Monday, November 4, 2019

The Very Characteristics of Digital Era

Digital leaders must gain an in-depth understanding of the very characteristics of the digital era, to be comfortable with “VUCA” digital new normal.

We are experiencing a major paradigm shift from the industrial age with information scarcity, traditional "asset-based" accounting and productivity measures, and approaches to the digital era with knowledge abundance and holistic management discipline. The emerging digital era has many dimensions and demonstrates different characteristics, provides unprecedented opportunities to leap the business up to the next level of organizational maturity.


 

Digital era = Information exponentiality: Information is growing exponentially, and it does not live alone but permeates everywhere in the businesses. Information potential directly impacts the business's potential for the organization. Forward-thinking organizations that proactively invest in Information Management solutions today will be able to leverage their own information competitively going forward and thrive in the hyperconnected digital era with fierce competition.

In reality, many organizations feel overwhelmed by the exponential growth of information, To streamline information flow and capture business insight, it’s critical to break down functional silos or geographical borders to make sure information integrity and consistency, optimize information usage and achieve its multidimensional value.

In the age of digitalization, any business can be at risk for survival at any minute due to continuous digital disruptions and “VUCA” digital new normal if they cannot manage their information effectively. Information Management is both art and science. Perhaps it’s impossible to explore all of the “art” of there. The productive Information Management activities scenarios should understand and deal with the complexity of management, know how to prioritize based on the business needs to solve critical business issues, communicate extensively, deliver visible business benefits and achieve the high-performance business outcome.

Digital era = Mass collaboration: With emerging enterprise collaboration platforms and tools, cross-functional collaboration and social engagement are the new normal in the effective digital workplace. The digital business today is not just working within the industry, but also permeating cross-ecosystem which is dynamic, continuous, expansive, interdependent, hyperconnected, and interactive. Modern digital technologies have made mass collaboration increasingly easy and seamless to nurture collective innovation. In fact, many companies have never been better positioned to break out of the static industry box and engage in mass collaborations to spark creativity and enforce innovation.

Collaboration is at its essence, the intellectual harmony between humans. Collaboration happens in the space between people in relationships receptively and thoughtfully interacting with interest and caring for one another’s needs, co-develop great ideas or co-solving tough problems. Collaboration through the digital platform is already driving changes to enterprise systems and expose them to societal changes as well. The ecosystems draw together mutually supportive companies from multiple industries collectively seek to create differentiated value that could not create alone, keep a balanced business cycle, and reach the renewal stage.


Digital era = Abundant choices: The digital era upon us is the era of options, sharing, empathy, and personalization. Digital is the age of choice, it provides the opportunity to think of a new way to do things, it forces business leaders to get really creative on how they orchestrate and implement transformative changes. 

Business users and consumers are selective nowadays due to the unprecedented convenience brought by digital technologies. Thus, today’s digital leaders need to become the “Choice Generator,” provide choices for talented employees on how they would like to get the work done; provide choices for users and customers on how to solve their issues from their lens; re-imagine the new possibilities and alternative ways to do things, and drive the digital transformation proactively. 

Digital is the era of options, and options are built through creativity. Perhaps by pursuing abundant options, we are also shifting from the knowledge economy to the creative economy. Be experimental to try new things, be adventurous to explore the “art of possibility,” and be cautious of potential risks.

Digitalization is the state of dynamism, continuum, and interaction. Digital leaders must gain an in-depth understanding of the very characteristics of the digital era, to be comfortable with “VUCA” digital new normal, think out-of-the-box, both work in the business and on the business by taking interdisciplinary management disciplines which involves engineering, design, psychology, philosophy, biology, economy, and sociology, etc, to achieve a state of dynamic balance and renewal.

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