Rewired

Chapter 3Have business leaders define what's possible

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.

—Gloria Steinem

In each domain targeted for transformation, the goal is to identify multiple interrelated solutions that, when implemented, will meaningfully impact performance for the better. Note the emphasis on “meaningfully.” Too often, companies will shoot for marginal improvements over their current rates, but that tends to constrain thinking to operate within the traditional boundaries of the legacy business. Small thinking leads to small results, often not worth the effort of the transformation. Our rule of thumb is that a robust digital roadmap should deliver 20%+ EBITDA improvement.

We recommend following a simple five-step process to develop a robust business case for each domain (see Exhibit 3.1).

EXHIBIT 3.1

Step 1 is a clear articulation of the business problem to be solved. What are the customer/user unmet needs? What are the process pain points? There are typically two approaches to do this:

1. Zero-based journey design uses design thinking to define end-user personas and identify unmet needs along the experience journey through user interviews and workshops. This approach is preferred in service-intensive industries where differentiation on the basis of great customer experiences ...