Digital Transformation Payday

CHAPTER 1The Bad and Good Reasons for Your Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has become an omnipresent buzzword, which is hardly ever fully understood in all its implications. Neither the word digital nor the consequences of what it means to really transform. Still, in today's business world there seems to be no escape from the pervasive hype. In fact, it is probably one key reason why you have just bought another digital transformation book. And likely this is not your first. But before you dive digital‐native‐style straight to the deep end, please take a step back and ask yourself: “What exactly lured me into buying this book?” Did the sophisticated marketing campaign, the flashy title, or the carefully formulated cover copy get you? Or was it the assumed expertise of the author, a professor from a top‐ranked business school who works with the globally leading digital transformation advisory firm? Perhaps all the digital technologies that vendors, consultants, and specialized media bombard you with daily were mentioned prominently enough as a teaser? Did you therefore have the good feeling that skimming, or—worst‐case scenario—reading the book cover to cover will provide you with simple recipes and learnings from even more elaborate and researched insider tales of impressive digital transformation successes or catastrophic failures to succeed in the age of digital disruption?

The Risk of Falling into the Digital‐Hype Trap

Depending on your answers to the questions ...