Discovering the right way to lead your Digital Transformation
Note: If you prefer to watch a video, we recommend you check out the following clip from Better off Ted when they present Jabberwocky.
In today’s business landscape, many people throw around buzzwords to sell you a new plan, or product, or the idea that the person talking is intelligent. Digital Transformation, Business Intelligence (BI), and Artificial Intelligence are gaining clout and search rankings. If you are interested in taking your business to the next level, you should turn to a Solution Provider (over a VAR). Read on to avoid the pitfalls of working with someone who says what to do, over working with a firm that knows how to do it.
Avoid the Common Purchasing Pitfall
Have you ever met with a consultant with a flashy, streamlined PowerPoint presentation that promised you the moon and the stars, and then as soon as you signed on the dotted line, what they promised seemed to be as distant as the next lunar planet? Don’t be embarrassed; Me too.
You don’t have to blame yourself for making a misled decision, trusting the person who knew how to “talk the talk”. We were ALL poorly taught in university that a pretty presentation was all it took to succeed – here in the business world, it is only getting your foot in the door, not the final grade.
Presentation Fails
Here is why fancy presentations are not creating value for you or your business:
- Presentations say what could and should be done (i.e. they “talk the talk”)
- Focuses on “What” over “How”, forgetting practicality
- They take no accountability in delivering what they say could and should be done
- Time is spent making the presentation “pretty” instead of another value-added activity like solving the actual problem or testing a solution to “fail forward and fast” i.e. you should pay for content, not the container.
- When the proposed plan is considered a deliverable, it creates no real tangible value
An Example: The Approach of the Car Mechanic
Uncovering the nonsense of the Strategic Consultant
If you have a car, then you know that your car goes in for your annual tire change, oil change, alignment, and checkup. Likely, you would bring your car to either a dealership or a trusted garage. You speak with a mechanic (or a colleague of the mechanic), who is an expert, and he tells you what he will do with an estimated cost. When you return to pick up the car, the garage is responsible for delivering on their plan. If there is a problem, or things don’t go as planned, the expectation would be that the mechanic would call proactively and propose a new solution with a budget.
Here, the plan and work are done by the same company, or even person, which means they can be dynamic in their approach, and work on the problem instead of wasting time assuming what the problem is or making an ineffective action plan.
Now, imagine going to the mechanic and they tell you to come back once you have an estimate from the Mechanical Strategist. So you go to this other business and since they have operating expenses, you have to pay for their advice. They don’t have any field experience so they give you a handout (another form of a presentation) about what could be wrong and how much fixing what could be the wrong cost. If the assumption of the strategist is wrong when you go back to the mechanic, you end up with nothing going in circles, never solving the problem, and wasting a lot of your resources. Why waste your time, money, and mental capacity on talking about a plan that clearly cannot be delivered by the person you are talking to?
It is vital in this day in age since so many people say they are “solution-oriented” but in the end, you need to look at what the result will be and the value derived from that because the result (value) will only be as good as the implementation (i.e. when the plan is in action).
So, When Should Presentations be Used?
I would be remiss if I did not include a disclaimer that I do not hate the PowerPoint brand or presentations in general. I love them as a tool and have seen them mature from clunky to elegant products.
My team is encouraged to use presentations to help people get to know our brand or when onboarding each of our key team members through Big Bang University (our two-week intensive onboarding process). My marketing team loves a good sales deck, and they love to make things easily digestible with graphics. But let me tell you there is not one animation or transition to be found. Their decks serve as a digest, reminder, and visual support – they know that the leading act is the talented people which we employ.
Presentations are for visual support, reference, and even as a reminder, but they are NOT the solution. So the next time someone shows you a flashy presentation, ask yourself if they are a mechanic or just throwing out some strategy your way.
Closing Thoughts
Change, especially a digital transformation for your business processes, will not be derived from a presentation – it takes “sweat-equity” (i.e. actually diving in and doing the work) to truly deliver change for your business led by someone with the know-how to get to the finish line. Look for advice from the person or company who knows what they are talking about and ensure they can impose their accountability so they can deliver what they promise. The bottom line, you don’t have time to waste. Look for a provider that is not avoiding commitment and sets their accountability as a criterion of success, like Big Bang!
