Torsten Lichtenau: Stepping Stones to a Digital Transformation

Read the transcript below.

TORSTEN LICHTENAU: Most leaders in the B2B sector realize that digital is here to stay. But they also know that the recipe from B2C won't necessarily apply to them. They also are confronted with what we call "the thousand points of digital light"—competitors moving into new spaces, new technologies coming up, employees asking for new digital initiatives. And the challenge they have is how to organize for digital.

We have an approach called the Radar 360 Strategy that tries to bring the doers and the dreamers of the company together on this topic. It really starts by mapping where is industry going in terms of digital. So when you look at digital use cases, you can actually preempt where the industry is moving in terms of innovation. And then you can start to think about, where do I want to play as a company in that field? Where do I really need to lead in terms of technology? And where is it fine to be a fast follower using existing technology, but at a faster pace than others?

Once you're clear on that, you also need to become knowledgeable about what's your starting point. What digital initiatives have you started in the company? Are they yielding something? But also, what are your digital capabilities? For example, is my IT ready for digital?

Once you're clear about where you want to go and where you're starting from, the question is, how do you orchestrate the whole transition? And what we found quite helpful is to describe it in waves. Be very clear about wave one, what you want to do in the next two to three years, what are the stepping stones you need to put in place, and what direction about wave two and three.

And finally, we find it also very helpful to orient the company along a few pathways for digital ... So how do I want to change my customer experience? How do I want to change my products and services? How do I want to change my operations, or do I need complete new business models? But also what we call the inner game—do I need a new platform? How do I want to think about data and analytics? Do I need to change my operating model, or, as an example, do I need to change my IT to get ready for digital?

We believe that with the Radar 360 approach, you'll be able to bring doers and dreamers together on digital in your company, preempt disruption that you will face, and define a very concrete way forward on digital.

Read the Bain Brief: Digital Strategy for a B2B World