Digitalization - Deal with it! 

 15 February 2021

The Digitalization is not coming - it's already here!

And it's not going to go away. Sitting out and burying your head in the sand is pointless. Even closing your eyes won't make the "problem" Digitalization go away. It remains. And that is a good thing. And this new era is not so new at all; it began many years ago. At the beginning of the still ubiquitous Corona crisis, many entrepreneurs and self-employed people approached me with the question of what they could do now to be more digital - and, if possible, to do all their business online immediately. But Digitalization is not a project that is done by deploying a web store. It is a process and an attitude that affects the entire company at all levels. The crisis has now abruptly shown what has been missed in this direction over the last few years. On the other hand, this is not such a bad thing, as it forces us to think about it now.

Digitalization - Deal with it!

Based on my insights into the workings of companies in Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Shenzhen, I was struck after my return by how skeptical we are about new technologies here in Germany and Europe. For me as a "tekkie", this is difficult to understand. For me as a coach, on the other hand, it is quite understandable: we live in security and prosperity and owe this to a large extent to traditional industries (such as the automotive and medical technology industries), to which we now naturally cling, which we want to keep alive. That's okay, as is the fear of job loss through Digitalization. Only it's not a solution. Because the Digitalization isn't coming...it's already here. Deal with it! The question must not be: Will technology affect my business? But: How can I actively shape this change? And this question hovers over my work with entrepreneurs and self-employed people.

Copy and paste?

Silicon Valley has created a well-functioning ecosystem where tech startups and corporations can scale and thrive. You can already walk in amazement through Shenzhen, the "Silicon Valley of hardware," where road traffic consists almost exclusively of e-cars and city planning is supplied with city data in real time. - But how do we manage the transfer to Germany and Europe? In particular, things that work well, if possible without the downsides such as the external or self-exploitation of employees or complete monitoring including social scoring. Taking individual aspects out of context and adopting them in isolation doesn't work, and if it does, it's random: a bit of Scrum here, a kicker there, and Casual Friday at the end of the week. It is often forgotten that some things are different here: our framework conditions, rules, values, social system, culture and history - they cannot be applied 1:1. Fair-weather agility then leads straight to frustration among employees ("Yes, what have they come up with up there again?") and at management level ("Can't they just work efficiently in an agile way?").

Digitalization with humanity

In order to continue on "our" path into the digital age and not head for dystropy, we need to put a value that has sometimes gone out of fashion back at the center: humanity. In the end, it is always about people: whether employee or manager, software architect, developer, trainee or senior, supplier, vendor or customer. It is people that all technology is meant to serve, and they are the most important resource in this transformation. Thus, successful Digitalization needs not only technical, but especially personal development of stakeholders and teams. Put an end to shock and awe. Sort out clothes, breathe and actively shape the future. Then agile values and an agile mindset will have a chance of becoming lived practice rather than just empty phrases on the foyer wall.

All that glitters is not agile

In the same breath as "we want to be digital now, please" often comes "...oh, and please also agile... really nice with Scrum or Kanban and dailies and so on. Because with these methods we will be faster, more efficient and more cost-effective". - Hm. With such an approach I guess that the project "agility" will also fail. Agile methods are of course a good start, but it is much more important to develop the values and the mindset. What self-image should be behind the methods?. Clarity is needed: why do we actually want to be agile now? Why don't we continue as before?

A model - inaccurate but useful

The question was already on my mind in my first agile projects in the early 2000s: Why? Why overturn all processes, change responsibilities, dissolve hierarchies, new tools here and fancy methods there? Just because it's hip and everyone is doing it? Yes, you can of course argue with faster, higher, further, more flexible... but for me, a completely different reason has emerged over the years: Working - thinking - agile helps us deal with knowing we know nothing - that is, with uncertainty. And how did that come about? Here, an imprecise but useful model helps: At some point - when it also started with this Digitalization - complicated became complex. That was a turning point, but it's already over. Complicated used to be. Now complex is.

The "good" old days

Not everything was better in the past, but some things were easier. At least easier to understand. Projects were manageable. Even large projects could be based on relatively stable framework conditions. An MS Project plan still had a useful half-life. The connection between cause and effect was comprehensible. If something was changed at one point, it was possible to estimate what the effect would be. That was the great time of the optimizers. Making the process more and more efficient. Cut away what could be cut away. Fine-tuning the set screws and coordinating them with each other so that the entire project structure runs like clockwork. This worked quite well, at least until the costs of further optimization exceeded the benefits. But that was only one problem.

I know that I know nothing and I do not know what I do not know

Let's blame it on the Internet. Maybe not the first generation, not even the second, but at some point our projects started to develop a life of their own. Gradually, hardly noticeable. Only accompanied by the uneasy feeling that it was becoming confusing. A few systems were linked here and there, a data exchange, a few interfaces. And today we are faced with applications and system landscapes whose algorithms can no longer be explained by individuals (but they do work). Complex systems in which the relationship between cause and effect is no longer clear. And anyone who turns a cog here cannot be sure where or on what it will have an effect. And this doesn't just apply to projects - companies and our society have also evolved in this direction. But that's not all. Even the framework conditions are no longer so stable: fast cycles, fast market, new contexts, everything dynamic, a physical virus that - snap - turns the entire world upside down. Safe Habour here, DSGVO there, employees and their needs and also shareholders have needs. And all of this in a rush. So here we are and we have three options:

  1. further optimizing and sticking to the usual: this then ends in frustration or burnout - and the goal can no longer be achieved.
  2. Sit it out. Theoretically possible, if you have staying power and bet that everything will go back to the way it was. But it won't.
  3. Accepting uncertainty and shaping it yourself. Sounds exhausting, tedious and unsatisfying. It is. But it is the only chance.

Okay, accepting uncertainty - what's so hard about that? In my experience, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the fear of not having control. Not having anything to fill MS Project and any PowerPoint report traffic lights with. Not being able to cover all contingencies in a linear fashion. Not being able to hedge your bets in the long run. Not having a scapegoat when something goes wrong. And this is where agile methods come into play: because they are there to establish the values, beliefs, visions - in short: - the mindset we need for the solution: more trust, more courage, more self-responsibility.

Your agile start into the Digitalization

Yes, and how do you do that now? How do you and your company become more agile? I've been researching the miracle pill "Digitalikum forte plus C" for years. Simply give each employee one tablet in the morning before the first meeting and after a week the pain is gone and everything is agile. That would be nice. Unfortunately, tablets often only fix the symptom. For agile transformation, companies cannot avoid changing their "habits". Because if I've learned anything in my 20+ years of experience with technology and people: It takes time, patience and energy. Well, we don't have all that lying around in abundance. That's why it's all the more important to start in the right places. Otherwise, the path ends in an expensive dead end.

Four aspects that I find particularly important:

  1. Your own way: Agile methods are nice and useful, but they are also just best practices of others. It's important to find your own agile path that fits your business, your people, and your framework.
  2. The first step is to take action, try things out, and find out what works and what doesn't. It makes sense to start with Scrum, Kanban or Lean - but it is risky to simply impose such a framework completely on a company. Rather start with partial aspects of it, e.g. a daily meeting or a retrospective.
  3. From project to mindset: Changing the culture or mindset does not happen overnight and is always dependent on the employees. In order to establish self-responsibility, solution orientation and out-of-the-box thinking, a coach is needed to provide competent support for the professional and, above all, the personal development of employees. This role can also be played by managers with the appropriate expertise.
  4. Leverage what's already there: In my experience, there is often untapped potential in companies for this journey: your employees, with all their ideas, strengths, knowledge and talents. Lift and use this treasure for your process.

Now what?

Shape your path into this digital age. Follow it consistently and take your employees, colleagues, customers and suppliers with you on the journey. Transform your company to be more successful in the digital future. Call me - for support, ideas or simply to exchange ideas. An agile journey also has a lot to do with togetherness and communication. I look forward to hearing from you.