Boost your digitalization: horizons model

One of the most common questions I get when discussing digitalization of an industry and a company operating in that industry concerns resources. The typical line of argument goes along the lines of agreeing that it is relevant and important to explore digital solutions for the company, but that unfortunately no resources are available to … Read more

Boost your digitalization: leadership

There are few topics with as much hyperbole around them as leadership. Everyone is supposed to be a leader, either informally or formally. At least you need to lead yourself based on whatever you want to get out of life, both professionally and personally. My experience is that many so-called leaders are managers who are … Read more

Boost your digitalization: new skills

As an engineer, I’ve often had difficulty with the somewhat touchy-feely language used in leadership literature and HR departments. Rationally, I know that humans are irrational beings that excel at post-rationalizing their decisions and actions. And to reason about our irrational or pre-rational side, we need to use language that seeks to model that part … Read more

Boost your digitalization: cross-functional teams

When I was 14, I started to work in a local supermarket. That was actually not legal, but family connections and some creative managing of practicalities caused me to stomp around there anyway. The guy who got me introduced to the secrets of filling shelves, pricing goods and unloading trucks had the habit of not … Read more

Boost your digitalization: organization dimension

There are few topics in companies as sensitive as the notion of organization and organizational setup. Many still view their career as climbing the corporate ladder and, having reached a few rungs up the ladder, worry about sliding down again. So, every discussion that might rock the boat is received with great skepticism and people … Read more

Boost your digitalization: data-driven ways of working

There’s more data in the world than ever before. According to some sources, the world stores over 50 zettabytes of data. A zettabyte is 2 to the power of 70, or one billion terabytes. So, one would assume that the entire world has moved to data-driven ways of working. As we all know, this is … Read more

Boost your digitalization: build and test infrastructure

The traditional way of software development is to first agree on what to build, then build the functionality and finally commence testing and fixing defects until the quality is at an acceptable level. As anyone who has spent any time in this field knows, no software is ever flawless, but the concept is to get … Read more

Resistance to Change

With the Ascension weekend upon us, I decided to take a break from my (probably) 33 part blog post series on the 8 capabilities to boost your digitalization. In this post I want to focus on change and the resistance of change that many are experiencing around them. To illustrate this, I want to start … Read more

Boost your digitalization: Agile for real

Every company I meet claims that they’re agile. When I push a little bit and ask for details, typically the conclusion is that this is only true at the team level. The rest of the organization is stuck in traditional, slow cycles. The defense that I get is that the company is fast enough in … Read more