Digital transformation: Failure and four other things you shouldn't be afraid of

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When the polymath and Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, said: “Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” it’s unlikely he was referring specifically to the digital transformation of your business—but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t right.

Such a significant overhaul can be a daunting prospect for any business and it inevitably involves some challenges. But finding reasons to put it off in favour of sticking with the comfort of familiarity will only damage your performance in the long term.

Think about it: what have you really got to be afraid of? Here are five things you shouldn’t worry about if you want your company to thrive.

Re-framing initiatives as ‘experiments’ that may or may not succeed promotes a culture of learning and tolerance for risk-taking and failure, which can yield greater results than if you constantly stick with what works. After all, there’s a reason why many big players in the technology industry have become household names.

These experiments don’t have to be big, enterprise-wide projects. In fact, according to our study conducted in conjunction with Singapore Management University – Executive Development (SMU-ExD), KPMG and DBS Bank, giving smaller, more nimble teams the resources required to try new things is more likely to cause a culture of innovation to spread organically, with a greater level of confidence, credibility and receptiveness.

So while new technology has the potential to significantly disrupt business practices and fundamentally change the way companies function, its impact shouldn’t be feared. Even as game-changing tech such as advanced robotics and artificial intelligence becomes commonplace, humans will continue to have the most important role to play. As a species, we are uniquely positioned to interact with machines to make sure they are achieving their full potential and serving our needs as much as possible.

Even if they’re not digital natives, for the CEO and other senior staff members to be seen embracing change and demonstrating its benefits has a huge impact on its acceptance by the rest of the company. They must also play an active role in directing strategy and providing direction specific to the company, at least until the process has reached a stable position.

From my experience, I can say that these steps lead to a stronger, more diverse workforce. Staff that upskill themselves in order to keep pace with the demands of the modern workplace can help to drive change within their teams. Benjamin Franklin could upskill by experimenting with a kite in a thunderstorm, to the point that he was able to invent the lightning rod—it doesn’t get more empowering than that.