Page 279 - The Design Thinking Playbook

3.6 How to kick-start digital transformation

Digital transformation is on everybody’s lips, and the design thinking Starting digital transformation with a design thinking workshop
mindset, co-creation, and the radical collaboration of interdisciplinary
teams on new solutions and customer experiences constitute a first For product-centered and traditional companies, a design thinking workshop is frequently the initial leap
step for initiating this transformation. Marc is already working in this across the digital divide and thus the kickoff to the transformation into a digital business. Digital leaders
mindset with his team. For him, an agile and iterative way of working have a clear vision, have mastered the technology enablers, live a new mindset, and act with teams of
is something obvious and part and parcel of the culture his team lives. teams when implementing their strategy.
In the preceding chapters, we have already shown some tools and For the various teams to be able to act on a self-organizing basis yet still with a distinct direction, a clear
methods for how even traditional companies can participate in this vision is required, from which the digital strategy can be derived. The direction in which the company
mindset. It was shown how we can should develop must be clear to all involved.
The new mindset will be crucial for the transition from a previously more deductive way of thinking to a
• define new paths with strategic foresight, design thinking mindset, the attitude of every individual and the entire team must match. For the interdisci-
• (further) develop business models, plinary teams to achieve outstanding results, a positive energy is absolutely essential.
• realize new value streams by thinking in business Every company and industry must define which technologies and technology enablers it needs and which
ecosystems, and will be a part of the value proposition. It’s best if the knowledge of these key technologies be reliably avail-
• collaborate in an agile and networked way in new organizational able in the company itself or in the business ecosystem. One possibility here is the collaboration of start-
forms, and so on. ups or universities. Talent development with skills in the digital area must be ensured. Along with technical
expertise, methodological knowledge and collaboration in interdisciplinary teams must be developed.
There are many other categories that are equally important but, in
most cases, very specific to the respective industry. It starts with our
collecting and analyzing data and goes all the way to the maturity of
automation or our willingness to drive forward decentralization and
intelligence in open systems.

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