Digital Transformation Game Plan

Chapter 8. Functional Constraints

Now that we’ve discussed the constraints that affect your organization as a whole, it’s time to shift our focus to functional constraints. Functional constraints are those brought on by the individual corporate functions of the business. They occur when traditional organizations operate from a functional lens, be it IT, finance, HR, legal and regulatory, or marketing.

Often the tensions and struggles between these units are obvious, either between themselves or more generally with the delivery of value to customers. They each follow their own processes and methods using domain expertise, experience, and best practice, supported by years of university studies in the functional roles. When it comes to digital transformation these tensions can be amplified as change, pace, and ambiguity put pressure on these traditional activities. For this reason, it is vital that you understand that transformation includes everyone; functional units cannot be exempt. Functional representation in every element of the transformation is critical so that you can see in advance where tension will be and be conscientious in how you approach it.

When it comes to functional involvement in digital transformation, no organization is the same, and as such, no approach to each of the functional constraints can be prescriptive across the board. What you need to be able to do during the transformation is identify which functions will cause the biggest heartburn and which will ...