going digital [2], hoping to catch the next big wave. And while most organizations will achieve some degree of success, the unfortunate reality is that most will fail to realize truly transformational results from their investments.

Why?

When organizations fail to see meaningful results from their digital investments, it’s often because of a reluctance to change what’s working now, so they attempt to “transform” by implementing digital from the margins — using ad hoc initiatives and side projects that are intentionally kept at arms’ length from the core business. This approach tends to fail rather quickly once the “transformation” initiative attempts to integrate with the existing operating model.

Over the years, we’ve seen this scenario play out dozens of times, so we want to be clear on this point. Digital cannot be developed adjacent to your core business. It must become the core business.

The question of course, is how? How do you integrate digital into the core of your business in a pragmatic way? How do you operate differently? And where do you start?

That is what this book will show you how to do. These principles and transformation techniques have been developed working with some of the largest and most complex businesses today. They are based on a singular business model of co-creating digital-first operating models with a vast number of different companies and seeing where the friction and resistance come from

In Part I, we’ll explore how radical changes in consumer preferences, rapid technological progress and profound organizational complexity have combined to create a perfect storm that can only be solved by digitally transforming your organizational ecosystem. This will help anchor the digital-first vision.

In Part II, we will outline six guiding principles you can use to build a responsive organization that is fit-for-purpose in the Digital Era. This will help anchor the transformation principles that will define your future-state operating model.

Finally in Part III, we’ll introduce you to Rangle’s micro-transformation model, which enables organizations to apply an iterative and incremental approach to the transformation process that is pragmatic and human-centered. It is experience-driven, adaptive rather than prescriptive, and is entirely based on creating outcomes in evolving, and uncertain complex systems. Moreover, unlike the principles in Part II, Part III is very opinionated, as it’s based on an obsession with creating digital-first customer-experience outcomes for any organization.

Taken together, each part can help you articulate and shape your organization's future state as well as provide guidance and direction as you define your transformation strategy.