- On the path to digital transformation,
there'll be a period of operating in the old way
while adopting a new approach.
Now there are some who believe
that operating at two speeds is the new reality.
After all, if yours is a going concern of a certain size,
you can't shut down the business
and then reopen only after the change is made, right?
I believe it's important to set a vision
of becoming a one-speed, as opposed to a two-speed business.
Let me explain.
Not long ago, I spoke with Rob Alexander,
who's been the chief information officer at Capital One
for more than a decade.
Even though the company's only about 25 years old,
he came to realize that new companies
were operating at a different pace and cadence
than they were able to.
He elected to embark
on a multi-year journey towards modernizing.
Together with the company's founder and CEO, Rich Fairbank,
Rob drove a radical transformation of the business.
First, he hired for learning agility of his team members.
He made sure that the people who were joining the team
were not satisfied with their skills today,
but that they would pursue skills for the future.
Second, he ensured that all development was done
using agile methods.
The old sequential way of doing things
would be replaced with an iterative method
that engaged the intended audience of the project
or product in development.
This would allow the validation of value
before project completion and faster cancellation
of features or entire projects
if the value was not deemed sufficient.
Third, he developed a series of innovation labs
to pursue new technologies.
This would allow the company to think
about the bank of the future,
how to leverage machine learning
and artificial intelligence and the like.
New trends could be tested, validated,
incorporated into prototypes, and then pursued at scale.
Importantly, Rob created a vision for everyone
to transition to the new digital world.
This would be a full digital transformation
rather than operating with a foot in two worlds.
This burning of the ship moment,
where there's no path back to the old world,
made sure that everyone would be brought
into the new reality.
When the goal is digital transformation,
commitment is important.
A bimodal approach is not viable for the long run.
A full commitment for the new digital reality
will have the biggest rewards.